tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23862034747692779992024-02-07T08:15:05.577+05:30RAMESH CHAUHANRamesh Chauhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00955982035387624646noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386203474769277999.post-10033387081498320602010-11-03T19:58:00.003+05:302010-11-03T20:00:50.695+05:30<object height="344" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CF9lb8VijDo?hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CF9lb8VijDo?hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Ramesh Chauhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00955982035387624646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386203474769277999.post-47677294796949645402010-07-28T21:00:00.003+05:302010-09-12T12:50:43.327+05:30<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaxJU61yIPmRIcAcxRkEkAQWcqfz7A5WJXQGbSYV2AgdFP5y3cApk29Fm2z_HUCJvWyUoNNjWIT6EUiyX9Is9UIelRWsC7L0JYUVMtxUxSxzhyphenhyphen9sIOrFccrKm6z_7vC-PXDc8XqXNcT34/s1600/DSC05019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaxJU61yIPmRIcAcxRkEkAQWcqfz7A5WJXQGbSYV2AgdFP5y3cApk29Fm2z_HUCJvWyUoNNjWIT6EUiyX9Is9UIelRWsC7L0JYUVMtxUxSxzhyphenhyphen9sIOrFccrKm6z_7vC-PXDc8XqXNcT34/s200/DSC05019.JPG" width="149" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlRKoVv1_tDAETzQqSDxseCXEvGn5sQAhLwccDiix-D7o8knle90dJhuSafz1cHRAEJE1ECJXezSnFe59WgneF-giEy36ZCXzVzSazgoJ_mWEr0H3fMhWun6bE27OQ0_i8nge2_zj2UfU/s1600/DSC05021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlRKoVv1_tDAETzQqSDxseCXEvGn5sQAhLwccDiix-D7o8knle90dJhuSafz1cHRAEJE1ECJXezSnFe59WgneF-giEy36ZCXzVzSazgoJ_mWEr0H3fMhWun6bE27OQ0_i8nge2_zj2UfU/s200/DSC05021.JPG" width="149" /></a></div>पेट का सवाल है तभी तो दूर<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlRKoVv1_tDAETzQqSDxseCXEvGn5sQAhLwccDiix-D7o8knle90dJhuSafz1cHRAEJE1ECJXezSnFe59WgneF-giEy36ZCXzVzSazgoJ_mWEr0H3fMhWun6bE27OQ0_i8nge2_zj2UfU/s1600/DSC05021.JPG" />देश से आये है।Ramesh Chauhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00955982035387624646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386203474769277999.post-9584779316356912382010-03-09T22:11:00.003+05:302010-09-12T12:51:31.750+05:30<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: orange; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;"> THE BHAGAT SINGH </span></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: orange; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">(BHARAT KRANTI VEER)</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: orange; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: orange; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Bhagat Singh (September 27, 1907– March 23, 1931) was an Indian freedom fighter, considered to be one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement. He is often referred to as Shaheed Bhagat Singh (the word shaheed means "martyr").<br />
<br />
Born to a Jat Sikh family which had earlier been involved in revolutionary activities against the British Raj in India, Singh, as a teenager, had studied European revolutionary movements and was attracted to anarchism and communism.He became involved in numerous revolutionary organizations.He quickly rose through the ranks of the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) and became one of its leaders, converting it to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA).Singh gained support when he underwent a 64-day fast in jail,demanding equal rights for Indian and British political prisoners. He was hanged for shooting a police officer in response to the killing of veteran freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai.His legacy prompted youth in India to begin fighting for Indian independence and also increased the rise of socialism in India.Contents<br />
</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;"> Early life<br />
<br />
Bhagat Singh at the age of 17</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; font-family: Georgia;"><br />
</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Bhagat Singh was born into a Sandhu Jat family to Sardar Kishan Singh Sandhu and Vidyavati in the Khatkar Kalan village near Banga in the Lyallpur district of Punjab. Singh's given name of Bhagat means "devotee". He came from a patriotic Jatt Sikh family, some of whom had participated in movements supporting the independence of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> and others who had served in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's army. His grandfather, Arjun Singh, was a follower of Swami Dayananda Saraswati's Hindu reformist movement,Arya Samaj,which would carry a heavy influence on Singh.His uncles, Ajit Singh and Swaran Singh, as well as his father were members of the Ghadar Party, led by Kartar Singh Sarabha Grewal and Har Dayal. Ajit Singh was forced to flee to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Persia</st1:country-region></st1:place> because of pending cases against him while Swaran Singh was hanged on December 19, 1927 for his involvement in the Kakori train robbery of 1925.<br />
Unlike many Sikhs his age, Singh did not attend <st1:placename w:st="on">Khalsa</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">High School</st1:placetype> in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Lahore</st1:city></st1:place>, because his grandfather did not approve of the school officials' loyalism to the British authorities. Instead, his father enrolled him in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Dayanand</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Anglo</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Vedic</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">High School</st1:placetype></st1:place>, an Arya Samajist school. At age 13, Singh began to follow Mahatma Gandhi's Non-Cooperation Movement. At this point he had openly defied the British and had followed Gandhi's wishes by burning his government-school books and any British-imported clothing.Following Gandhi's withdrawal of the movement after the violent murders of policemen by villagers from Chauri Chaura, Uttar Pradesh,Singh, disgruntled with Gandhi's nonviolence action, joined the Young Revolutionary Movement and began advocating a violent movement against the British.<br />
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In 1923, Bhagat famously won an essay competition set by the <st1:place w:st="on">Punjab</st1:place> Hindi Sahitya Sammelan. This grabbed the attention of members of the <st1:place w:st="on">Punjab</st1:place> Hindi Sahitya Sammelan including its General Secretary Professor Bhim Sen Vidyalankar. At this age, he quoted famous Punjabi literature and discussed the Problems of the <st1:place w:st="on">Punjab</st1:place>. He read a lot of poetry and literature which was written by Punjabi writers and his favourite poet was Allama Iqbal from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Sialkot</st1:city></st1:place>.<br />
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In his teenage years, Bhagat Singh started studying at the <st1:placename w:st="on">National</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">College</st1:placetype> in <st1:city w:st="on">Lahore</st1:city>, but ran away from home to escape early marriage, and became a member of the organization Naujawan Bharat Sabha ("Youth Society of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place>"). In the Naujawan Bharat Sabha, Singh and his fellow revolutionaries grew popular amongst the youth. He also joined the Hindustan Republican Association at the request of Professor Vidyalankar, which was then headed by Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqulla Khan.[citation needed] It is believed that he had knowledge of the Kakori train robbery. He wrote for and edited Urdu and Punjabi newspapers published from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Amritsar</st1:city></st1:place>. In September 1928, a meeting of various revolutionaries from across <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region> was called at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Delhi</st1:city></st1:place> under the banner of the Kirti Kissan Party. Bhagat Singh was the secretary of the meet. His later revolutionary activities were carried out as a leader of this association.<br />
The capture and hanging of the main HRA Leaders also allowed him to be quickly promoted to higher ranks in the party, along with his fellow revolutionary Sukhdev Thapar.[citation needed]<br />
</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;"><br />
Later revolutionary activities<br />
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Lala Lajpat Rai's death and the Saunders murder<br />
</span></b><b><span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;"><br />
</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">The British government created a commission under Sir John Simon to report on the current political situation in India in 1928. The Indian political parties boycotted the commission because it did not include a single Indian as its member and it was met with protests all over the country. When the commission visited <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Lahore</st1:city></st1:place> on October 30, 1928, Lala Lajpat Rai led the protest against Simon Commission in a silent non-violent march, but the police responded with violence. Lala Lajpat Rai was beaten with lathis at the chest. He later succumbed to his injuries. Bhagat Singh, who was an eyewitness to this event, vowed to take revenge. He joined with other revolutionaries, Shivaram Rajguru, Jai Gopal and Sukhdev Thapar, in a plot to kill the police chief, Scott. Jai Gopal was supposed to identify the chief and signal for Singh to shoot. However, in a case of mistaken identity, Gopal signalled Singh on the appearance of J. P. Saunders, a Deputy Superintendent of Police. Thus, Saunders, instead of Scott, was shot. Bhagat Singh quickly left <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Lahore</st1:city></st1:place> to escape the police. To avoid recognition, he shaved his beard and cut his hair, a violation of the sacred tenets of Sikhism.<br />
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</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">Bomb in the assembly</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
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In the face of actions by the revolutionaries, the British government enacted the Defence of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> Act to give more power to the police.[citation needed] The purpose of the Act was to combat revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh. The Act was defeated in the council by one vote.[citation needed] However, the Act was then passed under the ordinance that claimed that it was in the best interest of the public. In response to this act, the <st1:place w:st="on">Hindustan</st1:place> Socialist Republican Association planned to explode a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly where the ordinance was going to be passed. Originally, Chandrashekhar Azad, another prominent leader of the revolutionary movement attempted to stop Bhagat Singh from carrying out the bombing. However, the remainder of the party forced him to succumb to Singh's wishes.It was decided that Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt, another revolutionary, would throw the bomb in the assembly.[citation needed]<br />
<br />
On April 8, 1929, Singh and Dutt threw a bomb onto the corridors of the assembly and shouted "Inquilab Zindabad!" ("Long Live the Revolution!"). This was followed by a shower of leaflets stating that it takes a loud voice to make the deaf hear.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">The leaflet stated</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">It takes a loud voice to make the deaf hear, with these immortal words uttered on a similar occasion by Valiant, a French anarchist martyr, do we strongly justify this action of ours. Without repeating the humiliating history of the past ten years of the working of the reforms (Montague-Chelmsford Reforms) and without mentioning the insults hurled at the Indian nation through this House-the so-called Indian Parliament-we want to point out that, while the people expecting some more crumbs of reforms from the Simon Commission, and are ever quarrelling over the distribution of the expected bones, the Government is thrusting upon us new repressive measures like the Public Safety and the Trade Disputes Bill, while reserving the Press Sedition Bill for the next session. <br />
The indiscriminate arrests of labour leaders working in the open field clearly indicate whither the wind blows. In these extremely provocative circumstances, the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, in all seriousness, realizing their full responsibility, had decided and ordered its army to do this particular action, so that a stop be put to this humiliating farce and to let the alien bureaucratic exploiters do what they wish, but they must be made to come before the public eve in their naked form. Let the representatives of the people return to their constituencies and prepare the masses for the coming revolution,and let the Government know that while protesting against the Public Safety and Trade Disputes Bills and the callous murder of Lala Lajpat Rai, on behalf of the helpless Indian masses, we want to emphasize the lesson often repeated by history,<br />
that it is easy to kill individuals but you cannot kill the ideas. Great empires crumbled while the ideas survived. Bourbons and Czars fell. While the revolution marched ahead triumphantly. We are sorry to admit that we who attach so great a sanctity to human life, who dream of a glorious future, when man will be enjoying perfect peace and full liberty, have been forced to shed human blood. But the sacrifice of individuals at the altar of the 'Great Revolution' that will bring freedom to all, rendering the exploitation of man by man impossible, is inevitable. Long Live the Revolution.<br />
The bomb neither killed nor injured anyone; Singh and Dutt claimed that this was deliberate on their part, a claim substantiated both by British forensics investigators who found that the bomb was not powerful enough to cause injury, and by the fact that the bomb was thrown away from people[citation needed]. Singh and Dutt gave themselves up for arrest after the bomb.[citation needed] He and Dutt were sentenced to 'Transportation for Life' for the bombing on June 12, 1929.<br />
</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;"><br />
Trial and execution<br />
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Front page of The Tribune announcing Bhagat Singh's execution.</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;"><br />
</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
Shortly after his arrest and trial for the Assembly bombing, the British came to know of his involvement in the murder of J. P. Saunders. Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev were charged with the murder. Bhagat Singh decided to use the court as a tool to publicize his cause for the independence of India.[citation needed] He admitted to the murder and made statements against the British rule during the trial.[citation needed] The case was ordered to be carried out without members of the HSRA present at the hearing. This created an uproar amongst Singh's supporters as he could no longer publicise his views.<br />
