prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: Sand Lake Baptist Church is located in a hamlet with a population of what at the 2010 census?

The following are given passages.
Context 1: Passage 1:
Averill Park, New York
Averill Park is a census-designated place within the town of Sand Lake in Rensselaer County, New York, United States  The population was 2,098 at the 2020 census 
The community is named after the local Averill family  It is located on Route 43, south of Crystal Lake and east of West Sand Lake 
The Sand Lake Baptist Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 

Demographics
History
Originally known only as part of greater Sand Lake, the community along with neighboring towns grew with the nineteenth-century development of wool and cotton textile manufacturing by local watermills and knitting factories along the Wynants Kill tributary of the Hudson River  By the 1880s, several independent local mills produced hosiery, undergarments, and knit shirts The hamlet was named Averill in 1880 after a local leading family, then in 1882 renamed Averill Park in promotion of local summer-resort development and of the Troy & New England Railway, a never-completed trolley and freight line intended to connect the city of Troy, New York with the mills and summer resorts of Averill Park and its “upstate Coney Island” recreational Crystal Lake Beach, and with the mills of the neighboring town of West Sand Lake The local mills declined after the increasing efficiency of steam and electrical power improved competition from regional factories, and were then destroyed by a 1891 river flood  The Faith Knitting Company (later Faith Mills), founded in 1897, restored local industry by buying and re-equipping the old mills and rehiring local labor  Other late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century firms included Jake Warger’s Dry Goods Store; Gilbert Beebe’s blacksmith shop; Stout’s Hardware; and Park Pharmacy, where Jerry Lewis worked as a soda jerk in 1942 when his father was a superintendent at Faith Mills Mid-nineteenth- to early twentieth-century seasonal hotels included Al’s Place, Hilke’s Averill Park Hotel (previously housing Scram’s Collegiate Institute), Traveler’s Rest (aka Sand Lake House, Tillotson’s Hotel, and Wagner’s Hotel), the Lake View Hotel (aka Blake’s and the Gabler Hotel, later housing the Averill Park Female Seminary), and Clum’s  For mill workers and townspeople, Faith Mills’s Clubhouse was “the entertainment center of the town for many years,” complete with dance hall, motion picture parlor, cafeteria, bowling alleys, pocket billiard room, and shower room Faith Mills’s decline, and with it that of Averill Park, began in the Great Depression, during which local textile mills did not regain business till 1932  During World War II, manufacture of wool blankets and long woolen underwear for the military earned Faith Mills four rare “excellence in production” Army-Navy "E" Awards From 1955 to 1962, Faith Mills, by then one of only three remaining U S  manufacturers of woolen long underwear “considered obsolete by most persons” as the market shifted to cotton undergarments, was sold to holding companies and downsized to one factory in Averill Park employing as few as 54 workers, finally closing in 1962  In 1965, the factory was to manufacture a “floor-sweeping compound” and become a warehouse for corrugated shipping containers, employing 15 workers 

2010 demographics
As of the census of 2010, The racial makeup of the CDP was 85 4% White, 6 5% African American, 4 1% Asian, and 4 0% from two or more races  Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7 4% of the population 
There were 571 households in the CDP, out of which 41 0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58 2% were married couples living together, 12 2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26 4% were non-families  20 2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9 7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older  The average household size was 2 68 and the average family size was 3 09  In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 28 8% under the age of 18, 7 9% from 18 to 24, 24 3% from 25 to 44, 29 7% from 45 to 64, and 9 3% who were 65 years of age or older  The median age was 39 years  For every 100 females, there were 93 7 males  For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93 9 males  The median income for a household in the CDP was $44,000, and the median income for a family was $49,367  Males had a median income of $34,909 versus $26,890 for females  The per capita income for the CDP was $26,226  About 8 0% of families and 17 3 of the population were below the poverty line, including 10 4% of those under age 18 and 19 1% of those age 65 or over 

2000 demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,517 people, 597 households, and 420 families residing in the CDP  The population density was 507 2 inhabitants per square mile (195 8/km2)  There were 628 housing units at an average density of 210 0 per square mile (81 1/km2)  The racial makeup of the CDP was 96 89% White, 1 26% African American, 1 46% Asian, and 1 38% from two or more races  Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2 99% of the population 

Schools
Averill Park School District
Averill Park High School
Miller Hill - Sand Lake Elementary School
Specialty Schools
Luis LaBoy Technical School
Crenshaw Charter School
Taborton Alternative School

Climate
This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters   According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Averill Park has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps 

Sites of interest
Arts Letters & Numbers, on Burden Lake Road, is a nonprofit arts center offering workshops, performances, and residencies, housed in a complex including the former Sand Lake Cotton Factory, which operated as Arnolds, Hunt & Co  until 1875 and was later run by Faith Mills; and also the residence built by mill owner George Arnold Hollywood Drive-In Theatre, on New York State Route 66, is a four-hundred-car drive-in theater built in 1952 
Passage 2:
Sand Lake, Michigan
Sand Lake is a village in Kent County in the U S  state of Michigan  The population was 522 at the 2020 census 

History
The village of Sand Lake was founded in 1869 in northern Kent County and has long served as a bedroom community about 25 miles (40 2 km) northeast of the city of Grand Rapids   In 2009, the village had the highest tax rates of the five villages in Kent County, and some residents petitioned for a vote to have the village disincorporated in order to lower taxes   This proposal was defeated, and Sand Lake continued as an incorporated village 

Geography
According to the U S  Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0 74 square miles (1 92 km2), of which 0 71 square miles (1 84 km2) is land and 0 03 square miles (0 08 km2) (4 05%) is water 

Demographics
2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 500 people, 188 households, and 116 families living in the village   The population density was 625 per square mile   There were 211 housing units at an average density of 263 75 per square mile   The racial makeup of the village was 94 6% White, 0 80% African American, 0 2% Native American, 1% Asian, 1 4% from other races, and 2% from two or more races  Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5 2% of the population 
There were 188 households, of which 34% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39 9% were married couples living together, 14 4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38 3% were non-families  33% of all households were made up of individuals, and 26 1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older   The average household size was 2 66 and the average family size was 3 34 
In the village, the population was spread out, with 33% under the age of 20, 7% from 20 to 24, 23 4% from 25 to 44, 24 8% from 45 to 64, and 11 8% who were 65 years of age or older   The median age was 33 2 years  For every 100 females, there were 65 29 males   For every 100 females age 20 and over, there were 95 91 males 

2000 census
As of the census of 2000, there were 492 people, 184 households, and 110 families living in the village   The population density was 670 5 inhabitants per square mile (258 9/km2)   There were 207 housing units at an average density of 282 1 per square mile (108 9/km2)   The racial makeup of the village was 96 34% White, 0 20% African American, 1 22% Native American, 0 81% Asian, 1 02% from other races, and 0 41% from two or more races  Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1 02% of the population 
There were 184 households, out of which 35 9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47 3% were married couples living together, 9 8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40 2% were non-families  34 2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19 6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older   The average household size was 2 64 and the average family size was 3 43 
In the village, the population was spread out, with 32 1% under the age of 18, 8 3% from 18 to 24, 28 7% from 25 to 44, 15 0% from 45 to 64, and 15 9% who were 65 years of age or older   The median age was 33 years  For every 100 females, there were 85 7 males   For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80 5 males 
The median income for a household in the village was $31,875, and the median income for a family was $46,250  Males had a median income of $27,500 versus $21,985 for females  The per capita income for the village was $14,184   About 9 3% of families and 14 5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9 0% of those under age 18 and 34 0% of those age 65 or over 

Education
Tri County Area Schools, which operates Tri County High School, serves Sand Lake  The district was a consolidation of the Sand Lake and Howard City school boards  It came into existence on April 3, 1962, the day members of those communities voted in favor of consolidating their schools  The consolidated schools began operation in fall 1962 Prior to the consolidation, Sand Lake High School, a K-12 school, served the community  Impetus for consolidation occurred when the State of Michigan adopted new standards for education which required school systems to spend additional funds  Some Sand Lake residents wished to consolidate with Cedar Springs Schools in Cedar Springs due to the strength of the Cedar Springs industrial economy and the good reputation of its school system, while others wished to consolidate with Howard City  Charles Northup, a former member of the Sand Lake school board, stated that Cedar Springs residents would have had primary control and naming of a consolidated school district including Sand Lake, while a consolidation with Howard City would result in joint control between the communities  According to a former principal of Sand Lake High, Earl Clegg, "community friction" occurred in the consolidation debate  About 300 people went to a meeting in Sand Lake on proposed school consolidation on February 13, 1961 The Nelson Township Branch of the Kent District Library is located in Sand Lake 

