title: Coachella (festival)

text: Since 2011, YouTube has live streamed the opening weekend of Coachella. Viewers can choose from three channels of performances to watch. In 2014, AXS TV began broadcasting the second weekend on television; over 20 hours of live performances from the 2015 festival were broadcast on AXS TV. Performances from the 2015 festival were also broadcast live on Sirius XM satellite radio for the first time. In 2019, YouTube expanded its content for the festival livestream, which included a stream of both weekends of the festival for the first time. Weekend one included a premiere of Donald Glover's film "Guava Island", while weekend two featured "Coachella Curated", programming hosted by radio personality Jason Bentley that took "a deep dive into the festival experience" by offering "encore and live performances, artist commentary, mini-docs, animated adventures and more". "Coachella Curated" was reprised for the 2022 festival's second weekend.


title: Coachella (festival)

text: For 2016, organizers partnered with Vantage.tv to offer virtual reality (VR) content for the festival. Ticket holders received a cardboard VR viewer inspired by Google Cardboard in their Coachella welcome package that could be used with the Coachella VR mobile app (which was released on Android, iOS, and Samsung Gear VR). Content included 360-degree panoramic photos of previous events, virtual tours of the 2016 festival site, interviews, and performances. That same year, YouTube live streamed performances from weekend two in 360 degrees for viewing with VR headsets.


title: Coachella (festival)

text: The success of Coachella has led its organizers to partner with other American music festivals. In 2003, Goldenvoice agreed to work with the organizers of Field Day, a New York-based festival modeled after Coachella, to help promote and produce the event, although the show was completely overhauled from its original vision. In September 2014, Goldenvoice announced it had entered into a joint venture with Red Frog Events to help them promote and produce their Firefly Music Festival. In January 2015, a similar agreement was reached with the organizers of the Hangout Music Festival.


title: Coachella (festival)

text: Goldenvoice aggressively protects the Coachella brand. As of April 2018, they filed six lawsuits in the previous two years against outlets that attempted to use the Coachella name or the suffix "chella". The defendants included the music festival Hoodchella; the film festival Filmchella; energy company Phillips 66, which promoted a Coachella wristband giveaway that the festival's terms of services disallows; Sean Combs's event "Combschella"; Urban Outfitters; and a Whole Foods location in Palm Desert that promoted a "Wholechella" concert and tasting event. Another lawsuit was filed in September 2021 against radio presenter RaaShaun Casey (also known as DJ Envy) for his hip hop and auto show "Carchella", which he agreed to rename to "DJ Envy's Drive Your Dreams Car Show". According to Goldenvoice's attorneys in one lawsuit, the litigation is one way the promoter attempts to "extensively police unauthorized use of the Coachella Marks". Although the Coachella name has been in use by a town in the Coachella Valley since before the festival was founded, the festival's success has imbued the name with "secondary meaning", allowing Goldenvoice to trademark it.


title: Coachella (festival)

text: In December 2021, Coachella won a restraining order against Live Nation's Coachella Day One 22 festival. A judge ruled that Live Nation is likely infringing trademarks by selling tickets to the event nearby.


title: Coachella (festival)

text: According to a 2015 ranking by online ticket retailer viagogo, Coachella was the second-most in-demand concert ticket, trailing only the Tomorrowland festival.


title: Coachella (festival)

text: Coachella is considered a trendsetter in music and fashion. Singer Katy Perry said, "The lineup always introduces the best of the year for the rest of the year."


title: Coachella (festival)

text: Coachella has become known for the variety of distinctive apparel worn by attendees, which primarily include eclectic combinations of colors, materials, and ethnic borrowings. The latter has also resulted in backlash regarding cultural appropriation, particularly for non-natives wearing Native American-inspired headdresses and body paint.


title: Coachella (festival)

text: According to a 2012 economic impact study, Coachella brought $254.4 million to the desert region that year; of that total, Indio received $89.2 million in consumer spending and $1.4 million in tax revenue. Goldenvoice's other festival at the Empire Polo Club, Stagecoach, has been called a "cousin" of Coachella, but it has grown at a faster pace, eventually selling out for the first time in 2012 with 55,000 attendees. Together, the two festivals were estimated by experts to have a global impact of $704.75 million in 2016; approximately $403.2 million of that was expected to impact the Coachella Valley, $106 million of which would go to businesses in Indio. The city was expected to gain $3.18 million in ticket taxes from the two festivals in 2016.


title: Coachella (festival)

text: The success of Coachella led to Goldenvoice holding additional music festivals at the Empire Polo Club. It founded the country music festival Stagecoach in 2007 and continues to hold it on an annual basis. In 2011, the promoter staged the Big 4 festival, so-named for its quadruple billing of the most prominent bands in thrash metal—Anthrax, Megadeth, Metallica, and Slayer. In 2016, Goldenvoice staged Desert Trip, which featured older rock oriented and legacy acts such as the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, and Bob Dylan.


title: Paraclete

text: Paraclete (, ) means 'advocate' or 'helper'. In Christianity, the term "paraclete" most commonly refers to the Holy Spirit.


title: Paraclete

text: "Paraclete" comes from the Koine Greek word (). A combination of ('beside/alongside') and ('to call'), the word first appears in the Bible in John 14:16. René Kieffer further explains the development of the meaning of this term:


title: Paraclete

text: "A Greek–English Lexicon", apart from Demosthenes (above) cites also the example of a slave summoned as a help.


title: Paraclete

text: In the Christian New Testament, "paraclete" appears only in the Johannine texts, and it is used only on five occasions: John 14:16, 14:26, 15:26, 16:7, and 1 John 2:1.


title: Paraclete

text: In John 14:16-17, 'paraclete' is and 'spirit' is (), meaning 'breath'. appears over 250 times in the Christian New Testament, and is the word used to refer to the Holy Spirit. As a result of the immediate explanation in John 14:17, the paraclete in John 14:16 is considered to be the Holy Sprit.


title: Paraclete

text: The "New Testament Studies", a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Cambridge University Press, describes a "striking similarity" between the defined attributes of what the Paraclete is, and is to do, and what the outcome of Christian prophecy has spoken to, explaining the paraclete as the post-Passover gift of the Holy Spirit. "The Paraclete represents the Spirit as manifested in a particular way, as a pneumatic Christian speech charisma. Every verb describing the ministry of the Paraclete is directly related to his speech function."


title: Paraclete

text: The early church identified the paraclete as the Holy Spirit. In first-century Jewish and Christian understanding, the presence of the Holy Spirit is to claim the rebirth of prophecy.


title: Paraclete

text: During his period as a hermit in the mid-12th century, Peter Abelard dedicated his chapel to the paraclete because "I had come there as a fugitive and, in the depths of my despair, was granted some comfort by the grace of God."


title: Paraclete

text: Today, the Holy Spirit continues to be referred to as the paraclete in a prayer known as the Divine Praises, recited during Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.


title: Paraclete

text: John 14:16 quotes Jesus as saying "another Paraclete" will come to help his disciples, implying, according to Lawrence Lutkemeyer, that Jesus is the first and primary Paraclete. In 1 John 2:1, Jesus himself is called "paraclete".


title: Paraclete

text: Raymond Brown (1970), supported by George Johnston (2005), also says that the "another Paraclete" of John 14:16 is in many ways another Jesus, the presence of Jesus after Jesus ascends to his Father.


title: Paraclete

text: The Gospel of Matthew twice uses the passive form of the corresponding verb , in 2:18 and 5:4. In both instances, the context is of mourning, and the meaning of the verb is 'to be comforted'.


title: Paraclete

text: Here is the context of the passage in John 14:15-27 with the translation of "Paraclete" as "Advocate" emphasised:


title: Paraclete

text: Many Muslim writers have argued that "another Paraclete" (John 14:16)—the first being Jesus—refers to Muhammad. This claim is based on Quran 61:6.


title: Paraclete

text: A few Muslim commentators, such as David Benjamin Keldani (1928), have argued the theory that the original Koine Greek used was , meaning 'famed, illustrious, or praiseworthy', rendered in Arabic as (another name of Muhammad), and that this was substituted by Christians with . There are currently no known Greek manuscripts with this reading (all extant Greek manuscripts read ), although the earliest manuscript evidence available is from the 3rd century.


title: Paraclete

text: Sean Anthony agrees that the connection of Ahmad to the Paraclete in the Gospel of John may have been a later tradition that is not found in the work of Ibn Ishaq and that the earliest extant attempts by Muslims to connect these two figures that inspire later discussion on the subject goes back to Ibn Hisham and Ibn Qutaybah.


title: Paraclete

text: A later interpolation of this passage to the Quran has been rejected in modern Islamic studies. This has been supported by the fact that the earliest as well as the later manuscripts of the Quran contain the same passage and wording in Surah 61.


title: Paraclete

text: In Łewond's version of the correspondence between the Byzantine emperor Leo III the Isaurian and the Umayyad caliph Umar II, the following is attributed to Leo:


title: Bharuch

text: Bharuch (), formerly known as Broach, is a city at the mouth of the river Narmada in Gujarat in western India. Bharuch is the administrative headquarters of Bharuch District.


title: Bharuch

text: The city of Bharuch and surroundings have been settled since times of antiquity. It was a ship building centre and sea port in the pre-compass coastal trading routes to points West, perhaps as far back as the days of the pharaohs. The route made use of the regular and predictable monsoon winds or galleys. Many goods from the Far East (the famed Spice and Silk trade) were shipped there during the annual monsoon winds, making it a terminus for several key land-sea trade routes. Bharuch was known to the Greeks, the various Persian Empires, in the Roman Republic and Empire, and in other Western centres of civilisation through the end of the European Middle Ages.


title: Bharuch

text: During the 8th century, the town of Bharuch was ruled by King Mayur giving rise to the Chaudhary Dynasty. The king ruled the city for 50 years and was popularly known as the 'Ace of Bharuch'.


title: Bharuch

text: Arab traders entered Gujarat via Bharuch to do business. The British and the Dutch (Valandas) later noted Bharuch's importance and established their business centres here.


title: Bharuch

text: At the end of the 17th century, it was plundered twice, but recovered quickly. Afterwards, a proverb was composed about it, "Bhangyu Bhangyu Toye Bharuch", which translates to "Bish-boshed, ever Bharuch". As a trading depot, the limitations of coastal shipping made it a regular terminus via several mixed trade routes of the fabled spice and silk trading between East and West. During the British Raj it was officially known as Broach.


title: Bharuch

text: Bharuch was ruled by Delhi Sultanate for 94 years, Gujarat's independent Sultanate for 181 years, Mughal Sultanate for 164 years, independent nawabs for 36 years and Maratha rule for 19 years.