While in jail, Bhagat Singh and other prisoners launched a hunger strike advocating for the rights of prisoners and those facing trial. The reason for the strike was that British murderers and thieves were treated better than Indian political prisoners, who, by law, were meant to be given better rights. The aims in their strike were to ensure a decent standard of food for political prisoners, the availability of books and a daily newspaper, as well as better clothing and the supply of toilet necessities and other hygienic necessities.<br />
He also demanded that political prisoners should not be forced to do any labour or undignified work. During this hunger strike that lasted 63 days and ended with the British succumbing to his wishes, he gained much popularity among the common Indians. Before the strike his popularity was limited mainly to the <st1:place w:st="on">Punjab</st1:place> region.<br />
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, one of the politicians present when the Central Legislative Assembly was bombed, made no secret of his sympathies for the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Lahore</st1:city></st1:place> prisoners - commenting on the hunger strike he said "the man who goes on hunger strike has a soul. He is moved by that soul, and he believes in the justice of his cause." And talking of Singh's actions said "however much you deplore them and however much you say they are misguided, it is the system, this damnable system of governance, which is resented by the people".<br />
Bhagat Singh also maintained the use of a diary, which he eventually made to fill 404 pages. In this diary he made numerous notes relating to the quotations and popular sayings of various people whose views he supported. Prominent in his diary were the views of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The comments in his diary led to an understanding of the philosophical thinking of Bhagat Singh. Before dying he also wrote a pamphlet entitled "Why I am an atheist, as he was being accused of vanity by not accepting God in the face of death".[citation needed].<br />
On March 23, 1931, Bhagat Singh was hanged in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Lahore</st1:city></st1:place> with his fellow comrades Rajguru and Sukhdev. His supporters, who had been protesting against the hanging, immediately declared him as a shaheed or martyr. According to the Superintendent of Police at the time, V.N. Smith, the hanging was advanced:<br />
Normally execution took place at 8 am, but it was decided to act at once before the public could become aware of what had happened...At about 7 pm shouts of Inquilab Zindabad were heard from inside the jail. This was correctly, interpreted as a signal that the final curtain was about to drop.Singh was cremated at Hussainiwala on banks of <st1:place w:st="on">Sutlej</st1:place> river. Today, the Bhagat Singh Memorial commemorates freedom fighters of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<br />
</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;"><br />
Ideals and opinions<br />
Bhagat Singh in jail at the age of 20</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
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Bhagat Singh was attracted to anarchism and communism.<br />
Both communism and western anarchism had influence on him. He read the teachings of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky and Mikhail Bakunin. Bhagat Singh did not believe in Gandhian philosophy and viewed that Gandhian politics will replace one set of exploiters by another. Singh was an atheist and promoted the concept of atheism by writing a pamphlet titled Why I am an Atheist.[citation needed]<br />
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Bhagat Singh was also an admirer of the writings of Irish revolutionary Terence MacSwiney.[citation needed] When Bhagat Singh's father petitioned the British government to pardon his son, Bhagat Singh quoted Terence MacSwiney and said ""I am confident that my death will do more to smash the British Empire than my release" and told his father to withdraw the petition.<br />
Some of his writings like "Blood Sprinkled on the Day of Holi Babbar Akalis on the Crucifix" were influenced by the struggle of Dharam Singh Hayatpur.[citation needed]<br />
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</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">Anarchism</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
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From May to September, 1928, Bhagat Singh serially published several articles on anarchism in Punjabi periodical Kirti. He expressed concern over misunderstanding of the concept of anarchism among the public. Singh tried to eradicate the misconception among people about anarchism. He wrote, "The people are scared of the word anarchism. The word anarchism has been abused so much that even in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> revolutionaries have been called anarchist to make them unpopular." As anarchism means absence of ruler and abolition of state, not absence of rule, Singh explained, "I think in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> the idea of universal brotherhood,<br />
the Sanskrit sentence vasudhaiva kutumbakam etc., has the same meaning." He wrote about the growth of anarchism,"the first man to explicitly propagate the theory of Anarchism was Proudhon and that is why he is called the founder of Anarchism. After him a Russian, Bakunin worked hard to spread the doctrine. He was followed by Prince Kropotkin etc."<br />
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</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">Singh explained anarchism in the article:</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
The ultimate goal of Anarchism is complete independence, according to which no one will be obsessed with God or religion, nor will anybody be crazy for money or other worldly desires. There will be no chains on the body or control by the state. This means that they want to eliminate: the Church, God and Religion; the state; Private property.<br />
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</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">Marxism</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
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Bhagat Singh was also influenced by Marxism. Indian historian K. N. Panikkar described Singh as one of the early Marxists in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place>. From 1926, Bhagat Singh studied the history of the revolutionary movement in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> and abroad. In his prison notebooks, Singh used quotations from Lenin (on imperialism being the highest stage of capitalism) and Trotsky on revolution. In written documents, when asked what was his last wish, he replied that he was studying the life of Lenin and he wanted to finish it before his death. <br />
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</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">Atheism</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
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During his teenage years, Singh was a Arya Samajist.[citation needed] However, he began to question religious ideologies after witnessing the Hindu-Muslim riots that broke out after Gandhi disbanded the Non-Cooperation Movement. He did not understand how members of these two groups, initially united in fighting against the British, could be at each others' throats because of their religious differences. At this point, Singh dropped his religious beliefs, since he believed religion hindered the revolutionaries' struggle for independence, and began studying the works of Bakunin, Lenin,<br />
Trotsky — all atheist revolutionaries.<br />
He also took an interest in Niralamba Swami's book Common Sense, which advocated a form of "mystic atheism".<br />
While in a condemned cell in 1931, he wrote a pamphlet entitled Why I am an Atheist in which he discusses and advocates the philosophy of atheism. This pamphlet was a result of some criticism by fellow revolutionaries on his failure to acknowledge religion and God while in a condemned cell, the accusation of vanity was also dealt with in this pamphlet. He supported his own beliefs and claimed that he used to be a firm believer in The Almighty, but could not bring himself to believe the myths and beliefs that others held close to their hearts. In this pamphlet,he acknowledged the fact that religion made death easier, but also said that unproved philosophy is a sign of human weakness.<br />
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</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">Death</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
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Bhagat Singh was known for his appreciation of martyrdom. His mentor as a young boy was Kartar Singh Sarabha. Singh is himself considered a martyr for acting to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai, also considered a martyr. In the leaflet he threw in the Central Assembly on 9 April 1929, he stated that It is easy to kill individuals but you cannot kill the ideas. Great empires crumbled while the ideas survived.After engaging in studies on the Russian Revolution, he wanted to die so that his death would inspire the youth of India which in turn will unite them to fight the British Empire.While in prison, Bhagat Singh and two others had written a letter to the Viceroy asking him to treat them as prisoners of war and hence to execute them by firing squad and not by hanging. Prannath Mehta, Bhagat Singh's friend, visited him in the jail on March 20, four days before his execution, with a draft letter for clemency, but he declined to sign it.<br />
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</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">Controversy<br />
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Bhagat Singh's life is the subject of controversy.<br />
<br />
Last wish This section's factual accuracy is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page. (March 2009)</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
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Singh is said to have mentioned to Randhir Singh[discuss], prison inmate, Gadhar revolutionary and a known figure in Sikh circles, that he (Bhagat Singh) had shaven "hair and beard under pressing circumstances" and that "It was for the service of the country" that his companions "compelled him to give up the Sikh appearance" adding to it that he was "ashamed" . He had supposedly expressed, as last wish before being hanged, the desire to get "amrit" from Panj Pyare including Randhir Singh and to adorn full 5 k's. However, his last wish,of getting "amrit" from Panj Pyare was not granted by the British.<br />
Randhir Singh being the only source of information about sudden change in Bhagat Singh's point of view towards religion casts doubts, as Bhagat Singh had been a strong critic of religion. He wrote a pamphlet entitled Why I am an Atheist in which he questions existence of God.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> quote "one friend asked me to pray. When informed of my atheism, he said, "During your last days you will begin to believe". I said, No, dear Sir, it shall not be. I will think that to be an act of degradation and demoralization on my part. For selfish motives I am not going to pray."<br />
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Conspiracy theories<br />
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Many conspiracy theories exist regarding Singh, especially the events surrounding his death:</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
<br />
Mahatma Gandhi One of the most popular ones is that Mahatma Gandhi had an opportunity to stop Singh's execution but did not. This particular theory has spread amongst the public in modern times after the creation of modern films such as The Legend of Bhagat Singh, which portray Gandhi as someone who was strongly at odds with Bhagat Singh and did not oppose his hanging. A variation on this theory is that Gandhi actively conspired with the British to have Singh executed. Both theories are highly controversial and hotly contested. <br />
Gandhi's supporters say that Gandhi did not have enough influence with the British to stop the execution, much less arrange it.<br />
Furthermore, Gandhi's supporters assert that Singh's role in the independence movement was no threat to Gandhi's role as its leader, and so Gandhi would have no reason to want him dead.<br />
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Gandhi, during his lifetime, always maintained that he was a great admirer of Singh's patriotism. He also said that he was opposed to Singh's execution (and, for that matter, capital punishment in general) and proclaimed that he had no power to stop it. On Singh's execution, Gandhi said, "The government certainly had the right to hang these men. However, there are some rights which do credit to those who possess them only if they are enjoyed in name only." Gandhi also once said, on capital punishment, "I cannot in all conscience agree to anyone being sent to the gallows.<br />
God alone can take life because He alone gives it."<br />
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Gandhi had managed to have 90,000 political prisoners who were not members of his Satyagraha movement released under the pretext of "relieving political tension," in the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. According to a report in the Indian magazine Frontline, he did plead several times for the commutation of the death sentence of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, including a personal visit on March 19, 1931, and in a letter to the Viceroy on the day of their execution, pleading fervently for commutation, not knowing that the letter would be too late.<br />
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</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">Lord Irwin, the Viceroy, later said:</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
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As I listened to Mr. Gandhi putting the case for commutation before me, I reflected first on what significance it surely was that the apostle of non-violence should so earnestly be pleading the cause of the devotees of a creed so fundamentally opposed to his own, but I should regard it as wholly wrong to allow my judgment to be influenced by purely political considerations. I could not imagine a case in which under the law, penalty had been more directly deserved.<br />
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</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">Saunders family</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
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On October 28, 2005, a book entitled Some Hidden Facts: Martyrdom of Shaheed Bhagat Singh—Secrets unfurled by an Intelligence Bureau Agent of British-India [sic] by K.S. Kooner and G.S. Sindhra was released. The book asserts that Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev were deliberately hanged in such a manner as to leave all three in a semi-conscious state, so that all three could later be taken outside the prison and shot dead by the Saunders family. The book says that this was a prison operation codenamed "Operation Trojan Horse." Scholars are skeptical of the book's claims.<br />
