Seema's blog

Crux, or the Southern Cross, is a prominent constellation in the southern sky.  It is the smallest of all 88 constellations. In spite of its size, Crux is one of the best known constellations in the southern hemisphere.  It is easily recognizable for the cross-shaped asterism, the Southern Cross, formed by its five brightest stars.  The constellation is associated with a number of stories and it figures prominently in different mythologies in the southern hemisphere.  It holds special importance in Australia and New Zealand, where it is circumpolar and can be seen throughout the year. Crux means “the cross” in Latin.  The Southern Cross carries cultural significance in many countries in the southern hemisphere. A stone image of Crux constellation has been found in Machu Picchu in Peru.  The Inca knew the constellation as Chakana, which means “the stair.” The Maori called it Te Punga, or “the anchor.” In Australian Aboriginal astronomy, the cross asterism an...

 Manu, in the mythology of India, the first man, and the legendary author of an important Sanskrit law code, the Manu-smriti (Laws of Manu).  The name is cognate with the Indo-European “man” and also has an etymological connection with the Sanskrit verb man-, “to think.”  Manu appears in the Vedas, the sacred literature of Hinduism, as the performer of the first sacrifice.  He is also known as the first king, and most rulers of medieval India traced their genealogy back to him, either through his son (the solar line) or his daughter (the lunar line). In the story of the great flood, Manu combines the characteristics of the Hebrew Bible figures of Noah, who preserved life from extinction in a great flood, and Adam, the first man. Flood myth , also called deluge myth, any of numerous mythologies in which a flood destroys a typically disobedient original population.  Myths of a great flood (the Deluge) are widespread over Eurasia and America.  The flood, with ...