title: Bharuch

text: Bharuch has been the home to the Gujarati Bhargav Brahmin community for ages. The community traces its lineage to Maharshi Bhrigu Rishi and Bhagwan Parshuram who is considered by Hindus to be an incarnation of Vishnu. The Bhargav community still administers a large number of public trusts in the city. However the present day Bhargav Brahmins have migrated to Mumbai, Surat, Vadodara, Ahmedabad and other countries like the US, UK and Australia.


title: Bharuch

text: Being close to one of the biggest industrial areas including Ankleshwar GIDC, it is at times referred to as the chemical capital of India. The city has chemical plants, textile mills, long staple cotton, dairy products and much more. Gujarat's biggest liquid cargo terminal is situated 50 km to the west of Bharuch, in Dahej. It also houses many multinational companies, such as Videocon, BASF, Reliance, Safari Construction Equipments Pvt. Ltd. and Welspun Maxsteel Ltd. Because of the distinctive colour of its soil (which is also ideal for cotton cultivation), Bharuch is sometimes referred to as 'Kanam Pradesh' (black-soil land). Bharuch is also nicknamed as 'Peanut City' for its salty peanuts, locally known as 'Khari Sing'.


title: Bharuch

text: It was known as Barygaza () (meaning "deep-treasure"), Bargosa etc. for the Greek, and later the Romans adopted the Greek name of this port.


title: Bharuch

text: It was known as 'Bharuch' under Muslim rule, 'Bhadoch' under Maratha rule, and as 'Broach' under British rule.


title: Bharuch

text: According to the Skanda Purana, before Bhrigu Rishi came here, Bharuch was the residence of the Goddess Lakshmi.


title: Bharuch

text: Bharuch derives its name from the great sage Bhrigu. The original name of Bharuch is 'Bhrigukachchha'. Bhrigu Rishi was one of the ten sons of Lord Brahma. There is also a story which indicates that Bhrigu along with his kin asked for temporary access to Bharuch which then belonged to Lakshmi since Bharuch is located on the banks of river Narmada also known as Rudra Deha. Chanra Mauli Mahadev is the Kul Devata of Bhargavs of Bharuch. Bhrigu never left the place and the Ashram of Brighu Rishi is located on the banks of Narmada.


title: Bharuch

text: Bharuch was considered to be sacred among sages, and they would come to Bharuch to pray. The priests of Bharuch were famous for their learning in the other regions too. As per the mythological stories, Agnihotri and Samvedi – the learned priests of Bharuch – were famous up to Kashi in the northern India.


title: Bharuch

text: Sages like Shukra, Chyavana, Markendeya and Jamadagni were from the lineage of Bhrigu Rishi. Parshurama (sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu) was born in the seventh generation of Bhrigu.


title: Bharuch

text: According to the "Skanda Purana", there are 55 tirthas located in Bharuch. Many great sages, such as Kashyapa, Kapila, Mandavya, Adi Sankaracharya, have performed penances in Bharuch.


title: Bharuch

text: Bharuch finds its mention in major Hindu scriptures, such as "Bhagavata Purana", "Shiva Purana", "Skanda Purana", "Kurma Purana", "Matsya Purana", "Ramayana" "Mahabharata", and Brhatkatha/Kathasaritsagara.


title: Bharuch

text: The Narmada is one of the Seven Holy Rivers of India; the other six being the Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, Sindhu, Godavari and Kaveri. It is believed that a dip in any of these seven rivers washes away one's sins. According to a legend, the river Ganga is polluted by millions of people bathing in it. To cleanse herself, Ganga acquires the form of a black cow and comes to the Narmada to bath in its holy waters. Legends also mention that the Narmada River is older than the river Ganga.


title: Bharuch

text: Bharuch is the Birthplace (Incarnation) of Sarvadnya Shri Chakradhar Swami who is, for some Hindus, the Incarnation of Supreme Personality of Godhead. He established Mahanubhava panth (also known as Jai Shri Krishni Pantha) in Maharashtra in 1267. Bhagavan Shri Chakradhar Swami propagated a religious movement, as well as social movement, in which all members were accepted irrespective of their castes, and the traditional ritualistic religion was rejected.


title: Bharuch

text: This tirtha is situated in the Bharuch city on the rail and road path, in the Shrimali Pole. Here we see the idol of Munisuvrata Swami; black in complexion and in Padmasana posture. In the history of the Jains, this ancient city is important from many points of view. Guru Gautama Swami eulogised Muni Suvrata Swami, who is installed in Bharuch, in his "Jagachintamani Stotra" composed on the eight tirthas, Bhagavan Muni Suvrata Swami gave sermons to a horse here.


title: Bharuch

text: Further, many prominent Acharyas built temples and composed works in this tirtha. In Bharuch, we are shown the Ashvavabodha tirtha of the times of Muni Suvrata Swami, Shakunika Vihara of princess Sudarshana of Simhaladvipa and also the Vihara which was ceremoniously raised by Acharya Hemchandra in which Kumarapala has waved ARATI; is now converted into a mosque.


title: Bharuch

text: In the opinion of Hindutvadi archaeologists, the Jama Masjid of the present Bharuch is "probably" this ancient temple. Some "believe" that in times of such invasions the idol of Shri Prabhu was kept at a safe spot, and, as time passed, new temples were constructed and the old idols were installed. Today the idol is found in the new temple. There are here eleven other temples besides this.


title: Bharuch

text: Bharuch is mentioned in various Buddhist Jatakas. Bharuch was an important Buddhist centre in the 7th century and considered to be sacred among sages.


title: Bharuch

text: Bharuch is the oldest city of Gujarat. It is also the second-oldest city of India having displayed evidence of continuous habitation, the first being Kashi (Varanasi). Chandragupta Vikramaditya and other kings of the Gupta dynasty ruled this city up to the 5th century; it was then ruled over by the kings of the Gurjara tribe until the 7th century. The time period of 8th to 13th century was said to be an important and very well-known part under the rule of Rajput Emperors. Solanki dynasty's great emperor Siddharaja Jaisinh had built up Kot (fortification) and darvaja (doors) around the whole of Bharuch. The fort has a number of gates, which were later named 'Malbari Darvaja', 'Katopor Darvaja' and 'Zadeshwari darvaja'. In the first half of the 16th century, Bharuch was ruled over by Changez Khan. Then, the Mughal king Humayun took over in 1534 AD.


title: Bharuch

text: By the 6th century BCE, the city was readily accessible to outside trade via land-sea routes reaching the Levant to the Arab and Ethiopian traders feeding goods westwards to the Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, Western Romans, Carthaginians, and eventually, the Eastern Roman Empires, and the Republic of Venice. It is likely even the Phoenicians knew of it; it has acted since antiquity as a link port to the luxury goods trade from the Far East and the interior of the Indian sub-continent to the civilisations of South-west Asia, the Middle-East, the Mediterranean basin including Northern Africa and Europe.


title: Bharuch

text: During the Prarga–Maurya period in Gujarat, King Pradyot Mahaveer of the Pradyota dynasty of Ujjain ruled over Bhragukutchh in 550 BCE. He was a contemporary of Gautama Buddha. The "Theragatha", part of the "Pali Canon" written down in Sri Lanka in the 1st century BC, mentions Vaddha Thera and Malitavamba Thera of Bharukaccha, as contemporaries of the Buddha, while the Therigatha of the same canon mentions Vaddhamta Theri of Bharukaccha. The ancient Sri Lankan chronicle, the "Dipavamsa", mentions that the legendary king Vijaya stopped at Bharukaccha for three months c. 500 BC.


title: Bharuch

text: Excavations near the banks of the river Narmada in Bharuch have revealed many archaeological and architectural wonders, mostly temples. Later Bharuch was part of the Mauryan Empire (322–185 BC), the Western Satraps, the Guptas and the Gurjara-Pratiharas.


title: Bharuch

text: The Maurya period was between 322 and 185 BC. The post-Maurya period is mentioned between 185 BC and 23 AD. Princess of Sinhala, Sudarshana had built the Shakunika Vihara in the Bhragukutchh during the rule of Sampati (229–220 BC), and a Bharuch trader became responsible for the memories of the princess. This depicts trade relations between Lata (South Gujarat) and Ceylon.


title: Bharuch

text: It was known to the Greeks and Romans as "Barygaza", and probably had a settlement of Greek traders. As one southern terminus of the Kamboja-Dvaravati Route, it is mentioned extensively as a major trading partner of the Roman world, in the 1st century Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. One of the Periploi describes numerous Greek buildings and fortifications in the area, although mistakenly attributing them to Alexander III of Macedonia who never reached this far south, as well as the circulation of Indo-Greek coinage in the region:


title: Bharuch

text: In the 1st century AD, kings of Shaka community established their rule in Gujarat. Nabhovaahan (Nahapana), the king of Bharukuchha was very prosperous. During the Kshatrapa era Bharuch port was very prosperous. It was a gateway of trading through land and waters both routes. Like other ancient ports, trading of slaves also took place at the Bharuch port.


title: Bharuch

text: During the decade of 70–80 AD, coins of Greek writing were used in Bharuch. The activity region of Jain priest Arya Khapoot (1st century AD) was in the Aatapata region of Bharuch. He had released the Ashvaavabodh pilgrims in Bharuch out of the control of the Bauddhas.


title: Bharuch

text: Seven caves have been discovered from Kadiyadungar near Jhajhapore, near Ankleshwar, of the Bharuch district. These caves are known as the Bauddha Vihaaras. It is believed that they were sculpted in the 1st or 2nd century.


title: Bharuch

text: During this time kings of Trekootaka dynasty ruled the north of the Konkan and south of the Laata. Trekootaka ruled over the Surat district but the border of their state could not be decided. In the lines of Daspur of the weavers of Laata (South Gujarat) it has been mentioned that Sun-Temple was built in 437.


title: Bharuch

text: According to historical accounts, a kingdom with the capital at Bhinmal (or Srimal) was established by the Gurjaras. The kingdom of Bharuch was the offshoot of this Kingdom.


title: Bharuch

text: It is known that in 540 AD which dynasty ruled over the Bharuch state in 540, a Mahasamanta named Sangram Singh ruled over Bharukutchha, But nothing is known about the king. Chinese traveller Xuanzang crossed Narmada river in 640 AD and recorded that Bhrugukutch (Po Lu Ka Che Po) had around 10 Buddhist monasteries with around 300 monks.


title: Bharuch

text: During this period Caliph Usman had attacked over Bharuch. In 648 AD, King Dhansen – four of Vallabhi had put winning camp in Bharukutchha. A Muslim traveller Al – Biladuri had written in his notes that in 713 – 714 AD.


title: Bharuch

text: . He destroyed the idols and the temples and built Mosques in place of them in the time of 760 AD. Arab Husam bin Amru of Sindh had attacked the Gandahar port near Bharuch. In the post Maitarak era during 788 – 942 AD Rashtrakuta kings of south Laata ruled over Bharuch. Their reign was briefly interrupted by Umayyad incursions and raids however no annexation attempt was made by the caliphal governors of Sindh.


