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Subtropical cyclone

A subtropical cyclone is a weather system that has some characteristics of both tropical and extratropical cyclones.

As early as the 1950s, meteorologists were uncertain whether they should be characterized as tropical or extratropical cyclones. They were officially recognized and titled by the National Hurricane Center in 1972. Beginning in 2002, subtropical cyclones began receiving names from the official tropical cyclone lists in the north Atlantic basin. Subtropical cyclones are also recognized in the south-west Indian Ocean and south Atlantic basins.

There are two definitions currently used for subtropical cyclones depending on their location. Across the north Atlantic and southwest Indian Ocean, they require some central convection fairly near the center surrounding a warming core existing in the mid-levels of the troposphere. Across the eastern half of the northern Pacific however, they require a mid-tropospheric cyclone to be cut off from the main belt of the westerlies and with only a weak surface circulation. Subtropical cyclones have wider wind fields with the maximum sustained winds located further from the center than typical tropical cyclones, and have no weather fronts linked into their center.

Since they form from initially extratropical cyclones which have colder temperatures aloft than normally found in the tropics, the sea surface temperatures required for their formation are lower than the tropical cyclone threshold (around 26.5°C (79.7°F)) by 3°C (5°F), lying around 23 °C (73 °F). This also means that subtropical cyclones are more likely to form outside the traditional bounds of the north Atlantic hurricane season and at higher latitudes. Subtropical cyclones are also observed to form in the south Atlantic, where subtropical cyclones are observed in all months.

History of term
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the terms semi-tropical and quasi-tropical were used for what would become known as the subtropical cyclones. The term subtropical cyclone initially merely referred to any cyclone located in the subtropical belt near and just north of the horse latitudes. Later, intense debate ensued in the late 1960s, after a number of hybrid cyclones formed in the Atlantic Basin. In 1972, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) finally designated these "hybrid" storms as true subtropical cyclones in real-time, and updated the hurricane database to include subtropical cyclones from 1968 through 1971.

The term "neutercane" began to be used for small subtropical cyclones below 100 miles in diameter which formed from mesoscale features, and the NHC began issuing public statements during the 1972 Atlantic hurricane season employing that classification. This name was not noted as controversial in contemporary news reports, but it was quickly dropped less than a year later. Recent articles, published after the year 2000, have suggested that the name "neutercane" was considered sexist in the 1970s, but there do not appear to be any published reports from that period making this claim.

Naming
In the north Atlantic basin, subtropical cyclones were initially named from the NATO phonetic alphabet list in the early to mid-1970s. In the intervening years of 1975–2001, subtropical storms were either named from the traditional list and still was considered tropical in real-time, or used a separate numbering system instead. Between 1992 and 2001, two different numbers were given to subtropical depressions or subtropical storms, one for public use, the other one for NRL and NHC reference. For example, Hurricane Karen in 2001 was initially known as Subtropical Storm One as well as AL1301 (or 13L for short). In 2002, the NHC began giving numbers to subtropical depressions and names to subtropical storms from the same sequence as tropical cyclones. From 2002 onward, Subtropical Depression 13L would be known as Subtropical Depression Thirteen instead. Hurricane Gustav of 2002 was the first subtropical storm to receive a name but became tropical shortly after naming. Subtropical Storm Nicole from the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season was the first subtropical storm that did not become tropical since the policy change. A subtropical storm from the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season also did not become tropical, but was not named since it was not recognized until post-season analysis.

In the southern Indian Ocean, subtropical cyclones are also named once winds reach tropical storm or gale force.

Since 2011, subtropical storms in the western south Atlantic Ocean are named by the Brazilian Navy Hydrographic Center.

Formation
Subtropical cyclones can form in a wide band of latitude, mainly south of the 50th parallel in the northern hemisphere. Due to the increased frequency of cyclones which cut off from the main belt of the westerlies during the summer and fall, subtropical cyclones are significantly more frequent across the north Atlantic than the northwestern Pacific Ocean. In the eastern half of the north Pacific Ocean and north Indian Ocean, the older subtropical cyclone definition term is still used, which requires a weak circulation forming underneath a mid to upper-tropospheric low which has cut off from the main belt of the westerlies during the cold season (winter), similar to the north Atlantic and southwest Indian Ocean. In the case of the north Indian Ocean, the formation of this type of vortex leads to the onset of monsoon rains during the wet season. In the southern hemisphere, subtropical cyclones are regularly observed across southern portions of the Mozambique Channel.

Most subtropical cyclones form when a deep cold-core extratropical cyclone drops down into the subtropics. The system becomes blocked by a high latitude ridge, and eventually sheds its frontal boundaries as its source of cool and dry air from the high latitudes diverts away from the system, and warms the central circulation, allowing further transition. Temperature differences between the 500 hPa pressure level and the sea surface temperatures initially exceed the dry adiabatic lapse rate, which causes an initial round of thunderstorms to form at a distance east of the center. Due to the initial cold temperatures aloft, sea surface temperatures usually need to reach at least 20 C for this initial round of thunderstorms. The initial thunderstorm activity humidifies the environment around the low pressure system, which destabilizes the atmosphere by reducing the lapse rate needed for convection. When the next shortwave or upper-level jet streak (wind maximum within the jet stream) moves nearby, the convection reignites closer to the center, which warms the core and develops the system into a true subtropical cyclone. The average sea surface temperature that helps lead to subtropical cyclogenesis is 24 C. If the thunderstorm activity becomes deep and persistent, allowing its initial low level warm core to deepen, extension to tropical cyclogenesis is possible. The locus of formation for north Atlantic subtropical cyclones is out in the open ocean; the island of Bermuda is regularly impacted by these systems.

The south Atlantic environment for formation of subtropical cyclones has both stronger vertical wind shear and lower sea surface temperatures, yet subtropical cyclogenesis is regularly observed in the open ocean in the south Atlantic. A second mechanism for formation has been diagnosed for south Atlantic subtropical cyclones: lee cyclogenesis in the region of the Brazil Current.

Subtropical cyclone formation is extremely rare in the far southeastern Pacific Ocean, due to the cold sea-surface temperatures generated by the Humboldt Current, and also due to unfavorable wind shear. In late April 2015, a rare subtropical cyclone was identified to have formed in this region. This system was unofficially dubbed Katie by researchers. Another subtropical cyclone was identified at 77.8 degrees longitude in May 2018, just off the coast of Chile. This system was unofficially named Lexi by researchers. A subtropical cyclone was spotted just off the Chilean coast in January 2022.

Transition from extratropical
By gaining tropical characteristics, an extratropical low may transit into a subtropical depression or storm. A subtropical depression/storm may further gain tropical characteristics to become a pure tropical depression or storm, which may eventually develop into a hurricane, and there are at least ten cases of tropical cyclones transforming into a subtropical cyclone (Tropical Storm Gilda in 1973, Subtropical Storm Four in 1974, Tropical Storm Jose in 1981, Hurricane Klaus in 1984, Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, Tropical Storm Lee in 2011, Hurricane Humberto in 2013, Tropical Storm Ian in 2016, Typhoon Jelawat in 2018, and Typhoon Surigae in 2021). There have also been three recorded cases of a storm transitioning from tropical to extratropical back to a subtropical cyclone; as seen with the Caribbean–Azores hurricane in 1970, Hurricane Georges in 1980, and Hurricane Beryl in 2018. Generally, a tropical storm or tropical depression is not called subtropical while it is becoming extratropical and vice versa, after hitting either land or colder waters. This transition normally requires significant instability through the atmosphere, with temperature differences between the underlying ocean and the mid-levels of the troposphere requiring over 38 °C, or 68 °F, of contrast in this roughly 5900 m layer of the lower atmosphere. The mode of the sea surface temperatures that subtropical cyclones form over is 23 C. Transition from subtropical cyclones into fully tropical cyclones occurs only in very rare cases over the south Atlantic Ocean, such as Hurricane Catarina in 2004.

Intensity
Subtropical cyclones can have maximum winds extending farther from the center than in a purely tropical cyclone and have no weather fronts linking directly to the center of circulation. In the Atlantic Basin, the United States NOAA classifies subtropical cyclones similarly to tropical cyclones, based on maximum sustained surface winds. Those with winds below 18 m/s, (65 km/h, 35 knots, or 39 mph) are called subtropical depressions, while those at or above this speed are referred to as subtropical storms. Diagrams which depict a cyclone's phase depict subtropical cyclones with a shallow warm core and as asymmetric systems, similar to tropical cyclones which have begun the transition to an extratropical cyclone.

Subtropical cyclones with hurricane-force winds of 33 m/s, (119 km/h, 64 knots, or 74 mph) or greater are no longer recognized by the National Hurricane Center. Once a subtropical storm intensifies enough to have hurricane-force winds, it is then automatically assumed to have become a fully tropical hurricane even if it still has subtropical characteristics. Despite this however, prior to the start of modern policies in the Atlantic there were two subtropical cyclones, one in 1968 and another in 1979, that attained hurricane-force winds while subtropical. In addition, one system, Subtropical Depression 11 during the 2000–01 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season, was analyzed by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) to have reached hurricane strength as a subtropical cyclone, but Météo-France (MFR) only considers it to have been a subtropical depression.

Examples during the off-season
Subtropical cyclones are more likely than tropical cyclones to form outside of a region's designated hurricane season. Examples during the 21st century in the north Atlantic include:

 * Subtropical Storm Ana (which became Tropical Storm Ana) in late-April of the 2003 hurricane season.
 * Subtropical Storm Andrea in early-May of the 2007 hurricane season.
 * Subtropical Storm Olga (which became Tropical Storm Olga) in mid-December of the 2007 hurricane season.
 * Subtropical Storm Beryl (which became Tropical Storm Beryl) in late-May of the 2012 hurricane season.
 * An unnamed subtropical storm in early-December of the 2013 hurricane season.
 * Subtropical Storm Ana (which became Tropical Storm Ana) in early-May of the 2015 hurricane season.
 * Subtropical Storm Alex (which became Hurricane Alex) in mid-January of the 2016 hurricane season.
 * Subtropical Depression One (which became Tropical Storm Arlene) in mid-April of the 2017 hurricane season.
 * Subtropical Storm Alberto (which became Tropical Storm Alberto) in late-May of the 2018 hurricane season.
 * Subtropical Storm Andrea in late-May of the 2019 hurricane season.
 * Subtropical Storm Ana (which became Tropical Storm Ana) in late-May of the 2021 hurricane season.
 * An unnamed subtropical storm in mid-January of the 2023 hurricane season.