Notable people
Dick Terwilliger, Major League Baseball pitcher
Passage 3:
West Sand Lake, New York
West Sand Lake is a hamlet and census-designated place in Rensselaer County, New York, United States  The population was 2,845 people in 2015  The community is located in the northwestern corner of the town of Sand Lake 

Geography
West Sand Lake is located at 42°38′40″N 73°36′21″W (42 644579, -73 605928) According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 4 8 square miles (12 km2), of which 4 7 square miles (12 km2)  is land and 0 04 square miles (0 10 km2)  (0 84%) is water 

Demographics
As of 2015, there were 2,845 people living in the town  The population density was 592 71 per square mile  The racial makeup of West Sand Lake was 95 8% Non Hispanic White, 0 2% African American, 0 08% Native American,  6 % Asian, and 1 5% from two or more races  Hispanic or Latino were 1 7% of the population  There were 907 households, out of which 38 0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63 2% were married couples living together, 9 2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24 4% were non-families  20 2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9 7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older  The average household size was 2 68 and the average family size was 3 09 
In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 26 8% under the age of 18, 5 9% from 18 to 24, 27 3% from 25 to 44, 28 7% from 45 to 64, and 11 3% who were 65 years of age or older  The median age was 39 years  For every 100 females, there were 93 7 males  For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91 9 males 
The median income for a household in West Sand Lake was $85,000, and the median income for a family was $92,367  The per capita income for the town was $36,235 About 5 0% of families and 7 8 of the population were below the poverty line, including 7 4% of those under age 18 and 19 1% of those age 65 or over 
The area has a population density of 592 71 people per sq  mile 

Notable people
Douglas Marland, writer of daytime drama
Edward W  Pattison, member of the United States House of Representatives 1975–1979
Passage 4:
Stone Lake (CDP), Wisconsin
Stone Lake is an unincorporated census-designated place in Sawyer and Washburn counties, Wisconsin, United States  Stone Lake is located on the eastern shore of Stone Lake and along Wisconsin Highway 70, 12 miles (19 km) west-northwest of Couderay  The Sawyer County portion of the community is located in the town of Sand Lake, while the Washburn County portion is located in the town of Stone Lake  As of the 2010 census, its population is 178 
Passage 5:
Carlton, Alabama
Carlton is an census-designated place in Clarke County, Alabama, United States  As of the 2020 census, its population was 46  It was formerly known as Hal's Lake  The Isaac Nettles Gravestones are located in Carlton in the Mount Nebo Baptist Church Cemetery  They are listed on the National Register of Historic Places  There was one convenience store in Carlton until 2009 

Geography
Carlton is located in southern Clarke County at 31 343°N 87 846°W﻿ / 31 343; -87 846 and has an elevation of 171 feet (52 m) 

Demographics
Passage 6:
Sand Lake Township, Itasca County, Minnesota
Sand Lake Township is a township in Itasca County, Minnesota, United States  The population was 146 at the 2010 census 

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 37 6 square miles (97 3 km2), of which 29 5 square miles (76 5 km2) is land and 8 0 square miles (20 8 km2), or 21 37%, is water 

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 128 people, 58 households, and 37 families living in the township  The population density was 4 3 people per square mile (1 7/km2)  There were 211 housing units at an average density of 7 1/sq mi (2 8/km2)  The racial makeup of the township was 89 06% White, 1 56% African American, 2 34% Native American, and 7 03% from two or more races 
There were 58 households, out of which 19 0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62 1% were married couples living together, 1 7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36 2% were non-families  34 5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17 2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older  The average household size was 2 21 and the average family size was 2 86 
In the township the population was spread out, with 23 4% under the age of 18, 2 3% from 18 to 24, 14 8% from 25 to 44, 39 1% from 45 to 64, and 20 3% who were 65 years of age or older  The median age was 50 years  For every 100 females, there were 141 5 males  For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 108 5 males 
The median income for a household in the township was $21,429, and the median income for a family was $29,583  Males had a median income of $27,917 versus $41,250 for females  The per capita income for the township was $11,320  There were 31 4% of families and 35 1% of the population living below the poverty line, including 45 1% of under eighteens and 30 4% of those over 64 
Passage 7:
Sand Lake Baptist Church
Sand Lake Baptist Church is a historic Baptist church at 2960 State Route 43 in Averill Park, Rensselaer County, New York  The church was built in 1805 and is a Federal period frame building  It is a rectangular, two-story, heavy wood-frame building set on a stone foundation  The church has a gable roof and features a two-stage, semi-engaged Greek Revival style tower added in 1840  The front facade features a Palladian window  Also on the property is a contributing parsonage (1846) and garage (1939) The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 
Passage 8:
Nathalie, Virginia
Nathalie is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Halifax County, Virginia, United States, in the south-central region of the state  The population as of the 2010 census was 183 

Geography
Located in northern Halifax County at 36°56′6″N 78°56′50″W (36 9348619, −78 9472347), at an altitude of 524 feet (160 m), it lies along Road 603 15 miles (24 km) north of the town of Halifax, the county seat of Halifax County  According to the U S  Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 3 0 square miles (7 8 km2), of which 0 02 square miles (0 06 km2), or 0 76%, are water  The community is drained by tributaries of Catawba Creek, which flows northeast to the Roanoke River at Clarkton 

History
It received its name in 1890 or 1891, being named after Natalie Otey (not "Nathalie"), daughter of Mrs  Rebecca Wimbish, an important local landowner  Prior to that time, the village at this location was considered to be a part of the Nathaniel Barksdale plantation  It had included a church since 1773 (the first Catawba Baptist Church) and a post office since 1828  This post office continues to operate today with the ZIP code of 24577 The former Clarkton Bridge over the Roanoke or "Staunton" River 4 miles (6 km) northeast of town was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006 
Passage 9:
Wynantskill, New York
Wynantskill is a census-designated place (CDP) in Rensselaer County, New York, United States  The population was 3,276 at the 2010 census   Wynantskill is located at the northern town line and the northeastern corner of the town of North Greenbush  The community is a suburb of Troy  state route 66 (Pawling Ave  in Troy, Main Ave  in Wynantskill) is the main route through the community  Wynantskill has a major grocery store, several banks and restaurants, a craft beverage store, convenience stores, a post office, and a bowling alley, with almost all houses located on side streets off Main Ave  Other major roads are Whiteview Road (NY 136), a primarily residential road that leads to US 4; and West Sand Lake Road (NY 150) 

Geography
Wynantskill is located at 42°41′32″N 73°38′40″W (42 692139, -73 644580) According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 2 4 square miles (6 2 km2), all land 

Location
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,018 people, 1,246 households, and 857 families residing in the CDP  The population density was 1,245 1 inhabitants per square mile (480 7/km2)  There were 1,284 housing units at an average density of 529 7 per square mile (204 5/km2)  The racial makeup of the CDP was 97 81% White, 0 53% African American, 0 20% Native American, 0 30% Asian, 0 03% Pacific Islander, 0 03% from other races, and 1 09% from two or more races  Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0 43% of the population 
There were 1,246 households, out of which 28 3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55 6% were married couples living together, 10 0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31 2% were non-families  26 8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16 7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older  The average household size was 2 42 and the average family size was 2 94 
In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 21 4% under the age of 18, 6 5% from 18 to 24, 27 3% from 25 to 44, 25 9% from 45 to 64, and 18 9% who were 65 years of age or older  The median age was 42 years  For every 100 females, there were 90 5 males  For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88 4 males 
The median income for a household in the CDP was $51,988, and the median income for a family was $61,951  Males had a median income of $40,391 versus $30,086 for females  The per capita income for the CDP was $23,277  About 0 4% of families and 1 3% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 1 8% of those age 65 or over 

Schools
Wynantskill is served by the Wynantskill Union Free School District, home to the K-8 Gardner-Dickinson Elementary/Middle School, but contains no high school   Most children from Wynantskill attend high school at nearby Troy High School, in the Averill Park Central School District, the Brunswick (Brittonkill) Central School District, or the East Greenbush Central School District   Students also have the option to attend Tech Valley High School 
At present time, the District is in solid academic and financial standing 

