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118-529: Usually depicted as a monk with a halo around his shaved head, he carries a staff to force open the gates of hell and a wish-fulfilling jewel to light up the darkness. Kṣitigarbha is one of the four principal bodhisattvas along with Samantabhadra , Manjusri , and Avalokiteśvara ( Guanyin ) in East Asian Mahayana Buddhism . At the pre- Tang dynasty grottos in Dunhuang and Longmen , he

236-485: A sphinx ; a sea demon; and Thetis , the sea-nymph who was mother to Achilles . The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the sun-god Helios and had his usual radiate crown (copied for the Statue of Liberty ). Hellenistic rulers are often shown wearing radiate crowns that seem clearly to imitate this effect. In India, the use of halo might date back to the second half of the second millennium BC. Two figures appliqued on

354-406: A 2nd-century AD Roman floor mosaic preserved at Bardo , Tunisia, a haloed Poseidon appears in his chariot drawn by hippocamps . Significantly, the triton and nereid who accompany the sea-god are not haloed. In a late 2nd century AD floor mosaic from Thysdrus, El Djem , ( illustration ) Apollo Helios is identified by his effulgent halo. Another haloed Apollo in mosaic, from Hadrumentum ,

472-1032: A Brahmin family, Ramananda welcomed everyone to spiritual pursuits without discriminating anyone by gender, class, caste or religion (such as Muslims). He composed his spiritual message in poems, using widely spoken vernacular language rather than Sanskrit, to make it widely accessible. The Hindu tradition recognises him as the founder of the Hindu Ramanandi Sampradaya , the largest monastic renunciant community in Asia in modern times. Other medieval era Brahmins who led spiritual movements without social or gender discrimination included Andal (9th-century female poet), Basava (12th-century Lingayatism), Dnyaneshwar (13th-century Bhakti poet), Vallabha Acharya (16th-century Vaishnava poet), Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (14th-century Vaishnava saint) were among others. Many 18th and 19th century Brahmins are credited with religious movements that criticised idolatry . For example,

590-595: A Buddhist kingdom, states Leider, may have been because Hindu texts provide guidelines for such social rituals and political ceremonies, while Buddhist texts do not. The Brahmins were also consulted in the transmission, development and maintenance of law and justice system outside India. Hindu Dharmasastras , particularly Manusmriti written by the Prajapati Manu, states Anthony Reid, were "greatly honored in Burma (Myanmar), Siam (Thailand), Cambodia and Java-Bali (Indonesia) as

708-457: A Khakkhara ( Chinese : 錫杖 ; pinyin : Xīzhàng ; Japanese pronunciation : Shakujō ), which is used to alert insects and small animals of his approach, so that he will not accidentally harm them. This staff is traditionally carried by Buddhist monks. Like other bodhisattvas, Kṣitigarbha usually is seen standing on a lotus base, symbolizing his release from rebirth . Kṣitigarbha's face and head are also idealised, featuring

826-504: A common sight in Japan. Firefighters are also believed to be under his protection. In Theravada Buddhism , the story of a bhikkhu named Phra Malai with similar qualities to Kṣitigarbha is well known throughout Southeast Asia , especially in Thailand and Laos . Legend has it that he was an arhat from Sri Lanka who achieved great supernatural powers through his own merit and meditation. He

944-580: A common sight, especially by roadsides and in graveyards. According to legend, the first Jizō-statue was introduced in Japan in the reign of emperor Shōmu in the Nara period . However, while records exist that indicate a Jizō-statue in the Tōdai-ji , the existence of these statues in former times is probable but no evidence has yet been discovered. In the Heian-period the influences of Jizō worship become clearer as

1062-530: A dog. This is in reference to a legend that he found his mother reborn in the animal realm as a dog named Diting , which the Bodhisattva adopted to serve as his steed and guard. In Japan, Kṣitigarbha's statues are often adorned with bibs, kerchiefs or kasa hat on his head, and sometimes dressed with a haori . Tōsen-ji in Katsushika , Tokyo , contains the "Bound Kṣitigarbha" of Ōoka Tadasuke fame, dating from

1180-566: A halo, it being a matter of debate whether his Logos was innate from conception (the Orthodox view), or acquired at Baptism (the Adoptionist view). At this period he is also shown as a child or youth in Baptisms , though this may be a hieratic rather than an age-related representation. A cruciform halo , that is to say a halo with a cross within, or extending beyond, the circle is used to represent

1298-549: A halo. Plain round haloes are typically used to signify saints , the Virgin Mary, Old Testament prophets, angels, symbols of the Four Evangelists , and some other figures. Byzantine emperors and empresses were often shown with them in compositions including saints or Christ, however the haloes were outlined only. This was copied by Ottonian and later Russian rulers. Old Testament figures become less likely to have haloes in

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1416-556: A little pile of stones and pebbles, put there by people in the hope that it would shorten the time children have to suffer in the underworld. (The act is derived from the tradition of building stupas as an act of merit-making.) Traditionally, he is seen as the guardian of children, and in particular, children who died before their parents. The statues can sometimes be seen wearing tiny children's clothing or bibs, or with toys, put there by grieving parents to help their lost ones and hoping that Kṣitigarbha would specially protect them. Sometimes

1534-628: A majority with no halo effect at all. The disk halo was rarely used for figures from classical mythology in the Renaissance, although they are sometimes seen, especially in the classical radiant form, in Mannerist and Baroque art. By the 19th century haloes had become unusual in Western mainstream art, although retained in iconic and popular images, and sometimes as a medievalising effect. When John Millais gives his otherwise realist St Stephen (1895)

1652-463: A monk. Jijang lived in Mount Jiuhua for 75 years before passing away at the age of 99. Three years after his nirvana , his tomb was opened, only to reveal that the body had not decayed . Because Jijang led his wayplace with much difficulty, most people had the intuition to believe that he was indeed an incarnation of Kṣitigarbha. Jijang's well-preserved, dehydrated body may still be viewed today at