Upper-level low
The most common type of subtropical storm is an upper-level cold low with circulation extending to the surface layer and maximum sustained winds generally occurring at a radius of about 160 km or more from the center. In comparison to tropical cyclones, such systems have a relatively wide zone of maximum winds that is located further from the center, and typically have a less symmetric wind field and distribution of convection.

Mesoscale low
A second type of subtropical cyclone is a mesoscale low originating in or near a frontolyzing zone of horizontal wind shear, also known as a "dying" frontal zone, with radius of maximum sustained winds generally less than 50 km. The entire circulation may initially have a diameter of less than 160 km. These generally short-lived systems may be either cold core or warm core, and in 1972 this type of subtropical cyclone was ephemerally referred to as a "neutercane".

Kona storm
Kona storms (or Kona lows) are deep cyclones that form during the cool winter season of the central Pacific Ocean. A definition change in the term during the early 1970s makes categorization of the systems more complex, as many kona lows are extratropical cyclones, complete with their own weather fronts. Those across the northeast Pacific Ocean consider them subtropical cyclones as long as a weak surface circulation is present. Kona is a Hawaiian term for leeward, which explains the change in wind direction for the Hawaiian Islands from easterly to southerly when this type of cyclone is present.

Australian east coast lows
Australian east coast lows (known locally as east coast lows and sometimes as east coast cyclones ) are extratropical cyclones, the most intense of these systems have many of the characteristics of subtropical cyclones. They develop between 25˚south and 40˚south and within 5˚ of the Australian coastline, also typically during the winter months. Each year there are about ten "significant impact" maritime lows. Explosive cyclogenesis is seen on average just once per year, but these storms cause significant wind and flood damage when they occur. Australian east coast cyclones vary in size from mesoscale (approximately 10 km to 100 km) to synoptic scale (approximately 100 km to 1,000 km). These storms which mostly affect the southeast coast should not be confused with Australian region tropical cyclones which typically affect the northern half of the continent instead.

title: Subtropical cyclone


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Nandi

Nandi may refer to:

People

 * Nandy (surname), Indian surname
 * Nandi (mother of Shaka) (1760–1827), daughter of Bhebe of the Langeni tribe
 * Onandi Lowe (born 1974), Jamaican footballer nicknamed Nandi
 * Nandi Bushell (born 2010), South African-British drummer and musician
 * Nandi Madida (born 1988), South African actress, musician and TV personality
 * Nandi Rose Plunkett, Indian-American musician
 * Nandi Thimmana, 16th-century Indian poet
 * Nandivarman II (718–796) Pallava ruler in India
 * Nandivarman III (r. 846–869), Pallava ruler in India
 * Nandi Yellaiah (1942–2020), Indian politician

Places

 * Nandi, Belgaum, Karnataka, India
 * Nandi, Queensland, Australia
 * The old spelling for Nadi, Fiji
 * Nandi Bagan, neighbourhood in Kolkata in West Bengal, India
 * Nandi County (formerly Nandi District), Kenya
 * Nandi Firozpur, village in Uttar Pradesh, India
 * Nandi Hills (disambiguation)
 * Nandi Hills, India
 * Nandi Hills, Kenya
 * Nandi Temple (disambiguation)
 * Nandi Temple, Khajuraho India
 * Nandi Wanaparthy, Ranga Reddy district, village in Telangana, India
 * Nandi, village in Chikkaballapur district of Karnataka, India
 * Arunachaleswara Temple, Nandi

Other

 * Nāndi, an offering of food in Khoja ritual
 * Nandi (mythology), the bull-mount of the Hindu deity Shiva
 * Nandi Awards, film awards given to Tollywood personalities and films
 * Nandi languages
 * Nandi people, an ethnic group from East Africa
 * Maha Nandi, 2005 Indian film

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Nandi


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Tim Westwood

Timothy Westwood (born 3 October 1957), often known professionally simply as Westwood, is a British DJ and presenter. He was described by The Guardian in 2022 as "a veteran of the hip-hop scene whose opinions have been able to make or break upcoming artists for more than 30 years". He hosted the Radio 1 rap show and presented the MTV UK show Pimp My Ride UK. In 2013, he left Radio 1 and 1Xtra after nearly twenty years and returned to Capital Radio.

Investigations by the BBC and The Guardian into Westwood's sexual conduct found seven women who accused Westwood of sexual violence, as described in the BBC Three documentary Tim Westwood: Abuse of Power.

Early life
The son of Bill Westwood, who later became Anglican Bishop of Peterborough, Westwood spent his early years in Lowestoft where his father was parish priest and moved to Norwich aged eight, when his father became vicar of St Peter Mancroft. He attended the independent Norwich School and the state comprehensive Hewett School in Norwich.

He was diagnosed as dyslexic, and later said that, when at school, he was bottom of his class, "clueless at work and poor at sports."

DJ career
Westwood's career started in the late 1970s and early 1980s when he helped set up sound systems in clubs in northwest London, taking opportunities to work as a DJ, and then warming up for David Rodigan. At the time, he played reggae and jazz-funk.

Westwood's first radio show was on the London pirate radio station LWR. He then moved to Kiss FM, which he co-owned. He was on Capital FM from 1987, and in 1994 he moved to BBC Radio 1 to present its new rap show. The show was launched with a live concert with the Notorious B.I.G. and Puff Daddy. The Westwood Radio 1 Rap Show was the top ranked hip hop show in the UK.

After creating and presenting the 1987 BBC Open Space documentary "Bad Meaning Good," he achieved TV exposure in the late 1980s as part of ITV's late-night programming block Night Network, for which he hosted the programmes N Sign Radio and The Rap Show.

He later presented a series of his own television programmes on UKTV channel UK Play, which has since ceased broadcasting. His Radio 1 show was produced by his independent company Justice Entertainment, which also produced Chris Goldfinger's dancehall show for Radio 1 at the time. Westwood is a patron of the internal radio station at Feltham Young Offenders' Institution in west London.

Westwood was injured in a drive-by shooting in Kennington, south London, on 18 July 1999, after he had been playing at the Lambeth Country Show in Brockwell Park. According to police reports, gunmen on a motorbike pulled up alongside his Range Rover and shot him and his assistant. He alleged that the gunmen were gang members who had been threatening him to stop playing shows in the neighbourhood.

At the BBC, Westwood also hosted the weekday drivetime show for Radio 1Xtra from September 2009 until he was replaced by Charlie Sloth in September 2012. After leaving the drivetime show, Westwood continued his Saturday night Rap Show which now ran from 21:00 until 23:00 and was a simulcast on Radio 1 and 1Xtra. It was announced on 26 July 2013 that he was leaving the BBC after nearly twenty years as part of planned schedule changes, which took effect on 21 September.

After leaving the BBC, Westwood re-joined Capital FM on its sister station, Capital Xtra, initially occupying the 21:00–23:00 slot on Saturday nights. His show on Capital Xtra then moved to a 19:00–22:00, followed by 19:00–0:00, and then between 19:00–23:00. Global, Capital's parent company, announced in late April 2022 that he was stepping down from his show "until further notice" due to allegations of his sexual misconduct, which he has denied.

Pimp My Ride
Westwood hosted the MTV series Pimp My Ride UK which ran for three seasons, from 2005 to 2007. The show was an adaption of the American MTV series Pimp My Ride, featuring one car in each episode being renovated and customized ("pimped") to match the owner's interests.

A special episode of the show called "Pimp Madonna's Ride" aired on MTV on Sunday 19 February 2006, the eve of the release of the single "Sorry". The interior of the van was pimped by MTV UK for the single's music video, which was filmed in London in January 2006. The exterior of the vehicle was kept original.

At the time, Pimp My Ride UK was the most successful MTV UK production of all time and the second highest rated show in the history of MTV Europe.

Tim Westwood TV
Westwood's official YouTube channel Tim Westwood TV has over 500 million video views and over 1 million subscribers. The channel has videos of freestyles and interviews from hip-hop and grime artists, including The Notorious B.I.G., Eminem, Jay-Z, Nas, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Will Smith, Drake, Amerado, and Rae Sremmurd.

Albums and awards
Westwood has released fourteen compilation albums. The Platinum Edition compilation was the biggest-selling British urban album of all time upon its release in 2003.

Westwood has won several awards, including the 2016 Legacy Award at the GRM Daily Rated Awards, the 2010 Radio Academy John Peel Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music and the MOBO Awards for Best Radio DJ in 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2008.

Westwood was nominated for Sony Radio's Music Broadcaster of the Year award in 2003 and 2006, but he did not win in either year.

Controversies
On 6 June 2006, Radio 1 and Westwood's show in particular was accused of encouraging knife and gun crime by the Leader of the Conservative Party and then Leader of the Opposition, David Cameron, who was speaking at a British Society of Magazine Editors event. Radio 1 controller Andy Parfitt responded in a Press Association news agency article: "There's been a debate about this particular genre of music for many years. Hip-hop is of great interest to many people in our audience. I strongly refute that any of our programmes condone violence, gun crime or knife crime".

Critics have also derided Westwood's apparent Black British pronunciation and dialect. In interviews, Sacha Baron Cohen has stated that Westwood, including his accent, was an inspiration for his fictional Ali G character.

Westwood has been accused in the media of giving false statements about his age and background. In 2000, at the age of 43, Westwood insisted to a Guardian journalist that he was aged 27.

Sexual assault allegations
In July 2020, Global Media & Entertainment, the parent company of Capital Xtra, was criticised for failing to investigate multiple online allegations that Westwood had behaved inappropriately with young female fans. Responding to the allegations, Westwood stated: "I can confirm that such allegations are false and without any foundation."

In April 2022, following a joint investigation by BBC News and The Guardian which included the broadcast of the BBC Three documentary Tim Westwood: Abuse of Power, Westwood was accused by seven women of sexual misconduct, including predatory and unwanted sexual behaviour and touching, in incidents between 1992 and 2017. He denies the allegations. The BBC director general Tim Davie later described the allegations against Westwood as "shocking", though also stated that he could find no previous formal complaints about Westwood. Following the allegations, several venues chose to cancel upcoming appearances by Westwood.

In July 2022, following a Freedom of Information request in relation to the BBC and Guardian investigation challenging the BBC's response, the BBC said it had received six complaints about Westwood and referred one complaint to the police. He is also facing allegations from a woman who says she and Westwood had sex when she was fourteen, which is illegal in the UK. The Sunday Times reported during the month that seventeen women had made allegations against Westwood.

In August 2022, the Metropolitan Police Force confirmed that they are investigating sexual offences, one of which is alleged to have occurred in 1982.

