Famous Last Words: A Very Busy Week

This week was extremely hectic. Between having multiple assignments due, deadlines for submitting PMAP (Project Management Advisory Panel) documents for Concrete Canoe, a budget interview with the Gallogly College of Engineering, concrete research for Concrete Canoe, and grading homework (I am a TA in a Structural Analysis class), I was unable to balance everything I needed to finish this past week unfortunately.

However, I really enjoyed the readings in Indian Epics this week. I read two comics - "Kubera: The Lord of Wealth" and "Heroes of Hampi: The Mythology of Kishkindha". The Kubera comic is going to help me a ton with my storybook as I am focusing on Lanka and Vishvakarma in my storybook. The Heroes of Hampi comic was very interesting and I ended up learning a lot about geography in India, and actually learned a little to help with my storybook in the Hampi comic as well.

My best writing in the past week was definitely an appeal with PMAP for revising a rule that they have instituted that hinders research, and I am excited to get to meet with PMAP tomorrow to further discuss this rule. They have been understanding and willing to work with engineering competition teams and I think they'll do what's best for the teams. However, this writing was not creative, and I am finding that I struggle to switch between technical writing and creative writing.

I read a story in this class this week that told a story using a diary to convey emotions. I had not considered writing a diary entry in the past, but the story was great and I am now considering writing a diary entry story in the future.

Unfortunately, I did not make it to writing a Week 5 story for this week. I got to it late Thursday night, and I was not able to think of a story in time. However, I'm not overly worried because I completed the readings and an extra credit assignment, so I should be fine. I am appreciative of the flexibility and extra credit in this class - it allows me to maximize my learning on my busy schedule.

Last year's concrete canoe - image taken by me

Reading Notes: "Heroes of Hampi: The Mythology of Kishkindha" Comic

Characters

• Hakka
• Bukka
• Shiva
• Sati - Shiva's wife
• Daksha - Sati's father
• Pampa - Sati's rebirth as a river goddess
• Vali - king of Kishkindha, monkey, gains half the strength of every opponent he fights
• Jambavan - bear king
• Surya - sun god
• Sugriva - Surya's son, Vali's brother
• Mayavi - demon

Setting

• Hampi - ancient town on Tungabahdra river
• Kishkindha - monkey kingdom
• Rishyamukha Hill - hill in Hampi region
• Vijayanagara - city/empire created by Bukka and Hakka

Plot

• Hampi is attacked where Hakka and Bukka must defend themselves
• Hakka and Bukka go hunting and see a very brave rabbit which is a sign that they will become kings
• Mysterious old man tells Hakka and Bukka the story of Hampi
• Sati's father, Daksha, does not want Sati to be married to Shiva and Sati is aware of this
• Sati sacrifices herself to spite her father
• Shiva is angry and summons a warrior named Veerbhadra to kill Daksha
• Gods are scared of Veerbhadra
• Vishnu calms Veerbhadra with lotuses and Veerbhadra gives him the Sudarshana Chakra in return
• Sudarshana Chakra is a very powerful weapon created by Vishvakarma
• Different stories depending on where you look as to how the Sudarshana Chakra was created
• Some say Vishvakarma wanted his daughter to be able to hug the sun, and he collected stardust to make three inventions, including the Sudarshana Chakra
• Some say Vishnu killed Hayagriva on Chakravana Mountain (constructed by Vishvakarma) and stole the Sudarshana Chakra from Hayagriva
• Sudarshana Chakra is a disk weapon that has 108 edges
• Sati becomes the River Goddess Pampa
• Shiva falls into the river and is saved by Pampa
• Pampa and Shiva marry and gold is rained down creating Hemakuta
• Old man now tells about Kishkindha
• Vali is king of Kishkindha
• Anjana, who was cursed to live as a monkey, gives birth to Hanuman who Vali wishes to kill
• In this comic, Hanuman is the child of Shiva
• Anjana gives Hanuman to Jambavan for protection
• Hanuman ties a lion and elephant together by the tails and is cursed to forget his powers
• Surya teaches Hanuman the Vedas and Shastras
• Hanuman then agrees to protect Sugriva
• Vali wants to kill Sugriva
• Mayavi wants to fight Vali
• Vali agrees, follows Mayavi into a hole, and Sugriva sees blood coming out of the hole and closes it, returning to Kishkindha as king
• Turns out that Vali was not actually dead
• Vali chases Sugriva and Hanuman out of Kishkinda to Rishyamukha Hill where they hide away in a cave that Vali cannot get to
• While in the cave, Sugriva and Hanuman see Lakshmana and Rama searching for Sita and decide to talk to Lakshmana and Rama
• Rama and Lakshmana help Sugriva take down Vali, and Sugriva becomes king of Kishkindha
• In return, Sugriva and Hanuman help search for Sita
• Sugriva, Hanuman, and Jambavan at southern tip of India and learn of Sita's location in Lanka
• Jambavan reminds Hanuman of his powers that he was cursed to forget
• Hanuman jumps to Lanka and finds Sita
• Sita is rescued by Rama
• Rama helps Hanuman receive a reward for helping save Sita by having Hanuman pray to Shiva to ask for a favor
• Shiva has Veerbhadra give Hanuman an idol that grows into a temple
• Temple is named Uddana Veerbhadra Temple
• Old man leaves Hakka and Bukka and they decide to start an empire
• Track down old man, whose name was Vidyaranya, and name city Vijayanagara
• Vijayanagara was the second largest city in the world as of 1500
• Very established trading center with Europeans and other Asian/Middle Eastern countries
• Empire spanned entirety of Southern India

