DharmaQuiz: December 2012

Friday, December 21, 2012

DharmaQuiz Session 183: 18-Dec-2012

Theme: Nagas or Serpents

Name the poisonous Naga or serpent, upon whose head Shri Krishna danced at the Yamuna river, during Dwapara Yuga. #DharmaQuiz 1271. Ans: Kaaliya or Kaalinga Sarpa. Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaliya
Name the Naga or Serpent that protected Gautama Buddha from heavy rains, when he was meditating below the Bodhi tree. #DharmaQuiz 1272. Ans: Muchalinda. Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mucalinda
Name this Naga or Serpent, a descendant of Rama, who lived in a city 32 KM from Pakistan's capital, built by Bharata's son. #DharmaQuiz 1273. Ans: Takshaka -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takshaka
Name this Naga or Serpent, used by Devas and Asuras during Samudra Manthan. He's also famous in China and Japan's epics. #DharmaQuiz 1274. Ans: Vasuki. Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasuki
{Final, Open till 10 PM} Name this Cosmic Naga who reincarnated many times on Earth, including twice as Vishnu's brother. #DharmaQuiz 1275. Ans: Sesha or Adi Shesha or Ananta Sesha. More here -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesha

Top Scorers during session 183:

@amitscmishra : 5
@sweetandu : 5
@anandt_05 : 5
@gbhat_ : 5
@cubicle_warrier : 5
@vinodvyas220 : 5
@khaishk : 5
@dolby_mehul : 5
@intodust_in : 5
@Manjunaath : 5

Congrats to:

@sharathinindia : 4
@roshan_halwai : 4
@philAmit : 4
@ThejasMysore : 4
@Susri1210 : 4
@iDevNakshi : 4
@iSumitRk : 4

And

@iRohitBhat : 3
@singhrakeshk : 3
@shriram78 : 3

And

@mrsnrao : 2
@RohitR_ : 2
@shreeramm : 2
@octotus : 2
@Rajeev_RSS1925 : 2
@Keefarqpaindha : 2
@chaitanyadj : 2
@JagannathAjnabi : 2

And

@psudo : 1
@kalpesh0304 : 1
@DaringDeepa : 1
@harsha_bsh : 1
@CJ_Shekhar : 1
@man0jsharma : 1
@spicy_words : 1
@sandeepkram : 1
@ksmsundaram1975 : 1
@rameshnswamy : 1
@vinod_gowda : 1
@ABeautifulDawn : 1
@raopm9 : 3
@lalitadvani : 1
@cgmagia : 1
@maanasara : 1
@arora_chandan : 1
@srini091 : 1
@mallikaarjuna24 : 1
@BlueImpulse2517 : 1
@hemantchoti : 1
@idurgesh : 1
@KiranGowdaLAD : 1
@jenaanindya : 1
@malviyamit : 1
@mpramodkumar : 1
@DailyBreadIndia : 1
@SandeepHBhat : 1

Many thanks to all participants!

Friday, December 14, 2012

DharmaQuiz Session 182: 14-Dec-2012

Theme: Ruins of Hindu Temples and University

1) This is the ruin of a very wealthy capital of a Hindu empire in South India. Name this capital.#DharmaQuiz 1266. Ans: Hampi, capital of Vijayanagara kingdom.

For Question 1

For Question 2

Picture 1: An 1868 photograph of the ruins of the Vijayanagara Empire at Hampi, now a UNESCO World Heritage site

2) This was one of the grandest Hindu temples in Kashmir long ago. Who was the main deity of this temple? #DharmaQuiz 1267. Ans: Surya or Sun God.

Picture 2: Photograph of the Surya Temple, The most impressive and grandest ruins in Kashmir, at Marttand-Hardy Cole's Archaeological Survey of India Report 'Illustrations of Ancient Buildings in Kashmir.' (1869)

3) These are the ruins of a 900 year extremely grand temple complex in south east Asia. In which country? #DharmaQuiz 1268. Ans: Combodia.

For Question 3

4) This was the ruin of a temple before the Iron Man of India said,enough is enough, rebuild it. Name it. #DharmaQuiz 1269. Ans: Somnath temple in Gujarat.

For Question 4

5) Name this ruin,that was once a grand university of Hindu & Buddhist learning. #DharmaQuiz 1270. Ans: Nalanda in Bihar.

