Amrapali

Amrapāli, also known as "Ambapālika" or "Ambapali", was a nagarvadhu (royal courtesan) of the republic of Vaishali in ancient India around 500 BC. Following the Buddha's teachings she became an arahant. She is mentioned in the old Pali texts and Buddhist traditions, particularly in conjunction with the Buddha staying at her mango grove, Ambapali vana which she later donated to his order, and wherein he preached the famous Ambapalika Sutta. The legend of Amrapali originated in the Buddhist Jataka Tales some 1500 years ago.

Early life

Amrapali or Ambapali was born around 600-500 BC to an unknown parentage, and was given her name because at her birth she was found at the foot of a mango tree in one of the royal gardens in Vaishali. A feudal named Mahanaman of Vaishali, now a district on the bank of River Ganga, had traced the rare beauty of Amrapali when she was a child. Lured by the beauty of Amrapali, Mahanaman abandoned his kingdom and shifted to Ambara village, a small hamlet in Vaishali. (Etymologically, the variants on her name derive from a combination of two Sanskrit words: "amra", meaning mango, and "pallawa", meaning young leaves or sprouts.

Amrapali (film)

Amrapali is a 1966 historical Hindi film, directed by Lekh Tandon, starring Vyjayanthimala and Sunil Dutt as leads.

It was based on the life of Amrapali (Ambapali), the nagarvadhu (royal courtesan) of Vaishali in present day Bihar, the capital of the Licchavi republic in ancient India around 500 BC and Ajatashatru, the Haryanka dynasty king of the Magadha empire, who falls in love with her. Though he destroys Vaishali to get her, she in the meantime has been transformed by her encounter with Gautama Buddha, of whom she becomes a disciple and an Arahant herself. Her story finds mention in old Pali texts and Buddhist traditions.

The film was selected as the Indian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 39th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. Though the film wasn't a commercial success, in time it started being seen as classic and is remembered not just for its dramatic cinematography of war scenes by Dwarka Divecha, and Bhanu Athaiya's costumes for which she travelled to the Ajanta Caves, to seek references in Buddhist frescoes of the era, to create period costumes that subsequently became a template for costumes of that era, but also for the strong Anti-war sentiment, the film reveals in the end.

Amrapali (mango)

Amrapali is a mango variety introduced in 1971. It was developed as a hybrid variety of Dasheri and Neelum by Dr.P.K.Majumdar at the Indian Agriculture Research Institute at Pusa, Delhi IARI. Since then this mango has been introduced in the farms and orchards across India.

Characteristics

The tree is Dwarf, regular bearer, cluster. Bearing, small sized fruits, good keeping quality. Its flesh is deep orange red and the fruit contains approximately 2.5–3.0 times more β carotene content than other commercial varieties of mango. However it is known to have a shorter shelf life.The average yield is 16 tonnes / hectare .

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