1770-433: A piece of land that could be covered fully by his kasaya . Initially believing that a piece of sash could not provide enough land to build a temple, they were surprised when Jijang threw the kasaya in the air, and the robe expanded in size, covering the entire mountain. Elder Wen-Ke had then decided to renounce the entire mountain to Jijang, and became his protector. Sometime later, Wen-Ke's son also left secular life to become

1888-613: A pottery vase fragment from Daimabad 's Malwa phase (1600–1400 BC) have been interpreted as a holy figure resembling the later Hindu god Shiva and an attendant, both with halos surrounding their heads, Aureola have been widely used in Indian art, particularly in Buddhist iconography where it has appeared since at least the 1st century AD; the Kushan Bimaran casket in the British Museum

2006-524: A ring halo, it seems rather surprising. In popular graphic culture, a simple ring has become the predominant representation of a halo since at least the late 19th century, as seen for example in the logo for the Simon Templar ("The Saint") series of novels and other adaptations. The distinction between the alternative terms used in English for various types of halo is rather unclear. The oldest term in English

2124-525: A source of light; among other things this was because "in the controversies in the 4th century over the consubstantiality of the Father and the Son, the relation of the ray to the source was the most cogent example of emanation and of distinct forms with a common substance" – key concepts in the theological thought of the time. A more Catholic interpretation is that the halo represents the light of divine grace suffusing

2242-521: A story with Fujiwara Hirotari is included. He died and caught sight of his wife suffering in the Land After Death, with the aid of Jizō he returned to life and lifted the suffering of his wife through copying the Lotus Sutra as suggested by Jizō. This story characterises traits of Jizō such as his benevolence towards those caught in the grasps of naraka (hell), the lowest realm of the six paths , and

2360-699: A teacher, author, strategist, philosopher, economist, jurist, and royal advisor, who assisted the first Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya in his rise to power and is widely credited for having played an important role in the establishment of the Maurya Empire . Historical records from mid 1st millennium CE and later, suggest Brahmins were agriculturalists and warriors in medieval India, quite often instead of as exception. Donkin and other scholars state that Hoysala Empire records frequently mention Brahmin merchants who "carried on trade in horses, elephants and pearls" and transported goods throughout medieval India before

2478-620: A throne as Christ in Majesty . The halo was incorporated into Early Christian art sometime in the 4th century with the earliest iconic images of Christ, initially the only figure shown with one (together with his symbol, the Lamb of God ). Initially the halo was regarded by many as a representation of the Logos of Christ, his divine nature, and therefore in very early (before 500) depictions of Christ before his Baptism by John he tends not to be shown with

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2596-515: A verb. Halo comes originally from the Greek for "threshing-floor" – a circular, slightly sloping area kept very clean, around which slaves or oxen walked to thresh the grain. In Greek, this came to mean a divine, bright disk. Nimbus means "a cloud" in Latin , and is found as "a divine cloud" in 1616, whereas as "a bright or golden disk surrounding the head" it does not appear until 1727. The plural nimbi

2714-580: Is "glory", the only one available in the Middle Ages , but now largely obsolete. It came from the French gloire which has much the same range of meanings as "glory". "Gloriole" does not appear in this sense until 1844, being a modern invention, as a diminutive, in French also. "Halo" is first found in English in this sense in 1646 (nearly a century after the optical or astronomical sense). Both "halos" and "haloes" may be used as plural forms, and halo may be used as

2832-567: Is a legend about how Kṣitigarbha manifested himself in China and chose his bodhimaṇḍa to be Mount Jiuhua , one of the Four Sacred Mountains of China . During the reign of Emperor Ming of Han , Buddhism started to flourish, reaching its peak in the Tang and eventually spreading to Korea. At the time, monks and scholars arrived from those countries to seek the dharma in China. One of these pilgrims

2950-600: Is a popular destination for pilgrims offering dedications to Kṣitigarbha. In certain Chinese Buddhist legends, the arhat Maudgalyayana , known in Chinese as Mùlián (目連), acts as an assistant to Ksitigarbha in his vow to save the denizens of hell. As a result, Mùlián is usually also venerated in temples that enshrine Ksitigarbha. In folk beliefs, the mount of Ksitigarbha, Diting , is a divine beast that can distinguish good from evil, virtuous and foolish. In iconographic form, it

3068-448: Is a reference to his pledge, as recorded in the sutras , to take responsibility for the instruction of all beings in the six worlds in the era between the parinirvana of the Buddha and the rise of Maitreya. Because of this important role, shrines to Kṣitigarbha often occupy a central role in temples, especially within the memorial halls or mausoleums. People were afraid of the period that

3186-411: Is also honoured as a successor to Mahāmoggallāna , the Buddha's disciple foremost for his supernatural attainments. In the story, this pious and compassionate monk descends to Hell to give teachings and comfort the suffering hell-beings there. He also learns how the hell-beings are punished according to their sins in the different hells. In mainstream Chinese Buddhism and Japanese Shingon Buddhism ,

3304-546: Is correct but "rare"; "nimbuses" is not in the OED but sometimes used. Nimb is an obsolete form of the noun, but not a verb, except that the obsolete "nimbated", like the commoner "nimbate", means "furnished with a nimbus". It is sometimes preferred by art-historians, as sounding more technical than halo. Aureole , from the Latin for "golden", has been used in English as a term for a gold crown, especially that traditionally considered

3422-811: Is dated 60 AD (at least between 30BC and 200 AD). The rulers of the Kushan Empire were perhaps the earliest to give themselves haloes on their coins, and the nimbus in art may have originated in Central Asia and spread both east and west. In Chinese and Japanese Buddhist art , the halo has also been used since the earliest periods in depicting the image of Amitabha Buddha and others. Tibetan Buddhism uses haloes and aureoles of many types, drawing from both Indian and Chinese traditions, extensively in statues and Thangka paintings of Buddhist saints such as Milarepa and Padmasambhava and deities. Different coloured haloes have specific meanings: orange for monks, green for