See also
Kill (body of water)
Passage 10:
Sand Lake, New York
Sand Lake is a town in south-central part of Rensselaer County, New York, United States  Sand Lake is about 13 miles east of Albany, New York  Within the town are three hamlets: Averill Park, Glass Lake and the hamlet of Sand Lake  Its four lakes are a source of recreation  Many commercial enterprises of the 19th century and into the 20th century relied on power generated from the Wynants Kill Creek and Burden Lake mills  The area is known for its fertile soil for grazing and agriculture  The estimated population for 2016 census was 8,490 

History
Early history
Sand Lake was first home to Native Americans  In 1629, Kiliaen van Rensselaer acquired a 700,000-acre land grant to establish a Dutch colony, encompassing what later became Sand Lake  Called the Manor of Rensselaerswyck, it was 48 miles across and 24 miles long  In 1664, it became a colony of England and was called the Province of New York  It flipped back to the Dutch in 1672, and returned to the English in 1674 In the 1750s, Dutch settlers moved into what is now Sand Lake, followed by German pioneers  By 1772, present day Sand Lake was in the Rensselaerwyck District of Albany County  It was held by the English until the Revolutionary War (1775–1783)  In 1792, when the town of Rensselaerwyck was divided into two towns, Greenbush and Stephentown  Present day Sand Lake extended into both towns In 1805, the Union Meetinghouse was built for worship by Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians  It was the town's oldest public building and was a station on the Underground Railroad 

Town of Sand Lake
The town of Sand Lake was formed from Greenbush and Berlin from an act of the legislature on March 21, 1812 and it was officially made a town on March 1, 1813  Municipal positions were established to be responsible to its citizens, including town clerk, assessors, and more  Calvin Thompson became the first Supervisor  The first postmaster, in 1815, was Daniel M  Gregory  The soil, especially on the eastern lowlands, is fertile for grazing and agriculture, particularly small fruit, strawberries, and other berrys A new church building was established for the Trinity Lutheran Church in 1816  The Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church opened in 1816 at the West Sand Lake site  There were a number of changes in the churches and its membership around the 1830s  The present town borders were established on March 2, 1848 when the town of Sand Lake was divided into towns, Sand Lake and Poestenkill  The town was governed by a supervisor, town clerk and four justices of the peace  Town business was conducted in homes and inns for decades 

There were a number of public and private schools established between 1825 and the early 20th century  A one-room schoolhouse operated in Sand Lake from 1895 until 1929 In 1866, the Wynantskill Improvement Association created three Burden Lakes from Wynantskill Creek  The lake water turned the Burden water wheel that powered commercial enterprises, like mills, of the Industrial Revolution The Troy and New England Railway provided electric trolley service into Sand Lake from 1895 to 1925  The nine-mile route ran from Albia (of Troy) east to Averill Park  The town's economy grew with tourism and people who became residents during the summer Municipal Home Rule Law was enacted in 1964 by the State Legislature, which gave towns greater powers  In 1968, Rensselaer County revised its form of government, replacing the Board of Supervisors with a County Executive and a County Legislature  In 1972, a town hall was established in the former Presbyterian Church The Albert R  Fox House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001 

Hamlets
Averill Park, Sand Lake, and West Sand Lake are three hamlets within the greater town of Sand Lake 

Averill Park
Averill Park is a hamlet near the center of the town  The Averill post office was established in 1880, with Frank Pettit as first postmaster; the name was changed to Averill Park in 1882  Faith Mills (1829-1966) is one of the textile factories that were established,  starting in the early 19th century, along what is now Burden Lake Road  It was powered with water from the Wynantskill  It is located east of West Sand Lake and has a number of retail businesses, two churches, and the Averill Park High School  The main street has businesses from the mid-19th century 

Sand Lake
Sand Lake is the smallest hamlet of Sand Lake  There are several retail business, the Sand Lake Center for the Arts, a post office, town hall, a tavern, cemetery, and an elementary school  Historic and stately houses are found in Sand Lake, with houses further away from one another than the other two hamlets 

West Sand Lake
West Sand Lake is a hamlet in the northwestern corner of the town  In 1793, Bernhard Uhlein, a soldier of the American Revolutionary War, settled here and established a 325-acre farm  He received the land from a land grant from Patroon VanRensselaer  The settlement was first known as Ulinesville  The post office for was established in 1834, with Frost Myers as postmaster The community became West Sand Lake in 1838  It is the largest of the three hamlets, with the most residents  There are houses dating back to the early 1800s in the western part of the hamlet  It has a number of retail businesses, schools, banks, two churches and a post office 

Other areas
Sand Lake also has populated places named Maple Grove, Sliter's Corner, and Taborton 

Glass Lake
The Glass Lake area grew up around the Rensselaer Glass Factory that Jeremiah Van Rensselaer founded in 1804  It had homes for 34 workers, a store, school, doctor's office, and more residential and commercial buildings  It is located at Glass Lake, which is the headwaters of the Wynants Kill Creek  A historical marker is located at Routes 43 and 66 at Glass Lake Road 

South Sand Lake
The South Sand Lake post office was established there in 1854, with William Stevens as first postmaster 

Geography
While the surface of the town is undulating in the west, it is quite mountainous in the east, a part of the Rensselaer Plateau  Oak and Perigo hills are about 900 feet above sea level  According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 36 2 square miles (94 km2), of which 35 2 square miles (91 km2)  is land and 0 9 square miles (2 3 km2)  (2 63%) is water 

Lakes
Within Sand Lake, there are four lakes: Burden Lake, Crooked Lake, Crystal Lake, and Glass Lake  The lakes, stocked with many kinds of fresh water fish, draws tourists to the area  Glass Lake is between Crooked and Crystal Lakes  At 123 acres, it is located in Averill Park and Nassau  Burden Lake is located in the southern part of the town of Sand Lake and is partially in the town of Nassau, it is a total of 369 acres  Crystal Lake, formerly called Sand Lake, is the largest lake in the Averill Park hamlet in the town of Sand Lake  It is 66 acres in size  Crooked Lake is located in the southern part of the town of Sand Lake, south of Glass Lake  It is 113 acres  Wynants Kill is a stream that flows from Crooked Lake, through Glass and Burden Lakes, and drains into both Richard Pond and the Hudson River 

Location
Demographics
As of the census of 2010, there were  8,530 people, 3,009 households, and 2,229 families residing in the town   The population density was 226 9 inhabitants per square mile (87 6/km2)   There were 3,277 housing units at an average density of 93 1 per square mile (35 9/km2)   The racial makeup of the town was 96 4% Non Hispanic White, 0 4% African American, 0 11% Native American, 0 50% Asian and 1 1% from two or more races  Hispanic or Latino origin were 1 5% of the population  Ancestries: German (25 2%), Irish (22 6%), English (14 6%), Italian (13 8%), French (8 9%), Polish (6 1%) 
There were 3,009 households, out of which 37 1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58 6% were married couples living together, 11 8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25 9% were non-families  20 6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7 9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older   The average household size was 2 65 and the average family size was 3 08 
In the town, the population was spread out, with 26 6% under the age of 18, 6 1% from 18 to 24, 28 6% from 25 to 44, 28 1% from 45 to 64, and 10 6% who were 65 years of age or older   The median age was 39 years  For every 100 females, there were 95 7 males   For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93 7 males 
The median income for a household in the town was $77,372, and the median income for a family was $97,009  Males had a median income of $67,132 versus $48,321 for females  The per capita income for the town was $36,103  The Median household income for White households is $75,474 compared to $2,157,374 for Asian households and $223,858 for African American households  About 6 7% of families and 7 7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6 3% of those under age 18 and 10 3% of those age 65 or over 

Notes
Context 2: Passage 1:
Masilamaniswara Temple, Thiruvaduthurai
Masilamaniswara Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Hindu god Shiva, located in the village of Thiruvaduthurai, located 22 km from the South Indian town, Kumbakonam and 14 km from Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu  It is one of the shrines of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams  The temple is referred to in the verses of Tevaram, the 7th century Tamil Saiva canon by Tirugnana Sambandar, Appar and Sundarar  The temple is associated with the legend of Saivite saint Tirumular (6th century CE) 
The temple is believed to have been built by Cholas during 9th century A D and with significant additions from later Chola kings and by the subsequent ruling empires  It houses five-tiered gateway towers known as gopurams  The temple has numerous shrines, with those of Masilamaniswarar and Oppilamulai Nayagi Amman being the most prominent  The temple has six daily rituals at various times from 6:30 a m  to 8:30 p m , and three yearly festivals on its calendar  The temple is maintained and administered by the Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam, whose headquarters is located inside the temple 