, Westwood has been questioned by police on four occasions about the allegations of sexual assault against him, but no charges have been filed. KC Gemma White is conducting an investigation to determine whether the BBC knew of the allegations against Westwood during his nearly-20-year career with them.

Discography

 * Street Beats
 * Westwood Volume 1
 * Westwood Volume 2
 * Westwood Volume 3
 * UK Hip Hop 2002 Volume 1
 * Westwood Platinum Edition 2003
 * Westwood: The Jump Off
 * Westwood 6: The Takeover
 * Westwood 7: The Big Dawg
 * Westwood 8: The Invasion
 * Westwood Heat: Volume 9
 * Westwood X
 * Westwood 11: Ride with the Big Dawg
 * Westwood: The Greatest
 * Westwood: Hip Hop Club Bangers

DVD

 * Westwood Raw DVD

title: Tim Westwood


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French Quarter

The French Quarter, also known as the Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans (Nouvelle-Orléans) was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the Vieux Carré ("Old Square" in English), a central square. The district is more commonly called the French Quarter today, or simply "The Quarter", related to changes in the city with American immigration after the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. Most of the extant historic buildings were constructed either in the late 18th century, during the city's period of Spanish rule, or were built during the first half of the 19th century, after U.S. purchase and statehood.

The district as a whole has been designated as a National Historic Landmark, with numerous contributing buildings that are separately deemed significant. It is a prime tourist destination in the city, as well as attracting local residents. Because of its distance from areas where the levee was breached during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 as well as the strength and height of the nearest Mississippi River Levees in contrast to other levees along the canals and lakefront, it suffered relatively light damage from floodwater as compared to other areas of the city and the greater region.

History
The French claimed Louisiana in the 1690s, and Jean Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville was appointed Director General in charge of developing a colony in the territory, and founded New Orleans in 1718. In 1721, the royal engineer Adrien de Pauger designed the city's street layout. He named the streets after French royal houses and Catholic saints, and paid homage to France's ruling family, the House of Bourbon, with the naming of Bourbon Street. New Orleans was ceded to the Spanish in 1763 following the Seven Years' War. The Great New Orleans Fire of 1788 and another in 1794 destroyed 80 percent of the city's buildings, and so nearly all the French Quarter dates from the late 1790s onwards.

The Spanish introduced strict new fire codes that banned wooden siding in favor of fire-resistant brick, which was covered in stucco, painted in the pastel hues fashionable at the time. The old French peaked roofs were replaced with flat tiled ones, but the still largely French population continued to build in similar styles, influenced by colonial architecture of the Caribbean, such as timber balconies and galleries. (In southeast Louisiana, a distinction is made between "balconies", which are self-supporting and attached to the side of the building, and "galleries," which are supported from the ground by poles or columns.)

When Anglophone Americans began to move in after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, they mostly built on available land upriver, across modern-day Canal Street. This thoroughfare became the meeting place of two cultures, one Francophone Creole and the other Anglophone American. (Local landowners had retained architect and surveyor Barthelemy Lafon to subdivide their property to create an American suburb). The median of the wide boulevard became a place where the two contentious cultures could meet and do business in both French and English. As such, it became known as the "neutral ground", and this name is still used for medians in the New Orleans area.

During the 19th century, New Orleans was similar to other Southern cities in that its economy was based on selling cash crops, such as sugar, tobacco and cotton produced by enslaved labor. By 1840, newcomers whose wealth came from these enterprises turned New Orleans into the third largest metropolis in the country. The city's port was the nation's second largest, with New York City being the largest.

The development of New Orleans famous ornate cast iron 'galleries' began with the two storey examples on the Pontalba Buildings on Jackson Square, completed in 1851. As the most prominent and high class address at the time, they set a fashion for others to follow, and multi-level cast iron galleries soon replaced the old timber French ones on older buildings as well as gracing new ones.

Even before the Civil War, French Creoles had become a minority in the French Quarter. In the late 19th century the Quarter became a less fashionable part of town, and many immigrants from southern Italy and Ireland settled there. From 1884 to 1924 an estimated 290,000 Italian immigrants, a great deal of them from Sicily, arrived in New Orleans and settled in the French Quarter, which acquired the nickname "Little Palermo." In 1905, the Italian consul estimated that one-third to one-half of the Quarter's population were Italian-born or second generation Italian-Americans. Irish immigrants also settled heavily in the Esplanade area, which was called the "Irish Channel".

In 1917, the closure of Storyville sent much of the vice formerly concentrated therein back into the French Quarter, which "for most of the remaining French Creole families . . was the last straw, and they began to move uptown." This, combined with the loss of the French Opera House two years later, provided a bookend to the era of French Creole culture in the Quarter. Many of the remaining French Creoles moved to the university area.

In the early 20th century, the Quarter's cheap rents and air of decay attracted a bohemian artistic community, a trend which became pronounced in the 1920s. Many of these new inhabitants were active in the first preservation efforts in the Quarter, which began around that time. As a result, the Vieux Carré Commission (VCC) was established in 1925, spearheaded by Elizabeth Werlein. Although initially only an advisory body, a 1936 referendum to amend the Louisiana constitution afforded it a measure of regulatory power. It began to exercise more power in the 1940s to preserve and protect the district.

Meanwhile, World War II brought thousands of servicemen and war workers to New Orleans as well as to the surrounding region's military bases and shipyards. Many of these sojourners paid visits to the Vieux Carré. Although nightlife and vice had already begun to coalesce on Bourbon Street in the two decades following the closure of Storyville, the war produced a larger, more permanent presence of exotic, risqué, and often raucous entertainment on what became the city's most famous strip. Years of repeated crackdowns on vice in Bourbon Street clubs, which took on new urgency under Mayor deLesseps Story Morrison, reached a crescendo with District Attorney Jim Garrison's raids in 1962, but Bourbon Street's clubs were soon back in business.

The plan to construct an elevated Riverfront Expressway between the Mississippi River levee and the French Quarter consumed the attention of Vieux Carré preservationists through much of the 1960s. On December 21, 1965, the "Vieux Carre Historic District" was designated a National Historic Landmark. After waging a decade-long battle against the Vieux Carré Riverfront Expressway that utilized the newly passed National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, preservationists and their allies forced the issue into federal court, eventually producing the cancellation of the freeway plan in 1969.

The victory was important for the preservation of the French Quarter, but it was hardly the only challenge. Throughout the 1960s, new hotels opened regularly, often replacing large sections of the French Quarter. The VCC approved these structures as long as their designers adhered to prevailing exterior styles. Detractors, fearing that the Vieux Carré's charm might be compromised by the introduction of too many new inns, lobbied successfully for passage in 1969 of a municipal ordinance that forbade new hotels within the district's boundaries. However, the ordinance failed to stop the proliferation of timeshare condominiums and clandestine bed and breakfast inns throughout the French Quarter or high-rise hotels just outside its boundaries. In the 1980s, many long-term residents were driven away by rising rents, as property values rose dramatically with expectations of windfalls from the planned 1984 World's Fair site nearby.

More of the neighborhood was developed to support tourism, which is important to the city's economy. But, the French Quarter still combines residential, hotels, guest houses, bars, restaurants and tourist-oriented commercial properties.

Effect of Hurricane Katrina
As with other parts of the city developed before the late 19th century, and on higher land predating New Orleans' levee systems, the French Quarter remained substantially dry following Hurricane Katrina. Its elevation is five feet (1.5 m) above sea level. Some streets had minor flooding, and several buildings suffered significant wind damage. Most of the major landmarks suffered only minor damage. In addition, the Quarter largely escaped the looting and violence that occurred after the storm; nearly all of the antique shops and art galleries in the French Quarter, for example, were untouched.

Mayor Ray Nagin officially reopened the French Quarter on September 26, 2005 (almost a month after the storm), for business owners to inspect their property and clean up. Within a few weeks, a large selection of French Quarter businesses had reopened. The Historic New Orleans Collection's Williams Research Center Annex was the first new construction completed in the French Quarter after Hurricane Katrina.

Post-Katrina
In 2020 Mayor of New Orleans LaToya Cantrell proposed ending use of automobiles in the French Quarter.

Geography
The French Quarter is located at 29.95861°N, -90.065°W and has an elevation of 1 ft. According to the United States Census Bureau, the district has a total area of 0.66 sqmi. 0.49 sqmi of which is land and 0.17 sqmi (25.76%) of which is water.

Boundaries
The most common definition of the French Quarter includes all the land stretching along the Mississippi River from Canal Street to Esplanade Avenue (13 blocks) and inland to North Rampart Street (seven to nine blocks). It equals an area of 78 square blocks. Some definitions, such as city zoning laws, exclude the properties facing Canal Street, which had already been redeveloped by the time architectural preservation was considered, and the section between Decatur Street and the river, much of which had long served industrial and warehousing functions.

Any alteration to structures in the remaining blocks is subject to review by the Vieux Carré Commission, which determines whether the proposal is appropriate for the historic character of the district. Its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Esplanade Avenue to the north, the Mississippi River to the east, Canal Street, Decatur Street and Iberville Street to the south and the Basin Street, St. Louis Street and North Rampart Street to the west.

The National Historic Landmark district is stated to be 85 square blocks. The Quarter is subdistrict of the French Quarter/CBD Area.

Adjacent neighborhoods

 * Faubourg Marigny (east)
 * Central Business District (west)
 * Iberville (north)
 * Tremé (north)

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 4,176 people, 2,908 households, and 509 families residing in the neighborhood. The population density was 8,523 /mi2 (3,212 /km$2$). As of the census of 2010, there were 3,813 people, 2,635 households, and 549 families residing in the neighborhood.

Jackson Square

Jackson Square (formerly Place d'Armes or Plaza de Armas, in French and Spanish, respectively), originally designed by architect and landscaper Louis H. Pilié (officially credited only with the iron fence), is a public, gated park the size of a city block, located at the front of the French Quarter (GPS 29.95748°N, -90.0631°W). In the mid-19th century, the square was named after President (formerly General, of Battle of New Orleans acclaim) Andrew Jackson.

In 1856, city leaders purchased an equestrian statue of Jackson from the sculptor Clark Mills. The statue was placed at the center of the square, which was converted to a park from its previous use as a military parade ground and execution site. (Convicted criminals were sometimes hanged in the square. After the slave insurrection of 1811 during the U.S. territorial period, some of the insurgents were sentenced to death here in Orleans Parish under a justice system which had not yet been converted to American ideals, and their severed heads were displayed here.)