3540-648: Is depicted in a classical bodhisattva form. After the Tang, he became increasingly depicted as a monk carrying Buddhist prayer beads and a staff. His full name in Chinese is Dayuan Dizang Pusa ( Chinese : 大願地藏菩薩 ; pinyin : Dàyuàn Dìzàng Púsà ), or "Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva of the Great Vow," pronounced Daigan Jizō Bosatsu in Japanese, Jijang Bosal in Korean, Đại Nguyện Địa Tạng Vương Bồ Tát in Vietnamese. This name

3658-474: Is exuded by gods, heroes, sometimes by kings, and also by temples of great holiness and by gods' symbols and emblems." Persian mythology , and later Zoroastrian philosophy, speaks of the similar concept of Khvarenah (later farrah ), a divine, radiant power that sanctified a king and his reign. It was most often depicted as a phoenix -like bird, the Simurgh . Homer describes a more-than-natural light around

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3776-537: Is from verifiable records or archaeological evidence, and much that is constructed from ahistorical Sanskrit works and fiction. Michael Witzel writes: Current research in the area is fragmentary. The state of our knowledge of this fundamental subject is preliminary, at best. Most Sanskrit works are a-historic or, at least, not especially interested in presenting a chronological account of India's history. When we actually encounter history, such as in Rajatarangini or in

3894-545: Is in the museum at Sousse . The conventions of this representation, head tilted, lips slightly parted, large-eyed, curling hair cut in locks grazing the neck, were developed in the 3rd century BC to depict Alexander the Great (Bieber 1964; Yalouris 1980). Sometime after this mosaic was executed, the Emperor began to be depicted with a halo, which was not abandoned when they became Christian; initially Christ only had one when shown on

4012-453: Is known as mappō , the decline and disappearance of Dharma , which was propagated by Pure Land Buddhism as a period in which it is impossible to understand the original Buddhist teachings anymore and attain enlightenment through traditional means. This foundation supported the role among people of Kṣitigarbha as he helped those who were in danger of falling into hell realm in hearing their confessions and to ensure their salvation. One of

4130-577: Is no definitive evidence indicating either an Indian or Chinese origin for the text. In the Kṣitigarbha Sūtra , the Buddha states that in the distant past eons, Kṣitigarbha was a maiden of the Brahmin caste by the name of Sacred Girl . This maiden was deeply troubled upon the death of her mother - who had often been slanderous towards the Three Jewels . To save her mother from the great tortures of hell,

4248-419: Is of Desiderius, Abbot of Monte Cassino , later Pope, from a manuscript of 1056–86; Pope Gregory the Great had himself depicted with one, according to the 9th-century writer of his vita , John, deacon of Rome . A figure who may represent Moses in the 3rd century Dura Europos Synagogue has one, where no round halos are found. Osbert Lancaster notes the presence of sqare haloes in donor portraits in

4366-542: Is often called a mandorla . Halos may be shown as almost any colour or combination of colours, but are most often depicted as golden, yellow or white (when representing light) or as red (when representing flames). The earliest artistic depictions of halos were probably in Ancient Egyptian art . Sumerian religious literature frequently speaks of melam ( melammu in Akkadian ), a "brilliant, visible glamour which

4484-495: Is often enshrined at the side of Ksitigarbha, or portrayed with Ksitigarbha riding on its back as a mount. In some areas, the admixture of traditional religions has led to Kṣitigarbha being also regarded as a deity in Taoism and Chinese folk religion . Kṣitigarbha Temples ( Chinese : 地藏庵 ; pinyin : Dìzàng'ān ) are Taoist temples that usually enshrine Kṣitigarbha as the main deity, along with other gods typically related to

4602-532: Is that of priesthood ( purohit , pandit , or pujari ) at Hindu temples or at socio-religious ceremonies, and the performing of rite of passage rituals, such as solemnising a wedding with hymns and prayers. Traditionally, Brahmins are accorded the highest ritual status of the four social classes, and they also served as spiritual teachers ( guru or acharya ). In practice, Indian texts suggest that some Brahmins historically also became agriculturalists , warriors , traders , and had also held other occupations in

4720-684: Is the Six Kṣitigarbhas, six full sculptural manifestations of the bodhisattva. An example of this can be found in Konjikidō, the ‘Hall of Gold,’ in the Chūson-ji temple. Mount Jiuhua in Anhui is regarded as Kṣitigarbha's bodhimaṇḍa . It is one of the Four Sacred Buddhism Mountains in China, and at one time housed more than 300 temples. Today, 95 of these are open to the public. The mountain

4838-476: Is used more widely. Otherwise, there could be said to be an excess of words that could refer to either a head-disk or a full-body halo, and no word that clearly denotes a full-body halo that is not vesica piscis shaped. "Halo" by itself, according to recent dictionaries, means only a circle around the head, although Rhie and Thurman use the word also for circular full-body aureoles. The early Church Fathers expended much rhetorical energy on conceptions of God as

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4956-616: The Brachmanes , and the other the Sarmanes ... Patrick Olivelle states that both Buddhist and Brahmanical literature repeatedly define "Brahmin" not in terms of family of birth, but in terms of personal qualities. These virtues and characteristics mirror the values cherished in Hinduism during the Sannyasa stage of life, or the life of renunciation for spiritual pursuits. Brahmins, states Olivelle, were

5074-551: The Desire realm (rebirth into hell, or as pretas, animals, asuras, men, and devas). The Six Paths are often depicted as six rays or beams radiating from the bodhisattva and accompanied by figurative representations of the Six Paths. Many of these depictions in China can be found in Shaanxi province, perhaps a result of Sanjiejiao teachings in the area. A Japanese variation of this depiction

5192-596: The Edo period . When petitions are requested before Kṣitigarbha, the petitioner ties a rope about the statue. When the wish is granted, the petitioner unties the rope. At the new year, the ropes of the ungranted wishes are cut by the temple priest. Another category of iconographic depiction is Kṣitigarbha as the Lord of the Six Ways, an allegorical representation of the Six Paths of Rebirth of

