The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism (2 Vol Set)

Chataka

In Sanskritpoetry and literature, the
name for the cuckoo bird, usually
invoked as a symbol of longing.

Chatterjee, Bankim Chandra

(1838–1894) Bengali writer and Indian
nationalist who was one of the major
figures in the nineteenth-century
revival of Bengali literature and in
making the area a hotbed of opposition
to British rule. As a young man,
Chatterjee perceived how the influence
of English language and culture was
superseding that of Indian culture
among educated Indians. He sought to
reverse this through his writing and
political activism by encouraging
Indian intellectuals to rediscover their
classical culture. He became a seminal
figure in both literature and politics,
paving the way for the poet Rabin-
dranath Tagoreand political activists
Aurobindo Ghoseand Subhash Chandra
Bose. Chatterjee’s most famous novel,
Anandamath, focused on the late
eighteenth-century Sanyasi Rebellion,

in which bands of militant ascetics,

both Hindu and Muslim, fought with

the British East India Company for

control of Bengal. Although historical

inquiry attributes this conflict to social

and economic tensions in contempo-

rary Bengal, Chatterjee portrays it alle-

gorically as a struggle by Mother India’s

loyal children to expel the British

invaders. Chatterjee also wrote the

words to “Vande Mataram” (“Homage to

Mother [India]”), a patriotic song often

described as the unofficial Indian

national anthem.

Chatti

A pilgrim shelter, particularly in the

Himalayas. The word chattiis a variant

form of the word for “umbrella” and was

used because these shelters were often

simply roofs supported by pillars, to

keep the pilgrims dry in case of rain. Up

until the middle of the twentieth

century, many Himalayan pilgrims still

traveled on foot and used a network of

chattis along the pilgrimage routes.

These chattis were eight to twelve miles

Chataka

Vishnu sleeping on a serpent couch. According to Hindu tradition, during the four months that Vishnu

sleeps, the world is denied his protective powers and the Chaturmas Vrat is observed during this time.