The Western Ganga Dynasty was an important ruling dynasty of ancient Karnataka in India which lasted from about 350 to 1000 CE. They are known as Western Gangas to distinguish them from the Eastern Gangas who in later centuries ruled over modern Orissa. Though territorially a small kingdom, the Western Ganga contribution to polity, culture and literature of the modern south Karnataka region is considered important. The Western Ganga kings showed benevolent tolerance to all faiths but are most famous for their patronage towards Jainism resulting in the construction of monuments in places such as Shravanabelagola and Kambadahalli. The kings of this dynasty encouraged the fine arts due to which literature in Kannada and Sanskrit flourished. Chavundaraya's writing, Chavundaraya Purana of 978 CE, is an important work in Kannada prose. Many classics were written on various subjects ranging from religion to elephant management.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Ganga_Dynasty
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1173:
The construction of a campanile, which would eventually become the Leaning Tower of Pisa, began. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa
1862:
American Civil War: After nearly being driven from the field in the early part of the Battle of Cedar Mountain, Confederate troops counterattacked and achieved a victory. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cedar_Mountain
1945:
World War II: USAAF bomber Bockscar dropped an atomic bomb named "Fat Man", devastating Nagasaki, Japan (mushroom cloud pictured). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_Man
1965:
Malaysia expelled the state of Singapore from its federation due to heated ideological conflict between their respective ruling parties. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore
1988:
Wayne Gretzky was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings in one of the most controversial player transactions in ice hockey history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Gretzky
2006:
British police arrested 24 people for conspiring to detonate liquid explosives carried on board at least 10 airliners travelling from the United Kingdom to the United States and Canada. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_transatlantic_aircraft_plot
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
pankration: An Ancient Greek martial art combining aspects of boxing and wrestling, introduced in the Greek Olympic games in 648 BC. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pankration
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
This darkness will not last forever. There will some day come a Fifth of November — or another date, it doesn't matter — when fires will burn in a chain of brightness from Land's End to John O' Groats. The children will dance and leap about them as they did in the times before. They will take each other by the hand and watch the rockets breaking, and afterwards they will go home singing to the houses full of light... --P. L. Travers https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/P._L._Travers