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Legacy<br />
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Indian independence movement</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
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Bhagat Singh's death had the effect that he desired and he inspired thousands of youths to assist the remainder of the Indian independence movement. After his hanging, youths in regions around Northern India rioted in protest against the British Raj.[citation needed]<br />
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</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">Modern day</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
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Singh's contribution to Indian society[and, in particular, the future of socialism in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place>. To celebrate the centenary of his birth, a group of intellectuals have set up an institution to commemorate Singh and his ideals.<br />
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Several popular Bollywood films have been made capturing the life and times of Bhagat Singh.Possibly the first is Shaheed Bhagat Singh (1963), starring Shammi Kapoor as Singh. Two years later, Manoj Kumar portrayed Bhagat Singh in an immensely popular and landmark film, Shaheed. Two major films about Singh were released in 2002, The Legend of Bhagat Singh and 23rd March 1931: Shaheed. The Legend of Bhagat Singh is Rajkumar Santoshi's adaptation, in which Ajay Devgan played Singh and Amrita Rao was featured in a brief role.<br />
23 March 1931: Shaheed was directed by Guddu Dhanoa and starred Bobby Deol as Singh, with Sunny Deol and Aishwarya Rai in supporting roles.<br />
Another major film Shaheed-E-Azam, starring Sonu Sood, Maanav Vij, <br />
Rajinder Gupta, and Sadhana Singh, and directed by Sukumar Nair, also was produced by Iqbal Dhillon under the banner Surjit Movies.<br />
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The 2006 film Rang De Basanti is a film drawing parallels between revolutionaries of Bhagat Singh's era and modern Indian youth. It covers a lot of Bhagat Singh's role in the Indian freedom struggle. The movie revolves around a group of college students and how they each play the roles of Bhagat's friends and family.<br />
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The patriotic Urdu and Hindi songs, Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna (translated as "the desire to sacrifice") and Mera Rang De Basanti Chola ("my light-yellow-colored cloak"; Basanti referring to the light-yellow color of the Mustard flower grown in the Punjab and also one of the two main colors of the Sikh religion as per the Sikh rehat meryada(code of conduct of the Sikh Saint-Soldier) ), while created by Ram Prasad Bismil, are largely associated to Bhagat Singh's martyrdom and have been used in a number of Bhagat Singh-related films.<br />
<br />
In September 2007 the governor of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Pakistan</st1:country-region>'s Punjab province, Khalid Maqbool, announced that a memorial to Bhagat Singh will be displayed at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Lahore</st1:city></st1:place> museum, according to the governor “Singh was the first martyr of the subcontinent and his example was followed by many youth of the time."<br />
<br />
Bhagat Singh (September 27, 1907– March 23, 1931) was an Indian freedom fighter, considered to be one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement. He is often referred to as Shaheed Bhagat Singh (the word shaheed means "martyr").<br />
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Born to a Jat Sikh family which had earlier been involved in revolutionary activities against the British Raj in India, Singh, as a teenager, had studied European revolutionary movements and was attracted to anarchism and communism.He became involved in numerous revolutionary organizations. <br />
He quickly rose through the ranks of the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) and became one of its leaders, converting it to the <st1:place w:st="on">Hindustan</st1:place> Socialist Republican Association (HSRA).<br />
Singh gained support when he underwent a 64-day fast in jail, <br />
demanding equal rights for Indian and British political prisoners. He was hanged for shooting a police officer in response to the killing of veteran freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai. <br />
His legacy prompted youth in India to begin fighting for Indian independence and also increased the rise of socialism in India.Contents <br />
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Early life<br />
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Bhagat Singh at the age of 17<br />
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Bhagat Singh was born into a Sandhu Jat family to Sardar Kishan Singh Sandhu and Vidyavati in the Khatkar Kalan village near Banga in the Lyallpur district of Punjab. Singh's given name of Bhagat means "devotee". He came from a patriotic Jatt Sikh family, some of whom had participated in movements supporting the independence of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> and others who had served in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's army. His grandfather, Arjun Singh, was a follower of Swami Dayananda Saraswati's Hindu reformist movement, <br />
Arya Samaj,[8] which would carry a heavy influence on Singh.<br />
His uncles, Ajit Singh and Swaran Singh, as well as his father were members of the Ghadar Party, <br />
led by Kartar Singh Sarabha Grewal and Har Dayal. Ajit Singh was forced to flee to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Persia</st1:country-region></st1:place> because of pending cases against him while Swaran Singh was hanged on December 19, 1927 for his involvement in the Kakori train robbery of 1925.<br />
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Unlike many Sikhs his age, Singh did not attend <st1:placename w:st="on">Khalsa</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">High School</st1:placetype> in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Lahore</st1:city></st1:place>, because his grandfather did not approve of the school officials' loyalism to the British authorities. Instead, his father enrolled him in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Dayanand</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Anglo</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Vedic</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">High School</st1:placetype></st1:place>, an Arya Samajist school. At age 13, Singh began to follow Mahatma Gandhi's Non-Cooperation Movement. At this point he had openly defied the British and had followed Gandhi's wishes by burning his government-school books and any British-imported clothing.<br />
Following Gandhi's withdrawal of the movement after the violent murders of policemen by villagers from Chauri Chaura, Uttar Pradesh,<br />
Singh, disgruntled with Gandhi's nonviolence action, joined the Young Revolutionary Movement and began advocating a violent movement against the British.<br />
<br />
In 1923, Bhagat famously won an essay competition set by the <st1:place w:st="on">Punjab</st1:place> Hindi Sahitya Sammelan. This grabbed the attention of members of the <st1:place w:st="on">Punjab</st1:place> Hindi Sahitya Sammelan including its General Secretary Professor Bhim Sen Vidyalankar. At this age, he quoted famous Punjabi literature and discussed the Problems of the <st1:place w:st="on">Punjab</st1:place>. He read a lot of poetry and literature which was written by Punjabi writers and his favourite poet was Allama Iqbal from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Sialkot</st1:city></st1:place>.<br />
In his teenage years, Bhagat Singh started studying at the <st1:placename w:st="on">National</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">College</st1:placetype> in <st1:city w:st="on">Lahore</st1:city>, but ran away from home to escape early marriage, and became a member of the organization Naujawan Bharat Sabha ("Youth Society of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place>"). In the Naujawan Bharat Sabha, Singh and his fellow revolutionaries grew popular amongst the youth. He also joined the <st1:place w:st="on">Hindustan</st1:place> Republican Association at the request of Professor Vidyalankar, which was then headed by Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqulla Khan.<br />
[citation needed] It is believed that he had knowledge of the Kakori train robbery. He wrote for and edited Urdu and Punjabi newspapers published from Amritsar.[15] In September 1928, a meeting of various revolutionaries from across <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region> was called at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Delhi</st1:city></st1:place> under the banner of the Kirti Kissan Party. Bhagat Singh was the secretary of the meet. His later revolutionary activities were carried out as a leader of this association.<br />
The capture and hanging of the main HRA Leaders also allowed him to be quickly promoted to higher ranks in the party, along with his fellow revolutionary Sukhdev Thapar.[citation needed]<br />
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</span></span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">Later revolutionary activities<br />
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Lala Lajpat Rai's death and the Saunders murder</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;"><br />
</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">The British government created a commission under Sir John Simon to report on the current political situation in India in 1928. The Indian political parties boycotted the commission because it did not include a single Indian as its member and it was met with protests all over the country. When the commission visited <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Lahore</st1:city></st1:place> on October 30, 1928, Lala Lajpat Rai led the protest against Simon Commission in a silent non-violent march, but the police responded with violence. Lala Lajpat Rai was beaten with lathis at the chest. He later succumbed to his injuries.[16] Bhagat Singh, who was an eyewitness to this event, vowed to take revenge. He joined with other revolutionaries, Shivaram Rajguru, Jai Gopal and Sukhdev Thapar, in a plot to kill the police chief, Scott. Jai Gopal was supposed to identify the chief and signal for Singh to shoot. However, in a case of mistaken identity, Gopal signalled Singh on the appearance of J. P. <br />
Saunders, a Deputy Superintendent of Police. Thus, Saunders, <br />
instead of Scott, was shot. Bhagat Singh quickly left <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Lahore</st1:city></st1:place> to escape the police. To avoid recognition, he shaved his beard and cut his hair, a violation of the sacred tenets of Sikhism.<br />
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</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">Bomb in the assembly</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
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In the face of actions by the revolutionaries, the British government enacted the Defence of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> Act to give more power to the police.[citation needed] The purpose of the Act was to combat revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh. The Act was defeated in the council by one vote.[citation needed] However, the Act was then passed under the ordinance that claimed that it was in the best interest of the public. In response to this act, the <st1:place w:st="on">Hindustan</st1:place> Socialist Republican Association planned to explode a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly where the ordinance was going to be passed. Originally, Chandrashekhar Azad, another prominent leader of the revolutionary movement attempted to stop Bhagat Singh from carrying out the bombing. However, the remainder of the party forced him to succumb to Singh's wishes.<br />
It was decided that Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt, another revolutionary, would throw the bomb in the assembly.[citation needed]<br />
<br />
On April 8, 1929, Singh and Dutt threw a bomb onto the corridors of the assembly and shouted "Inquilab Zindabad!" ("Long Live the Revolution!"). This was followed by a shower of leaflets stating that it takes a loud voice to make the deaf hear.<br />
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</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">The leaflet stated</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">:</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: black; font-family: Georgia;">[citation needed]</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
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It takes a loud voice to make the deaf hear, with these immortal words uttered on a similar occasion by Valiant, a French anarchist martyr, do we strongly justify this action of ours. Without repeating the humiliating history of the past ten years of the working of the reforms (Montague-Chelmsford Reforms) and without mentioning the insults hurled at the Indian nation through this House-the so-called Indian Parliament-we want to point out that, while the people expecting some more crumbs of reforms from the Simon Commission, and are ever quarrelling over the distribution of the expected bones, the Government is thrusting upon us new repressive measures like the Public Safety and the Trade Disputes Bill, while reserving the Press Sedition Bill for the next session. <br />
The indiscriminate arrests of labour leaders working in the open field clearly indicate whither the wind blows. In these extremely provocative circumstances, the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, in all seriousness, realizing their full responsibility, had decided and ordered its army to do this particular action, so that a stop be put to this humiliating farce and to let the alien bureaucratic exploiters do what they wish, but they must be made to come before the public eve in their naked form. Let the representatives of the people return to their constituencies and prepare the masses for the coming revolution,<br />
and let the Government know that while protesting against the Public Safety and Trade Disputes Bills and the callous murder of Lala Lajpat Rai, on behalf of the helpless Indian masses, we want to emphasize the lesson often repeated by history,<br />
that it is easy to kill individuals but you cannot kill the ideas. Great empires crumbled while the ideas survived. Bourbons and Czars fell. While the revolution marched ahead triumphantly. We are sorry to admit that we who attach so great a sanctity to human life, who dream of a glorious future, when man will be enjoying perfect peace and full liberty, have been forced to shed human blood. But the sacrifice of individuals at the altar of the 'Great Revolution' that will bring freedom to all, rendering the exploitation of man by man impossible, is inevitable. Long Live the Revolution.<br />