title: Bharuch

text: In 942, Mularaja established the rule of Chaulukya (Solanki) dynasty in Anahilvaad Patan. Till this time the importance of Bharuch as the trade centre was continued. It was the capital of Laata region at the starting of the 11th century. It was the centre for the ships coming from China and Sindh in the 12th century minister Vastupala had established a library in Bharuch. It was also during the time around from 1008-1030 that Mahmud Ghaznavi had made several raids of Gujarat where he each time sacked the Somnath Temple. The Ghaznavid incursions ravaged the Gujarati countryside including the area of Bharuch.


title: Bharuch

text: Chakradhar Swami of Bharuch was during the era of Bhimdev 2nd. He established the Mahanubhava community which was spread in Maharashtra. In the 1100s the region was subject to more raids by the Ghurids under Muhammad of Ghor.


title: Bharuch

text: The middle era history of Bharuch district can be divided in three main parts, out of which, we can say that Delhi Sultanate era (1297–1407), Gujarat Sultanate era (1407–1573) and Mughal era (1573–1736). Broach was a center of a prosperous merchant community, and was one of the chief ports of Gujarat from ancient times to the first half of the 16th century.


title: Bharuch

text: Until the beginning of the 16th century, the Portuguese Catholic Christians had little contact with the city, only in 1536 and 1547, when there were attacks on operations from Daman and Diu against the governors of Gujarat for not paying for the Posters (Cartaz) system. After the attacks when Jorge de Menezes plundered Bharuch in 1547, the city fell into insignificance.


title: Bharuch

text: In the 17th century the Dutch and British made it a center of their cotton purchases in Gujarat, and commercial warehouses were established in 1616 and 1618 by the British and Dutch (Valanda) respectively. After that, in 1675 and 1686, it was sacked by the Marathas. During this time period, Bharuch was handed over to Kutubuddin. Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb demolished the fortification and the fort in 1660 by attacking. Later on, he had built it again in 1686. In 1772, the British again attacked Bharuch, defeating Nawab Mu'azzaz Khan, allegedly with the help of his treacherous minister, Diwan Lallubhai. The British handed over Bharuch to the Marathas who ruled between 1783 and 1802. From 1802, Bharuch was returned to the East India Company under the terms of the Treaty of Salbai.


title: Bharuch

text: Bharuch was ruled by Delhi Sultanate for 94 years, The independent Gujarat Sultanate for 181 years, Mughal Empire for 164 years, Independent Nawabs for 36 years and Maratha rule for 19 years. During these times, revenue was collected from Bharuch and hundreds of people, especially the rich people, were killed. Same way in the cities on the banks of river Kavi in Jambusar taluka there were many big and rich Muslim communities. They were mainly formed by the foreign traders.


title: Bharuch

text: As part of the Sultanate of Gujarat, it was subsequently annexed by the Mughals, and finally by the British. It is also situated near a small City called Halderva where two Islamic priests were found performing miracles.


title: Bharuch

text: On taking a bird's eye view of the financial structure of the whole era of Gujarat's sultanate, it can be seen that the area was cheaper and prosperous also when Akbar had won over Bharuch during Mughal era it had 12 Paraganas. The annual growth of all 559 City of Bharuch, Hansot, Olpad, Mandvi, Galaa, Jambusar, Dahej, Koral, Ankleshwar and Tadakeshwar paraganas was Rs. 7.5 million. As given in the Tabaqat-i Akbari there is a description of severe drought and spread of contentious epidemic in Gujarat.


title: Bharuch

text: On understanding the importance of Bharuch district as the trade centre, British had taken permission from Jahangir for establishing the office during this era. Jahangir also gave permission for trade to the British. A big office building built by the Valandas in the 18th century, can be seen in the Kansarvaad in Bharuch. This building has a fort around it.


title: Bharuch

text: Marathas had plundered Bharuch twice while it was under Mughal rule. Due to six droughts between 1681 and 1696, the prosperity of both the ports was ruined. By the end of the 17th century their place was taken over due to the development of Mumbai port. In 1772, after the control of Bharuch was taken by the British, Valandas also left their trade centre in Bharuch.


title: Bharuch

text: When the Mughal subahdar Nizam-ul-Mulk was given the independent control of Bharuch as his personal fief, the Nizam soon threw off the suzerainty of the Mughals and started acting independent of Mughal rule. He appointed a loyal commander named Abdullah as the administrator of Bharuch with the title 'Nek Alam Khan'. Nek Alam Khan become independent of the Nizam's control in 1736 AD and assumed independent control of Bharuch. This is start of a very short lived dynasty of the Nawabs of Bharuch. Nek Alam Khan died in 1738 AD and was succeeded by his son Mirza Beg who also assumed the title of Nek Alam Khan. During this period independent Nawabs ruled over Bharuch. Mirza Baig, Ahmed Baig, Hakim Mirza, Mirza Muazziz Khan. The Royal Family Of Nawabs of Bharuch live in Jaora State Madhya Pradesh today. Currently in the family the only surviving Nizam is Mirza Shujat Ali Khan, he has 4 children, Mirza Hasan Ali Khan, Mirza Mustafa Ali Khan, Mirza Osman Ali Khan, Mirza Muhtesham Ali Khan.


title: Bharuch

text: It can be said that the movement for freedom struggle against foreign rulers in Bharuch started in 1905. But before that in the struggle of 1857 also Bharuch district had played an important role. Bharuch had contributed in the Swadeshi and Home Rule movements also. In which Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi of Bharuch also joined the national struggle.


title: Bharuch

text: In 1930 the movement of Satyagraha had spread in Gujarat which had affected Jambusar also. On 12 March 1930 when Gandhiji started the Dandi March with some of his supporters, the route of Dandi Kuch in Bharuch district was from Devaataa City of Borsad taluka via Jambusar Amod on the other side of the river Mahi via Bharuch and Ankleshwar on the other side of the river Narmada and reaching Dandi via Surat. The Dandi Kuch arrived in Kareli City on 20 and 22 March 1930 became a memorial day in Jambusar which is a proof of the history of freedom struggle.


title: Bharuch

text: Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi a Gujarati Bhargav Brahmin of Bharuch district had participated in the Home Rule movement. He was imprisoned for participating in struggles of Bardoli movement in 1938, "Savinay Kanoon Bhang" in the 1930 and personal movement in 1940. Chunilal Shivlal Modi, who was born in 1913 in Bharuch, participated in the struggle of "Savinaya Kaanoon Bhang" in the 1930 at the age of 18 years. Chandrashankar Manishankar Bhatt of Amod played a leading role in spreading the movement of "Hind Chhodo".


title: Bharuch

text: Dinkar Rao Nabheram Desai of Bharuch participated in all the movements of freedom struggle and was imprisoned for five times. Tribhuvandas Chhaganlal Paalejwala of Palej City had played a leading role in picketing the foreign cloths shops in Bharuch in 1930. Manishankar Bhatt of Panjareli City had motivated the youth of the district to participate in the freedom struggle. Maganbhai Rugnathdas Patel of Bhadaam City had played a leading role in the Dholera movement in 1930.


title: Bharuch

text: Manishankar Ranchhoddas Sukawala of Bharuch had played an active role in non-co-operation movement in 1920–21.


title: Bharuch

text: Ratuprasad Nathalal Bhatt of Bharuch participated in all freedom movements and was imprisoned, Vinodchandra Chunilal Shah, "Savinaya Kaanoon Bhang" movement, Chunilal Dharamlal Shah of Amod and Chhotubhai Mitilal Patel of Tegava village had devotedly served the freedom fighters, Tribhuvandas Purushottamdas Luhaar (Sundaram) of Matar village, non-co-operation movement in 1920, Desaibhai Bakorbhai Patel of Kahanava village, historical Dandi Kuch, Nathuram Kashiram Bhatt of Raima village, Yashvantray Rajaram Joshi of Malanpore village of Hansot district, Shanabhai Jhaverbhai Patel of Uber village, Vitthalbhai Ranchhodabhai Patel of Sarbhan village, Raysangh Dabhai Parmar and Vishnu Dattatrey Bhoder of Bajodara village had participated in all the freedom movements in the district along with Chhotubhai Purani.


title: Bharuch

text: Surajben Hardev Banarasi of Aasta village of Hansot Taluka, who was born in 1905 and widowed at a young age, got renowned as the leading lady freedom fighter and female worker. She was imprisoned for participating in the freedom movement, contributed significantly in the activities related to the uplift of the women and activities of creative programs. Like the other districts of Gujarat Bharuch district also had participated actively in various freedom struggles and had suffered loss of property and lives of their citizens. Almost all the talukas of Bharuch district had enlightened their people about political and national spirit by participating in freedom struggle through local leadership and history is the proof of the activities of the uplift of the people by implementing the creative programs instructed by Gandhiji.


title: Bharuch

text: Bharuch is located at . It has an average elevation of 15 metres (49 feet). Bharuch is a port city situated on the banks of the Narmada river. The damming of the Narmada caused the original port facilities to close, the nearest port is now in Dahej. The Bharuch district is surrounded by Vadodara (North), Narmada (East) and Surat (South) districts. To the west is the Gulf of Khambhat.


title: Bharuch

text: Bharuch has a tropical savanna climate (under Köppen's Climate classification), moderated strongly by the Arabian Sea. The summer begins in early March and lasts until June. April and May are the hottest months, the average maximum temperature being . Monsoon begins in late June and the Village receives about of rain by the end of September, with the average maximum being during those months. October and November see the retreat of the monsoon and a return of high temperatures until late November. Winter starts in December and ends in late February, with average temperatures of around .


title: Bharuch

text: Very often heavy monsoon rain brings floods in the Narmada basin area. The Village had witnessed major floods in the past, but now the floods have been controlled after the damming of the Narmada.


title: Bharuch

text: Bharuch has always been prosperous because of its location on the Narmada River. Although water tends to be scarce in Gujarat, one never finds difficulty in getting water in Bharuch. As a result of this, agriculture and other linked commercial activities have flourished in Bharuch. Bharuch is also a central stopping point for many villages spread around its boundaries. People from these small villages come to Bharuch when they want to shop for new clothes or make a major purchase. Lately, a lot of retiring expatriates have been returning to Bharuch and building new houses giving the economy a boost.


title: Bharuch

text: Traditionally, Bharuch has been the centre of the peanut processing and marketing industry with a well-established brand name around the country. Almost none of the peanuts are grown in Bharuch itself but the best of the crops from neighbouring regions are brought here for processing. Bharuch is also the home of the Bandhni method of clothing design and is well known for this traditional art form.