Legend
Legend associates the temple with the saivite saint Tirumular (6th century CE)  Tirumular saw a herd of cows lamenting the death of their herdsmen named Moolan  Being a siddha, he entered into the body of Moolan, came back alive to serve as the herdsman  It is believed that he was coming from North to South India to meet sage Agastya  When he went back to the place where he left his original body, he did not find it  Considering it as a divine play, he continued to remain in the body of Moolan for the rest of his life As per another legend, Parvathi was cursed to become a cow and she worshipped Shiva to attain her original form  The legend is closely associated with this temple, but is also associated with other temples like Thenupuriswarar Temple at Patteswaram, Aavoor Pasupatheeswaram and Tirukogarnam near Pudukkottai 

History
The temple is counted as one of the earliest temples built during the regime of Parantaka I  An inscription in the temple indicates record of grants to pipers, land endowments, flower gardens, carriers of sacred water during his third regnal year  Another inscription from his 38th regnal year recorded as 143 of 1925 indicates  gift of 500 kalanjus of gold for the construction of the kudapadai upwards  Historians believe that the temple was built by Tirukaralippichan and was completed during the regime of Parantaka  There are other inscriptions that indicate donation of gold and silver vessels to the temple  The inscriptions from Rajaraja I recorded as 104 and 107 of 1925 indicate similar gift of metal images to the temple  This is counted as the first mention of portrait installation indicated in an inscription, with the other ones being in Konerirajapuram and Thiruvisanallur temples  The temple has been maintained and administered by the Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam, whose headquarters is located inside the temple 

Architecture
The temple is located 12 km away from Mayiladuthurai and 24 km away from Kumbakonam  The temple has a five tiered Rajagopuram with elevated stone walls separating the second, third and fourth precinct  The images of the presiding deity, Masilamaniswarar, in the form of Shiva lingam occupies the main sanctum facing east  The shrine of the consort of Masilamaniswarar, Oppilamulaiyar faces west  The third prakaram has a separate shrine for the saivite saint Tirumular  The temple has three water bodies located at various places inside the temple  The Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam is located in the premises outside the fourth precinct 

Religious significance
The temple is revered in the verses of Tevaram, the 7th century Saivite canonical work by the three saint poets, namely, Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar   The temple is reverred by Sambandar in the third Tirumurai in one verse, Appar in five and Sundarar in two verses 
"இடரினும் தளரினும் எனதுறுநோய்
தொடரினும் உனகழல் தொழுதெழுவேன்
கடல்தனில் அமுதொடு கலந்தநஞ்சை
மிடறினில் அடக்கிய வேதியனேஇதுவோஎமை ஆளுமா றீவதொன்றெமக் கில்லையேல்
அதுவோவுன தின்னருள் ஆவடுதுறை அரனே "
translating to

"when I am undergoing sufferings 
when I am depressed in spirits 
when my big karmams follow me I shall wake up from sleep worshipping your feet 
Civaṉ who gave out the Vētams and who controlled the poison which was mixed with the nectar in the ocean of milk and made it stay in the neck!
Civaṉ in Āvaṭutuṟai!
if there is nothing to give to us 
is this way you admit us as your protege?
is your sweet grace like that?" Sambandar is believed to obtained gold coins from the presiding deity for performing Yagna by his father  Sundarar was relieved off his curse after praying the presiding deity  Thirumoolar, a Sidhha saint, is believed to have sung 3,000 in praise of the presiding deity in the temple  Thirumaligai Devar, another Siddha, is believed to have performed many wonders in the temple  The Samathi of both the Siddhas are in the precinct of the temple  The temple is counted as one of the temples built on the banks of River Kaveri 

Worship practices
The temple priests perform the puja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis  Like other Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the Shaiva community, a Brahmin sub-caste  The temple rituals are performed six times a day; Ushathkalam at 6:30 a m , Kalasanthi at 8:00 a m , Uchikalam at 12:00 a m , Sayarakshai at 5:00 p m , and Ardha Jamam at 8:00 p m  Each ritual comprises four steps: abhisheka (sacred bath), alangaram (decoration), naivethanam (food offering) and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for both Masilamaniswarar and Kodiyidai Nayagi  The worship is held amidst music with nagaswaram (pipe instrument) and tavil (percussion instrument), religious instructions in the Vedas (sacred texts) read by priests and prostration by worshipers in front of the temple mast  There are weekly rituals like somavaram (Monday) and sukravaram (Friday), fortnightly rituals like pradosham and monthly festivals like amavasai (new moon day), kiruthigai, pournami (full moon day) and sathurthi  
Brahmotsavam during the Tamil month of somavaram (September – October), Thiruvadhirai during the month of Margazhi (December – January) and Annabhishekam during the Tamil month of Masi are the major festivals celebrated in the temple  Saiva Sithantham philosophy is promulgated in the temples owned by Atheenam  Tevaram is recited during all the six daily rituals 
Passage 2:
Bylakuppe
Bylakuppe is an area in Karnataka which is home to the Indian town Bylakuppe and several Tibetan settlements (there are several Tibetan settlements in India), established by Lugsum Samdupling (in 1961) and Dickyi Larsoe (in 1969)  Bylakuppe is the second largest Tibetan settlement in the world outside Tibet after Dharamshala  It is located to the west of Mysore district in the Indian state of Karnataka which is roughly 80 km from Mysore city 

History
In 1960, the Government of Mysore (as Karnataka was called at that time) allotted nearly 3,000 acres (12 km2) of land at Bylakuppe in Mysore district in Karnataka and the first ever Tibetan exile settlement, Lugsung Samdupling came into existence in 1961  A few years later another settlement, Tibetan Dickey Larsoe, also called TDL, was established  This was followed by the establishment of three more settlements in Karnataka state making it the state with the largest Tibetan refugee population  
The Government of India built special schools for Tibetans that provide free education, health care and scholarships for those students who excel in school  There are a few medical and civil engineering seats reserved for Tibetans  Tibetans live in India with a stay permit which is processed through a document called Registration Certificate (RC)  It is renewed every year, or half-year in some areas  Every Tibetan refugee above the age of 16 must register for the stay permit  RCs are not issued to new arrival refugees  The Indian Government also issues "Yellow Books" after one years' processing with a RC, which allow Tibetans to travel abroad which is an Identity Certificate 

Population
The town is mainly inhabited by Tibetans who, according to a demographic survey carried out by the Central Tibetan Administration's Planning Commission in 1998, accounted for 50,727 individuals at that time  However, it is unclear whether these figures included the Vajrayana Buddhist monks living there  Today, an estimated 70,000 Tibetans live in the settlements; these were established on land leased by the state government to accommodate some of the Tibetan expatriates who came to resettle in India after 1959  Bylakuppe consists of a number of agricultural settlements, colonies are close to each other, and has number of monasteries and temples in all the major Tibetan Buddhist traditions  Most notable among them are the large educational monastic institution Sera Monastery, the smaller Tashi Lhunpo Monastery (both in the Gelug tradition) and Namdroling Monastery (in the Nyingma tradition)  Bylakuppe also has many Buddhist universities for advanced Buddhist practices 

Tibetan Buddhist Monasteries and Study Centres of Bylakuppe
Namdroling Monastery of Nyingma Also known as Golden Temple
Drigung Kagyud Monastery
Sakya Monastery
Sera je Monastery
Sera Mey Monastery
Tashi Lhunpo monastery in Bylakuppe was newly built  Inaugurated by Dalai Lama in 2016 

Facilities
Bylakuppe is a small town  It has a police station, commercial banks, a telephone exchange, a post office, lodges and hotels  Transport facilities such as buses, auto-rickshaws and taxis are also available  PAP (Protected Area Permit) is mandatory for foreigners to stay here overnight, which can take up to three months to be issued 