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The bomb neither killed nor injured anyone; Singh and Dutt claimed that this was deliberate on their part, a claim substantiated both by British forensics investigators who found that the bomb was not powerful enough to cause injury, and by the fact that the bomb was thrown away from people[citation needed]. Singh and Dutt gave themselves up for arrest after the bomb.[citation needed] He and Dutt were sentenced to 'Transportation for Life' for the bombing on June 12, 1929.<br />
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Trial and execution<br />
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Front page of The Tribune announcing Bhagat Singh's execution.</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;"><br />
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Shortly after his arrest and trial for the Assembly bombing, the British came to know of his involvement in the murder of J. P. Saunders. Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev were charged with the murder. Bhagat Singh decided to use the court as a tool to publicize his cause for the independence of India.[citation needed] He admitted to the murder and made statements against the British rule during the trial.[citation needed] The case was ordered to be carried out without members of the HSRA present at the hearing. This created an uproar amongst Singh's supporters as he could no longer publicise his views.<br />
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While in jail, Bhagat Singh and other prisoners launched a hunger strike advocating for the rights of prisoners and those facing trial. The reason for the strike was that British murderers and thieves were treated better than Indian political prisoners, who, by law, were meant to be given better rights. The aims in their strike were to ensure a decent standard of food for political prisoners, the availability of books and a daily newspaper, as well as better clothing and the supply of toilet necessities and other hygienic necessities.<br />
He also demanded that political prisoners should not be forced to do any labour or undignified work.[20] During this hunger strike that lasted 63 days and ended with the British succumbing to his wishes, he gained much popularity among the common Indians. Before the strike his popularity was limited mainly to the <st1:place w:st="on">Punjab</st1:place> region.<br />
<br />
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, one of the politicians present when the Central Legislative Assembly was bombed,[22] made no secret of his sympathies for the Lahore prisoners - commenting on the hunger strike he said "the man who goes on hunger strike has a soul. He is moved by that soul, and he believes in the justice of his cause." And talking of Singh's actions said "however much you deplore them and however much you say they are misguided, it is the system, this damnable system of governance, which is resented by the people".<br />
Bhagat Singh also maintained the use of a diary, which he eventually made to fill 404 pages. In this diary he made numerous notes relating to the quotations and popular sayings of various people whose views he supported. Prominent in his diary were the views of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The comments in his diary led to an understanding of the philosophical thinking of Bhagat Singh. Before dying he also wrote a pamphlet entitled "Why I am an atheist, as he was being accused of vanity by not accepting God in the face of death".[citation needed].<br />
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On March 23, 1931, Bhagat Singh was hanged in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Lahore</st1:city></st1:place> with his fellow comrades Rajguru and Sukhdev. His supporters, who had been protesting against the hanging, immediately declared him as a shaheed or martyr. According to the Superintendent of Police at the time, V.N. Smith, the hanging was advanced:<br />
<br />
Normally execution took place at 8 am, but it was decided to act at once before the public could become aware of what had happened...At about 7 pm shouts of Inquilab Zindabad were heard from inside the jail. This was correctly, interpreted as a signal that the final curtain was about to drop.<br />
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Singh was cremated at Hussainiwala on banks of <st1:place w:st="on">Sutlej</st1:place> river. Today, the Bhagat Singh Memorial commemorates freedom fighters of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<br />
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Ideals and opinions<br />
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Bhagat Singh in jail at the age of 20</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
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Bhagat Singh was attracted to anarchism and communism.<br />
Both communism and western anarchism had influence on him. He read the teachings of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky and Mikhail Bakunin. Bhagat Singh did not believe in Gandhian philosophy and viewed that Gandhian politics will replace one set of exploiters by another. Singh was an atheist and promoted the concept of atheism by writing a pamphlet titled Why I am an Atheist.[citation needed]<br />
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Bhagat Singh was also an admirer of the writings of Irish revolutionary Terence MacSwiney.[citation needed] When Bhagat Singh's father petitioned the British government to pardon his son, Bhagat Singh quoted Terence MacSwiney and said ""I am confident that my death will do more to smash the British Empire than my release" and told his father to withdraw the petition.<br />
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Some of his writings like "Blood Sprinkled on the Day of Holi Babbar Akalis on the Crucifix" were influenced by the struggle of Dharam Singh Hayatpur.[citation needed]<br />
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</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">Anarchism</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
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From May to September, 1928, Bhagat Singh serially published several articles on anarchism in Punjabi periodical Kirti. He expressed concern over misunderstanding of the concept of anarchism among the public. Singh tried to eradicate the misconception among people about anarchism. He wrote, "The people are scared of the word anarchism. The word anarchism has been abused so much that even in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> revolutionaries have been called anarchist to make them unpopular." As anarchism means absence of ruler and abolition of state, not absence of rule, Singh explained, "I think in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> the idea of universal brotherhood,<br />
the Sanskrit sentence vasudhaiva kutumbakam etc., has the same meaning." He wrote about the growth of anarchism,"the first man to explicitly propagate the theory of Anarchism was Proudhon and that is why he is called the founder of Anarchism. After him a Russian, Bakunin worked hard to spread the doctrine. He was followed by Prince Kropotkin etc."</span></b><br />
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Singh explained anarchism in the article:<br />
The ultimate goal of Anarchism is complete independence, according to which no one will be obsessed with God or religion, nor will anybody be crazy for money or other worldly desires. There will be no chains on the body or control by the state. This means that they want to eliminate: the Church, God and Religion; the state; Private property.<br />
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Marxism</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
Bhagat Singh was also influenced by Marxism. Indian historian K. N. Panikkar described Singh as one of the early Marxists in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place>. From 1926, Bhagat Singh studied the history of the revolutionary movement in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> and abroad. In his prison notebooks, Singh used quotations from Lenin (on imperialism being the highest stage of capitalism) and Trotsky on revolution. In written documents, when asked what was his last wish, he replied that he was studying the life of Lenin and he wanted to finish it before his death. <br />
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Atheism</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
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During his teenage years, Singh was a Arya Samajist.[citation needed] However, he began to question religious ideologies after witnessing the Hindu-Muslim riots that broke out after Gandhi disbanded the Non-Cooperation Movement. He did not understand how members of these two groups, initially united in fighting against the British, could be at each others' throats because of their religious differences. At this point, Singh dropped his religious beliefs, since he believed religion hindered the revolutionaries' struggle for independence, and began studying the works of Bakunin, Lenin,<br />
Trotsky — all atheist revolutionaries.<br />
He also took an interest in Niralamba Swami's book Common Sense, which advocated a form of "mystic atheism".<br />
<br />
While in a condemned cell in 1931, he wrote a pamphlet entitled Why I am an Atheist in which he discusses and advocates the philosophy of atheism. This pamphlet was a result of some criticism by fellow revolutionaries on his failure to acknowledge religion and God while in a condemned cell, the accusation of vanity was also dealt with in this pamphlet. He supported his own beliefs and claimed that he used to be a firm believer in The Almighty, but could not bring himself to believe the myths and beliefs that others held close to their hearts. In this pamphlet,<br />
he acknowledged the fact that religion made death easier, but also said that unproved philosophy is a sign of human weakness.<br />
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</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">Death</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
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Bhagat Singh was known for his appreciation of martyrdom. His mentor as a young boy was Kartar Singh Sarabha. Singh is himself considered a martyr for acting to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai, also considered a martyr. In the leaflet he threw in the Central Assembly on 9 April 1929, he stated that It is easy to kill individuals but you cannot kill the ideas. Great empires crumbled while the ideas survived.After engaging in studies on the Russian Revolution, he wanted to die so that his death would inspire the youth of <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region> which in turn will unite them to fight the <st1:place w:st="on">British Empire</st1:place>.<br />
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While in prison, Bhagat Singh and two others had written a letter to the Viceroy asking him to treat them as prisoners of war and hence to execute them by firing squad and not by hanging. Prannath Mehta, Bhagat Singh's friend, visited him in the jail on March 20, four days before his execution, with a draft letter for clemency, but he declined to sign it. <br />
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</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">Controversy<br />
<br />
Bhagat Singh's life is the subject of controversy.</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; font-family: Georgia;"><br />
</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Last wish This section's factual accuracy is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page. (March 2009)<br />
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Singh is said to have mentioned to Randhir Singh[discuss], prison inmate, Gadhar revolutionary and a known figure in Sikh circles, that he (Bhagat Singh) had shaven "hair and beard under pressing circumstances" and that "It was for the service of the country" that his companions "compelled him to give up the Sikh appearance" adding to it that he was "ashamed" . He had supposedly expressed, as last wish before being hanged, the desire to get "amrit" from Panj Pyare including Randhir Singh and to adorn full 5 k's. However, his last wish,<br />
of getting "amrit" from Panj Pyare was not granted by the British.<br />
<br />
Randhir Singh being the only source of information about sudden change in Bhagat Singh's point of view towards religion casts doubts, as Bhagat Singh had been a strong critic of religion. He wrote a pamphlet entitled Why I am an Atheist in which he questions existence of God.<br />
<br />
quote "one friend asked me to pray. When informed of my atheism, he said, "During your last days you will begin to believe". I said, No, dear Sir, it shall not be. I will think that to be an act of degradation and demoralization on my part. For selfish motives I am not going to pray."</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;"><br />
Conspiracy theories</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
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Many conspiracy theories exist regarding Singh, especially the events surrounding his death:<br />
<br />
Mahatma Gandhi One of the most popular ones is that Mahatma Gandhi had an opportunity to stop Singh's execution but did not. This particular theory has spread amongst the public in modern times after the creation of modern films such as The Legend of Bhagat Singh, which portray Gandhi as someone who was strongly at odds with Bhagat Singh and did not oppose his hanging. A variation on this theory is that Gandhi actively conspired with the British to have Singh executed. Both theories are highly controversial and hotly contested. <br />
Gandhi's supporters say that Gandhi did not have enough influence with the British to stop the execution, much less arrange it.<br />
Furthermore, Gandhi's supporters assert that Singh's role in the independence movement was no threat to Gandhi's role as its leader, and so Gandhi would have no reason to want him dead.<br />
Gandhi, during his lifetime, always maintained that he was a great admirer of Singh's patriotism. He also said that he was opposed to Singh's execution (and, for that matter, capital punishment in general) and proclaimed that he had no power to stop it. On Singh's execution, Gandhi said, "The government certainly had the right to hang these men. However, there are some rights which do credit to those who possess them only if they are enjoyed in name only." Gandhi also once said, on capital punishment, "I cannot in all conscience agree to anyone being sent to the gallows.<br />
God alone can take life because He alone gives it."<br />
Gandhi had managed to have 90,000 political prisoners who were not members of his Satyagraha movement released under the pretext of "relieving political tension," in the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. According to a report in the Indian magazine Frontline, he did plead several times for the commutation of the death sentence of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, including a personal visit on March 19, 1931, and in a letter to the Viceroy on the day of their execution, pleading fervently for commutation, not knowing that the letter would be too late.<br />
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</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">Lord Irwin, the Viceroy, later said:</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
