Ahalya is the wife of the sage Gautama Maharishi in Hindu mythology. Many Hindu scriptures say that she was seduced by Indra, cursed by her husband for infidelity, and liberated from the curse by Rama (an avatar of the god Vishnu). Created by the god Brahma as the most beautiful woman, Ahalya was married to the much older Gautama. In the earliest full narrative, when Indra comes disguised as her husband, Ahalya sees through his disguise but nevertheless accepts his advances. Ahalya and her lover (or rapist) Indra are cursed by Gautama. Although early texts describe how Ahalya must atone by undergoing severe penance while remaining invisible to the world and how she is purified by offering Rama hospitality, in the popular retelling developed over time, Ahalya is cursed to become a stone and regains her human form after she is brushed by Rama's foot. Medieval story-tellers often focus on Ahalya's deliverance by Rama, which is seen as proof of the saving grace of God. Her story has been retold numerous times in the scriptures and lives on in modern-age poetry and short stories, as well as in dance and drama. Ahalya is extolled as the first of the panchakanya ("five virgins"), archetypes of female chastity whose names are believed to dispel sin when recited. While some praise her loyalty to her husband and her undaunted acceptance of the curse and gender norms, others condemn her adultery.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahalya

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

853:

Byzantine–Arab Wars: The Byzantine navy sacked and plundered the port city of Damietta on the Nile Delta, whose garrison was absent at the time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sack_of_Damietta_(853)

1629:

Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, and Danish King Christian IV signed the Treaty of Lübeck to end the Danish intervention in the Thirty Years' War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_L%C3%BCbeck

1816:

A riot broke out in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England, over high unemployment and rising grain costs, spreading to Ely the next day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ely_and_Littleport_riots_1816

1863:

American Civil War: Union forces began to lay siege to the Confederate-controlled town of Port Hudson, Louisiana. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Port_Hudson

1960:

A magnitude 9.5 earthquake devastated Valdivia, Chile, and generated destructive tsunamis that reached Hawaii the following day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_Valdivia_earthquake

1972:

Ceylon changed its name to Sri Lanka (emblem pictured), adopted a new constitution, and officially became a republic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka

1980:

Pac-Man, an arcade game that became an icon of 1980s popular culture, made its debut in Japan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pac-Man

2002:

Washington, D.C., police announced that the skeletal remains of missing Federal Bureau of Prisons intern Chandra Levy were found in Rock Creek Park. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandra_Levy

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

sangfroid: Composure, self-possession or imperturbability especially when in a dangerous situation. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sangfroid

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I will make my meaning more clear when I say that I think right and wrong are both tools which are being wielded by those great hands which are shaping the destinies of the universe, that both are making for improvement; but that the action of the one is immediate, and that of the other more slow, but none the less certain. Our own distinction of right and wrong is founded too much upon the immediate convenience of the community, and does not inquire sufficiently deeply into the ultimate effect. --Arthur Conan Doyle https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_Conan_Doyle