title: Bharuch

text: At present, this heavily industrialised area is renowned for its textile mills, chemical plants, long-staple cotton, dairy products, and much more. Gujarat's biggest liquid cargo terminal is situated here. It also houses many reputed multinational companies like Videocon, BASF, Reliance, Welspun Stahl, etc. Bharuch is a shopping centre well known for its salty peanuts. Because of the distinctive colour of the soil here that is ideal for cotton cultivation, Bharuch is sometimes referred to as 'Kanam Pradesh' (black soil land).


title: Bharuch

text: Over the past 60 years, a major part of the population has moved to countries like the UK, USA, the African continent, and other parts of Europe. This brings some economical boost to the local businesses as people come back for vacations and spend their earnings here.


title: Bharuch

text: Bharuch was a major sea port in the important pre-compass coastal trading routes to points West, perhaps as far back as the days of the Pharaohs, which utilised the regular and predictable Monsoon winds or galleys. Many goods from the Far East were trans-shipped there for the annual monsoon winds making it a terminus for several key land-sea trade routes and Bharuch was definitely known to the Greeks, the various Persian Empires and in the Roman Republic and Empire and other Western centres of civilisation, through the end of the European Middle Ages.


title: Bharuch

text: In the 1st century AD, Bharuch port has been mentioned as Barigaza. Bharuch which was a prosperous and powerful port was an important part of Gujarat until the 16th century. Arab traders used to enter Gujarat via Bharuch. British, Valandas, and others accepted the importance of Bharuch and established premises and local staff here. At the end of the 17th century, the city was plundered twice but resurged quickly after the plunder and a proverb/refrain arose, "Bhangyu Bhangyu Toye Bharuch".


title: Bharuch

text: As a trading depot, the limitations of coastal shipping made it a regular terminus via several mixed trade routes of the fabled spice and silk trading between East and West.


title: Bharuch

text: Narmada River's inland access to central and northern India and with a location in the sheltered Gulf of Khambhat in the era of coastal sea travel grew and prospered as a trading transshipment centre and shipbuilding port. Until very modern times the only effective way to move goods was by water transport, and Bharuch had sheltered waters in an era without weather forecasting, compasses, and when shipping was necessarily limited to coastal navigation, and the general east–west course of the Narmada gave access to the rich inland empires at the upper reaches of the Narmada, including easy caravan access to the Ganges valley and the plains of Delhi.


title: Bharuch

text: Broach then (1500-1700) was a major textile manufacturing hub. The Broach city was famous for its bafta in the West and Southeast Asian markets. Bafta cloth was among the leading textile products exported to Europe and other parts of the world.


title: Bharuch

text: Modern Bharuch is one of the most heavily industrialised areas, not only in Gujarat but in India as a whole, with many large chemical plants producing fertilisers, paints, dyes, cotton, textiles, and dairy products.


title: Bharuch

text: Bharuch has also the advantage of Gujarat's biggest liquid cargo terminal. A very large fertiliser, chemical companies, like GNFC Ltd. is also located in Narmadanagar (a suburb of Bharuch) since 1976.


title: Bharuch

text: Large Indian and multinational companies, like the Torrent Group, PepsiCo International, Guardian Corporation, Hitachi, Heubach Colors, Zydus Cadila, Cadila Health Care, Survival Technologies, Videocon, China Light and Power, BASF, Reliance, Tata Group, Aditya Birla Group, Welspun Stahl, Aventis, Gulbrandsen Technologies, Wockhardt, Rallis, Pfizer, Ciba, L&T, Bayer, Glenmark, UPL, Lupin, J B Chemicals, Gujarat Fluorochemicals, NTPC, ONGC, GAIL, OPaL SOlvay, Breeze Intermediates For Flavor & Fragrance Intermediates, Alliance Tyre Group, Fireminich, Astra Specialty Compounds, Dahej and GPEC, have set up manufacturing units in and around Bharuch and Ankleshwar.


title: Bharuch

text: Petronet LNG Ltd, one of the fastest-growing companies in the Indian energy sector, has set up the country's first LNG receiving and regasification terminal at Dahej. Dahej nowadays is considered to be fastest-growing industrial area with companies like ONGC, GNFC, Alliance Tyre Group, ABG Shipyard, First carbon, Indofil, Birla copper, Adani, Reliance,


title: Bharuch

text: India census, Bharuch had a population of 148,391. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Bharuch has an average literacy rate of 97.06%, much higher than the national average of 74%; with male literacy of 98.5% and female literacy of 95.5%. 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.


title: Bharuch

text: Bharuch is administered by the Bharuch Nagar Seva Sadan (Bharuch Nagar Palika). Bharuch is also the administrative headquarters of Bharuch District.


title: Bharuch

text: Bharuch Nagar Seva Sadan comprises 11 election wards and 44 seats (corporators). In the 2015, Bharuch Municipality elections, BJP won 31 seats, Congress won 12 and one seat went to Independent. R. V. Patel of Bharatiya Janata Party is the present mayor.


title: Bharuch

text: The city elects one member to the Gujarat Vidhan Sabha, and the district elects one member to the Lok Sabha. Dushyant Patel (BJP) is the representative to the Gujarat Vidhan Sabha. Mansukh Vasava (BJP) is the representative to the Lok Sabha.


title: Bharuch

text: Bharuch is considered to be a stronghold of BJP, and since past 25 years BJP has been winning in Bharuch Vidhan Sabha, Bharuch Lok Sabha and Bharuch Municipality. Bharuch City would be soon getting a municipal co-operation.


title: Bharuch

text: There are many religions being followed by the people of this city. Usually there is a sense of harmony and co-existence without incident. However, there have been situations in the past in which this delicate social fabric has broken down. Today the city is considered to be a great example of communal equality. The majority are followers of Hinduism with a very large Muslim minority.


title: Bharuch

text: As Bharuch is a renowned tirtha, also known as Bhrigu Tirtha, in many of the Hindu Puranas, it is a host of huge number of temples along the river side. There exists also a number of mosques in this city many of them having been built in the medieval area and the most famous one is known as "Jamia Masjid Bharuch" built in 1644 during reign of Shah Jahan.


title: Bharuch

text: Bharuch is renowned because of the internationally famous Pt. Omkarnath Thakur in the field of music. Writers such as like Dr. Kanaiyalal Munshi, Balwantray Thakore and Sundaram has bestowed Bharuch unique pride.


title: Bharuch

text: Raichand Deepchand Library was established in 1858. It is one of the oldest libraries in Western India. It has a collection of about books including some rare manuscripts.


title: Bharuch

text: Ganpatram Desai of the Bhargav Brahmin caste of Bharuch wrote the famous book "Bharuch Shaher No Itihaas" in 1900. This classic piece of history is an excellent reference even today. He wrote another historical novel called "Alexander Na Samay Nu Hind" or "India at the Time of Alexander".


title: Bharuch

text: All major Indian festivals are celebrated in Bharuch. Bharuch enjoys a thriving cultural tradition and diverse traditions of different ethnic and religious communities. Popular celebrations and observances include Uttarayan—an annual kite-flying day on 14 January. The nine nights of Navratri are celebrated with people performing Garba—the folk dance of Gujarat—at venues across the city. The festival of lights—Deepavali is celebrated with the lighting of lamps in every house, the decorating the floors with the rangoli and the bursting of firecrackers. Other festivals such as Holi, Ganesh Chaturthi, Eid ul-Fitr and the procession of "Tajia" during the Muslim holy month of Muharram are integral parts of the city's culture. It is also well known for the celebration of Chandi Padvo which usually occurs around October. This day comes after one of the two biggest full moon days of the Hindu calendar year, "Sharad Purnima". On this day, people buy tons of Ghari.


title: Bharuch

text: The rain (Meghraja) festival celebrated in Bharuch during monsoon season is unique in the whole of India. In the whole country, the festival depicting the importance of ancient agricultural traditions is celebrated only here. Meghraja Festival is celebrated in the month of Shravan. A 5.5 feet idol of Meghraj (Lord Indra) is prepared from the soil of Narmada river and is worshiped for 25 days. A fair (mela) is organised during the last four days of this festival. This festival is celebrated only in Bharuch in whole of India.


title: Bharuch

text: Bharuch cuisine is similar to that of Surati cuisine. The most popular form of meal — a typical Gujarati "thali" — consists of roti, dal, rice and "shaak" (cooked vegetables, sometimes with curry), with accompaniments of pickles and roasted "papads". Bharuch cuisine also includes perennial favourites such as "Mawa Ghari" (a type of sweet pastry made from a laminated dough and filled with Khoa, different than Surati Ghari ), "Malai Ghari" (filled with sweetened clotted cream, a unique sweet of Bharuch), Khichu, Undhiyu, Khaman, Nylon Khaman, Phaphada and Jalebi. Unlike cuisines in other parts of Gujarat, Bharuch cuisine is quite spicy. In the cooler winter months, people eat Ponk, a roasted cereal. The roasted salty peanuts of Bharuch are famous worldwide.


title: Bharuch

text: Most of the food outlets serve only vegetarian food, as a strong tradition of vegetarianism is maintained by the city's Jain and Hindu communities. Roadside kiosks, called "laaris" or "rekdis", are quite popular.


title: Bharuch

text: Non-vegetarian food is also available in some Muslim-dominated areas. Novel dishes made from eggs (ghotala, kheema, half fry) are specialties which are savoured with much gusto. Apart from this the traditional mutton preparation of tapela, fish (patra macchi), and lemon chicken can also be relished.


title: Bharuch

text: Bharuch is well connected to the rest of India by Indian National Highway 48 (Mumbai to New Delhi) and by the Western Railway Division of Indian Railways.


title: Bharuch

text: The 132-year-old Golden Bridge connects Bharuch to Ankleshwar across the Narmada, which connects Bharuch and Ankleshwar towns, has turned golden literally. This is the first time since independence that the bridge has been painted golden.


title: Bharuch

text: Bharuch roads and buildings department has painted the bridge golden. Golden Bridge is a part of Bharuch's rich history. The British, who needed a bridge across Narmada to enable easier access for trade and administration officials in Mumbai, built the Golden Bridge, or Narmada Bridge as it is named, in 1881.


title: Bharuch

text: The bridge got its name due to the massive expenditure incurred in its construction. It was constructed seven times after being damaged several times due to strong currents of Narmada water. It was said that the cost incurred was so high that with the amount spent the bridge could be constructed in gold. The bridge has withstood many floods and natural disasters like earthquakes and provides daily transportation to the people of Ankleshwar and Bharuch.


title: Bharuch

text: Local transport is provided mainly by auto rickshaws (3-wheeled passenger taxis running on petrol or diesel). Intra-district and Inter-state buses also serve Bharuch frequently, and services are available to most nearby cities within and outside Gujarat. Private bus operators also offer local services in and around Bharuch.


title: Bharuch

text: Indian Airlines and other private airlines connect Surat and Vadodara to Delhi and Mumbai, with onward connections to major cities throughout India and abroad.