5310-538: The Gopalavamsavali of Nepal, the texts do not deal with brahmins in great detail. According to Kalhana 's Rajatarangini (12th cent. CE) and Sahyadrikhanda (5th–13th cent. CE) of Skandapurana, Brahmins are broadly classified into two groups based on geography. The northern Pancha Gauda group comprises five Brahmin communities, as mentioned in the text, residing north of the Vindhya mountain range . Historically,

5428-500: The Gupta Empire era" (3rd century to 6th century CE), when Buddhism dominated the land. "No Brahmin, no sacrifice, no ritualistic act of any kind ever, even once, is referred to" in any Indian texts between third century BCE and the late first century CE. He also states that "The absence of literary and material evidence, however, does not mean that Brahmanical culture did not exist at that time, but only that it had no elite patronage and

5546-596: The Konjaku Monogatari dedicates many tales to him and an own collection of his tales, Jizō Bosatsu Reigenki, was written. The latter contains twenty-five stories which focus on the miracles performed by Jizō. The devotees described in these stories recite the Lotus Sutra, a trait not often found in Chinese worship, that seem to characterise Jizō worship. In the Ryōki (ca. 822 CE), the earliest found collection of setsuwa ,

5664-756: The Woman of the Apocalypse . Square haloes were sometimes used for the living in donor portraits of about 500–1100 in Italy. Most surviving ones are of Popes and others in mosaics in Rome, including the Episcopa Theodora head of the mother of the Pope of the day. They seem merely an indication of a contemporary figure, as opposed to the saints usually accompanying them, with no real implication of future canonization. A late example

5782-655: The dogmas of the Trinity, the oneness of God and the two natures of Christ . In mosaics in Santa Maria Maggiore (432–40) the juvenile Christ has a four-armed cross either on top of his head in the radius of the nimbus, or placed above the radius, but this is unusual. In the same mosaics the accompanying angels have haloes (as, in a continuation of the Imperial tradition, does King Herod ), but not Mary and Joseph . Occasionally other figures have crossed haloes, such as

5900-475: The iconography of many religions to indicate holy or sacred figures, and has at various periods also been used in images of rulers and heroes. In the religious art of Ancient Greece , Ancient Rome , Christianity , Hinduism , and Buddhism (among other religions), sacred persons may be depicted with a halo in the form of a circular glow, or flames in Asian art , around the head or around the whole body—this last form

6018-971: The mantra of Kṣitigarbha comes from the "Treasury of Mantras" section of the Mahavairocana Tantra . The effect of this mantra is producing the " Samadhi Realm of Adamantine Indestructible Conduct." This mantra is the following: Namaḥ samantabuddhānāṃ, ha ha ha, sutanu svāhā ॐ प्रमर्दने स्वाहा - Oṃ pramardane svāhā 嗡鉢囉末鄰陀寧娑婆訶 ; Ōng bō là mò lín tuó níng suō pó hē 南無地藏王菩薩 ; Ná mó Dìzàng wáng pú sà Namo Jijang Bosal Oṃ Kṣitigarbha Bodhisatvāya ༄༅།། ༀ་ཀྵི་ཏི་གརྦྷ་བོ་དྷི་ས་ཏྭཱ་ཡ།། Oṃ Ha Ha Ha Vismaye Svāhā ༄༅།། ཨོཾ་ཧ་ཧ་ཧ་བིསྨ་ཡེ་སྭཱ་ཧཱ།། On kakaka bisanmaei sowaka オン カカカ ビサンマエイ ソワカ ॐ ह ह ह विस्मये स्वाहा Oṃ ha ha ha vismaye svāhā ཨོཾ་ཧ་ཧ་ཧ་བིསྨ་ཡེ་སྭཱ་ཧཱ། Om! Ha ha ha! O wondrous one! svāhā! 嗡，哈哈哈，溫三摩地梭哈 ; Ōng hā hā hā wēn sān mó dì suō hā 蛞蝓に 口を吸われた 石地蔵   The stone image of Jizō kissed on

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6136-475: The third eye , elongated ears and the other standard attributes of a buddha . In the Chinese tradition, Kṣitigarbha is sometimes depicted wearing a crown like the one worn by Vairocana . His image is similar to that of the fictional character Tang Sanzang from the classical novel Journey to the West , so observers sometimes mistake Kṣitigarbha for the latter. In China, Kṣitigarbha is also sometimes accompanied by

6254-617: The 14th-century. The Pāli Canon depicts Brahmins as the most prestigious and elite non-Buddhist figures. They mention them parading their learning. The Pali Canon and other Buddhist texts such as the Jataka Tales also record the livelihood of Brahmins to have included being farmers, handicraft workers and artisans such as carpentry and architecture. Buddhist sources extensively attest, state Greg Bailey and Ian Mabbett, that Brahmins were "supporting themselves not by religious practice, but employment in all manner of secular occupations", in

6372-423: The 7th-century church of St Demetrios in Thessalonika . Personifications of the Virtues are sometimes given hexagonal haloes. Scalloped haloes, sometimes just appearing as made of radiating bars, are found in the manuscripts of the Carolingian " Ada School ", such as the Ada Gospels . The whole-body image of radiance is sometimes called the ' aureole ' or glory ; it is shown radiating from all round

6490-406: The Baptist haloes, as sufficiently recognisable without them, but a saint in the background, not usually present in this scene, has a ring halo to denote his status. In the High Renaissance , even most Italian painters dispensed with haloes altogether, but in the Church's reaction to the Protestant Reformation , that culminated in the decrees on images of the Council of Trent of 1563, their use

6608-457: The Brahmins Raja Ram Mohan Roy led Brahmo Samaj and Dayananda Saraswati led the Arya Samaj . Some Brahmins formed an influential group in Burmese Buddhist kingdoms in 18th- and 19th-century. The court Brahmins were locally called Punna . During the Konbaung dynasty , Buddhist kings relied on their court Brahmins to consecrate them to kingship in elaborate ceremonies, and to help resolve political questions. This role of Hindu Brahmins in