Accessibility
Bylakuppe is situated on the state highway 88 (now NH 275) and is well connected to most of the major cities in south-India  Bus facilities are available from major towns like Mysuru, Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Chennai, Panaji, etc  Following are the distances between Bylakuppe and other cities in kilometers: Kushalanagar(05),Mysuru (82), Bengaluru  (222), Mangaluru (172), Mandya (122), Chennai (582), Hassan (80), Madikeri (36), Kasaragod (145), Kozhikode (190) 

Main attractions
Ingalakere: Largest lake in Mysore district
Namdroling Monastery (Golden Temple)
Sera Monastery
Other Buddhist monasteries, schools and settlements

Image gallery
Climate
Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as tropical wet and dry (Aw) 

See also
Kaveri Nisargadhama
Dubare Elephant camp
Kushalanagar
Passage 3:
Birgunj
Birganj (Nepali: वीरगञ्ज) is a metropolitan city in Parsa District in Madhes Pradesh of southern Nepal  It lies 135 km (84 mi) south of the capital Kathmandu, attached in the north to Raxaul in the border of the Indian state of Bihar  As an entry point to Nepal from Patna, Birganj is known as the "Gateway of Nepal"  It is also called "Commercial capital of Nepal"  The town has significant economic importance for Nepal as most of the trade with India is via Birganj and the Indian town of Raxaul  Tribhuvan Highway links Birgunj to Nepal's capital, Kathmandu  
Birganj was one of the first three municipalities formed during the rule of Prime Minister Mohan Shumsher Jang Bahadur Rana  It was declared a Metropolitan City on 22 May 2017 along with Biratnagar and Pokhara  Birganj is one of the largest city in Nepal and largest in Madhesh Province  Birganj is the fifth most populated metropolis of the nation 

Etymology
Birgunj was established as a conglomerate of several villages in and around Gahawa Mai Temple  Gahawa Mai Temple remains the epicenter of the town  The settlement was named after the Rana Prime Minister Bir Shamsher, thus acquiring the name Birgunj 

History
Ancient
Before the establishment of Birgunj, the main center of Parsa district was Alau (near Dryport), Nepal  In July 1959 From Sugauli King Rajendra Bikram Shah has a history of setting up a military camp in Alau of Parsa district Birgunj was founded in 1897 by 11th Rana Prime Minister Bir Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana; the ancient name was Gahawa  Before the establishment of Birgunj Bazar, the surrounding villages Bagahi, Alau, Barewa, Kalaiya, Parsauni, Inaruwa, Chhapkaiya existed  To establish Birgunj Bazar in a forest covered area, Bir Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana appointed his trusted duo Siddhvir Mathema and Dhadjavir Mathema (two brothers) respectively in Birgunj as the ruler of Mal Ada and Kath Mal Ada  In this connection, Siddhvir Mathema distributed free land and timber and provided cash assistance to the homeowners in Birgunj  The act had subsequently required Siddhvir Mathema to pay the death penalty 
After the death of Bir Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, Dev Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana became Prime Minister, but within three months Chandra Shumsher Jang Bahadur Rana had driven Dev Shamsher and made himself Prime Minister  The people of Late Bir Shamsher Rana and Dev Shamsher Rana did not tolerate Chandra Shamsher Rana  Bir Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana'special man Siddhivir Mathema, was accused of conducting an inspection of a reservoir treaty and carrying out three lakh irregularities on his forehead  When Siddhivir showed the calculations he had spent on setting up Birganj Bazar, he was declared invalid and an order was issued to pay the money immediately  After answering that he could not pay for what he did, As a punishment, the signboard was stick on his chest and move it around the market  The verbal verdict of the death sentence was decided to cut off and kill  After hearing about verbal of death sentence to Mathema who worked day and night to establish Birgunj Bazar, Late Bir Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana's wife has paid 3 lakh and rescued Mathema from the death penalty 
Chandra Shamsher also wanted to displace Birgunj Bazar, which his brother had established  He wanted to remove the Birgunj bazaar from there and set it in Rautahat  According to the move to displace the market, In 1959, it raided the main market from Raxaul to Birgunj and extended the rail line service to Amalekhganj  From the link, the train used to run around the houses, exploding and terrorizing the residents  Later, the rail link was moved to the east of the market (outside the market)  The Raxaul city in India, which is currently connected to Birgunj as the main gateway to Nepal, was not established  At that time Indian trains operated only till Sugauli 

Modern
On 18 May 2006, the parliament of Nepal declared that the country would become a secular state  Birgunj was the main center from where Madhes movement started twice both in 2007 and 2013 

Geography
Topography, Geology and Soils
Birgunj is located in the Terai plain which is the northern part of the Indo-Gangetic plain  Birgunj metropolitan city has an elongated shape  The variation in altitude is in the range of 78 m to 95 m when moving from south to north of Birgunj  Although the range of altitude variation is small, but there is a high micro-topographical variation  The city lies about 90 m above sea level  Quaternary sediments are mainly found in the area  Soil is very fertile that consists the mixture of clay, silt and sand 

Climate
The climatic condition is sub-tropical monsoon with a very hot and humid summer  The mean annual temperature ranges from 23 8 to 24 5 °C (74 8 to 76 1 °F)  The annual rainfall ranges from about 1,300 to 2,800 mm (51 to 110 in) with an average of 1,800 mm (71 in)  Majority of the precipitation occurs during June, July, August and September 

Surface and Ground Water
Sirsiya in the west and Singaha in the east are the two major rivers in Birgunj  Both rivers flow from north to south  During monsoon, these rivers are flooded and river bank cutting at the bends is common  The water level is very low in these rivers during winter  The depth of groundwater table is approximately between 9–15 m (30–49 ft) deep with 1–2 m (3 ft 3 in – 6 ft 7 in) fluctuation during wet and dry season 

Demographics
According to the 2021 Census, Birgunj had a population of 268,273  It is the second biggest city in Terai and the fifth biggest city in Nepal after Kathmandu, Pokhara, Bharatpur, and Lalitpur  It serves as the headquarters of the Parsa District 
At the time of the 2011 Nepal census, Birgunj Metropolitan City had a population of 244,086  Of these, 78 6% spoke Bhojpuri, 6 5% Nepali, 5 5% Maithili, 3 1% Urdu, 1 9% Rajasthani, 1 5% Newar, 0 7% Tharu, 0 6% Hindi, 0 4% Rai, 0 1% Bengali, 0 1% Magar, 0 1% Punjabi, 0 1% Tamang, 0 1% Uranw/Urau, and 0 1% other parties as their first language In terms of ethnicity/caste, 18 1% were Musalman, 9 6% Kurmi, 6 5% Yadav, 6 4% Kanu, 3 6% Hill Brahmin, 3 6% Teli, 3 2% Dhanuk, 3 1% Sonar, 3 1% Thakuri, 3 0% Kalwar, 2 9% Chamar/Harijan/Ram, 2 8% Koiri/Kushwaha, 2 3% Newar, 2 2% Marwadi, 2 1% Kathabaniyan, 2 1% Kayastha, 1 9% Chhetri, 1 9% Dusadh/Paswan/Pasi, 1 8% Terai Brahmin, 1 6% Baraee, 1 6% Mallaha, 1 4% Nuniya, 1 4% other Terai, 1 3% Rajput, 1 2% Hajjam/Thakur, 1 2% Lohar, 1 2% Tatma/Tatwa, 1 1% Dhobi, 0 9% Sanyasi/Dasnami, 0 7% Kumal, 0 7% Musahar, 0 5% Kumhar, 0 5% Rai, 0 4% Halkhor, 0 4% Tamang, 0 3% Dom, 0 3% Magar, 0 3% Mali, 0 2% Badhaee, 0 2% Bengali, 0 2% Bin, 0 2% Halwai, 0 2% Kahar, 0 2% Kewat, 0 2% Natuwa, 0 2% Rajbhar, 0 2% Thakuri, 0 1% Damai/Dholi, 0 1% Gaderi/Bhedihar, 0 1% Gurung, 0 1% Jhangad/ Dhagar, 0 1% Kami, 0 1% Majhi, 0 1% Punjabi/Sikh, 0 1% Sudhi, 0 1% Yakkha and 0 1% others In terms of religion, 81 1% were Hindu, 17 9% Muslim, 0 4% Buddhist, 0 1% Christian, 0 1% Kirati, 0 1% Sikh and 0 2% others In terms of literacy, 66 5% could read and write, 2 4% could only read and 31 0% could neither read nor write 

