Gandhamardhan hills

Gandhamardan Hills or Gandhamardan parbat (Odia: ଗନ୍ଧମାର୍ଦନ ପର୍ବତ) is a hill located in between Balangir and Bargarh district of Odisha. This hill is well known for medicinal plants. There is a Bauxite reserve which is planned for exploration by the State Govt. with private venture.

Mythology

This hill also has a lot of historic importance as it was once a seat of Buddhist culture. Till to date many ruins found on the plateau at the hilltop. According to mythology, Lord Hanuman carried this hill on his shoulders from Himalayas to save the life of Lakshman. In the Tretaya Yug (the Silver Age), Jambavan (the unerring counselor of Ram) had suggested Vir Hanuman to bring Bisalyakarani ere dawn, so that Laxman would rise back to life. It was in the middle of the war between Lord Ram and Ravan. Hanuman failed to identify the particular herb and carried on his shoulders a huge Himalayan mass. While flying above and proceeding toward Lanka (the kingdom of Ravan), a portion dropped down. Gandhamardan is synonymous to that portion only. At northern slope of this hill the Nrusinghanath Temple is located; whereas on the southern slope of this hill is the famous Harishankar Temple located.

Black Rice

Black Rice (French: Riz noir) is a novel written by Anna Moï, published by Gallimard in 2004.

Plot introduction

The novel takes place during the Vietnam War and tells of two sisters aged 15 and 14, who have been arrested, tortured and finally put into Poulo Condor prison. Throughout their sad adventure, the young girls recall important events in which they were involved, such as the Tet offensive. However, their recollections center more on the countryside, the colors and the scents and smells of their childhood.

Rice

Rice is the seed of the grass species Oryza sativa (Asian rice) or Oryza glaberrima (African rice). As a cereal grain, it is the most widely consumed staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in Asia. It is the agricultural commodity with the third-highest worldwide production, after sugarcane and maize, according to 2012 FAOSTAT data.

Since a large portion of maize crops are grown for purposes other than human consumption, rice is the most important grain with regard to human nutrition and caloric intake, providing more than one-fifth of the calories consumed worldwide by humans.

Wild rice, from which the crop was developed, may have its native range in Australia. Chinese legends attribute the domestication of rice to Shennong, the legendary emperor of China and inventor of Chinese agriculture. Genetic evidence has shown that rice originates from a single domestication 8,200–13,500 years ago in the Pearl River valley region of China. Previously, archaeological evidence had suggested that rice was domesticated in the Yangtze River valley region in China.

Hill

A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, although in areas with scarp/dip topography a hill may refer to a particular section of flat terrain without a massive summit (e.g. Box Hill, Surrey).

Terminology

The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be less tall and less steep than a mountain. In the United Kingdom, geographers historically regarded mountains as hills greater than 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level, which formed the basis of the plot of the 1995 film The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain. In contrast, hillwalkers have tended to regard mountains as peaks 2,000 feet (610 m) above sea level: the Oxford English Dictionary also suggests a limit of 2,000 feet (610 m) and Whittow states "Some authorities regard eminences above 600 m (2,000 ft) as mountains, those below being referred to as hills." The Great Soviet Encyclopedia defines hill as an upland with a relative height up to 200 m (660 ft).

Pankaj

Pankaj is a Hindu given name, common in Nepal and India. It has its roots in the Sanskrit word paṅkaja which refers to the lotus flower. The word is a compound of paṅka 'mud' and the suffix -ja 'born from, growing in'. The associated symbolism is of the lotus that is born in mud and blossoms after arising from mud. The lotus flower is also the national flower of India and is considered to be a symbol of Buddhist teaching (cf. Nalanda).

Notable people with the name