title: Bharuch

text: Rail: Bharuch Junction railway station is a very busy junction, handling over 40 pairs of trains on the Mumbai-Delhi line via Ahmedabad.


title: Bharuch

text: The main trains which pass through the station are Mumbai-Ahmadabad Shatabdi Express, August Kranti Rajdhani Express, Mumbai-Vadodara Express, Jammu Tawi-Mumbai Central Swaraj Express and


title: Bharuch

text: Daily or multiple daily trains connect Bharuch to all major cities in Gujarat. Daily or multiple daily trains also connect to many smaller towns as well.


title: Bharuch

text: Long-distance connections are available to virtually all major cities in India with multiple daily services to Mumbai and Delhi.


title: Bharuch

text: There are also daily (or multiple-daily) trains to Jaipur, Bikaner, Jodhpur, Kota, Ajmer, Indore, Kolkata, Nagpur, Solapur, Raipur, Bilaspur, Rourkela, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Firozepur, Bhatinda, Ambala, Panipat, Rohtak, Faridabad, Mathura, Dehradun, Pune, Goa, Mangalore, Kozhikode and Kochi (Ernakulam)- (and to several other stations en route).


title: Bharuch

text: Weekly (or multiple-weekly) trains are available for Udaipur, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar, Pury, Hyderabad, Mysore, Bangalore, Coimbatore and Tuticorin among others.


title: Bharuch

text: Bus: National Highway 8 passes through Bharuch and has a good road network. The bus station in the heart of the city is one of the busiest in Western India. State transport buses and private luxury coaches connect Bharuch with various centres of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan.


title: Bharuch

text: There are a number of schools and colleges in Bharuch which provide education in English and Gujarati mediums. Schools here are either affiliated to Gujarat Board, CBSE Board or the ICSE Board to name few Sabari Vidya Peedom, ABP School, Amity, QAC School, Holy Angels Convents, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavans, Narmada Vidyalya, DPS, and Sanskar Vidya Bhavan,J.B.Mody Vidyalaya,


title: Bharuch

text: Several colleges provide education in various under-graduate and post-graduate streams including commerce and science, Narmada College of Science & Commerce is the prominent known college since last many decades. Narmada College of Computer Application (NCCA) in its campus is the only college in Bharuch District providing Master of Computer Application (MCA) course since 1999.


title: Bharuch

text: There are also several engineering colleges affiliated to the Gujarat Technical University including Government Engineering College, Bharuch which is centrally monitored, and SVM( Sa'd Vidya Mandal) Institute of Technology which offers graduate and post-graduate courses.


title: Bharuch

text: Shree Narmada Sanskrit Ved Pathashala is a 115-year-old institute that imparts education in Sanskrit at school, graduate and post-graduate levels. It imparts education in the fields of vedas, jyotisha, vyakrana, nyaya, and mimansa.


title: Bharuch

text: GNFC Sports Complex has a number of modern sport facilities, which includes Cricket Stadium (Ranji Trophy matches are also held here), golf course, tennis, table tennis, badminton, skating, swimming pool, gym, community science centre, snookers, pool, billiards, chess, cards, volleyball, and basketball.


title: Bharuch

text: Rotary Club also has facilities for sports like table tennis, swimming pool, skating, badminton and other indoor games.


title: Bharuch

text: Cricket is the most popular sport in the city. Munaf Patel and Rashid patel both played for Indian cricket team.


title: Bharuch

text: Shri Batuknath Vyayam Shala was established in 1913 by Chhotubhai Purani and Ambubhai Purani (propagators of Indian gymnastics/vyayam in Gujarat).


title: Bharuch

text: There are various avenues for leisure time activities in Bharuch, and there are a few parks maintained by the municipal commission such as Narmad River Front. The city also has numerous privately owned parks; among them, J. B. Modi Park and Vasu Van Nisarg Udyan are the most popular and well-known. The river banks in the city provide places for walking and leisure activities, together with a couple of libraries and a few auditoriums. Bharuch is well known for its textile products. Salted peanuts and sweets of Bharuch are renowned worldwide. Jabson, a well known export brand for peanuts is a notable shop in the Peanut Market. Of late there has been a boom in the retail sector in the city and there are new shopping malls and multiplexes opening up all over the place. There are now shopping malls including Big Bazar, and the Reliance Super Market in Mayuri.


title: Bharuch

text: Bharuch has provided health care through hospitals and clinics. There are hospitals run by the government, private entities as well as charitable trusts.


title: Bharuch

text: It also has several clinics owned and operated by individual doctors and medical professionals. Pharmacies are also operated and run by individual people.


title: Bharuch

text: Mythological figures related to Bharuch include Bhrigu Rishi, Shukra, Chyavana, Chandra, Dattatreya, Durvasa, Vamana, Mahabali, Jamadagni and Parshurama. Notable historical figures include King Nahapana.


title: Greco-Roman mysteries

text: Mystery religions, mystery cults, sacred mysteries or simply mysteries, were religious schools of the Greco-Roman world for which participation was reserved to initiates "(mystai)". The main characterization of this religion is the secrecy associated with the particulars of the initiation and the ritual practice, which may not be revealed to outsiders. The most famous mysteries of Greco-Roman antiquity were the Eleusinian Mysteries, which predated the Greek Dark Ages. The mystery schools flourished in Late Antiquity; Julian the Apostate in the mid 4th century is known to have been initiated into three distinct mystery schools—most notably the mithraists. Due to the secret nature of the school, and because the mystery religions of Late Antiquity were persecuted by the Christian Roman Empire from the 4th century, the details of these religious practices are derived from descriptions, imagery and cross-cultural studies. Much information on the Mysteries come from Marcus Terentius Varro.


title: Greco-Roman mysteries

text: Justin Martyr in the 2nd century explicitly noted and identified them as "demonic imitations" of the true faith; "the devils, in imitation of what was said by Moses, asserted that Proserpine was the daughter of Jupiter, and instigated the people to set up an image of her under the name of Kore" ("First Apology"). Through the 1st to 4th century, Christianity stood in direct competition for adherents with the mystery schools, insofar as the "mystery schools too were an intrinsic element of the non-Jewish horizon of the reception of the Christian message". Beginning in the third century, and especially after Constantine became emperor, components of mystery religions began to be incorporated into mainstream Christian thinking, such as is reflected by the disciplina arcani.


title: Greco-Roman mysteries

text: The English word 'mystery' originally appeared as the plural Greek "Mystêria", and developed into the Latin "mysterium" where the English term originates. The etymology of the Greek "mystêrion" is not entirely clear, though scholars have traditionally thought it to have derived from the Greek "myo", meaning "to close or shut" (chiefly referring to shutting the eyes, hence one who shuts their eyes and is initiated into the mysteries). Some Hittite scholars suggest that the Greek term derives from the Hittite verb "munnae", "to conceal, to hide, to shut out of sight".


title: Greco-Roman mysteries

text: Mystery religions formed one of three types of Hellenistic religion, the others being the imperial cult, or the ethnic religion particular to a nation or state, and the philosophic religions such as Neoplatonism.


title: Greco-Roman mysteries

text: This is also reflected in the tripartite division of "theology"—by Varro—into civil theology (concerning the state religion and its stabilizing effect on society), natural theology (philosophical speculation about the nature of the divine), and mythical theology (concerning myth and ritual).


title: Greco-Roman mysteries

text: Mysteries thus supplement rather than compete with civil religion. An individual could easily observe the rites of the state religion, be an initiate in one or more mysteries, and at the same time adhere to a certain philosophical school. Many of the aspects of public religion such as sacrifices, ritual meals, and ritual purification were repeated within the mystery, but with the additional requirement that they take place in secrecy and be confined to a closed set of initiates. The mystery schools offered a niche for the preservation of ancient religious ritual, which was especially in demand by the time of the late Roman Empire, as cultic practices supported the established social and political orders instead of working against them; numerous early strands of Judaism and Christianity, for instance, appeared in opposition to such conditions, whereas the mystery cults, by their very nature, served to strengthen the status quo.


title: Greco-Roman mysteries

text: For this reason, what evidence remains of the older Greek mysteries has been understood as reflecting certain archaic aspects of common Indo-European religion, with parallels in Indo-Iranian religion. The mystery schools of Greco-Roman antiquity include the Eleusinian Mysteries, the Dionysian Mysteries, and the Orphic Mysteries. Some of the many divinities that the Romans nominally adopted from other cultures also came to be worshipped in Mysteries; for instance, Egyptian Isis, Persian Mithras from the Mithraic Mysteries, Thracian/Phrygian Sabazius, and Phrygian Cybele.


title: Greco-Roman mysteries

text: The Eleusinian Mysteries were the earliest and most famous of the mystery cults and lasted for over a millennium. Whenever they first originated, by the end of the 5th century BC, they had been heavily influenced by Orphism, and in Late Antiquity, they had become allegorized.


title: Greco-Roman mysteries

text: The basis for the Eleusinian Mysteries can be found in a myth concerning the kidnapping of Persephone, daughter of Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, by Hades, the god of the underworld, as told in the Homeric Hymns. Anguished by this event and wishing to persuade Zeus, the king of the gods, to allow the return of her daughter, Demeter caused famine and drought across the land, killing many and depriving the gods of proper sacrifice and worship. Eventually, Zeus permitted Persephone to rejoin her mother, prompting Demeter to end the pestilences which deprived the world of its prosperity. However, because the Fates decreed that whoever ate or drank in the underworld was doomed to spend eternity there, Persephone was still forced to remain in the realm for either four or six months of the year (depending on the telling), as she was tricked by Hades into eating pomegranate seeds of a corresponding amount. Thus, Demeter, in her sadness, neglects to nourish the earth for the months that Persephone is gone, only doing so when she returns, until the process repeats again. These episodic periods became the winter and spring seasons, with the “death” and “rebirth” of Persephone being allegorical for the cycle of life and the experience of all beings.


title: Greco-Roman mysteries

text: In the 15th of the month of Boedromion (September/October) in the Attic calendar, as many as 3,000 potential initiates would have gathered in the agora of Athens, the gathering limited to those that spoke Greek and had never killed (as the emphasis on purity grew, this ban would include those who had "impure" souls). Like other large festivals such as the Diasia and Thesmophoria, the prospective initiates would bring their own sacrificial animals and hear the festivals proclamation as it began. The next day, they would have gone to the sea and purified themselves and the animals. Three days of rest would pass until the 19th, the agora was once more filled with the initiates at the procession at the sanctuary of Demeter and her daughter Persephone. Two Eleusinian priestesses were at the front of the procession followed by many Greeks holding special items in preparation for the rest of the ceremony, and the procession would leave the city on an hours-long 15-mile journey constantly interrupted by celebration, dances, etc, to the city of Eleusis. The initiates would carry torches on the way to the city. Once the city was reached, the pilgrims would dance into the sanctuary. The next day would begin with sacrifices, and at sunset, the initiates would go to a building called the "telestêrion" where the actual initiations would commence. The initiates washed themselves to be pure and everyone sat together in silence surrounded by the smell of extinguished torches. The initiation may have taken place over two nights. If so, the first night may have concerned the kidnapping of Persephone by Hades and ended with the goddess's return, whereas the second night concerned the "epopteia" (the higher degree of the Mysteries) which was a performance that included singing, dancing, potentially the showing of a phallus, a terrifying experience for the audience by the skilled Eleusinian clergy, and the climax of the event which must have included displaying a statue of Demeter and showing of an ear of wheat and a "birth" of agricultural wealth. Hence, these mysteries had associations with fertility and agriculture. In an attempt to solve the mystery of how so many people over the span of two millennia could have consistently experienced revelatory states during the culminating ceremony of the Eleusinian Mysteries, numerous scholars have proposed that the power of the Eleusinian Mysteries came from the kykeon's functioning as an entheogen.


