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Wooster School Learns About
India

 

 

 

Learn About India

  • Embassy of India, Washington, DC
    Includes links to Indian government information, departments, ministries, and organizations.
  • University of Chicago Digital South Asia Library
    Includes reference resources, images, maps, statistics, books, and journals.
  • Maps of India
    From the University of Texas at Austin Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
  • Calcuttaweb.com: A guide to Kolkata (Calcutta), Bengali and West Bengal
  • UNICEF India - Resources - News Updates 2008
  • India Virtual Library :Modern Media Cinema- Music-Radio-TV · Print Media Resources Politics and Social Issues Indian Diasporas · Politics and Government
  • India Resources :India News, Desi Magazines, Indian Restaurants, Grocery Stores, Banks, Travel, Information, Baggage Rules, Tourism, ....
   
Music & Dance of India
   
Indian Culture

Literature

SAWNET: The South Asian Women's NETwork Bookshelf

Film

SAWNET: The South Asian Women's NETwork
Filmmakers
Film Reviews

Arts and Crafts

Indian Art History Resources

Traditional Indian Dress

Food

Food-India.com
Guide to Indian cuisine, recipes, descriptions of ingredients.

India's Contribution to the World's Culture

Full text of a richly illustrated book by Sudheer Birodkar which describes Indian contributions to math, astronomy, physics, chemistry, medicine, engineering, architecture, philosophy, sports, and fine arts. Also includes what the human spirit in Ancient India has given to the world, like the values of non-violence, religious tolerance, and renunciation etc.

Indian Religion, Culture and History

The second book of Sudheer Birodkar investigates the origin of various Indian customs, beliefs, rituals, folklore, festivals, etc. It looks at what Indians do in their daily lives and tries to answer why they do these things.

Discover India (Culture)

Here is a catalogue of everything Indian: religions, festivals, rituals, artifacts, monuments, costumes, music and dance, language and literature. There is also a section on Sports in Ancient India.

Indian Culture

Information on dance, arts, clothing, festivals, religion and language. There is also a section on India's contribution to the world

India Arts, Culture & Literature

Site which tackles a range of topics from India including: Music, Dance, Hindu Pilgraimages, Festivals, Beliefs & Concepts: Vishnu Customs & Ceremonies: Annaprashana, Religious Texts: Upanishad, Nature Worship: Banyan Tree

Ancient Scripts of the World

This site deals with the development of writing systems and covers many ancient cultures. Here visitors will find information on the Brahmi Script, the Devanagari Script and the Indus Valley Script.

 

The Ramayana, An Enduring Tradition: Its Text and Context

For the past two thousand years the Ramayana has been among the most important literary and oral texts of South Asia. This poem provides insights into many aspects of Indian culture and continues to influence the politics, religion and art of modern India.

Exile in the Forest

An illustrated presentation on the theme of Rama's wanderings in exile and his adventures in the forest, as narrated in the great epic, Ramayana. Part of an excellent site on Indian painting entitled Black Peacock.

The Ramayana Story

Ten images which tell the story (each is clickable to see a full screen image) with links to two lesson plans, "Rama and the Ramayana: Lessons in Dharma" (includes a 10 item summary with images) and "Understanding Karma, Dharma, and Samsara.

Buddhist Tales for Young and Old - King Fruitful

This is a selection from the Jataka Tales which were used by Buddha himself to explain concepts like kamma and rebirth and to emphasise the importance of certain moral values. This site is part of the award-winning site BuddhaNet: Buddhist Information Network.

Reader's Theatre: Tales of Ancient India:

A collection of scripts adapted from stories by Aaron Shepard and others -- mostly humor, fantasy, and retold tales from a variety of cultures. In addition to the scripts you will find color photographs, the text of the original stories and Real Audio files of the author reading from the tales. (see additional resources).

Stories from Indian Mythology. India's Festivals and Stories from Panchatantra, Jataka and Hitopadesh

Illustrated tales including classic stories such as The Ramayana, Breaking the Vanity of the Gods, The Knowledge of Brahman, The Life of Buddha, The Festivals of Dashera & Diwali and popular fables such as Shuddha's Donkey, The Lioness &the Jackal Cub, The Lion, the Jackal & the Donkey, The Tiger and the Woodpecker and many other stories written for young people.

The Fables of Bidpai

Wisdom, cleverness, and stupidity compared in an animal fable taken from The Fables of Bidpai, ancient India's version of Aesop's Fables. First published in Sanskrit, the collection of fables dates back to the 4th century A.D.

The Panchatantra - The Brahmin's Tale was translated and illustrated by an Indian artist, Vaibhav Kodikal and is available from a site Candelight Stories.

