KOHINOOR

The Koh-i-Noor is a 106 carats diamond which was once the largest diamond in the world. Previously, it has belonged to various rulers in India; today it lies in the hands of the British royal family and is part of the Crown Jewels.

Legend says that the diamond is 5000 years old and was referred to in Sanskrit writings as the Syamantaka jewel.

But the first document that attests the existence of the Koh-I-Noor dates back to 1526 when the Indian conqueror Babur had it in his possession.

He mentioned that the diamond was owned by the Raja of Gwalior in the 13th century.

The diamond belonged to various Indian and Persian rulers who fought bitter battles throughout history.

The Koh-I-Noor was mounted on the Peaccock Throne, the Mughal throne of India. It is said that Shah Jahan, the ruler who commanded the building of the throne and that of the Taj Mahal was imprisoned by his son and he could only ever see the Taj Mahal again through the reflection of the diamond.

Later, Shah’s son, Aurangazeb brought the Koh-I-Noor to the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore. It was robbed from there by Nadir Shah who took the diamond to Persia in 1739, but the diamond found its way back to Punjab in 1813 after the deposed ruler of Afghanistan, Shuja Shah Durrani took it to India and made a deal to surrender the diamond in exchange for help in winning back the Afghan throne.

The Brits came across the gem when they conquered Punjab in 1849, and Queen Victoria got it in 1851. The stone was then at 186 carats as before this point, the diamond was not cut.

Along with over 2000 other diamonds, the Koh-I-Noor was mounted on the Crown. For a more elaborate history of the diamond, head to our history section.

Since getting into British hands, the Koh-I-Noor was used by Queen Victoria, Queen Alexandra (wife of King Edward VII), Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. The diamond is wore only be female members of the British Royal Family.

As of today, the Koh-I-Noor is on display in the Tower of London with the Crown Jewels

YOGA: INITIATED IN ANCIENT INDIA

Yoga is a commonly known
generic term for the physical, mental, and
spiritual practices or disciplines which
originated in ancient India with a view to
attain a state of permanent peace.
Specifically, yoga is one of the six āstika
("orthodox") schools of Hindu philosophy .
One of the most detailed and thorough
expositions on the subject is the Yoga
Sūtras of Patañjali, which defines yoga as
"the stilling of the changing states of the
mind" Yoga has also been
popularly defined as "union with the
divine" in other contexts and traditions.
Various traditions of yoga are found in
Buddhism , Hinduism , Jainism and Sikhism .
Post-classical traditions consider
Hiranyagarbha as the originator of yoga. Pre–philosophical speculations and
diverse ascetic practices of first millennium
BCE were systematized into a formal
philosophy in early centuries CE by the
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.[9] By the turn of
the first millennium, Hatha yoga emerged
as a prominent tradition of yoga distinct
from Patanjali's Yoga Sutras and marks the
development of asanas into the full body
postures now in popular usage and,
along with its many modern variations, is the style that many people associate with
the word yoga today.
Hindu monks, beginning with Swami
Vivekananda , brought yoga to the West in
the late 19th century. In the 1980s, yoga became popular as a system of physical exercise across the Western world. This form of yoga is often called Hatha yoga .
Many studies have tried to determine the
effectiveness of yoga as a complementary
intervention for cancer, schizophrenia,
asthma and heart patients. In a national
survey, long-term yoga practitioners in the
United States reported musculo–skeletal
and mental health improvements.

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