The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hindusim vol 2

Panchala
in the state of Gujarat, Maharashtris in
the state of Maharashtra, Karnatas in
the state of Karnataka, Andhras in the
state of Andhra Pradesh, and Dravidas
in deep southern India, in the states of
Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Pancha Gauda
Collective name for the five main northern
Indian brahmin communities: the
Gaudas and Kanaujias, who stretch
over most of northern India; the
Maithilas in the northern state of Bihar;
the Utkalas in the coastal state of
Orissa; and the Saraswats, traditionally
found in several widely separated locations.
One group lived in the coastal
region of Sindh in modern Pakistan,
although after Partition in 1947 most
migrated to Bombay. Another group
was located in prepartition Punjab,
although here too they have tended to
migrate away from the part of Punjab in
modern Pakistan. A third branch, known
as the Gauda Saraswats, is found on a
narrow strip of coastline in the southern
Indian state of Karnataka.
Panchagavya
(“five [products of the] cow”) A mixture
of cow’s milk, curds, clarified butter
(ghee), urine, and dung. Since each of
these products comes from the sacred
cow, it is considered a ritually purifying
substance. Panchagavya is drunk for
purification during rituals of expiation
(prayashchitta), and it can also be used
in other rituals used to purify people,
objects, and places.
Panchagni-Tapa
(“five-fires asceticism”) Form of voluntary
physical mortification, usually performed
in the hot season, in which the
person sits surrounded by four fires, the
fifth fire being the sun overhead.
Although this practice is now uncommon,
it is very old and routinely named
in the puranas and other religious texts
as one of the standard ascetic practices.
As with all forms of physical ascetic
endurance (tapas), this rite is performed
under the assumption that voluntarily
enduring pain and/or hardship is a
way to gain spiritual, religious, and
magical power.
Panchak Nakshatra
A group of five (pancha) consecutive
nakshatras (the twenty-seven signs in
the lunar zodiac) in Indian astrology
(jyotisha). The lunar houses are divided
equally throughout the solar zodiac,
with 2.25 lunar houses for each solar
sign. In a single lunar month the moon
moves through each of these lunar
houses in turn, spending about a day in
each. The Panchak Nakshatra is believed
to be a highly inauspicious time, and
people who pay attention to astrology
will often severely curtail any nonessential
activities until this time has passed.
Panchakroshi Yatra
A circular journey (yatra) in which pilgrims
circumambulate the outer boundary
of Kashi (the largest of the three
concentric ritual areas contained in the
city of Benares) and visit 108 shrines
along the way. The journey’s length is
reckoned at five kroshas (roughly ten
miles), hence the name. The journey
measures out the boundaries of the
sacred city, and thus pilgrims symbolically
circle the entire world. Although
the best known Panchakroshi Yatra is in
Benares, and the name is most commonly
associated with this place, many
other sacred sites (tirthas) have similar
pilgrimage routes, and this process of a
circular journey around a sacred spot is
a common ritual motif.
Panchala
Name of the region corresponding to the
middle part of the state of Uttar
Pradesh, centered on the Ganges River
valley around the city of Kanauj.
Panchala is mentioned as a kingdom as
early as the sixth century B.C.E., and
although it became a tributary to the
great empires such as the Mauryas
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