Economy
Birgunj is the Industrial and Commercial Capital of Nepal  Birgunj Chamber of Commerce & Industries is the leading and the oldest Chamber of Commerce & Industries in Nepal  
In 1964 when Birgunj Sugar Factory Ltd  was established by the Government of Nepal in collaboration with the Soviet Union (at present, Russia) with initial crushing capacity of 1,000 metric tons which later increased to 1,500 metric tons (Rajak, 2006)  This was the first sugar mill established in the public sector  Later on, this mill was liquidated due to heavy losses 
Birgunj is a major business centre of Nepal, especially for trade with India  Almost all trade with India occurs through this route  The Indian border town of Raxaul has become one of the busiest towns for heavy transportation due to high trade volume  With a large number of industries set on the Birgunj-Pathlaiya industrial corridor, Birgunj produces a wide range of products such as pharmaceuticals, textiles, vegetable ghee, plastic, steel, plastic, cigarettes, aluminium, among others  Almost 56% of the total products of Birgunj are exported to the Indian state of Bihar Birgunj Customs holds a major contribution in terms of revenue earnings in the nation  On 16 July 2004 Birganj Inland Dry Port came in operation to improve trade operation and address the concerns in handling the large volume of goods 
The India-Nepal oil pipeline construction that began on March 9, 2018, saw its completion up to 13 km (8 1 mi)  The 69-kilometre (43 mi) Amlekhgunj-Raxaul oil pipeline connecting the two countries has been laid along the Pathlaiya-Simara-Jitpur, Parwanipur and Birgunj bypass roadway  According to the reports, major part of the pipeline alignment is covered in the Birgunj-Pathlaiya commercial highway 

Tourism
Birgunj is main entry to Nepal  So, the city is widely visited by the Indians  There are good three-star hotels in the main centre of the city  These hotels operate some mini casinos as well 

During Chhath festival, Ghadiarwa Pokhari is visited by numerous people from different parts of the country  Vishwa Buddha Vihar is another religious place which is located in the out-skirts of the city  Vishwa is actually shaped like a stupa and has engravings of Buddha facing the cardinal directions of the universe  This place has a tranquil ambience and it attracts those tourists who want to flee the bustling life of the city  The term vishwa is derived from the word vicchu-wa, which is translated as a resting place for Bikshu(s) or Buddhist monks and means a resting place  In the ancient times, the pilgrims stopped at Birgunj in the midst of their journey between Lumbini and Bodh Gaya (India)  The mound is protected by a boundary wall, and future excavations may well tell us about the history of not just Birgunj but also its importance to Buddhism 2,500 years ago 
Parsa National Park which is 33 km (21 mi) from the city, known for inhabiting Royal Bengal Tigers (Panthera tigris tigris), Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), One-horned Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), Common Leopard (Panthera pardus) and also various species of mammals, birds and reptiles  The park can visited by one hour drive by bus from the city 

Transport
Birgunj was built as the closest Nepalese city connecting the capital Kathmandu with India  Birgunj railway station was connected by the Nepal Government Railway (NGR) to Raxaul station in Bihar across the border with India  The 47 km (29 mi) railway extended north to Amlekhganj in Nepal  It was built in 1927 by the British but discontinued beyond Birgunj in December 1965 Rail
Trains run to major cities of India from Raxaul station (in India, adjacent to Birgunj) and Sugauli station (17 miles from Raxaul) including the Satyagrah Express to Delhi, Mithila Express to Kolkata, Lokmanya Tilak express to Mumbai, and HYD-RXL express to Hyderabad  Thus, Birgunj has direct connectivity to major Indian cities like – Patna, Varanasi, Haridwar, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Allahabad, Kolkata, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bhopal, Amritsar, Guwahati, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Ranchi, Raipur, Nagpur, Hyderabad, etc  The Raxaul-Birgunj-Kathmandu railway survey report has been ready and in coming future the further work will be started soon 
Air
Birgunj is served by Simara Airport, which lies 9 miles north of the city  Regular flights operate to Kathmandu & Pokhara, and   The second International Airport of Nepal is under construction at Nijgadh (22 miles from Birganj)  There are plans to connect the new airport, Birgunj and Kathmandu via a "Fast track" expressway after its completion  This is expected to reduce travel times between the capital and the commercial capital, Birgunj 
Buses
There are regular bus services to all major cities and towns in Nepal including Kathmandu, Pokhara, Patan, Bhaktapur, Biratnagar, Dharan, Butwal, Nepalgunj, Dhangadhi, Kakarvitta, Janakpur, Bhairahawa (Lumbini), Bharatpur (Chitwan), etc 
Local bus services provide transportation inside the city and into its vicinity  Night buses from Birgunj to Kathmandu are the most luxurious bus services in all over Nepal  Birgunj bus park is the centre to find buses for any route,
Tanga
Horse driven carts locally called Tanga have historically been the mode of transport for the Madheshi people  Today it survives as a popular transportation vehicle between Birgunj and its sister city Raxaul 
Cargo
The 6 km (3 7 mi) railway track from Raxaul to Birgunj was converted to broad gauge two years after the Indian railways converted the track to Raxaul inside India to broad gauge  Now, broad gauge railway line connects Raxaul to the Sirsiya (Birgunj) Inland Container Depot (ICD) that became fully operational in 2005  Talks have been held to reopen the railway route from Birgunj to Amlekhganj in Nepal by converting it to broad gauge because of its socio-economic importance 
Goods are transported to and from India via Birgunj dry port, which is the key terminal of surface cargo delivery to Nepal  This cargo point on the south connects the heart of the country, Kathmandu, via another key industrial city, Hetauda  It is also served by Tribhuvan Highway, extending from the Indian border at Raxaul through Birgunj and Hetauda to Kathmandu with frequent bus service  Simara Airport — 9 mi (14 km) north near the highway in Pipara Simara, Bara district—offers scheduled flights to Kathmandu 
India and Nepal have an open border with no restrictions on the movement of their citizens  There is a customs checkpoint for the movement of goods between the two countries 

Sports
The city has its own stadium, Narayani Stadium which is Nepal's second largest stadium after Dasarath Rangasala built on 1981  The stadium has capacity of 15,000 seats  At Present, the stadium is in poor condition 
A national level Cricket Ground is also located beside the Narayani Stadium  The cricket ground has top class outfield and a better cricket pitch  National level and Regional level cricket tournament are regularly held here  Every year day night T20 Cricket tournament is held using temporary flood light towers  Day night cricket match in Nepal was first played here  Nepal national cricket team's players Haseem Ansari, Aarif Sheikh, Avinash Karn and Irshad Ahmed hail from Birgunj  Cricket is the most popular sport and is played more than any other games and sports 

Education
Birgunj has a history in education  Education was started in town with the establishment of Trijuddha School by Mahavir Prasad and Raghubir Ram during the regime of Juddha Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana which was among the first three schools to be established in Nepal  Currently, Trijuddha School is the second oldest school in Nepal  It serves classes in both English and Nepali Medium and also conducts diplomas for civil engineering 
Thakuram Multiple Campus, located in the city was the first campus o be established outside Kathmandu Valley as well as in the Narayani zone  This city has made rapid development in the field of education by the establishment of many schools and colleges  Notable institutions include Gyan Jyoti School, Moonlight English Boarding School and Gautam School 

National Infotech College

Media
Birgunj has many FM Community radio stations including Narayani FM 103 8Mhz, Terai FM, Radio Birgunj, Bhojpuriya FM, Indreni FM, Radio Bindas, Birgunj Musical FM, City FM, Aawaz FM, Public FM etc  It has also different television stations: My Television, TV Birgunj and Birgunj Television (BTV)  Many local newspapers like Prateek, Loktimes Daily, Kripa, Bhojpuri Time, Birgunjsanjal, Jana Aawaz etc  are published 
Some popular online news site like Yatra daily, Nepal Post Daily, Aapan Birgunj, etc  are from Birgunj  TEDxBirgunj was successfully held on 17 December, that was the first ever TED event conducted in Terai region of Nepal 

Health
Narayani Hospital is one of the oldest government hospital of Nepal  It is the central hospital of government of Nepal  National Medical College under TU and Kedia Dental College also under TU are two major institutions providing health facilities   There are many other big and small hospitals, and international standard diagnostic centres throughout the city such as Asharam Hospital, Gandak hospital, Advance Medicare Hospital, Kedia eye hospital, Bhawani Hospital, Mangalam Diagnostic Centre, Vision Diagnostic Private Limited, Vayodha Hospital etc  The area extending from Chhapakaiya ward No  3 up to Gandak is full of private nursing homes and clinics  Mostly the people of Nepal from Parsa, Bara, Rautahat, Sarlahi and other districts along with the people from Raxaul and different districts of India come here for medical check ups & treatments 