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As I listened to Mr. Gandhi putting the case for commutation before me, I reflected first on what significance it surely was that the apostle of non-violence should so earnestly be pleading the cause of the devotees of a creed so fundamentally opposed to his own, but I should regard it as wholly wrong to allow my judgment to be influenced by purely political considerations. I could not imagine a case in which under the law, penalty had been more directly deserved.<br />
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</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">Saunders family</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;"><br />
</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">On October 28, 2005, a book entitled Some Hidden Facts: Martyrdom of Shaheed Bhagat Singh—Secrets unfurled by an Intelligence Bureau Agent of British-India [sic] by K.S. Kooner and G.S. Sindhra was released. The book asserts that Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev were deliberately hanged in such a manner as to leave all three in a semi-conscious state, so that all three could later be taken outside the prison and shot dead by the Saunders family. The book says that this was a prison operation codenamed "Operation Trojan Horse." Scholars are skeptical of the book's claims.<br />
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Legacy<br />
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Indian independence movement</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
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Bhagat Singh's death had the effect that he desired and he inspired thousands of youths to assist the remainder of the Indian independence movement. After his hanging, youths in regions around Northern India rioted in protest against the British Raj.[citation needed]<br />
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</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">Modern day</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
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Singh's contribution to Indian society[and, in particular, the future of socialism in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place>. To celebrate the centenary of his birth, a group of intellectuals have set up an institution to commemorate Singh and his ideals.<br />
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Several popular Bollywood films have been made capturing the life and times of Bhagat Singh.[50] Possibly the first is Shaheed Bhagat Singh (1963)[51], starring Shammi Kapoor as Singh. Two years later, Manoj Kumar portrayed Bhagat Singh in an immensely popular and landmark film, Shaheed. Two major films about Singh were released in 2002, The Legend of Bhagat Singh and 23rd March 1931: Shaheed. The Legend of Bhagat Singh is Rajkumar Santoshi's adaptation, in which Ajay Devgan played Singh and Amrita Rao was featured in a brief role. <br />
23 March 1931: Shaheed was directed by Guddu Dhanoa and starred Bobby Deol as Singh, with Sunny Deol and Aishwarya Rai in supporting roles.<br />
Another major film Shaheed-E-Azam, starring Sonu Sood, Maanav Vij, <br />
Rajinder Gupta, and Sadhana Singh, and directed by Sukumar Nair, also was produced by Iqbal Dhillon under the banner Surjit Movies.[52]<br />
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The 2006 film Rang De Basanti is a film drawing parallels between revolutionaries of Bhagat Singh's era and modern Indian youth. It covers a lot of Bhagat Singh's role in the Indian freedom struggle. The movie revolves around a group of college students and how they each play the roles of Bhagat's friends and family.<br />
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The patriotic Urdu and Hindi songs, Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna (translated as "the desire to sacrifice") and Mera Rang De Basanti Chola ("my light-yellow-colored cloak"; Basanti referring to the light-yellow color of the Mustard flower grown in the Punjab and also one of the two main colors of the Sikh religion as per the Sikh rehat meryada(code of conduct of the Sikh Saint-Soldier) ), while created by Ram Prasad Bismil, are largely associated to Bhagat Singh's martyrdom and have been used in a number of Bhagat Singh-related films.<br />
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In September 2007 the governor of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Pakistan</st1:country-region>'s Punjab province, Khalid Maqbool, announced that a memorial to Bhagat Singh will be displayed at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Lahore</st1:city></st1:place> museum, according to the governor “Singh was the first martyr of the subcontinent and his example was followed by many youth of the time."<br />
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</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">Criticism</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
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Bhagat Singh was criticized both by his contemporaries and by people after his death because of his violent and revolutionary stance towards the British and his strong opposition to the pacifist stance taken by the Indian National Congress and particularly Mahatma Gandhi. The methods he used to make his point—shooting Saunders and throwing non-lethal bombs—were quite different from the non-violent non-cooperation used by Gandhi.<br />
Bhagat Singh has also been accused of being too eager to die, as opposed to staying alive and continuing his movement. It has been alleged that he could have escaped from prison if he so wished, but he preferred that he die and become a legacy for other youths in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place>. Some lament that he may have done much more for <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> had he stayed alive.<br />
Bhagat Singh was criticized both by his contemporaries and by people after his death because of his violent and revolutionary stance towards the British and his strong opposition to the pacifist stance taken by the Indian National Congress and particularly Mahatma Gandhi. The methods he used to make his point—shooting Saunders and throwing non-lethal bombs—were quite different from the non-violent non-cooperation used by Gandhi.<br />
Bhagat Singh has also been accused of being too eager to die, as opposed to staying alive and continuing his movement. It has been alleged that he could have escaped from prison if he so wished, but he preferred that he die and become a legacy for other youths in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place>. Some lament that he may have done much more for <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> had he stayed alive.</span></b><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Mangal; font-size: 18pt;">जरा</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: red; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: white; font-family: Mangal; font-size: 18pt;">सोचिए</span></b></div><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: black; font-family: Mangal; font-size: 18pt;">क्या</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; 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background-color: white; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: black; font-family: Mangal; font-size: 18pt;">हमें</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: black; font-family: Mangal; font-size: 18pt;">मीली</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: black; font-family: Mangal; font-size: 18pt;">है</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: black; font-family: Mangal; font-size: 18pt;">जरा</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: black; font-family: Mangal; font-size: 18pt;">अपने</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: black; font-family: Mangal; font-size: 18pt;">मन</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: black; font-family: Mangal; font-size: 18pt;">से</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: black; font-family: Mangal; font-size: 18pt;">पूछे</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;"> ???????</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18pt;">?</span></b><br />
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</div>Ramesh Chauhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00955982035387624646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386203474769277999.post-77189610954590142102010-03-01T18:57:00.003+05:302010-09-12T12:51:31.751+05:30DHYAN CHAND<div align="left"></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Major Dhyan 'Chand' Singh August 29, 1905 – December 3, 1979), better known as Dhyan Chand was an Indian hockey player, widely regarded as the greatest player of all time .</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> A legendary center-forward, he is remembered for his goal-scoring feats and successful match fixes, both as a player and later as captain.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> Chand won 3 Olympic gold medals (1928 Amsterdam, 1932 Los Angeles, 1936 Berlin) and was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour, in 1956. </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">He was the elder brother of equally famous fellow player Roop Singh.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">He got the title '???' or Chand (literally Moon) from his first coach, Pankaj Gupta, who had predicted that he would one day shine like one.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> Even today, Chand remains a figure of veneration, and a number of legends about him are famous in the realm of Indian sport.Contents </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">1 Early life</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">2 Career </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">2.1 Early career</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">2.2 1928 Amsterdam Summer Olympics</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">2.3 1932 Los Angeles Summer Olympics and tours</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">2.4 Captaincy and 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">2.5 East African tour and final tournaments</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">3 Last days </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">3.1 Legacy</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">4 See also</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">5 Notes</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">6 References</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: red;"><span style="color: white;">Early life</span></span></span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Dhyan Chand Singh was born on August 29, 1905 in Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh. His father Sameshwar Dutt Singh was an Indian Army who had played hockey in the army. Chand had two brothers - Mool Singh, and Roop Singh . </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Because of his father's numerous army transfers, the family kept moving to different cities and as such Singh could not study. He thus had to terminate his education after class six.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> The family finally settled in Jhansi. Being in the military, Singh's father got a small piece of land for a house.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Young Dhyan had no serious inclination towards sports, though he loved wrestling. </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">He stated that he did not remember whether he played any hockey worth mentioning before he joined the Army, though he said that he occasionally indulged in casual games in Jhansi with his friends.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Chand joined the Indian Army at the age of 16, in 1922 . Subedar-Major Bale Tiwari noticed his dribbling skills. A keen enthusiast of the game, Tiwari recognised the Chand's talent.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> He became his mentor and laid the foundations of his game.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: red;"><span style="color: white;">Career</span></span></span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: red;"><span style="color: white;">Early career</span></span></span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Between 1922 and 1926, Chand exclusively played the army hockey tournaments and the regimental games. Chand was ultimately selected for the Indian Army team which was to tour New Zealand. The team won 18 matches, drew 2 and lost only 1, receiving praises from all spectators.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> Following this, in the two Test matches against the New Zealand squad, the team won the first and narrowly lost the second. Returning to India, Chand was immediately promoted to Lance Naik.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">After successfully lobbying for reintroducing field hockey in the Olympics, the newly formed Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) made preparations to field its best possible team for the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. In 1925, an Inter-Provincial Tournament was held to select India's national field hockey team.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> Five teams participated in the inaugural nationals - United Provinces (UP), Punjab, Bengal, Rajputana and Central Provinces. Chand got permission from the Army to play for the United Provinces team.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">In its first game on February 14, 1928, UP tied with Punjab 3-3. This was Chand's first civilian match. In the subsequent replay matches, UP won by the odd goal in three and qualified for the final. UP ultimately won the final against Rajputana, in which Chand scored a goal. According to The Statesman, Kolkata,</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The United Provinces were the most impressive side of the five teams which have taken part in the tournament, and they fully deserved their success. UP won the final virtually in the first seven minutes when they scored two goals. The UP forward line moved with precision and smoothness in all the matches, and that played a very big part in their success in the tournament.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> Dhyan Chand as the centre-forward, and Marthins, their inside-right, were particularly happy in their understanding of each other. </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Dhyan Chand attracted much attention by his clever stickwork. His penetrating runs and judicious passes seemed to assure for him a position in the team that is to take part in the Olympic Games. Quite early in the game, it became evident that Dhyan Chand was again at his best. In combination with Marthins he took the ball away to the right and Marthins did well to give him a good pass. Quick as lightning, Dhyan Chand shot a goal.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> The ball struck one of the defenders' stick and went into the net, giving goalkeeper Collie no chance. A goal within 3 minutes of the start was more than what the most optimistic of the UP supporters could expect. At the interval, UP led by three goals to nil. On their part, Rajputana put every ounce of their efforts to score.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> The UP goal had more than one narrow escape, but they were deserving winners of a fine exhibition match. UP 3 - Rajputana 1.