6726-405: The Buddha and other more elevated beings, and commonly figures have both a halo for the head, and another circular one for the body, the two often intersecting somewhere around the head or neck. Thin lines of gold often radiate outwards or inwards from the rim of the halo, and sometimes a whole halo is made up of these. In India the head halo is called Prabhamandala or Siras-cakra , while

6844-418: The Chinese netherworld Diyu , such as Yanluo Wang and Heibai Wuchang . Believers usually visit these temples to pray for the blessings of the ancestors and the souls of the dead. The 30th day of the seventh month of the Chinese calendar is celebrated as his birthday. In Japan, Kṣitigarbha, known as Jizō , or respectfully as Ojizō-sama , is one of the most loved of all Japanese divinities. His statues are

6962-450: The Indian subcontinent. It seems likely that Kannauj and Middle country was the place of origin of majority of migrating Brahmins throughout the medieval centuries. Coming from Kannauj is a frequent claim among Brahmins in areas distant from Madhyadesha or Ganges heartland. The term Brahmin appears extensively in ancient and medieval Sutras and commentary texts of Buddhism and Jainism . Modern scholars state that such usage of

7080-670: The Mughals, later to the British Raj. The East India Company also recruited sepoys (soldiers) from the Brahmin communities of Bihar and Awadh (in the present day Uttar Pradesh) for the Bengal army . Many Brahmins, in other parts of South Asia lived like other varna, engaged in all sorts of professions. Among Nepalese Hindus, for example, Niels Gutschow and Axel Michaels report the actual observed professions of Brahmins from 18th- to early 20th-century included being temple priests, ministers, merchants, farmers, potters, masons, carpenters, coppersmiths, stone workers, barbers, and gardeners, among others. Other 20th-century surveys, such as in

7198-430: The Rigveda and, both then and later, a social ideal rather than a social reality". According to Vijay Nath, in the Markandeya Purana (250 CE), there are references to Brahmins who were born into the families of Raksasas . He posits that this is an indication that some Brahmins are immigrants and some are also mixed. According to Abraham Eraly , "Brahmin as a varna hardly had any presence in historical records before

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7316-470: The Royal tradition of Thailand , particularly for the consecration and to mark annual land fertility rituals of Buddhist kings. A small Brahmanical temple Devasathan , established in 1784 by King Rama I of Thailand, has been managed by ethnically Thai Brahmins ever since. The temple hosts Phra Phikhanesuan (Ganesha), Phra Narai (Narayana, Vishnu), Phra Itsuan (Shiva), Uma , Brahma , Indra ( Sakka ) and other Hindu deities. The tradition asserts that

7434-508: The Thai Brahmins have roots in Hindu holy city of Varanasi and southern state of Tamil Nadu, go by the title Pandita , and the various annual rites and state ceremonies they conduct has been a blend of Buddhist and Hindu rituals. The coronation ceremony of the Thai king is almost entirely conducted by the royal Brahmins. According to 2007 reports, Brahmins in India are about five per cent of its total population. The Himalayan states of Uttarakhand (20%) and Himachal Pradesh (14%) have

7552-442: The Vindhya mountain range formed the southern boundary of the Āryāvarta , the territory of the ancient Indo-Aryan peoples , and Gauda has territorial, ethnographic and linguistic connotations. Linguistically, the term "Gauda" refers to the Sanskrit-derived languages of northern India. The Pancha Gauda Brahmins are: Subcastes of Gaur Brahmins are: Subcastes of Kanyakubja Brahmins are: The Pancha Dravida Brahmins reside to

7670-451: The West as the Middle Ages go on. Beatified figures, not yet canonised as saints, are sometimes shown in medieval Italian art with linear rays radiating out from the head, but no circular edge of the nimbus defined; later this became a less obtrusive form of halo that could be used for all figures. Mary has, especially from the Baroque period onwards, a special form of halo in a circle of twelve stars , derived from her identification as

7788-417: The body, most often of Christ or Mary, occasionally of saints (especially those reported to have been seen surrounded by one). Such an aureola is often a mandorla ("almond-shaped" vesica piscis ), especially around Christ in Majesty , who may well have a halo as well. In depictions of the Transfiguration of Jesus a more complicated shape is often seen, especially in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, as in

7906-488: The case, as the word "nimbus" is mostly found describing whole-body haloes, and seems to have also influenced "gloriole" in the same direction. The only English term that unequivocally means a full-body halo, and cannot be used for a circular disk around the head is " mandorla ", first occurring in 1883. However, this term, which is the Italian word for " almond ", is usually reserved for the vesica piscis shape, at least in describing Christian art. In discussing Asian art, it

8024-417: The children, and the children seek haven with Kṣitigarbha who hides them inside his garment and comforts them. In an earlier version, found written in the Fuji no hitoana no sōshi ( 富士人穴草子 , "The Tale of the Fuji Cave", c. 1600 or earlier) , c. 1600 or earlier when the dead children pile stones at the Sai no Kawara ("Children’s Riverbed Hell"), winds and flames are the agents knocking down the stone tower, and

8142-603: The classic period. Sometimes a thin line of flames rise up from the edges of a circular halo in Buddhist examples. In Tibetan paintings the flames are often shown as blown by a wind, usually from left to right. This type is also very rarely found, and on a smaller scale, in medieval Christian art. Halos are found in Islamic art from various places and periods, especially in Persian miniatures and Moghul and Ottoman art influenced by them. Flaming halos derived from Buddhist art surround angels, and similar ones are often seen around Muhammad and other sacred human figures. From

8260-476: The classical period of India. Some of the Brahmin occupations mentioned in the Buddhist texts such as Jatakas and Sutta Nipata are very lowly. The Dharmasutras too mention Brahmin farmers. According to Haidar and Sardar, unlike the Mughal Empire in Northern India, Brahmins figured prominently in the administration of Deccan sultanates . Under Golconda Sultanate Telugu Niyogi Brahmins served in many different roles such as accountants, ministers, in

8378-419: The defining documents of law and order, which kings were obliged to uphold. They were copied, translated and incorporated into local law code, with strict adherence to the original text in Burma and Siam, and a stronger tendency to adapt to local needs in Java (Indonesia)". The mythical origins of Cambodia are credited to a Brahmin prince named Kaundinya, who arrived by sea, married a Naga princess living in