Culture
Ganesh Chaturthi, Holi, Teej, Krishna Janmasthami, Maha Shivaratri, Durgapuja, Chhath, Dipawali and Ram Navami are major festivals celebrated in Birgunj  Small proportion of the religious diversity of Birgunj is occupied by Buddhists  Thus Buddha Jayanti is also celebrated throughout the city  The culture of this city is not limited to religious diversity but ethnic diversity is found too  People of Madheshi ethnicity occupies greater portion of population which includes castes such as Chaurasiya, Jaiswal, Gupta, Sah, Singh, Kushwaha, Yadav, Mahato, Rauniyar, Patel, and others from the Hindu community  There is also a presence of Marwari, Agrawal, Kedia, Sarawagi, Golchha, and Sharma, people who migrated from Rajasthan 

Cuisine
The cuisine of Birgunj has influence of both Nepali and Indian culture  Dal, bhat, roti, vegetable curry, and achar (pickle) are the most widely consumed food items  Tibetan cuisine such as momo and chowmein are also popular among the youths and the elderly  A place named Adarsh Nagar has established its name as the center for street food where food vendors sell varieties of street food during evening time  Food such as Pav Bhaji (bread and vegetable curry) and Chaat (snack made with potato as the main ingredient) are relatively popular 

Notable people
Ranu Devi Adhikari— Nepalese singer
Usha Khadgi— winner of Miss Nepal 2000
Anju Kumari— politician
Ruby Rana— winner of Miss Nepal 1994
Samragyee RL Shah— actress
Aarif Sheikh— cricketer
Prakash Shrestha— singer

Places of interest
Gadhimai Temple
Maisthan Mandir
Narayani Stadium
Parsa National Park
Ramtole
Simraungadh

Gallery
See also
Pokhara
Butwal
Dharan
Janakpur
2022 Birgunj municipal election
Passage 4:
Pasupatheeswarar Temple, Aavoor
Pasupatheeswarar Temple, Avoor or  Avoor Pasupatheeswaram is a Hindu temple dedicated to Hindu god Shiva, located in the village Avoor, located 12 km south of South Indian town, Kumbakonam,  Tamil Nadu, India  The temple is one of the 70 madakoil built by 2nd century Chola king, Kochengat Chola  The temple is known for the Panchabairavar, the five images of Bhairavar  The temple is revered in the verses of Tevaram, the 7th century Tamil Saiva canon by Tirugnana Sambandar 
There are various inscriptions associated with the temple indicating contributions from Cholas  The present masonry structure was built during the Chola dynasty in the 9th century, while later expansions are attributed to Thanjavur Nayaks during the 16th century 
The temple is built in Dravidian architecture with a three-storied gopuram, the gateway tower  The temple has numerous shrines, with those of Padikasunathar and Soundaranayagi being the most prominent  The temple complex houses many halls and two precincts  The temple has four daily rituals at various times from 6:30 a m  to 8 p m , and two yearly festivals on its calendar 
The major festivals celebrated in the temple are Shivratri during the Tamil month of Vaikaasi (May - June), Annabhishekam during Aippasi (October - November) and Thiruvadhirai in Margazhi (December - January) 

Legend
Pasupatheeswarar indicates God of cows  Shiva is believed to have descended for the holy cow Kamadenu that prayed to him by ablution with their milk on the Shivalingam to get relief from the curse of sage Vashista  A sculpture indicating the legend is present in the walls of the second precinct of the temple  Another legend associates the temple with the saivite saint Tirumular (6th century CE)  Tirumular saw a herd of cows lamenting the death of their herdsmen  Being a siddha, he entered into the body of dead herdsman, came back alive to serve as the herdsman and sung 3000 verses in praise of Shiva  The legend is closely associated with Gomukteswarar temple at Tiruvadurai, but is also associated with other temples like Thenupuriswarar Temple at Patteswaram and Tirukogarnam near Pudukkottai As per another legend, sage Vasishtha cursed the sacred cow Kamadhenu  To relieve off the curse, Kamadhenu sought the advice of Brahma who asked her to perform penance at this place  It is also believed that the presiding deity is believed to have been worshipped by the Devas, Saptarishi, Indra, Surya and Navagrahas, the nine planetary deities  As per a local legend, Vayu, the god of wind, in a contest with Adisesha, brought two hillocks, one of which was installed here and other at Nallur 

Maadakovil
Avur was a fort during the 2nd century rule of Cholas  Kochengat Chola was a Chola king and one of the 63 nayanmars (saivite saints) of saivism  He is believed to have attained spiritual rebirth of a spider that fought with an elephant in its previous birth over the worship of the Hindu god Shiva  He had red eyes during birth as he remained in his mother's womb a little longer  His mother, looking into the babies red eyes said Kochengkannano (in Tamil ko=king, cheng=red, kan=eyes), which literally means king with red eyes and hence he was named Kochengat Cholan  After becoming a king, he followed saivism and built 70 Maadakovils, temples with elevated structure where elephants cannot reach the sanctum, in the Chola empire  The temple has an inscription (181 of 1911) dating from the 3rd year of the rule of Rajendra Chola III (1246-1279 CE) indicating grants of land to the temple  The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu 

Architecture
The temple is located 10 km away from Kumbakonam, 6 km east of Tirukarugavoor and 30 km south of Thanjavur  The temple has a five tiered Rajagopuram with an elevated structure for the main shrine  The temple is a Maadakoil, a series of 70 temples which were built by Kochengat Chola with the major shrines of the temple located in the elevated structure  The images of the presiding deity, Pasupatheeswarar, in the form of Shiva lingam occupies the main sanctum  The consort of Pasupatheeswarar, Mangalanayagi and Pangajavalli occupy twin sanctums facing west  The images of Panchabairavar, the five Bairavar statues are found in the corner facing the main sanctum  The second prakaram downstairs has a separate shrine for the Hindu god Murugan in the form Dhanush Subramaniyar  Muruga sports a dhanush (bow) instead of his regular weapon, the vel  The temple has a small tank called Braham Tirtham located outside the main entrance  The image of Mangalanayagi was found in the temple tank  The temple is counted as one of the temples built on the banks of River Kaveri  It is located on the banks of Kudamurutti, a tributary of river Kaveri 

Literary mention
It is one of the shrines of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams  The temple is revered in the verses of Tevaram, the 7th century saivite canonical work by the three saint poets namely, Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar   The temple is revered by Sambandar in the first Tirumurai in eleven verses  He refers to the temple as Avoor Pasupatheeswaram 
"புண்ணியர் பூதியர் பூதநாதர் புடைபடு வார்தம் மனத்தார்திங்கட்
கண்ணிய ரென்றென்று காதலாளர் கைதொழு தேத்த விருந்தவூராம்
விண்ணுயர் மாளிகை மாடவீதி விரைகமழ் சோலை சுலாவியெங்கும்
பண்ணியல் பாடல றாதவாவூர்ப் பசுபதி யீச்சரம் பாடுநாவே "translating to

This is the place where the blessed devotees of Shiva
who are rich and where Shiva has raised in the temple in such a place called Avoor Pasupatheeswaram 
The place is surrounded by beautiful gardens, palaces and where Shiva's name is frequently uttered 
Let my tongue praise Avoor Pasupatheeswaram" 

Worship practices
The temple priests perform the puja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis  Like other Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the Shaiva community, a Brahmin sub-caste  The temple rituals are performed four times a day; Kalasanthi at 8:00 a m , Uchikalam at 10:00 a m , Sayarakshai at 5:00 p m , and Ardha Jamam at 8:00 p m  Each ritual comprises four steps: abhisheka (sacred bath), alangaram (decoration), naivethanam (food offering) and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for both Pasupatheeswarar and Mangalambikai  The worship is held amidst music with nagaswaram (pipe instrument) and tavil (percussion instrument), religious instructions in the Vedas (sacred texts) read by priests and prostration by worshippers in front of the temple mast  There are weekly rituals like somavaram (Monday) and sukravaram (Friday), fortnightly rituals like pradosham and monthly festivals like amavasai (new moon day), kiruthigai, pournami (full moon day) and sathurthi 
The major festivals celebrated in the temple are Shivratri during the Tamil month of Vaikaasi (May - June), Annabhishekam during Aippasi (October - November) and Thiruvadhirai in Margazhi (December - January) 