The square originally overlooked the Mississippi River across Decatur Street; however, the view was blocked in the 19th century when larger levees were built along the river. The riverfront was long devoted to shipping-related activities at the heart of the port. The administration of Mayor Moon Landrieu put in a scenic boardwalk across from Jackson Square; it is known as the "Moon Walk" in his honor. At the end of the 1980s, old wharves and warehouses were demolished to create Woldenberg Park, extending the riverfront promenade up to Canal Street.

On the opposite side of the square from the River are three 18th‑century historic buildings, which were the city's heart in the colonial era. The center of the three is St. Louis Cathedral. The cathedral was designated a minor basilica by Pope Paul VI. To its left is the Cabildo, the old city hall, now a museum, where the final transfer papers for the Louisiana Purchase were signed. To the cathedral's right is the Presbytère, built to match the Cabildo. The Presbytère, originally planned to house the city's Roman Catholic priests and authorities, was adapted as a courthouse at the start of the 19th century after the Louisiana Purchase, when civilian government was elevated over church authority. In the 20th century it was adapted as a museum.

On each side of the square are the Pontalba Buildings, matching red-brick, one-block-long, four‑story buildings constructed between 1849 and 1851. The ground floors house shops and restaurants; the upper floors are apartments. The buildings were planned as row townhouses; they were not converted to rental apartments until the 1930s (during the Great Depression).

The buildings were designed and constructed by Baroness Micaela Almonester Pontalba, daughter of Don Andres Almonaster y Rojas, a prominent Spanish philanthropist in Creole New Orleans. Micaela Almonaster was born in Louisiana in 1795. Her father died three years later, and she became sole heiress to his fortune and his New Orleans land holdings.

Directly across from Jackson Square is the Jax Brewery building, the original home of a local beer. After the company ceased to operate independently, the building was converted for use by retail businesses, including restaurants and specialty shops. In recent years, some retail space has been converted into riverfront condominiums. Behind the Jax Brewery lies the Toulouse Street Wharf, the regular pier for the excursion steamboat, Natchez.

From the 1920s through the 1980s, Jackson Square became known for attracting painters, young art students, and caricaturists. In the 1990s, the artists were joined by tarot card readers, mimes, fortune tellers, and other street performers.

Live music has been a regular feature of the entire Quarter, including the Square, for more than a century. Formal concerts are also held, although more rarely. Street musicians play for tips.

Diagonally across the square from the Cabildo is Café du Monde, open 24 hours a day except for Christmas Day. The historic open-air cafe is known for its café au lait, its coffee blended with chicory, and its beignets, made and served there continuously since the Civil War period (1862). It is a custom for anyone visiting for the first time to blow the powdered sugar off a beignet and make a wish.

Bourbon Street
The most well-known of the French Quarter streets, Bourbon Street, or Rue Bourbon, is known for its drinking establishments. Most of the bars frequented by tourists are new but the Quarter also has a number of notable bars with interesting histories. The Old Absinthe House has kept its name even though absinthe was banned in the U.S. from 1915 to 2007 because it was believed to have toxic qualities.

Pat O'Brien's Bar is known both for inventing the red Hurricane cocktail and for having the first dueling piano bar. Pat O'Brien's is located at 718 St. Peter Street.

Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop is a tavern located on the corner of Bourbon and St. Philip streets. Built sometime before 1772, it is one of the older surviving structures in New Orleans. It is also the oldest bar in all of America that still operates as a bar. According to legend, the structure was once a business owned by the Lafitte brothers, perhaps as a "front" for their smuggling operations at Barataria Bay.

The Napoleon House bar and restaurant is in the former home of mayor Nicholas Girod. It was named for an unrealized plot to rescue Napoleon from his exile in Saint Helena and bring him to New Orleans.

The original Johnny White's bar is a favorite of motorcycle bikers. In 2005 an offshoot called Johnny White's Hole in the Wall, along with Molly's at the Market, drew national media attention as the only businesses in the city to stay open throughout Hurricane Katrina and the weeks after the storm.

Spirits on Bourbon was featured on the season three of Bar Rescue. It has become a staple of Bourbon Street, with its light-up skull cup and Resurrection drink.

The Bourbon Pub and Oz, both located at the intersection of Bourbon and St. Ann Streets, are the two largest gay clubs in New Orleans. Café Lafitte in Exile, located at the intersection of Bourbon and Dumaine, is the oldest continuously running gay bar in the United States. These and other gay establishments sponsor the raucous Southern Decadence Festival during Labor Day weekend. This festival is often referred to as New Orleans' Gay Mardi Gras. St. Ann Street is often called "the Lavender Line" or "the Velvet Line" in reference to its being on the edge of the French Quarter's predominately gay district. While gay residents live throughout the French Quarter, that portion northeast of St. Ann Street is generally considered to be the gay district.

New Orleans and its French Quarter are one of a few places in the United States where possession and consumption of alcohol in open containers is allowed on the street. French Quarter Street is also home to jazz music; there are many street performers and jazz shops. Many streets are filled with jazz clubs with live jazz performances, making it an attractive destination in the neighborhood.

Museums
The French Quarter boasts several museums, including the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum, New Orleans Pharmacy Museum, New Orleans Jazz Museum, and the Museum of Death.

Restaurants
The neighborhood contains many restaurants, ranging from formal to casual, patronized by both visitors and locals. Some are well-known landmarks, such as Antoine's and Tujague's, which have been in business since the 19th century. Arnaud's, Galatoire's, Broussard's, and Brennan's are also venerable.

Less historic—but also well-known—French Quarter restaurants include those run by chefs Paul Prudhomme ("K-Paul's"), Emeril Lagasse ("NOLA"), and John Besh. Port of Call on Esplanade Avenue has been in business for more than 30 years, and is recognized for its popular "Monsoon" drink (their answer to the "Hurricane" at Pat O'Brien's Bar) as well as for its food.

The Gumbo Shop is another traditional eatery in the Quarter and where casual dress is acceptable. For a take-out lunch, Central Grocery on Decatur Street is the home of the original muffaletta Italian sandwich, with New Orleans being a major center for Italian cuisine in the American South.

Hotels
Accommodations in the French Quarter range from large international chain hotels, to bed and breakfasts, to time-share condominiums and small guest houses with only one or two rooms. The French Quarter is known for its traditional-style hotels, such as the Bourbon Orleans, Hotel Monteleone (family-owned), Royal Sonesta, the Astor, and the Omni Royal Orleans. The Hotel St. Pierre is a small hotel also consisting of historic French Quarter houses, with a courtyard patio.

The Audubon Cottages are a collection of seven Creole cottages, two of which were utilized by John James Audubon in the early 19th century when he worked in New Orleans for a short time. Also utilized by Audubon was the current breakfast room of the Dauphine Orleans Hotel, a 111-room hotel located on Dauphine Street. The Dauphine Orleans Hotel's on-site bar, May Baily's Place, was once one of New Orleans' most-known brothels, and it is rumored that the ghosts of prostitutes and American Civil War soldiers haunt the property.

Education
Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) manages the public school system.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans operates area Catholic schools. Cathedral Academy, originally St. Louis Cathedral School, was in the French Quarter. It opened in 1914, and had a building separate from that of its parish. In 2012 the archdiocese decided to close the school. It had 156 students in 2012, and the archdiocese's criterion for optimal enrollment in a K–7 was 200. St. Stephen School in Uptown New Orleans offered places to St. Louis Cathedral students. Cathedral Academy parents stated opposition against the closure.

title: French Quarter


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Savitr

Savitṛ (सवितृ, nominative singular: सविता , also rendered as Savitur),  in Vedic scriptures is an Aditya (i.e., an "offspring") of the Vedic primeval mother goddess Aditi. His name in Vedic Sanskrit connotes "impeller, rouser, vivifier."

He is sometimes identified with—and at other times distinguished from—Surya, "the Sun god". When considered distinct from the Sun proper, he is conceived of as the divine influence or vivifying power of the Sun. The Sun before sunrise is called Savitr, and after sunrise until sunset it is called Sūrya. Savitr is venerated in the Rig Veda, the oldest component of the Vedic scriptures. He is first recorded in book three of the Rigveda; (RV 3.62.10) later called the Gayatri mantra. Furthermore, he is described with great detail in Hymn 35 of the Rig Veda, also called the Hymn of Savitr. In this hymn, Savitr is personified and represented as a patron deity. He is celebrated in eleven whole hymns of the Rig Veda and in parts of many others texts, with his name being mentioned about 170 times in aggregate..

Savitr disappeared as an independent deity from the Hindu pantheon after the end of the Vedic period, but is still worshiped in modern Hinduism and is referred to as Sāvitrī.

Rigvedic deity
Savitr is a deity whose name primarily denotes an agent, in the form of a noun derived from a verbal root with the agent suffix -tṛ added. The name of Savitr belongs to a class of Vedic theonyms, together with Dhatṛ, Tratṛ and Tvastr. These names denote that these are agent gods, who create, protect, and produce, respectively.

Appearance
Savitr has golden arms, and is broad-handed or beautiful-handed. He is also pleasant tongued or beautiful-tongued, and is once called iron-jawed. His eyes are golden as well. He is yellow-haired, an attribute shared with Agni and Indra. He dons on a tawny garb. He has a golden chariot with a golden axle, which is omni-form, just as he himself is capable of assuming all forms. His channel is analogized as a resplendent chariot drawn by two radiant steeds or by two or more bronze, white-footed stallions. Mighty splendour ("amati") is preeminently attributed to Savitr, and mighty "golden" splendour to him only. Such splendour he stretches out or diffuses. He illumines the air, heaven and earth, the world, the spaces of the earth, the vault of heaven.

Functions
Like Pushan and Surya, he is lord of that which is mobile and is stationary. Savitr has been attributed to as upholding the movables and immovable, which signifies the maintenance of Ṛta. Savitr is a beneficent god who acts as protector of all beings, who are provident and guard the world of spirits. Being an Aditya, Savitr is true to the Eternal Order and act as the score exacter.

His primordial pathways in the air are dustless and sleekly traversed, on them he is besought to fortify his invokers. He is prayed to convey the departed soul to where the righteous dwell. Savitr bestows immortality on the gods as well as length of life on man. He also bestowed immortality on the Rbhus, who by the greatness of their deeds advanced to his dwelling. Like other gods, Savitr is a supporter of the cosmos. Also, he holds the whole world, a role which was also assigned to Vishnu in the Vedas.

Abstract classification
There are two classes of deities in the Rig Veda whose nature is founded on abstraction.
 * The first class, consisting of the direct personifications of abstract notions – such as 'desire' – is rare, occurring only in the very latest hymns of the Rig Veda and due to that growth of speculation which is so plainly traceable in the course of the Vedic age.

