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Madurai

(Encyclopedia)Madurai mədo͝orīˈ [key], city (1991 pop. 1,085,914), Tamil Nadu state, S India, on the Vaigai River. It is known as the “city of festivals and temples” and is the second largest city in Tamil ...

mandala

(Encyclopedia)mandala mŭnˈdələ [key], [Skt.,=circular, round] a concentric diagram having spiritual and ritual significance in Hindu and Buddhist Tantrism. The mandala may have derived from the circular stupa a...

Karakorum, mountain range, Kashmir

(Encyclopedia)Karakorum or Karakoram, mountain range, extending c.300 mi (480 km), between the Indus and Yarkant rivers, N Kashmir, S central Asia; SE extension of the Hindu Kush. It covers disputed territory, held...

Brahma

(Encyclopedia)Brahma bräˈmə [key], a god often identified, with Vishnu and Shiva, as one of the three supreme gods in Hinduism. In the late Vedic period he was called Prajapati, the primeval man whose sacrifice ...

suttee

(Encyclopedia)suttee sŭˌtēˈ, sŭˈtēˌ [key] [Skt. sati=faithful wife], former Indian funeral practice in which the widow immolated herself on her husband's funeral pyre. The practice of killing a favorite wif...

vegetarianism

(Encyclopedia)vegetarianism, theory and practice of eating only fruits and vegetables, thus excluding animal flesh, fish, or fowl and often butter, eggs, and milk. In a strict vegetarian, or vegan, diet (i.e., one ...

Aliotta, Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Aliotta, Antonio äntôˈnyō älyôtˈtä [key], 1881–1964, Italian philosopher, b. Salerno. He taught at the universities of Padua and Naples. He wrote a critical analysis of contemporary philosop...

Clapp, Verner

(Encyclopedia)Clapp, Verner, 1901–72, American librarian, b. Johannesburg, South Africa. After studying philosophy at Harvard, Clapp worked for the Library of Congress (1922–56), becoming chief assistant librar...

George of Trebizond

(Encyclopedia)George of Trebizond trĕbˈĭzŏnd [key], c.1396–1486, Greek scholar, b. Crete. Settling in Venice, he taught Greek, philosophy, and rhetoric there and in Vicenza before going to Rome in 1442. He be...

Laval University

(Encyclopedia)Laval University, at Quebec, Que., Canada; Roman Catholic, coeducational, French language; chartered 1852, an outgrowth of a seminary established 1663 by Bishop Laval. In 1876 a branch was established...