For Question 5

Friday, December 7, 2012

DharmaQuiz Session 181: 7-Dec-2012

Theme: Sri Lanka and Hindu Dharma

Majority of the Hindus in Sri Lanka follow which branch? a) Shaiva Siddhanta. b) Vaishnava Siddhanta. c) Shakta Siddhanta. #DharmaQuiz 1261. Ans: a) Shaiva Siddhanta
Bhagavata Purana describes how Sri Lanka was formed from Mount Meru's apex. Who persuaded Vayu to form Sri Lanka? #DharmaQuiz 1262. Ans: Narada.
Bharata or India was historically described as "aasetu himachala paryantham". What does it mean? #DharmaQuiz 1263. Ans: From the Rama setu connecting Sri Lanka to India, till Himalaya mountains, the land is called Bharata or India.
Adi Shankara composed "Ashta Dasha Shakti Peetha Stotram". What's the name of Devi in the only Maha Shakti Peetha in Lanka? #DharmaQuiz 1264. Ans: Shankari at Trincomalee (Sri Lanka)
Apart from Ravana, name any one other king of Lanka, mentioned in Ramayana. #DharmaQuiz 1265. Ans: Vibhishana (Ravana's younger brother), Kubera (Ravana's step brother), Sumali (grandfather of Ravana).

Top Scorers of session 181:

@sharad_51 : 5
@Ethirajans : 5
@guruswamy_c : 5
@pvaidyaraj : 5

Congrats to:

@iDevNakshi : 4
@ThejasMysore : 4
@man8shree : 4
@iSumitRk : 4
@hchaturv : 4
@philAmit : 4
@sweetandu : 4

And

@KPGanesh : 3
@Manjunaath : 3
@kbharada : 3
@iRohitBhat : 3
@cubicle_warrier : 3
@abhipar7 : 3

And

@TheArvindDhar : 2
@Kaushikbaruah6 : 2
@voxindica : 2
@VijayShenli : 2
@pramodgurav : 2
@bkprajwal : 2
@sharathinindia : 2
@pp_chn : 2

And..

@dheepakg : 1
@Sreevathsaa : 1
@Marut_ : 1
@saggirex : 1
@vikramuk : 1
@krishna208 : 1
@ChandaDebabrata : 1
@somanathg : 1
@lifeisgr8nc : 1
@shyamsunderv : 1
@ramjoukani : 1
@FEEL4INDIA : 1
@Hindustani12 : 1
@dhruva91 : 1
@indianomad : 1
@Tasmayi : 1
@icountu : 1

Keep up the participation. We all can learn together more about Dharma.

DharmaQuiz Session 180: 4-Dec-2012

Theme: Hindu Renaissance leaders of 19th century.

Name the Hindu Renaissance leader of 19th century who founded a new Samaj devoid of untouchability. Family name was Tiwari. #DharmaQuiz 1256. Ans: Swami Dayananda Saraswati -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Dayananda
Name the Hindu Renaissance leader of 19th century, whose writing on Vedas came the book "The Secret of the Veda". #DharmaQuiz 1257. Ans: Sri Aurobindo -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Aurobindo
Name the Hindu Renaissance leader of 19th century, who used ancient Upanishads as a vision of rationalist 'modern' India. #DharmaQuiz 1258. Ans: Raja Ram Mohan Roy. More -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram_Mohan_Roy
Name the Hindu Renaissance leader of 19th century, who immortalized the "Arise, Awake" message of Katha Upanishad. #DharmaQuiz 1259. Ans: Swami Vivekananda. Kathopanishad says: “Uttishthata jagrata Prapyavarannibodhata, Kshurasydhara nishita”, meaning " Arise, awake, Empower yourself through knowledge, As sharp as the razor’s edge”. Vivekenanda used this splendidly in his speeches & slogans inspiring 100s of millions till date.
Name this Hindu Renaissance leader of 19th century, who in 1894 started the public Ganesha poojas. #DharmaQuiz 1260. Ans: Bala Gangadhar Tilak --> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bal_Gangadhar_Tilak

Just for this session, I could not compile the full scores. So I will leave out that part. The response was very good and I had to browse through 100s of tweets. Sorry, it got too late then.