 * The second and more numerous class comprises deities whose names primarily either denote an agent, in the form of a noun derived from a root with the suffix "-tṛ" (such as Dhatr, 'Creator') or designate some attribute, such as Prajapati ('Lord of Creatures').

The class, judged by the evolution of the mythological creations of the Veda, does not represent direct abstractions, but appears in each case to be derived from an epithet applied to one or more deities, illustrating a particular aspect of activity or character. Such epithets gradually become detached, finally attaining an independent status. Thus Rohita, the 'Red One' (whose female form is Rohinī), originally an epithet of the sun, as a separate deity in the capacity of a Creator. "... [the] second class of gods, who may be called 'abstract', is afforded by the agent gods – such as Dhatr – whose name expresses a function which they perform; ... they can be called 'functional gods'. In all the cases which are to be found in the Vedic literature we are able to say with a fair degree of plausibility that the conception formed itself from the use of the epithet in question, in the first place, of some concrete god; ... after denoting that deity in the special field of action, it was gradually made into a separate deity, concerned merely with the sphere of action in question. This, however, cannot be proved beyond doubt: It will, for instance, always be open to question whether Savitr is really an aspect of the sun, or whether he is god of stimulation, who by reason of similarity of nature has been made 'like to the sun'. In other cases there can be less doubt: The god Visnu cannot really be explained as a god of 'wide stepping' – he is a sun god, who happens to have a special sphere of activity ..."

Savitr is never mentioned as having part in the Soma sacrifice "a fact which is doubtless fair evidence that the Rig Veda did not know him as having a place in the rite, and that he was later brought in, perhaps because of his growing importance, perhaps as an Aditya.""

Solar aspects
According to Yaska, Sanskrit scholar of the 5th century BCE, who made various attempts to interpret difficult Vedic mythologies in his work Nirukta (Etymology) (12, 12), the time of Savitr’s appearance is when darkness has been removed. Sayanacharya (on Rig Veda) remarks that before his rising the sun is called Savitr, but from his rising to his setting, Surya. But Savitr is also sometimes spoken of as "sending to sleep", and must therefore be connected with evening as well as morning. He is, indeed, extolled as the setting sun in one hymn (2, 38); and there are indications that most of the hymns addressed to him are meant for either a morning or an evening sacrifice. He brings all two-footed and four-footed beings to rest and awakens them. He unyokes his steeds, brings the wanderer to rest; at his command night comes; the weaver rolls up her web and the skilful man lays down his unfinished work. Later the west was wont to be assigned to him, as the east to Agni, and the south to Soma.

The epithet "sūrya-raśmi" is used in the Rig Veda only once, and it is applied to Savitr:  "Radiating with the beams of the Sun, golden-haired, Savitr raises up His effulgence continually from the east."

Like Surya, Savitr is implored to remove evil nightmares and to render men sinless. Savitr drives away sorcerers and antagonism. He observes fixed laws. The waters and the wind are subject to his ordinance. He leads the waters and by his propulsion they flow broadly. The other gods follow his lead. No being, not even Indra, Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman, Rudra, can resist his will and independent dominion. His praises are celebrated by the Vasus, Aditi, Varuna, Mitra and Aryaman. He is lord of all things worthy, and bestows blessings pervading heaven, air, earth. ... the connection of Savitr with the sun is fairly close. It is at least possible, therefore, that in its origin Savitr was not an independent creation, but was an epithet of Surya, but that question is of little importance: The essential feature of the god is not his original basis, but his function as the inspirer or impeller to holy sacrifice: The ritual act is repeatedly said in the Yajur Veda to be done ‘on the instigation of the god Savitr’.

In several passages of the Rig Veda, Savitr and Surya appear simultaneously. It may even appear based on A.B. Keith's opinion that the terms Savitar and Surya are used interchangeably in certain hymns of the Rig Veda. However it is worth noting that several other deities are directly associated with the epithet of Savitar in the Family Books. They include Indra who is paired alongside Savitar, and Tvastr who is compounded with Savitar. Furthermore, Savitar is unambiguously identified with Bhaga. Savitar is also unambiguously called Pusan and Mitra. While Savitar certainly has directly been charged with using Surya's rays, Savitar has a much more direct congruence with other deities. The Vedic poet observes:  "[G]od Savitr has raised aloft his brilliance, making light for the whole world; Surya shining brightly has filled heaven and earth and air with his rays."

In another hymn Surya is spoken of in terms Prasavitṛ (Vivifier), an adjective usually applied to Savitr, and in the third verse Savitr is apparently mentioned as the same god as Surya. In other hymns also, it is hardly possible to separate the two deities. In certain passages, Savitr combines with the rays of the sun or shines with the rays of the sun.

Savitr has a major role in creation. The relevant hymn mentions that: "Indra measured six broad spaces, from which no existing thing is excluded: He it is who made the wide expanse of earth and the lofty dome of the sky, even he." Savitr assisted Indra in shaping the universe.

[T]here are in the last book of the Rig Veda some hymns which treat the origin of the world philosophically rather than mythologically. Various passages show that in the cosmological speculation of the Rig Veda The sun was regarded as an important agent of generation. Thus he is called the soul (atma) of all that moves and stands. Statements such as that he is called by many names though one indicate that his nature was being tentatively abstracted to that of a supreme god, nearly approaching that of the later conception of Brahma. In this sense the sun is once glorified as a great power of the universe under the name of the golden embryo, hiranya-garbha, in Rig Veda. It is he who measures out space in the air and shines where the sun rises. In the last verse of this hymn, he is called Prajapati, lord of created beings, the name which became that of the chief god of the Brahmanas. It is significant that in the only older passage of the Rig veda in which it occurs, Prajapati is an epithet of the solar deity Savitr, who in the same hymn is said to rule over what moves and stands.

Other names and epithets

 * Apam napat (Born of the Waters): Savitr is at least once. called "apam napat" (Child of Waters), an epithet applied to Agni and Soma as well.

 * God of the Middle Region: Commentator Yaska commenting on the verse where Savitr is attributed with causing rain, regards Savitr as belonging to the mesial region (or atmosphere) for possessing this ability, adding that the Adityas, who are in heaven, are also called Savitr. It is probably owing to this epithet and because Savitr’s paths are said to be in the atmosphere, that this deity occurs among the gods of the mesial expanse among those of outer space in the Naighantuka.

 * Prajapati: Savitr is once depicted as the Prajapati of the world. In the Satapatha Brahmana (v. 12, 3, 5), Savitr has been identified with Prajapati and in the Taittiriya Brahmana (v. 1, 6, 4), it has been stated that Prajapati becoming Savitr created living beings.

 * Damunas (Domestic): In the Rig Veda, Savitr has been twice spoken of as domestic ("damunas"), an epithet otherwise almost entirely limited to Agni.

 * Asura: Like many other gods, Savitr is mentioned as ‘asura’ in many hymns of the Rig Veda.

 * Pusan: Savitr alone is the lord of vivifying power and on account of his movements (yamabhih), he becomes Pusan. In two consecutive verses, Pusan and Savitr are described as connected. In the first the favour of Pusan who sees all beings is invoked, and in the second, Savitr is besought to stimulate the thoughts of worshipers who desire to think of the excellent brilliance of the Deva. The latter verse is the celebrated Savitri, now termed as the Gayatri mantra, with which Savitr was in later times invoked at the beginning of Vedic study.

 * Mitra: Savitr is also said to become Mitra by reason of his laws.

 * Bhaga: Savitr seems sometimes to be identified with Bhaga also, unless the latter word is here only an epithet of Savitr. The name of Bhaga, the good god bestowing benefits is indeed often added to that of Savitr so as to form the single expression Savitr Bhaga or Bhaga Savitr, with the term Bhaga simply acting as a qualitative and attributive adjective.

Savitr in the Brahmanas
The Vedas do not specifically identify the Ādityas as there is no classification of the thirty-three gods, except for in the Yajurveda (7.19), which says that there are eleven gods in heaven (light space), eleven gods in the atmosphere (intermediate space), and eleven gods on earth (observer space). In some passages of the Satapatha Brahmana, the number of Ādityas is eight, and in other passages twelve Ādityas are mentioned.

Savitr disappears in post-Vedic literature and is absent from the corpus of Pauranic Hinduism.

Hindu revivalism
Some modern Hindu spiritual thinkers assign symbolism to the Vedic deities like Savitr. The Vedic deities are not only forces of nature, but also forces that exist within the human intellect and psyche, and help the individual in spiritual progress.

According to Sri Aurobindo, the Vedic depictions are deeper than mere imagery. The gods, goddesses and the evil forces mentioned in the Vedas represent various cosmic powers. They play a significant role in the drama of creation, preservation, and destruction in the inner world of a human being.

Once the senses are controlled and the mind is stabilized through slaying of all the dark powers, comes the awakening, the goddess Ushas, who brings along with her Ashvins into the world of inner consciousness. After Ushas appears Aditi, the Primal Sun, the God of Light: First as Savitr, who represents the divine grace essential for all spiritual success, and then as Mitra, who as the divine love is considered as a friend of the illumined mind (Indra) and his associates (the other gods). The Sun is of Truth, after which appear Rta (Truth in Action) and Rtachit (Truth consciousness).

Popular culture
In DC Comics' The Flash comics and The CW's The Flash TV series, the speedster Savitar is an enemy of the Flash who named himself after the Hindu god.

In a fiction by author Ryan Sequeira, called "EvOLv", where Savitr has been named as one of the Supreme Gods - parallel with Shiva - The God Savitr is referred to as the source of light in the multiverse.

In the Dark-Hunter fantasy series by author Sherrilyn Kenyon, Savitar is a Chthonian god killer who is thousands of years old and was responsible for policing the Atlantean pantheon.

For the second and all subsequent seasons of the television series Battlestar Galactica, Richard Gibbs composed new opening music whose words come from the Sāvitrī Mantra. A literal translation of the verse can be given as: "May we attain that excellent glory of Savitar the god: so may he stimulate our prayers."

title: Savitr


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Ravi

Ravi may refer to:

People

 * Ravi (name), including a list of people and characters with the name
 * Ravi (composer) (1926–2012), Indian music director
 * Ravi (Ivar Johansen) (born 1976), Norwegian musical artist
 * Ravi (rapper) (born 1993), a South Korean rapper
 * Ravi, an actor in the 2018 film Dhwaja

Other

 * Ravi, Gavorrano, a village in the province of Grosseto, Tuscany
 * Ravi River, a Himalayan river flowing through India and Pakistan
 * Ravi Town, a town near Lahore, Pakistan
 * An alternative name for Surya, the Sanskrit word for the Sun and the Hindu solar deity
 * Ravi, a fictional state in The Ravi Lancers, a novel by John Masters
 * Ravi-datta, a character in the 11th-century Indian story collection Shringara-manjari-katha

title: Ravi


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Mitra

Mitra (Proto-Indo-Iranian: *mitrás) is the name of an Indo-Iranian divinity that predates the Rigvedic Mitrá and Avestan Mithra.