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Buoyed by the success of the Tournament, it was decided that it would be held every two years. After two more trial matches between various hopefuls, the Olympic team (including Chands as center-forward) was announced and assembled in Bombay. Center-half Broome Eric Pinniger was selected as the captain. The IHF was initially low on funds since the provinces of Bombay, Madras and Burma had turned a deaf ear to their financial appeal, but they managed to scrape enough money. </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The Olympic team then played a match against the Bombay XI, and amazingly lost 3-2, even though Singh scored both his team's goals.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> With a quiet send-off, the team left for England on March 10, to play 11 matches against local sides as well in the Folkestone Festival, winning all. Finally, on April 24, the team arrived in Amsterdam to embark on a tour of the Low Countries. In all the pre-Olympic matches against local Dutch, German and Belgian teams, the Indian team won by large margins.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">1928 Amsterdam Summer Olympics</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The Indian team in action in the 1928 Olympics</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The victorious India team after their Olympic debut against Austria</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">In the 1928 Amsterdam Summer Olympics, the Indian team was put in the division A table, with Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Switzerland . On May 17 the Indian national hockey team made its Olympic debut against Austria, winning 6-0, with Chand scoring 3 goals. The next day India defeated Belgium 9-0; however Chand only scored once. </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">On May 20, Denmark lost to India 5-0, with Chand netting 3. Two days later, he scored 4 goals when India defeated Switzerland 6-0 in the semi-finals.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The final match took place on May 26, with India facing the home team of the Netherlands. The Indian team's better players Feroze Khan, Ali Shaukat and Kher Singh were on the sick list and Chand himself was ill. However, even with a skeletal side, India managed to defeat the hosts 3-0 (with Singh scoring 2), and the Indian team won its country's first Olympic gold medal. Keeper Richard Allen created a unique record of not conceding a single goal. </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Chand was the top scorer of the tournament by a large margin, scoring 14 goals in 5 matches. A newspaper report about India's triumph said,</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">This is not a game of hockey, but magic. Dhyan Chand is in fact the magician of hockey.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">On returning to India, the team was received by thousands of people at the Bombay harbour, compared to the 3 people who had seen them off.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">1932 Los Angeles Summer Olympics and tours</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The India hockey team aboard the NYK Haruna Maru, en route to Los Angeles</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">India created a world record by defeating USA 24-1 in the finals of the 1932 Olympics</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Posted in Waziristan in the North-West Frontier Province (now in Pakistan) with his new 2/14 Punjab Regiment, Chand was cut off from the IHF, which was by now controlled by civilians. The Inter-Provincial Tournament was being held to select the new Olympic team; the IHF wrote to the Army Sports Control Board to grant Singh leave to participate in the nationals. His platoon refused. Chand received news that he had been selected by the IHF for the Olympic team without any formalities.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> The rest of his teammates however, </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">had to prove their skills in the Inter-Provincial Tournament,</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> which was won by Punjab. As such,</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> seven players from Punjab were selected for the Olympic team. Apart from Chand, Broome Eric Pinnigar, </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Leslie Hammond and Richard Allen were the other 1928 Olympians retained in the team.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> Chand's brother Roop Singh was also included in the squad as a left-in. </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Lal Shah Bokhari was selected as captain.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The Olympic team then played practice matches in India before heading for Colombo. In two matches in Ceylon, the Olympic team beat the All Ceylon XI 20-0 and 10-0. Wrote one newspaper on the first match, "Perfection is perilous, for it tempts the gods. For once, this was proved wrong for even the god of weather paid tribute to the genius of the Indian players. Rain clouds, which had threatened to ruin the game, vanished into the blue, and thousands of spectators spent a happy hour marvelling at the incomparable artistry of the Indian team."</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The India team set sail for San Francisco on May 30, and arrived on June 6. They reached Los Angeles three weeks before the opening ceremony of the Olympics, which took place on July 30. On August 4, 1932, India played its first match against Japan and won 11-1. Chand, Roop Singh, Gurmit Singh each scored thrice, and Dickie Carr once. In the final on August 11, India played against hosts USA. India won 24-1, a world record at that time, and once again clinched the gold medal. Chand scored 8 times, Roop Singh 10, Gurmit Singh 5 and Pinniger once.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> In fact, Chand along with his brother Roop, scored 25 out of the 35 goals scored by India.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">This led to them being dubbed the 'hockey twins'.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">One Los Angeles newspaper wrote, "The All-India field hockey team which G. D. Sondhi brought to Los Angeles to defend their 1928 Olympic title, was like a typhoon out of the east. They trampled under their feet and all but shoved out of the Olympic stadium the eleven players representing the United States."</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The team then embarked on a tour of the United States. They played a match on August 20 against a United States XI, almost the same team that they had faced in Los Angeles. Even after loaning its second keeper Arthur Hind, for a half, the team won 20-1.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">After setting sail from New York, the team arrived at England.The then embarked on a hectic tour, playing nine matches in various countries in a fortnight, commencing on September 2. They played four internationals-against Holland, Germany, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. The team then reached Ceylon and India, playing a number of matches to pay for their expenses. At the end of the tour, India had played 37 matches, winning 34, drawing 2, with one abandoned. Chand scored 133 of the 338 Indian goals.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Captaincy and 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">1936 Berlin Olympics Indian hockey captain Dhyan Chand</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">In 1933, Chand's home team, the Jhansi Heroes participated in and won the Beighton Cup, which he considered the most prestigious of Indian hockey tournaments. Later, he would state,</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">If anybody asked me which was the best match that I played in, I will unhesitatingly say that it was the 1933 Beighton Cup final between Calcutta Customs and Jhansi Heroes. Calcutta Customs was a great side those days; they had Shaukat Ali, Asad Ali, Claude Deefholts, Seaman, Mohsin, and many others who were then in the first flight of Indian hockey. I had a very young side. Besides my brother Roop Singh, and Ismail, who played for the Great Indian Peninsular Railway in Mumbai, I had no other really great player in the team. But I had a team which was determined to do or die.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> It was a great match, full of thrills, </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">and it was just opportunism that gave us the victory. </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Customs were pressing hard and our goal was at their mercy. Suddenly I broke through and from midfield gave a long through pass to Ismail, who ran with Jesse Owens' speed half the length of the ground. A misunderstanding occurred between the Customs left-half and the goalkeeper, and Ismail, taking every advantage of it, cut through and netted the only goal of the match. We felt very proud of our triumph.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">In Kolkata, the Heroes also won the Lakshmibilas Cup tournament, which was open only to Indian teams. In 1935, they successfully defended their Beighton Cup title, though lost the subsequent year.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">In December 1934, the IHF decided to send a team to New Zealand in the new year. Chand and his brother were immediately selected. When the Nawab of Manavadar declined to play, Chand was appointed captain. In the subsequent tour, the team played a total of 48 matches on this tour, with 28 in New Zealand and the remainder in India, Ceylon and Australia. India won every match, scoring 584 goals and conceding only 40. Of these 48 matches, Chand played 43 and scored a total of 201 goals.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Upon returning to India, Chand resumed his duties in the barracks. In December, 1935 the IHF decided to stage the Inter-Provincial tournament to select the Olympic team. Chand was again denied permission to leave his platoon, though once again he was selected without formalities. The final team assembled in Delhi on June 16 and played against the Delhi Hockey XI. Incredibly, they lost 4-1. After this inauspicious start, the team went on a successful tour of the subcontinent, finally departing for Marseilles on June 27. They arrived on July 10,</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> and after an uncomfortable journey in third-class compartments, </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">reached Berlin on July 13. On July 17, the Indian team played a practice match against Germany and lost 4-1.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> As such, manager Pankaj Gupta informed the IHF that Ali Dara had to be sent immediately to replace the out of form Mirza Masood.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">On August 5, India won its first match against Hungary 4-0. India won the rest of the group matches against USA (7-0, with Chand scoring 2 goals) and Japan (9-0, with Chand scoring 4). On August 10, Ali Dara arrived. Their fourth match was the semi-final against France, whom they defeated 10-0, with Chand scoring 4 goals. Meanwhile, Germany had beaten Denmark 6-0, beaten Afghanistan 4-1 and in the play-offs, had defeated Holland 3-0. Thus, India and Germany were to clash in the 1936 Berlin Olympics field hockey final on August 15.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Dhyan Chand scoring a goal against Germany in the 1936 Olympics hockey final</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">On the morning of the final, the entire team was nervous since they had been defeated the last time they had faced Germany. In the locker room, Pankaj Gupta produced a Congress tricolour. Reverently the team saluted it, prayed and marched onto the field. The German team was successful in restricting the India side to a single goal until the first interval. After the interval,</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> the Indian team launched an all-out attack, easily defeating Germany 8-1, incidentally the only goal scored against India in that Olympic tournament.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> Chand top-scored with 3 goals, Dara scored 2 and Roop Singh, Tapsell and Jaffar one each.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> Describing the game, the Special Correspondent of The Hindu wrote,</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Every member of the team was feeling the strain of the defeat to the Germans in the practice match, and no one was in his usual self. I never saw a hockey team from India, where the game is definitely of a superior standard compared to the rest of the world, being so obsessed on the eve of the match. The players were nervous as to what the result of the match would be,</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> which was heightened by the feeling that the burden of the country's honour was on their shoulders.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> The game was played at a fast pace and was packed with thrilling incidents. The Germans undercut and lifted the ball,</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> but the Indian team countered with brilliant half-volleying and amazing long shots.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> Twice Dara attempted to score but was declared offside. </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Dhyan Chand discarded his spiked shoes and stockings and played with bare legs and rubber soles and became speedier in the second half. The vigorous German attacks were brilliantly saved by Allen and Tapsell.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> The goal scored by Weiss of Germany was the only goal scored against the Indians throughout the tournament. The whole Indian team put up a splendid display. Dhyan Chand and Dara impressed by their combination, Tapsell by his reliability and Jaffar by his tremendous bursts of speed.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The final was included in the Leni Riefenstahl film on the 1936 Olympics, Olympia. Overall, in 3 Olympic tournaments, Chand had scored 33 goals in 12 matches.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">East African tour and final tournaments</span></b></span></span></span><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">After returning from Berlin, Chand joined his regiment. Between 1936 and the commencement of the War in 1939, he largely confined himself to army hockey, with one visit to Kolkata to take part in the Beighton Cup tournament in 1937. After the Beighton Cup, Chand spent four months in a military camp in Pachmarhi to attend military classes. Later,</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> he was promoted to Lieutenant.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Towards the closing phases of the war, Chand led an army hockey team which toured around the battlefields in Manipur, Burma, the Far East and Ceylon. When the war ended in 1945, Chand decided that the Indian hockey team needed new young players. </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">In 1947, the IHF was requested by the Asian Sports Association (ASA) of East Africa to send a team to play a series of matches. Unusually, the ASA made a condition that Chand should be included in the team. Once again, Chand was chosen as captain.