   
History
  • The Ancient Indus Valley
    A wealth of information including essays and and an extensive slide tour of the region and the ancient cities of Lothal, Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro.
  • History, Mystery, and Diversity of India > Timeline of India : Kamat's Potpourri Extensive material on the history, culture, and diversity of India. Includes a timeline with links, a picture of the week, information on Indian religion, epics and more. See article on Mauryan Empire.
  • Daily Life in Ancient IndiaThis site shares daily life in three major time periods of ancient India history; the mysterious Indus Valley Civilization, the Vedic & Epics Periods, and the Age of Empires. It is part of a larger resource Daily Life in Ancient Civilizations by Lin Don and Mr. Don's Ancient History Site.
  • History of India
    A timeline with links to illustrated articles (click on the images) on Indian history including: Prehistoric India , Indus Valley Civilization (2500 BC - 1500 BC), Vedic Age (1500 BC - 1000 BC), Epic Age (1000 BC - 600 BC), Hinduism and Transition (600 BC - 322 BC), The Mauryan Age (322 BC - 185 BC), The Invasions (85 BC - 320 AD), The Gupta Dynasty (320 AD - 520 AD) and more. For a less graphical version click here.
  • Ancient India History
    A good collection of articles on Harappa Civilisation, Rise of the Mauryas, Reign of King Ashoka, and several essays on the Gupta Empire and its rulers.
  • Ancient India
    Information from an online course by Richard Hooker for his World Cultures Class at Washington State University. Topics include: Harappa and the Indus Civilization, The Mauryans, 321-185 BC, The Age of the Guptas as well as a historical atlas and a glossary. (Note: Some sections are still under construction.)
  • Discover India (History)
    This is part of a larger site Discover India which offers visitors an introduction to the country, its history, the arts and cultures, languages, media, tourism, and governmental agencies. The section on history includes: The Indus Valley Civilisation, Aryans and the Vedic Age, The Mauryan Empire, The Gupta Age and more.

 

   
Indian Religion

The Pilgrimage Places of India

Photographer and anthropologist has published an introduction the practice of pilgrimage in India as well as photographs and information on a number of pilgrimage sites including: Srisailam, Rameshvaram, Sadhu, Dakshineshwar, Ellora caves, Kumbha Mela festival, Sravanabelagola, Shatrunajaya, Arunachaleswar Temple, and The Golden Temple. This is part of a larger web site on Sacred Sites which includes stunning photographs of Buddhist shrines, additional sacred sites from Nepal, Thailand, Burma and much more.

Life of Buddha

This site has been written for secondary school students. There are exercises with each story which teachers can elaborate on when it is used as a textbook. It is part of an award-winning site BuddhaNET one of the best Web sites for information on Buddhism on the Internet. Other relevant articles include Buddhist Studies and Art Gallery of Buddhist Artwork.

Buddha's Life: An Illustrated Narrative in Eleven Parts

From the 1995-96 issues of an online e-zine, Buddhist Door- Buddhist WWW Magazine, comes an illustrated life of Buddha in eleven parts. [Part 1] .. [Part 2] .. [Part 3] .. [Part 4] .. [Part 5] .. [Part 6] .. [Part 7] .. [Part 8] .. [Part 9] .. [Part 10] .. [Part 11]. These is also a listing for each of the sixty-four illustrations of the Life of Buddha.

Puja: Expressions of Hindu Devotion

The Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the national museum of Asian art at the Smithsonian, have developed a Web site on Hindu worship. Designed to complement the award-winning exhibition "Puja: Expressions of Hindu Devotion," the site includes background information on Hindu deities, video footage of worship, lesson plans, and classroom activities.

Hindu Mythology

Over 250 entries from the Encyclopedia Mythica pertaining to Hindu gods and practices.

The Art of Tibetan Sand Painting

A mandala (click here for image) is a circular diagrams which is used in both Hinduism and Buddhism to increase spiritual awareness. Here monks from the Seraje Monastery drew the Mandala of Hayagriva, a symbolic work of art which represents the god that protects their monastery. Originally from Tibet, the monastery has now moved to South India. Site produced by the Houston Chronicle, Virtual Voyager at the Museum of Fine Arts

Glossary of Terms in Eastern Philosophy

Written by James Fieser for the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, here is an explanation of terms used in Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, and Taoism.

Buddha's Life

Siddhartha's life told through enchanting illustrations. The images and titles in the section of Buddha's Life are taken from "The Illustrated History of Buddhism" by The Young Men's Buddhist Association, Rangoon. There is also a section on Buddhist art containing images of several Buddhist statues from China.

Life of Buddha

Illustrated narrative on the life and teachings of Siddhartha Gautoma.

   
Lesson Plan Resources

India Lesson Plans, Interactive Activities

India Lesson Plans Index

Art of India: LESSON PLANS. Focus on India - Excellent elementary through middle school lesson ideas

India Lesson Plan, Activity, Life, Asia Culture Theme Unit ...

The Online NewsHour: India and Pakistan: 60 Years of Independence ...

1000+ India Lesson Plans Reviewed by Teachers

   
   

 

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