title: Greco-Roman mysteries

text: The day of the completion of the initiation was called the Plemochoai (after a type of vessel used to conclude a libation), and the new members could now wear a myrtle wreath like the priests. Eventually, the initiates would leave and utter the phrases "paks" or "konks", which referenced the proclamation of a conclusion of an event. The clothing worn by the new members during their journey were used as lucky blankets for children or perhaps were given to their sanctuary.


title: Greco-Roman mysteries

text: The second most famous Mysteries were those on the island of Samothrace and promised safety to sailors from the perils of the sea, and most participants would come to be initiated from the neighboring regions. While the information here is even more scarce than that available with the Eleusinian Mysteries (and more late, dating to the Hellenistic and Roman periods), it's known that the Samothracian Mysteries significantly borrowed from the ones at Eleusis (including the word 'Mysteries'), furthermore, archaeological and linguistic data continues elucidating more of what happened at Samothrace. These rituals were also associated with others on neighboring island such as the mysteries of the deities of Cabeiri. Philip II of Macedon and his later wife Olympias were said to have met during the initiation ceremony at Samothrace. Heracles, Jason, Cadmus, Orpheus and the Dioscuri were all said to have been initiated here.


title: Greco-Roman mysteries

text: Little is known about any core foundational myths for the entities worshipped by cult initiates at Samothrace; even their identities are unknown, as they tended to be discussed anonymously, being referred to as the "Samothracian gods" or the "Great Gods". This makes it difficult to reconstruct who they were, though comparisons between the "gods of Samothrace" and the Cabeiri, chthonic deities of an indeterminate amount (sometimes twins, or multiple distinct beings) from comparable, pre-Greek or entirely non-Greek cultures such as Thrace or Phrygia have been made. The similarities in regards to what each deity or set of deities were purported to offer - protection on the seas and help in difficult times - display a definite connection, though to what extent is impossible to conclude. It is therefore likely that if the Samothracian gods are not the Cabeiri themselves, elements from this comparative religion, along with Thracian elements of worship present on the island before an established Greek presence, heavily influenced the ideas and practices central to the mystery cult.


title: Greco-Roman mysteries

text: Unlike at Eleusis, initiation at Samothrace was not restricted to a narrow few days of the year and lasted from April to November (the sailing season) with a large event likely taking place in June but may have taken place over two nights. Like in Samothrace, the future initiates would enter the sanctuary of Samothrace from the east where they would have entered into a 9-meter in diameter circular space with flagstones and a grandstand of five steps now called the Theatral Circle. Livy records that here, the initiates would listen to a proclamation concerning the absence of crime and bloodshed. Near the beginning of the rituals, like at Eleusis, sacrifices and libations were likely made, where the prospective animal for the sacrifice would have been a ram. The initiates would have moved to a building where the actual initiation took place at night with torches, though archaeologists are unsure of which building it was considering the abundance of possibilities including the Hall of Choral Dancers, the Hieron, the Anaktoron and the Rotunda of Arsinoe II. In the 3rd century, Hippolytus of Rome in his "Refutation of All Heresies" quotes a Gnostic author who provides a summary of some of the images here;


title: Greco-Roman mysteries

text: There stand two statues of naked men in the Anaktoron of the Samothracians, with both hands stretched up toward heaven and their pudenda turned up, just as the statue of Hermes at Kyllene. The aforesaid statues are images of the primal man and of the regenerated, spiritual man who is in every respect consubstantial with that man.


title: Greco-Roman mysteries

text: The scarcity of information precludes understanding what went on during the initiation, though there may have been dancing such as at Eleusis associated with the mythology of the search for Harmonia. At the end of the initiation, the initiates were given a purple fillet. There was also a second night of initiation, the "epopteia" where the "usual preliminary lustration rites and sacrifices" took place though not much else can be known besides that it may have been similar to the "epopteia" at Eleusis and would have climaxed with the showing of a great light.


title: Greco-Roman mysteries

text: The initiation of the first night was concluded by banqueting together and many dining rooms have been uncovered by archaeologists in association with the cult at Samothrace. The bowls used for the libation were also left behind, revealed by the thousands of discovered libation bowls at the cult sites. The participants occasionally left behind other materials, such as lamps. In addition to the purple fillet, they also left with a 'Samothracian ring' (magnetic iron ring coated in gold) and some initiates would set up a record of their initiation in the stoa of the sanctuary. The initiation of the second night was also concluded by a banquet.


title: Greco-Roman mysteries

text: Worship of the god Mithras was extremely popular among men of the Roman army for several centuries, originating in the 1st century BCE and ending with the persecution of non-Christian faiths within the Empire in the 4th century CE. Imported from Persia and adapted for Roman purposes like many other previously foreign deities, Mithras bears little relation to his Zoroastrian precursor, Mithra, retaining his Phrygian cap and garments, for instance, as a visual reminder of his eastern origins. The cultic acts of adherents were new and distinct, involving underground initiation rituals reserved exclusively for soldiers and complex, allegorical rites only vaguely understood today due to an absence of written sources. Feasting was the primary religious experience of initiated members, along with reenactments of core Mithraic imagery, such as the meal shared between the god Sol Invictus and Mithras, or the bearing of torches by men representing the twins of the rising and setting sun, Cautes and Cautopates.


title: Greco-Roman mysteries

text: Traditionally, scholarship surrounding Mithras' mythological beginnings purport that followers believed the common image of the god emerging from a rock, already a young man, with a dagger in one hand and a torch in the other, was representative of his birth and nativity. New perspectives have appeared in light of continuous study which suppose that this scene instead displays the popular Roman religio-philosophical theme of ascent, whereby the god's emergence from the stone serves to depict his divinity and power over "earthly mundaneness". The visual and metaphorical components to the core cult image of Mithras slaying a bull, known as the tauroctony, have also been greatly debated. Propositions that the scene depicts nothing more than the act of sacrifice, well known to Romans through their civil religions and obligatory state festivals, have been accepted for some time, but belief that the scene displays a star-map of major constellations in addition to the usual action of sacrifice has appeared in recent years. As is the case with most other mystery religions, almost no written sources pertaining to the practices, much less the beliefs of adherents, survive. Thus, conjecture and assumption based almost exclusively on archaeological finds and modern interpretations provide only somewhat of a vague understanding.


title: Greco-Roman mysteries

text: A system of grades or levels was present in the hierarchical structure of Mithraic religion, the first of these being the rank of "Corax" (raven), followed by "Nymphus" or "Gryphus" (bridegroom), "Miles" (soldier), "Leo" (lion), "Perses" (Persian), "Heliodromus" (sun-runner), and finally "Pater" (father) as the highest. Though precise details are difficult to determine and certainly varied between locations, one general depiction of an initiation ritual at Capua has it that men were blindfolded and walked into the subterranean chamber known as a Mithraeum where the rites and practices of the cult would be performed. Initiates were naked, bound with their arms behind them, and kneeled before a priest, whereupon they would be released from their bondage, crowned, but not permitted to rise until a particular moment. The initiation was confirmed by a handshake, as members would henceforth be referred to as "syndexioi", or those "united by the handshake". Little is known about the cult's practices subsequent to initiation, as the highly secretive nature of the religion as well as a substantial absence of written texts makes it difficult to determine what precisely took place in regular meetings, beyond the payment of a membership fee.


title: Greco-Roman mysteries

text: Towards the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, it was becoming more popular in German scholarship to connect the origins of Christianity with heavy influence from the mystery cults, if not labeling Christianity itself as a mystery cult. This trend was partly the result of the increasing growth of critical historical analysis of Christianity's history, as exemplified by David Strauss's "Das Leben Jesu" (1835–36) and the secularizing trend among scholars that sought to derive Christianity from its pagan surroundings. Scholars, for example, began attempting to derive Paul's theology from a Mithraic mystery cult in Tarsus, even though no mystery cult existed there nor did a Mithraic mystery cult exist before the end of the 1st century. The attitudes of scholars began to change as Egyptology continued emerging as a discipline and a seminal article published by Arthur Nock in 1952 that noted the near absence of mystery terminology in the New Testament. While some have tried to tie the origins of rites in Christianity such as baptism and the Eucharist to mystery religions, it has been demonstrated that the origins of baptism rather lie in Jewish purificatory ritual and that cult meals were so widespread in the ancient world that attempting to demonstrate their origins from any one source is arbitrary. Searches for Christianity deriving content from mystery religions has also been unsuccessful; many of them (such as the mysteries of Eleusis and Samothrace) had no content but rather limited themselves to showing objects in initiation.


title: Greco-Roman mysteries

text: Later interaction between Christianity and mystery religions did take place. Christianity has its own initiation ritual, baptism, and beginning in the fourth century, Christians began to refer to their sacraments, such as baptism, with the word "mysterion", the Greek term that was also used for a mystery rite. In this case, the word meant that Christians did not discuss their most important rites with non-Christians who might misunderstand or disrespect them. Their rites thus acquired some of the aura of secrecy that surrounded the mystery cults.


title: Greco-Roman mysteries

text: Even in ancient times these similarities were controversial. Non-Christians in the Roman Empire in the early centuries CE, such as Lucian and Celsus, thought Christianity and the mystery cults resembled each other. Reacting to these claims by outsiders, early Christian apologists, such as Justin Martyr, denied that these cults had influenced their religion. The seventeenth-century Protestant scholar Isaac Casaubon brought up the issue again by accusing the Catholic Church of deriving its sacraments from the rituals of the mystery cults. Charles-François Dupuis, in the late eighteenth century, went further by claiming that Christianity itself sprang from the mystery cults. Intensified by religious disputes between Protestants, Catholics, and non-Christians, the controversy has continued to the present day.


title: The Hidden (film)

text: The Hidden is a 1987 American science fiction horror film directed by Jack Sholder, written by Jim Kouf (under the pseudonym Bob Hunt), and released by New Line Cinema. It stars Kyle MacLachlan and Michael Nouri, along with Clu Gulager, Chris Mulkey, Ed O'Ross, Clarence Felder, Claudia Christian and Larry Cedar, and received mostly positive reviews. A sequel, "The Hidden II", was directed by Seth Pinsker and released in 1993.