The names, and some characteristics, of these established deities subsequently influenced other figures:
 * Maitreya, a vrddhi-derived form of Sanskrit mitra, a bodhisattva in Buddhist tradition.
 * Latin Mithras, the principal figure of the first-century Roman mystery cult of Mithraism, whose name derives from the Avestan theonym via Greek and some Anatolian intermediate.
 * In Hellenistic-era Asia Minor, Avestan Mithra was conflated with various local and Greek figures leading to several different variants of Apollo-Helios-Mithras-Hermes-Stilbon.
 * In Middle Iranian, the Avestan theonym evolved (among other Middle Iranian forms) into Sogdian Miši, Middle Persian and Parthian Mihr, and Bactrian Miuro (/mihru/). Aside from Avestan Mithra, these derivative names were also used for Greco-Bactrian Mithro, Miiro, Mioro, and Miuro.
 * Mithra, the "first messenger" of Iranian Manichaeans.

Indian religious texts
Both Vedic Mitra and Avestan Mithra derive from an Indo-Iranian common noun *mitra-, generally reconstructed to have meant "covenant, treaty, agreement, promise." This meaning is preserved in Avestan miθra "covenant". In Sanskrit and modern Indo-Aryan languages,  means "friend", one of the aspects of bonding and alliance.

The Indo-Iranian reconstruction is attributed to Christian Bartholomae, and was subsequently refined by A. Meillet (1907), who suggested derivation from the Proto-Indo-European root *mey- "to exchange".

A suggested alternative derivation was *meh "to measure" (Gray 1929). Pokorny (IEW 1959) refined Meillet's *mei as "to bind". Combining the root *mei with the "tool suffix" -tra- "that which [causes] ..." (also found in man-tra-, "that which causes to think"), then literally means "that which binds", and thus "covenant, treaty, agreement, promise, oath" etc. Pokorny's interpretation also supports "to fasten, strengthen", which may be found in Latin moenia "city wall, fortification", and in an antonymic form, Old English (ge)maere "border, boundary-post".

Meillet and Pokorny's "contract" did however have its detractors. Lentz (1964, 1970) refused to accept abstract "contract" for so exalted a divinity and preferred the more religious "piety". Because present-day Sanskrit mitra means "friend", and New Persian mihr means "love" or "friendship", Gonda (1972, 1973) insisted on a Vedic meaning of "friend, friendship", not "contract".

Meillet's analysis also "rectified earlier interpretations" that suggested that the Indo-Iranian common noun *mitra- had anything to do with the light or the sun. When H. Lommel suggested that such an association was implied in the Younger Avesta (since the 6th century BCE), that too was conclusively dismissed. Today, it is certain that "(al)though Miθra is closely associated with the sun in the Avesta, he is not the sun" and "Vedic Mitra is not either."

Old Persian Miθra or Miθr a  – both only attested in a handful of 4th-century BCE inscriptions of Artaxerxes II and III – "is generally admitted [to be] a borrowing from the Avesta," the genuine Old Persian form being reconstructed as *Miça. (Kent initially suggested Sanskrit but later changed his mind). Middle Iranian myhr (Parthian, also in living Armenian usage) and mihr (Middle Persian), derive from Avestan Mithra.

Greek/Latin "Mithras," the focal deity of the Greco-Roman cult of Mithraism is the nominative form of vocative Mithra. In contrast to the original Avestan meaning of "contract" or "covenant" (and still evident in post-Sassanid Middle Persian texts), the Greco-Roman Mithraists probably thought the name meant "mediator". In Plutarch's 1st-century discussion of dualistic theologies, Isis and Osiris (46.7) the Greek historiographer provides the following explanation of the name in his summary of the Zoroastrian religion: Mithra is a meson ("in the middle") between "the good Horomazdes and the evil Aremanius [...] and this is why the Pérsai call the Mediator Mithra". Zaehner attributes this false etymology to a role that Mithra (and the sun) played in the now extinct branch of Zoroastrianism known as Zurvanism.

Indian Mitra
Vedic Mitra is a prominent deity of the Rigveda distinguished by a relationship to Varuna, the protector of rta as described in hymn 2, Mandala 1 of Rigveda. Together with Varuna, he counted among the Adityas, a group of solar deities, also in later Vedic texts. Vedic Mitra is the patron divinity of honesty, friendship, contracts and meetings.

The first extant record of Indo-Aryan Mitra, in the form mi-it-ra-, is in the inscribed peace treaty of c. 1400 BC between Hittites and the Hurrian kingdom of the Mitanni in the area southeast of Lake Van in Asia Minor. Mitra appears there together with four other Indic divinities as witnesses and keepers of the pact.

Iranian Mithra

In Zoroastrianism, Mithra is a member of the trinity of ahuras, protectors of asha/arta, "truth" or "[that which is] right". Mithra's standard appellation is "of wide pastures" suggesting omnipresence. Mithra is "truth-speaking, ... with a thousand ears, ... with ten thousand eyes, high, with full knowledge, strong, sleepless, and ever awake." (Yasht 10.7). As preserver of covenants, Mithra is also protector and keeper of all aspects of interpersonal relationships, such as friendship and love.

Related to his position as protector of truth, Mithra is a judge (ratu), ensuring that individuals who break promises or are not righteous (artavan) are not admitted to paradise. As also in Indo-Iranian tradition, Mithra is associated with (the divinity of) the sun but originally distinct from it. Mithra is closely associated with the feminine yazata Aredvi Sura Anahita, the hypostasis of knowledge.

Mithra in Commagene

There is a deity Mithra mentioned on monuments in Commagene. According to the archaeologist Maarten Vermaseren, 1st century BC evidence from Commagene demonstrates the "reverence paid to Mithras" but does not refer to "the mysteries".

In the colossal statuary erected by King Antiochus I (69–34 BC) at Mount Nemrut, Mithras is shown beardless, wearing a Phrygian cap, and was originally seated on a throne alongside other deities and the king himself. On the back of the thrones there is an inscription in Greek, which includes the name Apollo-Mithras-Helios in the genitive case ($Ἀπόλλωνος Μίθρου Ἡλίου$).

Vermaseren also reports about a Mithras cult in Fayum in the 3rd century BC. R.D. Barnett has argued that the royal seal of King Saussatar of Mitanni from c. 1450 BC depicts a tauroctonous Mithras.

Buddhist Maitreya
Maitreya is sometimes represented seated on a throne, and venerated both in Mahāyāna and non-Mahāyāna Buddhism. Some have speculated that inspiration for Maitreya may have come from the ancient Iranian deity Mithra. The primary comparison between the two characters appears to be the similarity of their names. According to Tiele (1917) "No one who has studied the Zoroastrian doctrine of the Saoshyants or the coming saviour-prophets can fail to see their resemblance to the future Maitreya."

Paul Williams claims that some Zoroastrian ideas like Saoshyant influenced the beliefs about Maitreya, such as expectations of a heavenly helper, the need to opt for positive righteousness, the future millennium, and universal salvation. Possible objections are that these characteristics are not unique to Zoroastrianism, nor are they necessarily characteristic of the belief in Maitreya.

Graeco-Roman Mithras

The name Mithra was adopted by the Greeks and Romans as Mithras, chief figure in the mystery religion of Mithraism. At first identified with the Sun-god Helios by the Greeks, the syncretic Mithra-Helios was transformed into the figure Mithras during the 2nd century BC, probably at Pergamon. This new cult was taken to Rome around the 1st century BC and was dispersed throughout the Roman Empire. Popular among the Roman military, Mithraism was spread as far north as Hadrian's Wall and the Germanic Limes.

title: Mitra


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Dhata

In Hinduism, Dhata or Dhatri is the name of the solar deity, one of the Adityas. He is also a god of health and magic. He is invoked in tantra by drawing tantras and chanting Vedic hymns. Often invoked during major yagnas such as Ashwamedha yagna.

Dhata is evidenced as an Aditya in both Hindu epics - the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. He is described to fought Arjuna and Krishna in burning of Khandava Forest episode in the epic Mahabharata. The Bhagavata Purana also mentions Dhata as the seventh son of Aditi and Kashyapa. In this text, he has four wives — Kuhu, Sinivali, Raka, and Anumati — who gave birth to his sons — Sayam, Darsha, Pratar and Purnamasa respectively. In the Agni Purana, he is associated with the colour yellow and the zodiac cancer.

title: Dhata


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Bhaga

Bhaga is the Vedic god of wealth, as well as a term for "lord, patron" and "wealth, prosperity". He is an Āditya, a group of societal deities who are the sons of Aditi. Bhaga's responsibility was to make sure that people received a share of the goods in life. He is associated with his brother, Aryaman, regarding the expectation of a successful marriage.

Etymology
The cognate term in Avestan and Old Persian is baga, of uncertain meaning but used in a sense in which "lord, patron, sharer/distributor of good fortune" might also apply. The cognate in Slavic languages is the root bogъ ("god"). The semantics is similar to English lord (from hlaford "bread-warden"), the idea being that it is part of the function of a chieftain or leader to distribute riches or spoils among his followers. The name of the city of Baghdad derives from Middle Persian bag-dād, "lord-given".

In Sanskrit religious literature
In the Rigveda Samhita, Bhaga is invoked and praised as the "sustainer of the world", "giver of wealth", "chief leader of rites", and "possessor of opulence". He is asked to bestow upon his adherents cattle and horses, male issue, felicity, and riches.

In the Sanskrit Rigveda, bhaga is an epithet of both mortals and gods (e.g. of Savitr, Indra and Agni) who bestow wealth and prosperity, as well as the personification of a particular god, the Bhaga, who bestows the same. In the Rigveda, the personification is attested primarily in RV 7.41, which is devoted to the praise of the Bhaga and of the deities closest to him, and in which the Bhaga is invoked about 60 times, together with Agni, Indra, the dual Mitra-Varuna, the two Ashvins, Pusan, Brahmanaspati, Soma and Rudra. Bhaga is also invoked elsewhere in the company of Indra, Varuna and Mitra (e.g. RV 10.35, 42.396). The personification is occasionally intentionally ambiguous, as in RV 5.46 where men are portrayed as requesting the Bhaga to share in bhaga. In the Rigveda, the Bhaga is occasionally associated with the sun: in RV 1.123, the Dawn (Ushas) is said to be the Bhaga's sister, and in RV 1.136, the Bhaga's eye is adorned with rays.