8496-403: The difference that the latter was not sacerdotal. The Brahmins were expected to perform all six Vedic duties as opposed to other twice-borns who performed three. Historical records, state scholars, suggest that Brahmin varna was not limited to a particular status or priest and the teaching profession. Chanakya , a Brahmin born in 375 BCE, was an ancient Indian polymath who was active as

8614-504: The earliest surviving examples date from before 450. The depiction of the flames may be very formalized, as in the regular little flames on the ring aureole surrounding many Chola bronzes and other classic Hindu sculptures of divinities, or very prominent, as with the more realistic flames, and sometimes smoke, shown rising to a peak behind many Tibetan Buddhist depictions of the "wrathful aspect" of divinities, and also in Persian miniatures of

8732-686: The early 17th century, plainer round haloes appear in portraits of Mughal Emperors and subsequently Rajput and Sikh rulers; despite the more local precedents art historians believe the Mughals took the motif from European religious art, though it expresses a Persian idea of the God-given charisma of kingship that is far older. The Ottomans avoided using halos for the sultans , despite their title as Caliph , and they are only seen on Chinese emperors if they are posing as Buddhist religious figures, as some felt entitled to do. The halo represents an aura or

8850-504: The effect of light radiating out from the subject's head. In the early centuries of its use, the Christian halo may be in most colours (though black is reserved for Judas , Satan and other evil figures) or multicoloured; later gold becomes standard, and if the entire background is not gold leaf, the halo itself usually will be. With increasing realism in painting, the halo came to be a problem for artists. So long as they continued to use

8968-415: The end of the 14th century. In the early 15th century Jan van Eyck and Robert Campin largely abandoned their use, although some other Early Netherlandish artists continued to use them. In Italy at around the same time, Pisanello used them if they did not clash with one of the enormous hats he liked to paint. Generally they lasted longer in Italy, although often reduced to a thin gold band depicting

9086-530: The famous 15th century icon in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow . Where gold is used as a background in miniatures , mosaics and panel paintings, the halo is often formed by inscribing lines in the gold leaf , and may be decorated in patterns ( diapering ) within the outer radius, and thus becomes much less prominent. The gold leaf inside the halo may also be burnished in a circular manner, so as to produce

9204-710: The flame reduce the children into cremated bones, to be revived back to whole by the Jizō Bodhisattva (or by demons). This concept of Sai no Kawara, or children's limbo, first appeared in the Otogizōshi of the Muromachi Period, and in fact, the "Tale of the Fuji Cave" related above is one such work from the Otogizōshi. As such, the notion was developed quite late, in the post-medieval era, although it has been associated with

9322-550: The flooded lands. Kaudinya founded Kambuja-desa, or Kambuja (transliterated to Kampuchea or Cambodia). Kaundinya introduced Hinduism, particularly Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Harihara (half Vishnu, half Shiva), and these ideas grew in southeast Asia in the 1st millennium CE. The Chams Balamon (Hindu Brahmin Chams) form a majority of the Cham population in Vietnam . Brahmins have been part of

9440-535: The founding of temples) purporting origins dating back to the 9th century, with the priest Ennin alleged to have established the place of worship for the Kṣitigarbha at Mt. Osore (in olden times styled "Mount Usori"). Kṣitigarbha has been worshipped as the guardian of the souls of mizuko , the souls of stillborn, miscarried , or aborted fetuses in the ritual of mizuko kuyō ( 水子供養 , "offering to water children") . Kṣitigarbha statues are sometimes accompanied by

9558-571: The full body halo is Prabhavali . Elaborate haloes and especially aureoles also appear in Hindu sculpture, where they tend to develop into architectural frames in which the original idea can be hard to recognise. Theravada Buddhism and Jainism did not use the halo for many centuries, but later adopted it, though less thoroughly than other religious groups. In Asian art, the nimbus is often imagined as consisting not just of light, but of flames. This type seems to first appear in Chinese bronzes of which

9676-517: The girl sold whatever she had and used the money to buy offerings that she offered daily to the Buddha of her time, known as the Buddha of the Flower of Meditation and Enlightenment. She prayed fervently that her mother be spared the pains of hell and appealed to the Buddha for help. While she was pleading for help at the temple, she heard the Buddha telling her to go home, sit down, and recite his name if she wanted to know where her mother was. She did as she

9794-581: The glow of sanctity which was conventionally drawn encircling the head. It first appeared in the culture of Hellenistic Greece and Rome , possibly related to the Zoroastrian hvarena – "glory" or "divine lustre" – which marked the Persian kings, and may have been imported with Mithraism . Though Roman paintings have largely disappeared, save some fresco decorations, the haloed figure remains fresh in Roman mosaics. In

9912-486: The head, always depicted as though seen full-on, to a flat golden disk or ring that appeared in perspective, floating above the heads of the saints, or vertically behind, sometimes transparent. This can be seen first in Giotto , who still gives Christ the cruciform halo which began to be phased out by his successors. In northern Europe the radiant halo, made up of rays like a sunburst , came into fashion in French painting around

10030-405: The heads of heroes in battle. Depictions of Perseus in the act of slaying Medusa , with lines radiating from his head, appear on a white-ground toiletry box and on a slightly later red-figured vase in the style of Polygnotos , c.  450–30 BC . On painted wares from south Italy , radiant lines or simple haloes appear on a range of mythic figures: Lyssa, a personification of madness;

10148-640: The icon. Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in his Celestial Hierarchies speaks of the angels and saints being illuminated by the grace of God, and in turn illumining others. Brahmin Traditional Brahmin ( / ˈ b r ɑː m ɪ n / ; Sanskrit : ब्राह्मण , romanized :  brāhmaṇa ) is a varna ( caste ) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the Kshatriya , Vaishya , and Shudra . The traditional occupation of Brahmins

