Kumar Gandharva Death Anniversary

 

One of the most celebrated exponents of Indian classical music, Kumar Gandharva, who passed away on 12 January 1992, has left an indelible impression in the hearts of music lovers across India and abroad. The Hindustani classical music stalwart not only introduced many new ragas and compositions but also trained a new generation of singers and musicians. Born as Shivaputra Siddharamayya Komkalimath, Kumar Gandharva was lauded as a musical prodigy since his childhood.

Well-known for his unique vocal style, Kumar Gandharva dared to create new ragas, new compositions and an entirely new tradition in Indian classical music during his active years.

The illustrious singer, known for his innovative style and penchant for creating new ragas, had been honoured with the Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, and the Kalidas Samma.

Jijabai Birth Anniversary

Jijabai Shahaji Bhosale, born on 12 January 1598, in the town of Sindhkhed in Maharashtra, was the mother of Shivaji, the Maratha king who established one of the largest empires in the history of India. Herself a fierce warrior and administrator, she was instrumental in Shivaji’s quests to establish the Maratha Empire. She served as the queen regent in her son’s kingdom for which she is commonly known as Rajmata Jijabai. A champion of Hind Swaraj who stood against the Mughal Empire, the lady is one of the most inspirational historical figures of the country.

Jijabai was married at a very young age to Shahaji Bhosle, son of Maloji Shiledar. Her husband also served the Nizam Shah. They had eight children, including six daughters and two sons. One of them was Shivaji.

Jijabai’s prayers were answered as Shivaji became an independent ruler of the Maratha clan. She, who served as his advisor, had a major role in his accomplishments.

She encouraged Shivaji to avenge the death of her eldest son Sambhaji at the hands of Afzal Khan, which Shivaji fulfilled.

Jijabai was known for her virtue, valour and foresight, traits which she passed down to her son Shivaji. She was also a skilled horse rider and had a way with swords that would put decent fighters to shame.

As the queen regent, she managed her husband’s jagir in Poona and saw to its development. She established the Kasbapeth Ganpati temple and renovated the Keverreshwar temple and Tambdi Jogeshwari temple.

She championed the cause of Swaraj or freedom from the Mughal rulers and helped Shivaji unite the Maratha factions and establish the ‘Hindavi Swaraj’.

Affectionately known as 'Rajmata', Jijabai passed away in 1674 in the village of Pachad near Fort Rajgad, a mere twelve days after Shivaji's coronation. Her death brought great sorrow to the entire kingdom and more on Shivaji who mourned so deeply. Today, the region of Raigad is regarded sacred, and its several statues of the Mother Jijau with the boy Shivaji, makes it reminiscent of the maternal bonding between two great inspirational of Indian history. 

Agatha Christie Death Anniversary

 

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller), who passed away on 12 January 1976, was an English writer. She is known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around her fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Christie also wrote the world's longest-running play, a murder mystery, The Mousetrap, and, under the pen name Mary Westmacott, six romances. In 1971 she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her contribution to literature.

She was initially an unsuccessful writer with six consecutive rejections, but this changed when The Mysterious Affair at Styles, featuring Hercule Poirot, was published in 1920. During the Second World War, she worked as a pharmacy assistant at University College Hospital, London, acquiring a good knowledge of poisons which feature in many of her novels.

Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling novelist of all time. Her novels have sold roughly 2 billion copies, and her estate claims that her works come third in the rankings of the world's most-widely published books, behind only Shakespeare's works and the Bible. According to Index Translationum, she remains the most-translated individual author, having been translated into at least 103 languages. And Then There Were None is Christie's best-selling novel, with 100 million sales to date, making it the world's best-selling mystery ever, and one of the best-selling books of all time. Christie's stage play The Mousetrap holds the world record for longest initial run. It opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in the West End on 25 November 1952, and as of April 2019 is still running after more than 27,000 performances.

In 1955, Christie was the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's highest honour, the Grand Master Award. Later the same year, Witness for the Prosecution received an Edgar Award by the MWA for Best Play. In 2013, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was voted the best crime novel ever by 600 fellow writers of the Crime Writers' Association. On 15 September 2015, coinciding with her 125th birthday, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favourite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. Most of her books and short stories have been adapted for television, radio, video games and comics, and more than thirty feature films have been based on her work. 

 

Bhagwan Das Birth Anniversary

Bhagwan Das, born on 12 January 1869, was an Indian Theosophist and public figure. For a time he served in the Central Legislative Assembly of British India. He became allied with the Hindustani Culture Society and was active in opposing rioting as a form of protest. As an advocate for national freedom from the British rule, he was often in danger of reprisals from the Colonial government. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1955.

National Youth Day (India)

 

India observes National Youth Day also known as Vivekananda Jayanti, on January 12, a date chosen to commemorate the birthday of Swami Vivekananda, a revered spiritual and social leader in India. Swami Vivekananda, known for his optimistic outlook on the potential of youth, believed that they could drive social change with "muscles of iron" and "nerves of steel." He embodied the perpetual energy and relentless pursuit of truth characteristic of youth.

It was a decision of the Government of India in 1984 to celebrate the birthday of great Swami Vivekananda on 12 January as National Youth Day every year. The Government felt that the philosophy of Swamiji and the ideals for which he lived and worked could be a great source of inspiration for the National Youth Day. Since 1985, the event is celebrated in India every year.

Swami Vivekananda Birth Anniversary

 

Swami Vivekananda, born on January 12, 1863, Calcutta [now Kolkata] was a Hindu spiritual leader and reformer in India who attempted to combine Indian spiritualty with Western material progress, maintaining that the two supplemented and complemented one another. His Absolute was a person’s own higher self; to labour for the benefit of humanity was the noblest endeavour.

Born into an upper-middle-class family of the Kayastha (scribes) castes in Bengal, he was educated at a Western-style university where he was exposed to Western philosophy, Christianity, and science. Social reform became a prominent element of Vivekananda’s thought, and he joined the Brahmo Samaj (Society of Brahma), dedicated to eliminating child marriage and illiteracy and determined to spread education among women and the lower castes. He later became the most-notable disciple of Ramakrishna, who demonstrated the essential unity of all religions.

Always stressing the universal and humanistic side of the Vedas, the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism, as well as belief in service rather than dogma, Vivekananda attempted to infuse vigour into Hindu thought, placing less emphasis on the prevailing pacifism and presenting Hindu spirituality to the West. He was an activating force in the movement to promote Vedanta philosophy (one of the six schools of Indian Philosophy) in the United States and England. In 1893 he appeared in Chicago as a spokesman for Hinduism at the World’s Parliament of Religions and so captivated the assembly that a newspaper account described him as “an orator by divine right and undoubtedly the greatest figure at the Parliament.” Thereafter he lectured throughout the United States and England, making converts to the Vedanta movement.

On his return to India with a small group of Western disciples in 1897, Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission at the monastery of Belur Math on the Ganges (Ganga) River near Calcutta (now 

Kolkata). Self-perfection and service were his ideals, and the order continued to stress them. He adapted and made relevant to the 20th century the very highest ideals of the Vedantic religion, and, although he lived only two years into that century, he left the mark of his personality on East and West alike.