The 5th/6th-century BCE Nirukta (Nir. 12.13) describes Bhaga as the god of the morning. In the Rigveda, the Bhaga is named as one of the Adityas, the seven (or eight) celestial sons of Aditi, the Rigvedic mother of the gods. In the medieval Bhagavata Purana, the Bhaga reappears with the Puranic Adityas, which are by then twelve solar gods.

Legacy
Elsewhere, the Bhaga continues as a god of wealth and marriage, in a role that is also attested for the Sogdian (Buddhist) equivalent of the Bhaga.

The common noun bhaga survives in the 2nd century CE inscription of Rudradaman I, where it is a fiscal term; in bhagavan for "one who possesses (-van) the properties of a bhaga-", hence itself "lord, god"; and in bhagya, and "that which derives from bhaga", hence "destiny" as an abstract noun, and also Bhagya personified as the proper name of a son of Surya.

Bhaga is also the presiding deity of the Purva Phalgunī Nakshatra.

title: Bhaga


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Virabhadra

Virabhadra (वीरभद्र), also rendered Veerabhadra, Veerabathira, and Veerabathiran, is a fierce form of the Hindu god Shiva. He is created by the wrath of Shiva, when the deity hurls a lock of his matted hair upon the ground, upon hearing of the self-immolation of his consort, Sati, at the Daksha yajna.

He appears in the Puranas as a vengeful being, attacking the deities who had attended the Daksha yajna with Bhadrakali. In the ensuing melee, Bhaga's eyes are plucked out, Agni, Mitra, and Chandra are also accosted. The fate of Daksha himself varies from text to text: Virabhadra either decapitates him, urges him to beg forgiveness from Shiva, or is saved by Vishnu, who defeats Virabhadra.

Origin

Virabhadra was created by Shiva after Sati, Shiva's wife, immolated herself during the Daksha Yajña.

The origin of the Daksha Yajña legend lies in Taittirīya Samhita 2.6.8, where Rudra(Later Shiva) was excluded from the Sacrifice by the Devas, then Rudra Pierced the sacrifice. Pushan lost his teeth and Bhaga got blinded. This legend is also mentioned in the Shatapatha Brāhmana of the Shukla Yajurveda and in the Gopatha Brāhmana of the Atharvaveda. The Gopatha Brāhmana version mentions Prajapati as the one who excluded Rudra from the sacrifice. In post-Vedic literature, Daksha Prajapati excluded Shiva from the Yajña.

According to Shaivism, Virabhadra's origins are described as follows: Sati was the youngest daughter of Daksha. While growing up, she had her heart set on Shiva and worshipped him. During the svayamvara of Sati, Daksha invited all the Devas and princes except Shiva. Sati cast her garland into the air, calling upon Shiva to receive it, and beheld him to be standing in the midst of the court, with the garland about his neck. Daksha had no choice but to accept the marriage of his daughter to Shiva.

One day, Daksha invited all the deities, as well as all of his children and grandchildren, in order to perform a ritual sacrifice, deliberately not inviting Sati and Shiva. Sati's urge to attend the event, due to her affection towards her parents, overpowered the social etiquette of not going to an uninvited ceremony. When Shiva refused to accompany her, Sati insisted on attending the ritual without him. Upon her arrival, Daksha started to humiliate her and her husband, expressing his hatred for Shiva in front of the entire assembly of people. Unable to bear the ignominy, the furious Sati leapt into the sacrificial fire, immolating herself with her yogic abilities. When Shiva heard of these tidings, he tore a clump of his matted hair, from which Virabhadra and Bhadrakali emerged. Shiva instructed Virabhadra to lay waste to the sacrifice, and destroy all of its participants.

"Maheshwara replied, 'Spoil the sacrifice of Daksha'. Then the mighty Virabhadra, having heard the pleasure of his lord, bowed down his head to the feet of Shiva; and starting like a lion loosed from bonds, despoiled the sacrifice of Daksha, knowing that this had been created by the displeasure of Devi. She too in her wrath, as the fearful goddess Rudrakali, accompanied him, with all her train, to witness his deeds."

The Padma Purana identifies Virabhadra as the fierce form of Mangala (Mars). Virabhadra is born when Shiva, due to his anguish regarding the death of Sati, perspires, and his perspiration falls upon the earth. This gives birth to the fierce Virabhadra, who destroys the sacrifice. In the aftermath, Shiva calms him down and makes him Angaraka, the planet Mars.

Daksha yajna
The Skanda Purana states that ill-omens immediately started to surface when Shiva's forces started to march upon the Daksha yajna, describing a rain of blood and meteor showers. Finding these phenomena to be foreboding, Daksha sought the protection of Vishnu, who agreed to offer it, while also according blame to the former for his disrespect. The forces consisted of the Navadurga, rakshasas, yakshas, pishachas, a host of bhutas, thousands of ganas, as well as yoginis and guhyakas. These forces were commanded by the three-eyed Virabhadra, bearing a thousand arms, entwined with great serpents, with his chariot drawn by two thousand horses and a million lions. Indra and the devas were assisted by Bhrigu in routing the first wave of gana attacks. Angered, Virabhadra marshalled his forces in a counterattack, and wielding their battle-axes and iron clubs, they started to massacre the devas. The sages begged Vishnu to defend the sacrifice from the attackers, and the deity prepared to fight against Virabhadra. While Virabhadra offered his obeisance to the preserver deity, he accused him of seeking a share of the offerings of the sacrifice, and warned him against staying there. Vishnu laughed, and informed him that he had a duty to shield his devotees, and would leave after he had had his fill of Virabhadra's missiles. Indra chose to challenge Virabhadra, and struck him with his vajra. In retaliation, Virabhadra attempted to swallow Indra as well as his mount, Airavata. Vishnu intervened, saving Indra, and obstructing the assault of Virabhadra. He also summoned the Ashvins, who healed the fallen devas with their medicine. Enraged, Virabhadra confronted Vishnu. The preserver deity employed his Sudarshana Chakra against Virabhadra, which the latter swallowed whole. After retrieving his celestial discus, satisfied that he had turned the tide of the battle, Vishnu returned to his abode. Not satisfied with the carnage, Virabhadra accosted Bhrigu, Pushan, and when he saw the terrified Daksha cowering beneath the altar, he beheaded him, offering his head to the fire as a sacrifice. The disturbed Brahma visited Shiva, and begged him to put an end to the bloodshed. Shiva arrived at the Daksha yajna, conversed with Virabhadra, and restored life to Daksha by placing the head of a deformed animal upon his neck. The resurrected Daksha offered his obeisance to Shiva, which ended the conflict.

Various scriptures, coloured by their traditions, offer variations of the conflict, and Virabhadra's role in the legend. The Kurma Purana has Virabhadra realise that Vishnu and Shiva are the same deity, and proclaim that the world was created by Narayana. In the Harivamsha and Vamana Purana, Vishnu gains the upper hand in his fight against Virabhadra.

Significance
Veerbhadra is considered gotrapurusha of many jat clans and VeeraShaiva-lingayat subsects(like lingayat vani).They believe to be originated from Shiva's Jats and therefore worship lord virabhadra as their ancestral god. They believe in having qualities of a Kshatriya and neglect discrimination and ego(same was the purpose of virabhadra to kill daksha).

Many temples were created by rulers of veerashiva lingayat faith including the lepakshi veerbhadra temple.The temple was built in 1530 AD (1540 AD is also mentioned) by Virupanna Nayaka and Viranna, both brothers who were Governors under the Vijayanagar Empire.According to Skanda Purana, the temple is one of the divyakshetras, an important pilgrimage site of Lord Shiva.

title: Virabhadra


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Ansa

Ansa (Latin for "handle") or ANSA may refer to:

Organizations

 * Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata, Italian news agency
 * Ansa Mediterranean or ANSAmed, section of the above
 * Applied Neuroscience Society of Australasia
 * Association of Norwegian Students Abroad

Anatomy

 * Ansa cervicalis, a loop of nerves that are part of the cervical plexus
 * Ansa lenticularis, a part of the brain, making up the superior layer of the substantia innominata of Meynert
 * Loop of Henle (ansa nephroni), a portion of a nephron in the kidney
 * Ansa of the tympanal organ

Astronomy

 * Ansae, compact nebulosities such as can be found in protoplanetary nebulae
 * One of the apparent ends of the rings of Saturn

Computing

 * Advanced Networked Systems Architecture, a 1990s, pre-CORBA, distributed systems architecture
 * ANSA Pre-processor, commercial pre-processing software (Automatic Net-generation for Structural Analysis)

Other uses in science and technology

 * Ansa (moth), a genus of moth
 * In archaeology, the engraved and ornamented handle of a vase
 * Bridge (chemical) between two functional groups/ligands
 * Ansa-metallocene

People

 * Ansa, Queen of the Lombards ( 753–774), wife of Desiderius, king of the Lombards
 * Ansa Ikonen (1913–1989), Finnish actress
 * Tina McElroy Ansa (born 1949), African American novelist, filmmaker, teacher, and journalist

Other uses

 * Ansa (Hinduism) or, a solar deity and one of the Adityas
 * ANSA, equivalent of NASA in the 1968 film Planet of the Apes
 * Armed non-state actors, a term used in political science
 * National Security Advisor (United States), Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs

title: Ansa


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Svaha

Svaha (Sanskrit: स्वाहा, IAST: Svāhā), also referred to as Manyanti, is the Hindu goddess of sacrifices featured in the Vedas. She is the consort of Agni, and the daughter of either Daksha or Brihaspati, depending on the literary tradition. According to the Brahmavaivarta Purana, she is an aspect of Prakriti (nature), an element without which Agni cannot sustain.

Additionally, in Hinduism and Buddhism, the Sanskrit lexical item svāhā (romanized Sanskrit transcription; Devanagari: स्वाहा; Khmer: ស្វាហា; Thai: สวาหะ; Chinese: 薩婆訶, sà pó hē, Japanese: sowaka; Tibetan: སྭཱ་ཧཱ་ sw'a h'a; Korean: 사바하, sabaha; Vietnamese : ta bà ha) is a denouement used at the end of a mantra, which is invoked during yajna fire sacrifices and worship. Svāhā is chanted to offer oblation to the gods. As a feminine noun, svāhā in the Rigveda may also mean oblation (to Agni or Indra). Svaha is also considered to mean an auspicious ending.