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The team assembled in Bombay on November 23, 1947, and played one match against a Bombay team. They were defeated 2-1. Remembering that Bombay had defeated even an Olympic team, they were not too unhappy and set sail for East Africa on December 6.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> The team reached Mombasa on December 15 and played 28 matches in British East Africa winning all. Chand, though now in his forties, still managed to score 61 goals in 22 matches.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">After returning from the East African tour in early 1948, Chand decided to gradually phase out his involvement in 'serious hockey'. He played exhibition matches, leading a Rest of India side against state teams and the 1948 Olympic team which defeated Chand's side 2-1, </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">even though an aging Chand scored his side's lone goal.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> Chand's last match was leading the Rest of India team against the Bengal side.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The match ended in a draw after which the Bengal Hockey Association organized a public function to honor Chand's services to Indian hockey.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: red;"><span style="color: white;">Last days</span></span></span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">In 1956, at the age of 51, he retired from the army with the rank of Major. The Government of India honored him the same year by conferring him the Padma Bhushan (India's third highest civilian honour). Till date, he remains the only hockey player to have received the Padma Bhushan.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">After retirement, he taught at coaching camps at Mount Abu, Rajasthan. Later, he accepted the position of Chief Hockey Coach at the National Institute of Sports, Patiala, a post he held for several years. Chand spent his last days in his hometown of Jhansi.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Chand was a vehement critic of the state Indian hockey had fallen into. He railed against the lackluster IHF, noting that it was bereft of the teamwork and close relationship with the players that had so defined it in his time. </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">He thus was witness to the slow decline of Indian hockey and saw India finish seventh at the Montreal Olympics, 1976.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> The Indian team included his son, Ashok Kumar Singh.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Dhyan Chand died on December 3, 1979 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi. He was cremated at the Jhansi Heroes ground in his hometown, after some initial problems in getting clearance. His regiment, the Punjab Regiment, accorded him full military honours.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: red;"><span style="color: white;">Legacy</span></span></span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Even today, Dhyan Chand remains a legendary figure in Indian and world hockey. His astounding skills have been glorified in various apocryphal stories and anecdotes. A number such legends revolve around the fact that Singh had a magical control over dribbling the ball.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> Many say that the German Olympic officials broke his hockey stick to search for a magnet inside, and tried to console themselves saying he had added some sort of glue.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">A larger-than-life statue honoring Dhyanchand in Jhansi</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The Indian Postal Service released a postage stamp in his honour on December 3, 1980, exactly a year after he died. The Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi, named in his honor, also has a dominating statue of Chand at its entrance. Another statue was erected at Medak, Andhra Pradesh in 2005.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">August 29, Chand's birthday, is celebrated as National Sports Day in India. The President gives away sport-related awards such as the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award and Dronacharya Award on this day at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">India's highest award for lifetime achievement in sports is the Dhyan Chand Award which has been awarded annually from 2002 to sporting figures who not only contribute through their performance but also contribute to the sport after their retirement.</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></b></span></div>Ramesh Chauhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00955982035387624646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386203474769277999.post-46628242063130797072010-02-21T15:20:00.003+05:302010-09-12T12:51:31.751+05:30<div align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div align="left"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Holi-The Festival of Color</span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">Holi – the festival of color is marked as the opening festival in Hindu calendar, falls on the full moon day in the month of PHALGUN. People enjoy themselves playing with several colours and celebrate the whole day with much pump and gaiety. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">Originally Holi was regarded to be the festival to celebrate good harvests and fertility of the land. There are several legends and stories behind Holi. A popular legend says that Holi is remembered for the sacrifice of Holika who burnt herself in fire on this day.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">Holi is therefore regarded one of the most ancient festivals of the Aryans who finds an honored mention in our old Sanskrit texts like Dashakumar Charit and Garud Puran. Even the play "Ratnavali" written by Harshdev states a delightful description of Holi as a festival. In those days this very festival was celebrated as "Vasantotsav". Latter everybody started calling it "MADANOTSAV".</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">Celebration of Holi festival is characterized by performing Holi puja as per Hindu tradition. Dhuleti, which falls day after Holi Puja, is considered to be the actual festival of colors. Children and youngsters vie with each other use fast and sticky colors to celebrate Holi. It is all fun and joy for them. Popular Legends on Holi </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">There are several legends on Holi which find mentions in Hindu mythology. Holi is regarded to be the opening festival of the Hindu calendar. The famous stories or sagas related to this festival are stated below:</span> </span></span></div><div align="left"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Legend of Radha-Krishna:</span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">Krishna, being the mischievous child of Yashuda, was a prankster and was also the creator of many legends for himself. He once asked his mother - why is Radha fair and I am Dark? Mother Yashuda replied to him saying – If you are so much jealous of Radha’s color than go and put dark colors on her and she will also turn dark as you so. Lord Krishna went ahead and did the same. Since then each lover usually puts color on his/her beloved to pay homage to Lord Krishna.</span></span></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Legend on Pootana</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">: </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">When the female demoness called Pootana tried to kill boy Krishna, by giving him her poisoned nipples to suckle. The miracle boy Krishna is said to have sucked her nipples so intensely that he drained the demoness of her life. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">Hence, the biggest celebration of Holi takes place at Mathura where this incident happened with Krishna. After the death of demoness Pootana, people of Mathura till date celebrates this festival in the evening by lighting bourn fire.</span></span></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Legends of king Hiranyakashyapu:</span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">Hiranyakashyapu was the strongest demon of his times; he was considered to be the winner of all God’s whomsoever he fought with became a loser at the end of the battle. So he ordered everybody that everybody should obey him and worship him instead of Almighty. He in his family had one sister named Hollika and one son named Pralhad, who was a great devotee of Lord Naarayana. However, Pralhad had disobeyed his father’s order of treating Lord Naarayana as God. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">Thus, Hiranyakashyapu discussed this matter with her sister who had the boon granted to her that; Fire will not do any harm to her body no matter what the situation is. Latter, she took the responsibility to burn Pralhad by placing him on her legs and sitting on fire. She did exactly the same and guess what? Prahalad came out from the fire unharmed. As ‘he’ had his faith on God he continuously chanted Vishnu mantras instead fire catch hold of Holika who was granted the so called boon. Since that day people light bourn fire in temples and celebrate Holi on the death of the demoness.Brij Ki Holi / Lath Mar Holi: Two towns namely Nandagow (where Lord Krishna grew up) and Barsana (where Shri Radha grew up), near Mathura, are considered (till today) as the epicenter of the Holi celebrations. In India it is famously known as</span></span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">BRIJ KI HOLI / LATH MAR HOLI.</span></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">While Lord Krishna was growing up in Vraj, he popularized the festival with his pranks. Where he played Holi with Gopies of Vraj and they also responded him with equal enthusiasm and the festivities have continued ever since. So, continuing this ritual Men and Women of Vraj even today clash in a colorful display of battle of the sexes. Men of Nandagow raid Barsana with hopes of raising their flag over Shri Radhikaji's temple. They receive a thunderous welcome as the women of Barsana greet them with long wooden sticks. The men are soundly beaten as they attempt to rush through town to reach the relative safety of Shri Radhikaji's temple. Men are well padded, as they are not allowed to retaliate. In this mock battle the men try their best not to be captured. Unlucky captives can be forcefully lead away, thrashed and dressed in female attire before being made to dance as a custom. This type of Holi is famously known as “Lath Mar Holi”!!</span></span></span></div><div align="left"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Holi – Celebration</span></span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">Holi commences about ten days before the full moon of the month called Phalgun (February-March); but it is usually observed for the last three or four days, terminating with the full moon. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">Along with Holi, spring season also arrives which is marked as the auspicious season for the Hindus. In this season, all the ‘tesu’ and other trees are filled with sweet smelling flowers. They all proclaim the glory and everlasting beauty of God and inspire you with hope, joy and a new life and leave you with the thought to find out yourself that; who is the actual creator behind them.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">Holi is known by the name of "Kamadahana" in South India, which refers to the day on which Kamadev (Cupid) was burnt by Lord Shiva (as told above in legends of holi). In North India, a tradition is followed on the eve of Holi- huge bundles of woods are accumulated and burnt at night mainly in temples. On the other day, people play Holi (colorful) joyfully with colored water. Almost everywhere one can hear the shouts and laughter of people shouting "Holi-hai! Holi-hai!" </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">People gathered in the streets and pump colored water over the body and clothes even to the strangers who pass by, no matter whether he/she is rich or poor. There is no restriction on this day. People compose and sing special Holi songs (famous bollywood songs) to mark this occasion.During Holi festival, people clean up their houses by burning all dirty articles in and around the house in the fire. According to them, this practice destroys disease-breeding bacteria and the sanitary condition of the locality is also improved. During the festival boys also dance about in the streets and play practical jokes with the passers-by.Holi is aptly called the festival of color and joy. Its spirit is uniquely Indian, colorful, exotic, happiness and full of energy. Holi is celebrated by everybody. People prepare special recipes on Holi day. Before few days they start cooking (preparing) many delicacies for this day namely gujjia, papri and kanji ke vade.There are some necessary customs attached to this festival, where firstly, Hindu’s invite their sons-in-law and their families for a meal on Holi. When the meal is over, it is necessary to give the sons-in-law, what is known as a 'pyala' - a crisp note of any denomination from rupees five to rupees five hundred is offered along with a glass of drink. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">Secondly, Married daughters on the other hand; are given what is called 'kothli' by their mother-in-law. Other custom is performed by the new bride along with the children of the family. Here the new bride is supposed to play a prank on the older couples of the family, where the bride somehow tempts them so that they enter the room and she can lock them in. Then she demands a present for setting them free from the closed room. The bride is supposed to sing a song specially composed by her on this happy occasion, in which (song) she demands her ransom. lours Phalgun arrives with the promise of warm days and new life - Spring is the season of rejuvenation and rebirth. The earth discards its winter gloom and begins to blossom again. As if to mark this change, Holi flings colour into Indian landscape and invites the celebration of life. The spirit of Holi is colour - rich and vibrant, flung into the air and smeared with laughter on friends and loved ones. It recalls, very simply, the secret of life: a shifting panorama of sights, movement and feelings. Colours denote energy - the vivid, passionate pulse of life. Colour signifies the vitality that makes the human race unique in the universal scheme. Holi, the festival of colour, is also the enactment of spring. It is, in a metaphorical sense, changing earth’s dull garb of winter for the fresh blue of the March skies, the bright colours of new blossoms, the brilliance of the summer sun washing everything with its red-gold hues. Holi comes alive with the colours of 'gulal'.These are dry colours that are sold days before the festival actually begins. Markets are flooded with heaps of gulal - they are arranged in pyramids and sold loose. Vendors sit on street corners selling gulal to passers-by. Gulal is made up of many rich colours like pink, magenta, red , yellow and green. 