Image of temples in Vijayanagara from Wikimedia

Bibliography

"Heroes of Hampi: The Mythology of Kishkindha" published by Amar Chitra Katha

"Vijayanagara" from Wikipedia

"Sudarshana Chakra" from Wikipedia

Reading Notes: "Kubera: The Lord of Wealth" Comic

Characters

• Brahma - Great-Grandfather of Kubera
• The ultimate god in Hinduism
• Kubera - Lord of Wealth
• Heti - first rakshasa
• Sukesa - Rakshasa born son of Parvati and Shiva
• Malyavan, Sumali, Mali - Evil sons of Sukesa
• Vishnu - the preserver
• Kaikesi - daughter of Sumali
• Vishrava - Father of Kubera
• Dashagriva - Ravana

Setting

• Lanka
• Alakapuri - where Kubera retreats to

Plot

• Kubera wants to be a lokapala (guardian of the world)
• Brahma makes Kubera the Lord of Wealth and gifts him Pushpaka
• Pushpaka is a chariot made by Vishvakarma
• Described differently in many stories
• Can be a flying temple, chariot, etc
• Said to shine very brightly
• Origin of Lanka is discussed
• Vayu and Vasuki were testing who was more powerful, and Vayu (wind god) blew hard enough that the top of a mountain blew into the sea, forming Lanka
• Mountain top blown away belonged to Mount Meru
• Mount Meru has still not been identified by scholars
• In mythology, Mount Meru is the center of the universe
• Mount Meru is supposedly approximately 1,000,000 km high according to mythology
• Possibly Mount Kailash?
• Brahma accidentally created rakshasas while reciting the Vedas because Brahma got hungry and his hunger created two children, one being a rakshasa
• Heti, the first rakshasa, had a grandchild who was ditched and recovered by Shiva and Parvati
• The city of Lanka was created for Shiva and Parvati by Vishvakarma as a wedding gift
• Parvati and Shiva named adopted son Sukesa, who was gifted wealth by Shiva
• Sukesa had three sons who became evil and took over Lanka
• Mali, Sumali, and Malyavan attack the gods, and Vishnu respons by killing Mali and forcing Malyavan and Sumali to leave Lanka
• Vishnu uses Sudarshan Chakra - weapon made by Vishvakarma
• Kubera moves into Lanka and becomes king
• Sumali takes note of Kubera's wealth and becomes jealous
• Sumali forces Kaikesi to marry Vishrava
• Have four kids - Shurpanakha, Vibhishana, Kumbhakarna, and Dashagriva
• Dashagriva cuts heads off and gains boons from Brahma, he wishes to become invincible but he is not invincible against humans
• Sumali tells Dashagriva to take over Lanka from Kubera
• Dashagriva agrees, pushes Kubera to Alakapuri
• Dashagriva invades Alakapuri, fights Kubera's Angeyastra (fire sword) with a Varunastra (water sword)
• After defeating Kubera, Dashagriva steals Pushpaka
• Dashagriva now has complete power over Lanka with his army of rakshasas
• Rama invades Lanka by building a stone bridge to Lanka and killing Dashagriva
• Vibhishana is named king of Lanka
• Rama takes Sita home to Ayodhya
• Pushpaka is returned to Kubera

Kubera, the God of Wealth, in an
image from Pexels

Bibliography

Kubera: The Lord of Wealth published by Amar Chitra Katha Vol. 839