10266-575: The land themselves, many supplementing their income by selling their labour services to other farmers. Many of the prominent thinkers and earliest champions of the Bhakti movement were Brahmins, a movement that encouraged a direct relationship of an individual with a personal god. Among the many Brahmins who nurtured the Bhakti movement were Ramanuja , Nimbarka , Vallabha and Madhvacharya of Vaishnavism, Ramananda , another devotional poet sant . Born in

10384-437: The monastery he built on Mount Jiuhua. In Buddhist iconography, Kṣitigarbha is typically depicted with a shaven head, dressed in a monk's simple robes (unlike most other bodhisattvas , who are dressed like Indian royalty). In his left hand, Kṣitigarbha holds a tear-shaped jewel or cintamani ( Chinese : 如意寶珠 ; pinyin : Rúyì bǎozhū ; Japanese pronunciation : Nyoihōju ) in his right hand, he holds

10502-431: The monk medicines to cure him of the venom, as well as a spring on her son's behalf. For a few years, Jijang continued to meditate in his hut, until one day, a scholar named Chu-Ke led a group of friends and family to visit the mountain. Noticing the monk meditating in the hut, they went and took a look at his condition. They had noticed that his bowl did not contain any food, and that his hair had grown back. Taking pity on

10620-411: The monk, Chu-Ke decided to build a temple as an offering to him. The whole group descended the mountain immediately to discuss plans to build the temple. Mount Jiuhua was also property of a wealthy person called Elder Wen-Ke, who obliged to build a temple on his mountain. Therefore, Wen-Ke and the group ascended the mountain once more and asked Jijang how much land he needed. Jijang replied that he needed

10738-639: The most popular Mahayana sutras . This sutra is said to have been spoken by the Buddha towards the end of his life to the beings of the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven as a mark of gratitude and remembrance for his beloved mother, Maya . The Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva Pūrvapraṇidhāna Sūtra begins, " Thus have I heard . Once the Buddha was abiding in Trayastrimsas Heaven in order to expound the Dharma to his mother." The Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva Pūrvapraṇidhāna Sūtra

10856-411: The mouth by a slug   Halo (religious iconography) A halo (from Ancient Greek ἅλως , hálōs ,  'threshing floor, disk'), also called a nimbus , aureole , glory or gloriole ( Latin : gloriola , lit.   'little glory'), is a crown of light rays, circle or disk of light that surrounds a person in works of art . The halo occurs in

10974-565: The mouth of Purusha , being that part of the body from which words emerge. The Purusha Sukta varna verse is now generally considered to have been inserted at a later date into the Vedic text, possibly as a charter myth . Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton, a professor of Sanskrit and Religious studies, state, "there is no evidence in the Rigveda for an elaborate, much-subdivided and overarching caste system", and "the varna system seems to be embryonic in

11092-528: The new British rulers. They were the first community to take up Western education and therefore dominated lower level of British administration in the 19th century. Similarly, the Tamil Brahmins were also quick to take up English education during British colonial rule and dominate government service and law. Eric Bellman states that during the Islamic Mughal Empire era Brahmins served as advisers to

11210-447: The offerings are put there by parents to thank Kṣitigarbha for saving their children from a serious illness. His features are commonly made more baby-like to resemble the children he protects. As Kṣitigarbha is seen as the saviour of beings who have to suffer in the underworld, his statues are common in cemeteries. He is also believed to be one of the protective deities of travellers, the dōsojin , and roadside statues of Kṣitigarbha are

11328-417: The old compositional formulae which had been worked out to accommodate haloes, the problems were manageable, but as Western artists sought more flexibility in composition, this ceased to be the case. In free-standing medieval sculpture , the halo was already shown as a flat disk above or behind the head. When perspective came to be considered essential, painters also changed the halo from an aura surrounding

11446-516: The outer edge of the nimbus, usual for example in Giovanni Bellini . Christ began to be shown with a plain halo. Fra Angelico , himself a monk , was a conservative as far as haloes are concerned, and some of his paintings demonstrate the problems well, as in several of his more crowded compositions, where they are shown as solid gold disks on the same plane as the picture surface, it becomes difficult to prevent them obstructing other figures. At

11564-611: The persons of the Holy Trinity , especially Jesus , and especially in medieval art. In Byzantine and Orthodox images, inside each of the bars of the cross in Christ's halo is one of the Greek letters Ο Ω Ν, making up ὁ ὢν —"ho ōn", literally, "the Existing One"—indicating the divinity of Jesus . At least in later Orthodox images, each bar of this cross is composed of three lines, symbolising

11682-526: The practice of copying sutras to help them. In the common tradition associated with the Sai no Kawara ( 賽の河原 ) or the banks of the Sanzu River , Kṣitigarbha is portrayed as the protector of the souls of children, who are condemned to stack piles of stones vainly, for these towers are repeatedly toppled. In a later version such as the one recorded by Lafcadio Hearn , the oni demons wreck the stone piles, and torment

11800-577: The priest Kūya (10th century). The Kṣitigarbha and the Sai no Kawara legend was connected with the Kūya and his wasan , or chantings probably some time in the 17th century, creating the Jizō wasan . Also, as to the identification of certain geographic features as Sai no Kawara on Osorezan mountain in northern Japan, the establishment of the Kṣitigarbha cult there is of late- Tokugawa Period vintage, early to mid 18th century, despite temple pamphlets ( engi , or account of

11918-406: The reason for suspicion is that the text advocates filial piety , which was stereotypically associated with Chinese culture . It stated that Kṣitigarbha practised filial piety as a mortal, which eventually led to making great vows to save all sentient beings. Since then, other scholars such as Gregory Schopen have pointed out that Indian Buddhism also had traditions of filial piety. Currently there

12036-547: The revenue administration, and in the judicial service. The Deccan sultanates also heavily recruited Marathi Brahmins at different levels of their administration. During the days of Maratha Empire in the 17th and 18th century, the occupation of Marathi Brahmins ranged from being state administrators, being warriors to being de facto rulers as Peshwa . After the collapse of Maratha empire, Brahmins in Maharashtra region were quick to take advantage of opportunities opened up by