title: The Hidden (film)

text: Jack DeVries (Chris Mulkey), a quiet citizen with no criminal past, robs a Los Angeles Wells Fargo bank, kills all of the security guards inside, and leads the Los Angeles Police Department on a high-speed chase. The chase ends when DeVries encounters a police blockade overseen by Detective Thomas Beck (Michael Nouri). DeVries is shot several times, smashes through the blockade and crashes the Ferrari he is driving. DeVries is taken to a hospital, where a doctor informs Beck and his partner, Det. Cliff Willis (Ed O'Ross) that DeVries is not expected to survive the night.


title: The Hidden (film)

text: Upon his return to LAPD headquarters, Beck and his supervisor, Lt. John Masterson (Clarence Felder), meet FBI Special Agent Lloyd Gallagher (Kyle MacLachlan), who informs them that Beck has been assigned to work with Gallagher to track down DeVries. When told of DeVries's condition, Gallagher rushes off to the hospital.


title: The Hidden (film)

text: Meanwhile, at the hospital, DeVries suddenly awakens. Disconnecting his life-support equipment, he approaches the comatose man in the next bed, Jonathan P. Miller (William Boyett). After DeVries forces Miller's mouth open, a slug-like alien emerges from DeVries' mouth and transfers itself into Miller's body. Gallagher arrives to find DeVries dead on the floor and Miller's bed abandoned. Gallagher tells Beck to put out an alert on Miller, but Beck refuses, because Miller has no criminal record.


title: The Hidden (film)

text: Miller goes to a record store where he beats the store's owner to death. He then goes to a car dealership, where he kills three men and steals a red Ferrari. He then visits a strip club, where the alien leaves Miller's body and takes over the body of a stripper named Brenda (Claudia Christian). Gallagher asks police to track Brenda when he sees her picture next to Miller's body. Brenda is then propositioned by a cat-caller, she accepts and follows him to his car. They proceed to have sex in his car which results in his death. She then takes his car. Gallagher and Beck pursue her to a rooftop, where they mortally wound her in a gun battle. As Brenda dies, Gallagher points a strangely-shaped, alien weapon at her; however, she leaps from the roof. As Masterson arrives from his house to take charge of the scene, the alien transfers itself from Brenda's dying body to Masterson's dog.


title: The Hidden (film)

text: Frustrated by Gallagher's continuing refusal to explain the strange phenomenon of ordinary citizens turning into crazed killers, Beck arrests him and puts him in a jail cell. Beck soon learns that "Gallagher" is an imposter, impersonating the real agent Gallagher, who is dead. When Beck confronts "Gallagher" with this information, "Gallagher" admits to being an extraterrestrial lawman and that they are in fact pursuing an alien thrill killer who has the ability to take over other's bodies. Beck dismisses the story as insane and leaves "Gallagher" in a jail cell at the police station.


title: The Hidden (film)

text: Back at Masterson's house, the alien leaves the dog's body and enters Masterson. In the morning, Masterson goes to the police station and seizes a number of weapons, sparking a shootout between himself and the station's police officers as he attempts to track down "Gallagher". Convinced of "Gallagher's" story due to Masterson's immunity to excessive bullet wounds, Beck releases him from jail, and the two confront Masterson. During the resulting shootout, Masterson confirms that "Gallagher" is an alien law enforcer named Alhague who has been pursuing the alien ever since it murdered his family and his partner on another planet. When Alhague first came to Earth, he inhabited the body of Robert Stone, a park ranger, then assumed the identity of Lloyd Gallagher after the real Gallagher was killed in a fire. Though Beck manages to stop Masterson, Alhague/Gallagher reveals that his weapon cannot kill the alien when it is inside a human body; the weapon does not work on human skin, thus requiring him to be present when it is transferring hosts. They are unable to stop the alien from abandoning Masterson's body for that of Beck's partner Willis, who then escapes the station.


title: The Hidden (film)

text: Using Willis' credentials, the alien tries to gain access to Senator Holt (John McCann), a likely presidential candidate. Alhague/Gallagher and Beck follow Willis, and a shootout ensues between Beck and Willis. Beck is severely wounded. As Willis, the alien corners Senator Holt and enters his body before Alhague/Gallagher can stop him. "Holt" then calls a press conference and announces his candidacy for the presidency. Alhague/Gallagher is forced to attack Holt in the middle of the press conference. Though shot several times by the police and the senator's bodyguards, Alhague/Gallagher is able to get close enough to use a flamethrower on Holt. The alien emerges from Holt's charred body, shocking everybody before collapsing. Alhague/Gallagher kills it with his weapon.


title: The Hidden (film)

text: Taken to the hospital where Beck is being treated, Alhague/Gallagher discovers that Beck is close to death. Witnessing the emotional suffering of Beck's wife and daughter, Alhague/Gallagher transfers his life force from Gallagher to Beck as Beck dies. When she sees her miraculously "recovered" father, Beck's daughter initially hesitates when he reaches out to her, but then smiles and takes his hand.


title: The Hidden (film)

text: Director Jack Sholder was drawn to the film because of the script. Writer Jim Kouf has originally expressed interest in directing, but when the studios refused, he lost interest in the script. Sholder, who saw the potential to turn it into more than an action film, did a rewrite to heighten the themes of what it means to be human. Casting for the film was difficult; they used auditions and could not cast Agent Gallagher until several days before shooting began. Sholder later called MacLachlan "an inspired choice", though Sholder clashed with Nouri. Nouri and McLachlan both liked the script, and, during auditions, agreed to do the film if the other was involved.


title: The Hidden (film)

text: The soundtrack was released on Varese Sarabande Records, Cassettes and CDs with the score by Michael Convertino.


title: The Hidden (film)

text: The film was released theatrically in the United States by New Line Cinema in October 1987. It turned out to be a modest hit for the company, grossing $9,747,988 at the box office.


title: The Hidden (film)

text: The film was released on VHS and laserdisc by Media Home Entertainment in 1988. In August 1997, New Line Home Video re-released the film on VHS.


title: The Hidden (film)

text: In 2000, New Line Home Entertainment released the film on special edition DVD. The film was re-released in a set including the sequel "The Hidden II" in 2005.


title: The Hidden (film)

text: In August 2017, Warner Archive announced a special edition release of the film on Blu-Ray format. It was released on September 12, 2017.


title: The Hidden (film)

text: Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 75% of 32 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 6.9/10. "Variety" wrote, ""The Hidden" is a well-constructed thriller, directed with swift assurance by Jack Sholder, brought down by an utterly conventional sci-fi ending." Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" rated it 3/4 stars and called it "a surprisingly effective film". Vincent Canby of "The New York Times" wrote, "The movie is mostly a series of automobile chases through Los Angeles, but there is also some humor." Kevin Thomas of the "Los Angeles Times", called it "as unstintingly violent as it is crudely ingenious". Hal Hinson of "The Washington Post" wrote, ""The Hidden" is one of the most satisfying genre movies to hit the streets in a while."


title: The Hidden (film)

text: In a 1992 retrospective, James M. Silver of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote that the film did not have a long enough release to attract a proper audience but is "outstanding". It has since become a cult film.


title: CouchSurfing

text: CouchSurfing is a hospitality exchange service by which users can request homestays or interact with other people who are interested in travel. It is accessible via a website and mobile app. It uses a subscription business model, and while hosts are not allowed to charge for lodging, members in some countries must pay a fee to access the platform.


title: CouchSurfing

text: Couchsurfing was conceived by computer programmer and New Hampshire native Casey Fenton in 1999, when he was 21 years old. The idea arose after Fenton found a cheap flight from Boston to Iceland but did not have lodging. Fenton hacked into a database of the University of Iceland and randomly e-mailed 1,500 students asking for a homestay. He received between 50 and 100 offers and chose to stay at the home of an Icelandic rhythm and blues singer. On the return flight to Boston, he came up with the idea to create the website. He registered the couchsurfing.com domain name on 12 June 1999. Fenton was also inspired by a trip he took 2 years earlier to Egypt, where he was shown around by a local.


title: CouchSurfing

text: Couchsurfing International Inc. was formed on 2 April 2003 as a New Hampshire nonprofit corporation, with plans to apply for 501(c)(3) tax exemption.


title: CouchSurfing

text: The website was launched on 12 June 2004 with the cooperation of Dan Hoffer, Sebastien Le Tuan, and Leonardo Silveira.


title: CouchSurfing

text: From 2006 until the company raised financing in 2011, development of the website occurred mostly at events called "Couchsurfing Collectives", in which members met to voluntarily improve the website. Collectives took place in Montreal, Vienna, New Zealand, Rotterdam, Costa Rica, Samara, Alaska, Istanbul, and Thailand. However, the collectively-coded website was full of software bugs and crashes were common. Many members believed that the website needed to be redesigned from scratch. The collectives were also hindered by volunteers who just came to party and by tax laws in each jurisdiction.


title: CouchSurfing

text: In June 2006, problems with the website database resulted in much of it being irrevocably lost. Founder Casey Fenton posted online asking for help. A Couchsurfing Collective was underway in Montreal at the time and those in attendance raised $8,000 in donations and committed to recreate the website. In 2007, Google search volume for couchsurfing.org overtook the search volume for Hospitality Club.


title: CouchSurfing

text: The company applied for 501(c)(3) tax status as a nonprofit organization in November 2007 but tax exempt status was rejected by the Internal Revenue Service in early 2011. The assets then needed to be acquired from the New Hampshire non-profit, which including legal fees, was to cost $1 million. In August 2011, a private for-profit Delaware C corporation, also called Couchsurfing International, Inc., which was formed on 3 May 2011, raised $7.6 million in a first-round financing led by Benchmark Capital and Omidyar Network and acquired the assets of the New Hampshire company. The New Hampshire non-profit company was dissolved on 4 November 2011.


title: CouchSurfing

text: The conversion to a for-profit corporation was objected to by many members since the guiding principles of the original non profit organisation promised that CouchSurfing operates as a nonprofit, a promise that was broken by Fenton and Hoffer. Founder Casey Fenton said he received 1,500 emails in the days after announcing the conversion.


title: CouchSurfing

text: The company was briefly certified as a B corporation (mistakenly labeled as a Benefit corporation in a blog post by Casey Fenton), but that certification was eventually removed.


title: CouchSurfing

text: In August 2012, Couchsurfing received an additional $15 million in funding from an investor group led by General Catalyst Partners, with participation by Menlo Ventures, as well as existing investors Benchmark Capital and Omidyar Network. The additional funding brought the company's total funding raised to $22.6 million. That year, the company launched mobile apps for iOS and Android.