Etymology
Etymologically, the Sanskrit term derives from the root words सू sū- "good" and आहा -āhā "to call".

Legends
Svaha is personified as a goddess and as the consort of Agni. According to the Brahmavidya Upanishad, Svaha represents the shakti or power that cannot be burned by Agni. In the Upanishads, Svaha confesses to be enamoured by Agni and wishes to dwell with him. Hence, the deities state that oblations would be offered to Agni while invoking her name during hymns, allowing Svaha to dwell with Agni in perpetuity.

In some versions, she is one of the many divine mothers of Kartikeya (Skanda). She is also the mother of Agneya (Aagneya) — the daughter of Agni. She is considered to be a daughter of Daksha and his consort Prasuti. She is thought to preside over burnt offerings. Her body is said to consist of the four Vedas and her six limbs are considered to be the six Angas of the Vedas.

Story
In the Mahabharata Vana Parva, Markandeya narrates her story to the Pandavas. Svaha was the daughter of Daksha. She fell in love with the God of Fire, Agni, and was pursuing him. Agni did not notice her. He presided over the sacrificial rituals of the Saptarishis. The deity became highly besotted with the wives of the Saptarishis who were so ravishing that he kept staring at them.

Finally, Agni could not bear the guilt of longing for wives belonging to someone else and he went to the forests to perform penances. Svaha followed him and understood his desire. She took the forms of the wives of the Saptarishis (though she was unable to take the form of Arundhati, wife of Vashishtha) and approached Agni six times, seducing him and throwing the seed of each union into a golden pot, from which Skanda was born.

Brahmanda Purana
The Brahmanda Purana mentions the names of the children of Svaha: Pavamāna, Pāvaka, and Śuci.

Devi Bhagavata Purana
In the Devi Bhagavata Purana, Narayana offers Narada the procedure to meditate upon Svaha: "The following is the Dhyānam (meditation) of Svāhā Devī :-- O Devī Svāhā! Thou art embodied of the Mantras; Thou art the success of the Mantras; Thou art Thyself a Siddhā; Thou givest success and the fruits of actions to men; Thou dost good to all. Thus meditating, one should offer Pādya (water for washing the feet), etc., uttering the basic Mantra; success then comes to him. Now hear about the Radical Seed Mantra.

The said mantra (Mūla mantra) is this :-- “Om Hrīm Śrīm Vahnijāyāyai Devyai Svāhā.” If the Devī be worshipped with this Mantra, all the desires come to a successful issue."

title: Svaha


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The Victorian Internet

The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On-Line Pioneers is a 1998 book by Tom Standage. The book was first published in September 1998 through Walker & Company and discusses the development and uses of the electric telegraph during the second half of the 19th century and some of the similarities the telegraph shared with the Internet of the late 20th century.

The central idea of the book posits that of these two technologies, it was the telegraph that was the more significant, since the ability to communicate globally at all in real-time was a qualitative shift, while the change brought on by the modern Internet was merely a quantitative shift according to Standage, though, by the same token, global communication was just a quantitative shift from long-distance communication.

Contents
The book describes to general readers how some of the uses of telegraph in commercial, military, and social communication were, in a sense, analogous to modern uses of the internet. A few rather unusual stories are related, about couples who fell in love and even married over the wires, criminals who were caught through the telegraph, and so on.

The culture which developed between telegraph operators also had some rather unexpected affinities with the modern Internet. Both cultures made or make use of complex text coding and abbreviated language slang, both required network security experts, and both attracted criminals who used the networks to commit fraud, hack private communications, and send unwanted messages.

Reception
Critical reception of the book was mostly positive. Smithsonian magazine gave a positive review for The Victorian Internet, but stated that it was "not the book for readers who want in-depth accounts of the lives of scientist-inventors like Thomas Edison or Charles Wheatstone, detailed financial histories of companies like Western Union, or technical treatments of subjects like the development of semaphore systems and undersea cables". The Los Angeles Times had some criticisms of the book but gave a mostly positive review.

title: The Victorian Internet


text:
Talk:The Victorian Internet

Coining of term
Whn was this term coined? I've thrown in "late 20th C" for now, but was it in fact late 90s or early 2000s?

"mid-1800s" -- surely if "victorian", this would mean midway in teh century? On wikipedia, 1800s is a decade preceding the 1810s. Could someone who knows which the article means to refer to please clean up? -- Tarquin 22:30 Oct 6, 2002 (UTC)

Means Mid 19th century, will fix dml

 * For that matter, did Standage actually coin the term? I've just checked NewsBank, and the earliest references I can find are August 1998, in articles about his book. Tearlach 10:56, 15 August 2005 (UTC)

We really need to expand this to cover some of the stuff that Neal Stephenson has been doing with the idea. 128.135.70.110 17:14, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

Scientific American published an article in the early 1990s regarding this ("The First Data Networks"; January 1994; Scientific American Magazine; by Holzmann, Pehrson; 6 page(s)), which is possibly useful for comparing references. --203.14.156.193 (talk) 20:44, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Merger proposal
I propose that Victorian Internet be merged into Telegraphy. In the end the 'Victorian Internet' is not an actual concept; its really just a device used to inform digital-savvy readers about 19th century telegraphy. From the article, it seems to be a term is used primarily in connection with Sandage's book.

It would be more appropriate if the idea of the 'Victorian Internet' were mentioned in the telegraphy article. A brief statement should suffice, written along the lines o,f "the 19th century telegraph has sometimes been considered today as a sort of 'Victorian Internet', which [did...] in a way similar to the modern Internet. This analogy has particuarly been espoused by writers such as Tom Sandage, and [etc]". theBOBbobato (talk) 00:48, 30 June 2011 (UTC)

Oppose You missed the whole point of this article. While it is true that "Victorian Internet" is synonymous with "Telegraph", the focus of this article is and should be on the many things that were similar, and not on the fact that a new technology replaced an older technology. The present article should be expanded to include how the telegraph was successfully used in warfare and the Internet was originally developed by the US Dept of Defense for use by the military in warfare. And the telegraph spawned the telephone just as the original DARPANET spawned the World Wide Web. And the telegraph made it possible to make "wire transfers" of money, just as the Internet made it possible to pay for products ordered over the Internet. These and several other comparisons will make this stub article a full size article that would lose focus if merged. Greensburger (talk) 02:20, 21 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes, but so what? I really don't see how a few points of similarity between the internet and the telegraph merits its own article. There are many points of similarity between many things, but they don't all merit articles. If the comparison between telegraph and the internet has been made, then It should be mentioned, sure, but there really should be nothing more than the mention.
 * Even then, it doesn't really doesn't make very much sense, though, when you think about it. The telegraph is not solely a Victorian technology. It was still possible and normal to make wire transfers over the telegraph, and to use it in warfare, in the 1950s and 60s and 80s. The new forms of communication brought in by telegraphy were still possible on the eve of the Net. So why not call it also the "Cold War Internet"? Or the "WWII internet"? While we're at it, why not go further than the mere telegraph?
 * Why not call television the ”1950s Youtube”? After all, it allowed the mass consumption of audiovisual material half a century before 2005. Why not call the postal service the ”paper e-mail"? It allowed the comparitively swift and efficient exchange of messages. Or the Yongle encyclopedia the "Ancient Chinese Wikipedia"? They're both encyclopedias. Better yet, a call-in advice program can be called the "Radio Google". It allowed people, for the first time, the ability to solve their everyday issues electronically and immediately.
 * If it is shocking and stimulating to learn that people 150 years ago were able to transmit messages over long distances and conduct business over the wires, then it is only because because you didn't know about it before. Such things have been taken for granted for decades.theBOBbobato (talk) 15:00, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

 * The above strikes me as an argument for deleting this article, not for merging it with Telegraphy. If you feel this subject lacks merit, I think you should propose deleting this article. -- Pemilligan (talk) 18:08, 23 July 2011 (UTC)
 * I don't neccesarily think that the subject lacks merit. I just think that the merit of the matter lies in the fact that it is a somewhat current idea (a book has been written about it, writers have referenced it, people have been interested in it), rather than the worth of its ideas, and it would do it enough credit to simply give the 'victorian internet' a brief mention in the telegraphy article.theBOBbobato (talk) 18:46, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

A stub article should not be deleted merely because it has not yet been expanded into a full article. Other books have made additional comparisons. For example, on the use of the telegraph for military messages, such as the book "Mr. Lincoln's T-mails" (T meaning telegraph). This stub has potential, so give it time to grow. Greensburger (talk) 03:35, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

Global communication "just a quantitative shift"?
This edit added the contention that global, as opposed to earlier mere long-range communication had been "just a quantitative shift" too. To my knowledge, that claim is not made in the book. Admittedly, whether for a communications system greater range is a qualitative or quantitative shift is somewhat debatable.

I guess you could call a communication method's greater range a quantitative shift, but unless we were to distinguish between e.g. intercity and transatlantic telegraph infrastructure in particular, the wide adoption of telegraph communications, as opposed to earlier methods, was a qualitative shift. Also, while the range extension aspect to the telegraph is a quantitative metric, the much more common understanding of the change brought by the telegraph is that of a qualitative shift due to its immediacy. While not technically incorrect in detail, there is little point in adopting the uncommon understanding of a mere quantitative shift, since that reduces the analysis to the point of absurdity: After all, just about every qualitative change implies some kind of quantitative change also, once you get down to minutiae. So I don't think the contributed analysis really holds water, and as much as I think Wikipedians are often too quick to cry original research, this really is, however it pains me to say it, just some contributor's original analysis, which again, to the best of my knowledge is not in the book. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm not sure if it's useful or appropriate to leave a message on the relevant IP user's currently non-existing Talk page, so I haven't done that myself, but I'm not opposed to someone else doing that either, if appropriate. —ReadOnlyAccount (talk) 20:18, 17 November 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:The Victorian Internet


text:
User:Bbtommy

This is my old account which I used back since 2002.

title: User:Bbtommy


text:
Skanda

Skanda may refer to:

 * Kartikeya, or Skanda, the Hindu god of war
 * Skanda Purana, a Hindu Purana (scripture) dedicated to the deity
 * Skanda Upanishad, Hindu Upanishad
 * Skanda (Buddhism), a Deva and/or Bodhisattva popular in Chinese Buddhism
 * Skanda (actor) (born 1986), Indian actor
 * Skanda (general) (fl. 12th century), Indian general
 * Skanda (film), a 2023 Indian Telugu-language film
 * Skanda Ashok, an Indian actor
 * Skande, or Skanda, a village and fortress in Georgia
 * Skandalove, Italian drag queen

title: Skanda