'Abeer' is made of small crystals or paper like chips of mica. This is usually mixed with the gulal to give it a rich shine. These colours can be used dry, or mixed with water. New brides make silver or gold colour from powders especially available in the market. This colour is mixed with a little coconut oil and stored in a bottle. It is applied in tiny quantities on the foreheads of near and dear ones, like a 'tilak' or a blaze-like mark.In the old days, people used to prepare holi colours at home by using flowers blossomed on 'tesu' tree. For arriving at the colour, the flowers were dried under the sun and then grounded to a fine power. The fine powder was then mixed with the water for beautiful saffron-red colour. contains a variety of traditional recipes and cuisines which are prepared during Holi festival and are savored by majority of the families and friends.It is a northern sweet dish savored popular amongst the people. These are made in small doughs after which they are fried and served hot. </span></span></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"> </span></span></span></div><div align="left"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">Papri:</span></span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">It’s a snack containing meethi leaves savored by chutnii.</span></span></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Dahi Bhalle: </span></span></b></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">This is also the snack which is quite popular among people and eaten with chutnii and curd. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">Malpua: It is a sweet dish made of flour served with rabri. This can be stored for weeks to eat.</span></span></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div align="left"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Saffron Syrup:</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">It is drunk popularly by people on Holi as it is the cold drink.</span></span></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Bhang: </span></span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">Associated with Lord Shiva, bhang has now become synonymous with holi. Out of several ways of preparing bhang the most popular is the buds and leaves of cannabis squashed and ground into a green paste. To this mixture milk, ghee, and spices are added. This bhang base is turned to thandai</span></span></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thandai:</span></span></b></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">It is a cool drink made of poppy seeds, aniseeds, black peppercorns and rose petals, the buds and leaves of Cannabis using a mortar and pestle into a green paste. It is then mixed with milk, ghee, and spices which is latter on served along with ice cubes in the glass.</span></span></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Kanji Ke Vade:</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"> </span></span></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">It is made of urad ki dal and is socked in water of rai and a flavored drink is originated which is sour in flavour.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> </span></div>Ramesh Chauhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00955982035387624646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386203474769277999.post-34276435361978335002010-01-29T17:08:00.000+05:302010-09-12T12:51:31.751+05:30MAHA SHIVE RATRI<div align="center"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: blue;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="color: black;"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">MAHA SHIVE RATRI </span></strong></span></span></span></span></div><div align="center"><span style="color: #ffd966;"> </span></div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZLfXV1bTyb-EOMsrFnqy_wECMXkhYX0LIwSS8-n-szc72JDC3JYlhOx4w92HgkkNx15-EP6HHaslbtgbJivUGGjIwscniKSHUzOHGwG7HXmtE-DIh85dI_vx6UcCLDRlLkefnVzPcK8dU/s1600-h/brass-shiva-aasan+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZLfXV1bTyb-EOMsrFnqy_wECMXkhYX0LIwSS8-n-szc72JDC3JYlhOx4w92HgkkNx15-EP6HHaslbtgbJivUGGjIwscniKSHUzOHGwG7HXmtE-DIh85dI_vx6UcCLDRlLkefnVzPcK8dU/s320/brass-shiva-aasan+copy.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">Maha Shivratri, the night of the worship of Shiva, occurs on the 14th night of the new moon during the dark half of the month of Phalguna (Feb / March) when Hindus offer special prayer to the lord of destruction. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #ffd966;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #ffd966;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #ffd966;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">Here're three reasons to celebrate Shivratri:</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #ffd966;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">1. The absolute formless God, Sadashiv appeared in the form of "Lingodbhav Moorti" exactly at midnight on Maha Shivratri. That is why all Shiva devotees keep vigil during the night of Shivratri and do "Shivlingam abhishekham" (coronation of the phallic idol) at midnight. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #ffd966;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #ffd966;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">Did You Know? </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #ffd966;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">God in his manifestation as Vishnu made his appearance as Krishna at Gokul at midnight, 180 days after Shivratri, commonly known as Janmashtami. Thus, the circle of one year is divided into two by these two auspicious days of the Hindu Calendar. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #ffd966;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #ffd966;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #ffd966;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">2. Lord Shiva was married to Devi Parvati on Shivratri. Remember Shiva minus Parvati is pure 'Nirgun Brahman'. With his illusive power, (Maya, Parvati) He becomes the "Sagun Brahman" for the purpose of the pious devotion of his devotees. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #ffd966;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #ffd966;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">3. It is also believed that on Shivratri, Lord Shiva became 'Neelkantham' or the blue-throated by swallowing the deadly poison that came up during the churning of "Kshir Sagar" or the milky ocean. The poison was so deadly that even a drop in His stomach, which represents the universe, would have annihilated the entire world. Hence, He held it in His neck, which turned blue due to the effect of poison. Shivratri is therefore also a day of thanksgiving to the Lord for protecting us from annihilation.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #ffd966;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #ffd966;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;">The 14th shloka of Shivmahimna Stotra says: "O three eyed Lord, when the poison came up through the churning of the ocean by the gods and demons, they were all aghast with fear as if the untimely end of all creation was imminent. In your kindness, you drank all the poison that still makes your throat blue. O Lord, even this blue mark does but increase your glory. What is apparently a blemish becomes an ornament in one intent on ridding the world of fear."</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #ffd966;"> </span></span></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Helvetica", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ffd966;"> </span><span style="color: purple;"> </span></span></span></div>Ramesh Chauhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00955982035387624646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386203474769277999.post-83551930182422940502010-01-23T19:29:00.000+05:302010-09-12T12:51:31.752+05:30HIMACHAL PRADESH THE LAND OF DEVE BHUMIHimachal Pradesh (Hindi: हिमाचल प्रदेश, Punjabi: ਹਿਮਾਚਲ ਪ੍ਰਦੇਸ਼, pronounced [Himachal Pradesh] (help·info)) is a state in north India. It is spread over 21,495 sq mi (55,673 km²),[1] and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on north, Punjab on west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on south, Uttarakhand on south-east and by Tibet, China on the east. The literal meaning of Himachal Pradesh is Region of snowy mountains.[2]<br /><br />Himachal Pradesh was also known as Deva Bhumi (the land of the gods). The Aryan influence in the region dates back to the period before the Rigveda. After the Anglo Gorkha War, the British colonial government came into power. It was initially part of Punjab, except the Siba State of Punjab Hills which was under the rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh until 1857.[3] In 1950 Himachal was declared as a union territory but after the State of Himachal Pradesh Act 1971, Himachal emerged as the 18th state of the Indian Union.<br /><br />Himachal Pradesh has one of the highest per capita incomes of any state in India. Due to the abundance of perennial rivers, Himachal also sells hydro electricity to other states such as Delhi, Punjab & Rajasthan.[4] The economy of the state is highly dependent on three sources: hydroelectric power, tourism and agriculture.[5]<br /><br />Hindus make up 95% of the state population, making it the most Hindu state (proportionally), in India. According to a 2005 Transparency International survey, Himachal Pradesh is ranked the second-least corrupt state in the country after Kerala.[6]Ramesh Chauhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00955982035387624646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386203474769277999.post-17343913046182856152010-01-23T19:26:00.000+05:302010-09-12T12:51:31.752+05:30Himachal Pradesh (Hindi: हिमाचल प्रदेश, Punjabi: ਹਿਮਾਚਲ ਪ੍ਰਦੇਸ਼, pronounced [hɪmaːtʃəl prəd̪eːʃ] (help·info)) is a state in north India. It is spread over 21,495 sq mi (55,673 km²),[1] and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on north, Punjab on west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on south, Uttarakhand on south-east and by Tibet, China on the east. The literal meaning of Himachal Pradesh is Region of snowy mountains.[2]<br /><br />Himachal Pradesh was also known as Deva Bhumi (the land of the gods). The Aryan influence in the region dates back to the period before the Rigveda. After the Anglo Gorkha War, the British colonial government came into power. It was initially part of Punjab, except the Siba State of Punjab Hills which was under the rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh until 1857.[3] In 1950 Himachal was declared as a union territory but after the State of Himachal Pradesh Act 1971, Himachal emerged as the 18th state of the Indian Union.<br /><br />Himachal Pradesh has one of the highest per capita incomes of any state in India. Due to the abundance of perennial rivers, Himachal also sells hydro electricity to other states such as Delhi, Punjab & Rajasthan.[4] The economy of the state is highly dependent on three sources: hydroelectric power, tourism and agriculture.[5]<br /><br />Hindus make up 95% of the state population, making it the most Hindu state (proportionally), in India. According to a 2005 Transparency International survey, Himachal Pradesh is ranked the second-least corrupt state in the country after Kerala.[6]Ramesh Chauhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00955982035387624646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386203474769277999.post-36301471114064457942009-03-04T19:34:00.000+05:302010-09-12T12:51:31.752+05:30Happy Holi<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrAxYp8PcDnRTRip9sIDr2ozQn5GvieSL0Hv7Z9CDDZpsl4F-FaqqW8Giq7-uKA9Ce9BNGEKsKETAgdPFV_YXMdfBBONYmZYlKNEnrIk2D8LJOWAa1OJfGXM6Q8PxsKW5EyMNTcFe20T0/s1600-h/FILE9.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309334694336443890" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrAxYp8PcDnRTRip9sIDr2ozQn5GvieSL0Hv7Z9CDDZpsl4F-FaqqW8Giq7-uKA9Ce9BNGEKsKETAgdPFV_YXMdfBBONYmZYlKNEnrIk2D8LJOWAa1OJfGXM6Q8PxsKW5EyMNTcFe20T0/s320/FILE9.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>May this festival of colours bring more colours of success and happiness in your life..... Sending you best wishes wrapped in colours of HOLI. </div>Ramesh Chauhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00955982035387624646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386203474769277999.post-54296444010918140592009-03-04T19:30:00.000+05:302010-09-12T12:51:31.753+05:30Bhimakali Temple<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_7YU7c-YploYGbyBG7X1lRb3xYGjhkbVd5nreiniYT7YW0quUXT9hrTik_x413RUpmAihTwYusqWjqI4oaoqlkyrLmrxSyCKO5FQVluzKmLjWH12FRsDX-vFw6-Z0LGnIfIdvGaz078A/s1600-h/bhimakali+temple.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309332916818374050" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 176px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 133px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_7YU7c-YploYGbyBG7X1lRb3xYGjhkbVd5nreiniYT7YW0quUXT9hrTik_x413RUpmAihTwYusqWjqI4oaoqlkyrLmrxSyCKO5FQVluzKmLjWH12FRsDX-vFw6-Z0LGnIfIdvGaz078A/s320/bhimakali+temple.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><strong><u>MAA BHIMAKALI TEMPLE: A FAMOUS PILGRIMAGE<br /></u></strong><br />Maa Bhima Kali temple in Rampur Bushehar is one of the famous temples among a number of pilgrimages in Himachal Pradesh .People from neighboring states as well as Himachalies have great faith in Maa Bhima Kali ,who is the deity of the dynasty of Rampur Bushehar .<br />There is a myth behind the establishment of the goddess in Sarahan area .It is said that Vanasur was the eldest among a hundred sons of king Bali ,the great grantson of king Prahlad .The main Gods and Goddesses of Kinnaur are considered the offspring of Vanasur and Goddess Hidimba.<br />In the war which took place after the famous Usha-Anirudh love legend, Lord Shiva took the side of Vansur ,and had to face Lord Krishna. After the war , Pradyuman, son of Lord Krishna, reigned over the kingdom . Since then people of the area have been following the traditions and customs of the pradyuman-Anirudha dynasty. This famous dynasty built the temple of Maa Bhima K ali inside the palace .On the temple premises, there are three courtyards, and at the top courtyard, two five storey buildings of BhimaKali are made in sculpted wood.<br />On the top storey of the new building, an idol of BhimaKali is situated. And at the lower storey, aspects of the goddesses Sita and Parvati,also known as Himalayan daughter married to Lord Shiva , are situated. On the temple premises there are temples of Lord Raghunath, Narsingha and Lakdaveera. . People visit this place from distant areas, especially during Navraatras.<br /><strong><u>Routes:-<br /></u></strong>Situated at about 170 km from shimla, the temple is located at a height of 2150 mtrs. Good lodging facilities are available form tourists, whith an in located near the temple. There are also to private houses where devotees from distant places can stay. One can reach BhimaKali Temple via Theog , Kumarsain Narkanda ,Rampur or Jeori.</div>Ramesh Chauhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00955982035387624646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2386203474769277999.post-14412766197237293472009-02-27T19:57:00.001+05:302010-09-12T12:51:31.753+05:30WelcomeWelcome to the blogRamesh Chauhanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00955982035387624646noreply@blogger.com0