title: CouchSurfing

text: Tony Espinoza, previously vice president and general manager of social-network games at MTV, served as CEO from April 2012 to October 2013. Under his leadership, driven by an aggressive advertising campaign, membership doubled; however, new users were less interested in hosting other travelers and in the "pay it forward" spirit of other members. Tensions between Fenton and Espinoza led to Fenton being fired from the company he founded, although at that time, he kept his seat on the board of directors. The company rented swanky offices in San Francisco. By the end of Espinoza's tenure, the company had depleted half of its financing and laid off 40% of its staff.


title: CouchSurfing

text: In 2015, Couchsurfing required additional funding but did not have the metrics to raise a Series C round. Instead, the company received funding from Dugan Katragadda, a branch of Valencia Street Capital, led by Patrick Dugan. Patrick previously worked with NetSuite Pre-IPO (NYSE: N), the boutique global investment bank, Piper Jaffray (NYSE: PJC), where he worked as an investment banker, the business development team of Palantir Technologies and Practice Fusion, a electronic medical records company. Dugan's investment was large enough to reconstitute the board of directors. Casey Fenton was stripped of his board seat due to differences with management and has since no longer been involved in the day-to-day operations of the company.


title: CouchSurfing

text: In June 2016, the company added a feature to its mobile app called "hangouts" that enables members to quickly meet with other nearby members.


title: CouchSurfing

text: In May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company switched to a subscription business model requiring users in some countries to pay a fee to access the platform.


title: God's Plan (song)

text: "God's Plan" is a song recorded by Canadian rapper Drake, released on January 19, 2018, through Young Money and Cash Money. The song was written by Drake, Brock Korsan, and producers Cardo, Yung Exclusive, Boi-1da and Noah "40" Shebib. It acts as a single from his second EP, "Scary Hours" (2018), and the lead single from his fifth studio album, "Scorpion" (2018). Musically, it has been described as pop, pop-rap, and trap, with lyrics addressing Drake's fame and fate.


title: God's Plan (song)

text: "God's Plan" received lukewarm reviews from music critics, who called it a typical Drake song. Commercially the song became the 29th song in history to debut at number one on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, making it Drake's fourth chart-topper in that country, and second as a lead artist. The single topped the charts in fourteen countries, including the UK and Canada and reached the top ten in nine others. The song broke first-day streaming records on both Apple Music and Spotify, and was the most streamed song of the year on both services.


title: God's Plan (song)

text: An accompanying music video for the song was directed by Karena Evans and uploaded onto Drake's official YouTube channel on February 16, 2018. In the video, Drake is giving away nearly one million US dollars to people and institutions in Florida. It received five nominations at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards, including for Video of the Year and three nominations at the 61st Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Rap Song, winning the latter.


title: God's Plan (song)

text: The song creation started in September 2017 after Cardo sent Drake the instrumental. The song, originally titled "Grace of God", was chosen from a series of beats sent to Drake in September. Drake apparently called up Cardo and said "We got one" before the production of the record itself began fully.


title: God's Plan (song)

text: "God's Plan" was written by Aubrey Graham, Ronald LaTour, Daveon Jackson, Matthew Samuels, and Noah Shebib and produced by Cardo, Yung Exclusive, and Boi-1da. The original instrumental for "God's Plan" was sent to Drake in September 2017 by Cardo. Cardo created the instrumental with FL Studio and some VSTs. Boi-1da's addition to the song came when Drake gave him "God's Plan" half finished, Drake requested the song to have a more "bouncy vibe" and Boi-1da added more drums to the production. Musically the song has been described as a pop, pop-rap and trap song composed in common time ( time) with a length of three minutes eighteen seconds and written in the key of E minor with a tempo of 154.4 (or 77.2) beats per minute and a common chord progression of Am–Bm.


title: God's Plan (song)

text: Following the release of his fourth studio album "Views" (2016) and his playlist "More Life" (2017), Drake did not release any music for eight months until the EP "Scary Hours" on January 19, 2018, following multiple leaks, like for "Pistols". "God's Plan", was first teased on January 1, 2018, at a New York New Year's Eve Party, and originally featured American rapper Trippie Redd. Redd had been talking about the collaboration since October 2017.


title: God's Plan (song)

text: The single was released digitally on January 19, 2018, simultaneously with "Scary Hours", acting as a single from his aforementioned EP, and the lead single from his fifth studio album, Scorpion (2018).


title: God's Plan (song)

text: "God's Plan" was released alongside "Diplomatic Immunity" as a part of the "Scary Hours" EP and made available for digital download and streaming on January 19, 2018, by Young Money Entertainment and Cash Money Records. The song launched with the largest on-demand streaming count in history, breaking Apple's first-day streaming record upon release with 14 million streams and breaking Spotify's single-day streaming record with 4.3 million plays in twenty four hours. The song was streamed 82.4 million times in its first week.


title: God's Plan (song)

text: Talking about the song, Noisey said; "This is a good song that I've heard Drake do about 600 different versions of" before going on to say "I want to hear something different from Drake for a change, and this is definitely not what I would have hoped for."


title: God's Plan (song)

text: Pluggedin had mixed views on the track, calling it "schizophrenic in nature as it zigzags back and forth between various topics."


title: God's Plan (song)

text: Upon release of the music video, where Drake gave away nearly $1 million worth of gifts, a meme began circulating on Twitter praising daily, random acts of kindness.


title: God's Plan (song)

text: In the United States, "God's Plan" debuted at number one on the "Billboard" Hot 100 on the chart dated February 3, 2018, becoming Drake's fourth Hot 100 number-one song. It achieved 82.4 million streams and 127,000 downloads in the country, in the week ending January 25. "God's Plan" held steady at number one for its second week on the chart, gaining 83.3 million streams. In the end of February "God's Plan" became the second song in the Hot 100's history to achieve more than 100 million weekly streams. The single topped the Hot 100 for 11 weeks, becoming the 24th song in the history of the chart to do so. It was later unseated on the issue date April 21, 2018 by Drake's follow-up single "Nice for What". The song is also the fourth to have spent at least its first eleven weeks on the chart at number one, and the first since "One Sweet Day" in 1996. "God's Plan" ultimately spent 26 weeks in the top ten and left the chart after 36 weeks. The single would go on to top the "Billboard" Hot 100 Year–End chart. It became the most-streamed song of 2018 in the United States, with 1,565,711,000 on-demand streams (918.87 million audio and 647.84 video). It was also the second best-selling digital song of 2018 with 1,056,000 copies sold, behind Ed Sheeran's "Perfect".


title: God's Plan (song)

text: In the United Kingdom, "God's Plan" debuted at the top of the UK Singles Chart on January 26, 2018, for the week ending date February 1, 2018 after appearing to be first in the midweek singles chart. Drake had suddenly charted in what was expected to be a close race between Eminem and Ed Sheeran's "River" and Ramz's "Barking". "God's Plan" became Drake's third UK number one and had achieved 6.5 million streams in its first week and 54,000 sales. Hugh McIntyre of "Forbes" wrote that the song "shockingly debuted at No.1 across the pond, proving Drake to be an artist with unparalleled power." In its second week on the UK Singles Chart, "God's Plan" achieved 60,000 sales with 50,000 coming from streams, retaining its position at number one. "God's Plan" faced competition in its third week as its sales decreased 7% with Rudimental's "These Days" only 5,000 sales behind. Despite this, "God's Plan" was able to once again retain its position as number one and was certified Silver by the BPI. "God's Plan" stayed at number one for nine consecutive weeks in the UK, seven of which kept "These Days" by Rudimental at number two, until it became subject to accelerated chart ratio (ACR). The single was the second best-performing song on the British single charts, accumulating 1,56 million single-equivalent units. It was the most streamed song of the year, with 147 million.


title: God's Plan (song)

text: An accompanying music video for the track was uploaded onto Drake's official YouTube channel on February 16, 2018. The Karena Evans-directed music video was filmed by cinematographer Jordan Oram in Miami on February 5, 2018.


title: God's Plan (song)

text: The shooting for the video attracted significant media attention due to Drake donating $175,000 during the filming of the video to random Miami residents. The video depicts Drake in Miami engaging in acts of charity like gifts in kind, cash handouts and money donation through oversized cheques. Parts of the video were filmed at the Miami Senior High School in West Flagler. The video's opening states that its entire budget of $996,631.90 had been given away. At the campus of University of Miami, Drake presented Destiny James, a young woman raised by a single mother in South Carolina, with a $50,000 oversized cheque for tuition fees for a Master's degree in public health.


title: God's Plan (song)

text: As of September 2020, the music video has received more than 1.2 billion views and is the 31st most-liked video on YouTube. NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown is shown in the video dancing with Drake.


title: Balkrishna

text: Balkrishna (known as Acharya Balkrishna, born 4 August 1972) is an Indian billionaire businessman and chairman of the consumer goods company Patanjali Ayurved. He was reported by "Forbes" to have a net worth of billion . According to Ashish Kumar of Arya Samaj, Balkrishna has successfully established and managed a global business without a formal education.


title: Balkrishna

text: Balkrishna was born on 4 August 1972 in Haridwar, Uttarakhand (then Uttar Pradesh) to Nepalese immigrants, Sumitra Devi and Jay Vallabh Subedi originating from Syangja, Nepal. He spent his childhood in Nepal. He returned to India and studied at Khanpur Gurukul in Haryana, where he met Ramdev.


title: Balkrishna

text: On 5 January 1995, Balkrishna, Ramdev, and Acharya Karamveer founded Divya Yoga Mandir Trust which was set up at the Kripalu Bagh Ashram in Haridwar. In 2006, they founded Patanjali Ayurved, a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company involved in the manufacturing and trading of FMCG, herbal, and ayurvedic products. Followers of Ramdev, NRIs Sunita and Sarwan Poddar, helped kick-start the business with a loan. According to Balkrishna, he had taken out a ₹50–600 million loan at a time when he had never held a personal bank account in his name. In 2012, the company posted a turnover of which by 2015–2016 had risen to . Patanjali Ayurved's revenue from operations increased marginally to ₹9,022.71 crore in the year up to 31 March 2020, Revenue stood at about ₹8,522.68 crore in FY19.


title: Balkrishna

text: While Ramdev does not hold a stake in Patanjali Ayurved, he is the face of the firm and endorses its products to his followers across his yoga camps and television programmes. Balkrishna owns 94% of the company and serves as its managing director. He is a close aide of Ramdev. Acharya Balkrishna listed in India's 50 most influential personalities 2020. He was reported India's third-youngest billionaire by Forbes India Rich List 2020. He is also second billionaire of Nepalese Origin.


title: Balkrishna

text: Balkrishna has been recognized as one of the top 2 % world top scientists in a study conducted by Stanford University and Elsevier. Professor John PA Loannidis and his team from Stanford University, USA, has recently published this list together with Elsevier, Europe.