12154-465: The reward of martyrs , since the Middle Ages (OED 1220). However, the first use recorded as a term for a halo is in 1848, very shortly after which matters were greatly complicated by the publication in 1851 of the English translation of Adolphe Napoléon Didron 's important Christian Iconography: Or, The History of Christian Art in the Middle Ages . This, by what the OED calls a "strange blunder", derived

12272-521: The same time they were useful in crowded narrative scenes for distinguishing the main, identifiable, figures from the mass of a crowd. Giotto 's Lamentation of Christ from the Scrovegni Chapel has eight figures with haloes and ten without, to whom the viewer knows they are not meant to attach a specific identity. In the same way, a Baptism of Christ by Perugino in Vienna gives neither Christ nor John

12390-604: The seven doves representing the Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit in the 11th century Codex Vyssegradensis Tree of Jesse (where Jesse and Isaiah also have plain haloes, as do the Ancestors of Christ in other miniatures). Later, triangular haloes are sometimes given to God the Father to represent the Trinity . When he is represented by a hand emerging from a cloud , this may be given

12508-522: The social class from which most ascetics came. The term Brahmin in Indian texts has also signified someone who is good and virtuous, not just someone of priestly class. The earliest inferred reference to "Brahmin" as a possible social class is in the Rigveda , occurs once, and the hymn is called Purusha Sukta . According to a hymn in Mandala 10 , Rigveda 10.90.11-2, Brahmins are described as having emerged from

12626-598: The soul, which is perfectly united and in harmony with the physical body. In the theology of the Eastern Orthodox Church , an icon is a "window into heaven" through which Christ and the Saints in heaven can be seen and communicated with. The gold ground of the icon indicates that what is depicted is in heaven. The halo is a symbol of the Uncreated Light (Greek: Ἄκτιστον Φῶς) or grace of God shining forth through

12744-611: The south of the Vindhya mountain range. The term "Dravida" too has territorial, linguistic and ethnological connotations, referring to southern India, the Dravidian people, and to the Dravidian languages of southern India. The Pancha Dravida Brahmins are: The Dharmasutra and Dharmashastra texts of Hinduism describe the expectations, duties and role of Brahmins. According to Kulkarni, the Grhya-sutras state that Yajna , Adhyayana (studying

12862-457: The state of Uttar Pradesh , recorded that the primary occupation of almost all Brahmin families surveyed was neither priestly nor Vedas-related, but like other varnas, ranged from crop farming (80 per cent of Brahmins), dairy, service, labour such as cooking, and other occupations. The survey reported that the Brahmin families involved in agriculture as their primary occupation in modern times plough

12980-510: The term Brahmin in ancient texts does not imply a caste, but simply "masters" (experts), guardian, recluse, preacher or guide of any tradition. An alternate synonym for Brahmin in the Buddhist and other non-Hindu tradition is Mahano . Strabo cites Megasthenes, highlighting two Indian philosophical schools Sramana and Brahmana : Megasthenes makes a different division of the philosophers, saying that they are of two kinds, one of which he calls

13098-491: The vedas and teaching), dana pratigraha (accepting and giving gifts) are the "peculiar duties and privileges of brahmins". John Bussanich states that the ethical precepts set for Brahmins, in ancient Indian texts, are similar to Greek virtue-ethics, that "Manu's dharmic Brahmin can be compared to Aristotle's man of practical wisdom", and that "the virtuous Brahmin is not unlike the Platonic-Aristotelian philosopher" with

13216-580: The widespread practices of Kṣitigarbha-worship in Japan was the citation and copying of the Lotus Sutra as it promised benefits in the present and future. Kṣitigarbha satisfied those immediate needs and the mundane wishes of worshippers to the extent of delivering them to the Pure Land of Amida in the times of declining Dharma. The story of Kṣitigarbha was first described in the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva Pūrvapraṇidhāna Sūtra , one of

13334-504: The word from the Latin aura as a diminutive, and also defined it as meaning a halo or glory covering the whole body, whilst saying that "nimbus" referred only to a halo around the head. This, according to the OED, reversed the historical usage of both words, but whilst Didron's diktat was "not accepted in France", the OED noted it had already been picked up by several English dictionaries, and influenced usage in English, which still seems to be

13452-448: Was a former prince from Silla named Kim Gyo-gak , who became a monk under the Chinese name Dizang "Kṣitigarbha," pronounced Jijang in Korean. He went to Mount Jiuhua in present-day Anhui . After ascending, he decided to build a hut in a deep mountain area so that he could cultivate the dharma. According to records, Jijang was bitten by a venomous snake but he did not move, thus letting the snake go. A woman happened to pass by and gave

13570-704: Was first translated from Sanskrit into Chinese between 695 and 700 CE, during the Tang dynasty , by the Tripiṭaka master Śikṣānanda, a Buddhist monk from Khotan who also provided a new translation of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra and the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra . However, some scholars have suspected that instead of being translated, this text may have originated in China , since no Sanskrit manuscripts of this text have been found. Part of

13688-481: Was largely confined to rural folk, and therefore went unrecorded in history". Their role as priests and repository of sacred knowledge, as well as their importance in the practice of Vedic Shrauta rituals, grew during the Gupta Empire era and thereafter. However, the knowledge about actual history of Brahmins or other varnas of Hinduism in and after the first millennium is fragmentary and preliminary, with little that

13806-452: Was mandated by clerical writers on religious art such as Molanus and Saint Carlo Borromeo . Figures were placed where natural light sources would highlight their heads, or instead more discreet quasi-naturalistic flickering or glowing light was shown around the head of Christ and other figures (perhaps pioneered by Titian in his late period). Rembrandt 's etchings , for example, show a variety of solutions of all of these types, as well as

13924-529: Was told and her consciousness was transported to a Hell realm, where she met a guardian who informed her that through her fervent prayers and pious offerings, her mother had accumulated much merit and had already ascended to heaven. "Sacred Girl" was greatly relieved and would have been extremely happy, but the sight of the suffering she had seen in Hell touched her heart. She vowed to do her best to relieve beings of their suffering in her future lives for kalpas . There

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