Citations
Passage 5:
Tharangambadi
Tharangambadi (Tamil: [t̪aɾaŋgambaːɖi]), formerly Tranquebar (Danish: Trankebar, pronounced [ˈtsʰʁɑŋkəˌpɑˀ]), is a town in the Mayiladuthurai district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu on the Coromandel Coast  It lies 15 kilometres (9 3 mi) north of Karaikal, near the mouth of a distributary named Uppanar of the Kaveri River  Tranquebar was established on 19 November 1620 as the first Danish trading post in India  King Christian IV had sent his envoy Ove Gjedde who established contact with Raghunatha Nayak of Tanjore  An annual tribute was paid by the Danes to the Rajah of Tanjore until the colony of Tranquebar was sold to the British East India Company in 1845 Tharangambadi is the headquarters of Tharangambadi taluk  Its name means "place of the singing waves"; the old designation Trankebar remains current in modern Danish  Tharangambadi is located at the distance of 285 km from Chennai  The nearest airport is at Tiruchirapalli international airport at 172 km and the nearest port is at Karaikal at 26 km  It is served by Tharangambadi railway station 

History
The place dates back to the 14th century  Masilamani nathar (Shiva) temple was built in 1306, in a land given by Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I  As of now, this temple is the oldest monument  Until 1620, when the Danes came, the place was under Thanjavur Nayak kingdom  Danish admiral Ove Gjedde felt the place would be a potential trading centre, made a deal with Raghunatha Nayak and built a fort, which is known as Fort Dansborg A Jesuit Catholic congregation in Tranquebar predated the arrival of the Danes by several decades  This congregation descended from Tamil fishermen converted by Portuguese missionaries  There was also a sizable population of Indo-Portuguese due to their presence nearby in Nagapattinam  The Catholic church was probably demolished to build the fort  This fort was the residence and headquarters of the governor and other officials for about 150 years  It is now a museum hosting a collection of artifacts from the colonial era 

Among the first Protestant missionaries to set foot in India were two Lutherans from Germany, Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Pluetschau, who began work in 1705 in the Danish settlement of Tranquebar  Ziegenbalg translated the Old and New Testaments into Tamil, imported a printing press, and printed the New Testament in Tamil in 1714 

Bible translations into the Tamil language started with the arrival of Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg at Tranquebar in 1706  He was a member of the Lutheran clergy who responded to the appeal of King Frederick IV of Denmark to establish a mission for the natives of Tranquebar  They also established a printing press, which within a hundred years of its establishment in 1712 had printed 300 books in Tamil  At first they only made little progress in their religious efforts, but gradually the mission spread to Madras, Cuddalore and Tanjore  Today Bishop of Tranquebar is the official title of a bishop in the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church (TELC) in South India which was founded in 1919 as a result of the German Lutheran Leipzig Mission and Church of Sweden Mission   The seat of the Bishop, the Cathedral and its Church House ("Tranquebar House") is in Tiruchirappalli 
The Zion church was consecrated in 1701, which is the oldest Protestant church in India  In 1718, The New Jerusalem Church was constructed  Moravian Brethren missionaries from Herrnhut, Saxony established the Brethren's Garden at Porayar near Tranquebar and operated it as a missionary centre for a number of years  An Italian Catholic Father Constanzo Beschi, who worked in the colony from 1711 to 1740, found himself in conflict with the Lutheran pioneers at Tranquebar, against whom he wrote several polemical works Tranquebar was occupied by the British in February 1808 during the Napoleonic Wars but was restored to Denmark following the Treaty of Kiel in 1814  Along with the Danish settlement of Serampore in Bengal, it was sold to the British in 1845  Tranquebar was then still a busy port, but it later lost its importance after a railway was opened to Nagapattinam The Subrahmanya Temple, Perambur, located in the outskirts of the town is one of the most prominent Murugan temples in the region 

Tranquebar Museum
The 17th and 18th century antiquities and relics from the Vijayanagara empire and Thanjavur Nayak kingdom, which authorised, allowed, and sanctioned the aforementioned Danish port township connected with the colonial period and Danish settlement at Tharangampadi are exhibited  The museum contains porcelain ware, Danish manuscripts, glass objects, Chinese tea jars, steatite lamps, decorated terracotta objects, figurines, lamps, stones, sculptures, swords, daggers, spears, sudai (stucco) figurines and wooden objects  There is also part of a whale skeleton, a giant sawfish rostrum and small cannonballs 

New Jerusalem Church
The New Jerusalem Church was built in 1718 by the Royal Danish missionary Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg in the coastal town of Tranquebar, India which was at that time a Danish India colony  The church is located on King Street, and church services are conducted every Sunday  The church, along with other buildings of the Tranquebar Mission was damaged during the tsunami of 2004, and were renovated at a cost of ₹ 7 million, and re-consecrated in 2006 

Fort Dansborg
Construction of Fort Dansborg started in 1620  Many parts of the fort have been reconstructed several times  Dansborg is the second largest Danish fort ever constructed, with Kronborg in Helsingør being the largest  The rampart wall is a fairly large four sided structure, with bastions at each cardinal point  A single storied building was constructed along three inner sides of the rampart, with barracks, warehouse, kitchen, and jail  The rooms on the southern side remain in good condition, but the rooms on the western and northern sides have been substantially damaged  On the eastern side of the fort, there was a two storied building facing the sea  It was the main building of the fort  The vaulted lower storey served as a magazine and a warehouse, while the vaulted upper storey contained the church and the lodgings of the governor, the senior merchants, and the chaplain  The sea on the eastern and western side protected the fort  The fort was surrounded by a moat, access to the fort being over a drawbridge  The moat has completely disappeared  Interestingly, today, none of the fort’s door openings and windows have doors in them  It is believed that during the end of their colonisation period, the Danish ran into financial issues  To make ends meet, they pulled out the metal doors, molded them into weapons and sold them 

Demographics
As of 2001 India census, Tharangambadi had a population of 20,841  Males constitute 48% of the population and females 52%  Tharangambadi has an average literacy rate of 74%, similar to than the national average of 74 5%: male literacy is 79%, and female literacy is 69%  In Tharangambadi, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age 

Notable people
Kavignar Meenavan (1933–2012), Tamil poet, writer and activist

Gallery
See also
India portal
 Denmark portal
 Norway portal
Passage 6:
Thirukkalacherry
Thirukkalachery is a small village in Mayiladuthurai District, Tranquebar (Tharangambadi) Taluk, Tamil Nadu, India 
See: The Taluk Map of Tranquebar (Tharangambadi)

Transport and communication
Thirukkalachery is well-connected with other major towns in the region, such as Porayar which is the nearest town and links with Karaikal, Mayiladuthurai, Sirkali, Nagapattinam and Tiruchirappalli 
The nearest international airport is at Tiruchirapalli, which is 150 kilometres from Thirukkalachery and Chennai International Airport is approx  300 kilometers away  There are regular government and private bus services to Chennai  Nearest Railway Junction is also at Mayiladuthurai 

Economy
Agriculture is the main activity in this area as this is a cultivation rich land  Rice, sugarcane, Coconut and banana plantation are the main products  This is a small village with about ten to twenty shops along Thirukkalachery's Main Road 

Landmark
*the famous #sri seethala devi Mariyaman temple situated here  One of grand temple  

The famous naganathaswamy temple also situated here (the Siva temple) 
The famous petti kaliyaman temple also situated here 
The famous Vinayagar temple situated here 
Mohaideen Andavar Mosque - This is the biggest mosque (also called Pallivasal) in Mayiladuthurai District Experiment ideas Tamil YouTube channel  foundation office  in situated here  
Fashion tailor Shop situated here  

Schools
There are four Schools in this village:-

Aided Elementary School, Thirukkalachery 
Aiyas Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Thirukkalachery 
Hameediya Higher Secondary School, Thirukkalachery 
Hameediya Free Nursery & Primary School, Thirukkalachery 

Adjacent communities
Passage 7:
Suryanar Kovil
Suryanar Kovil (also called Suryanar Temple) is a Hindu temple dedicated to the deity Hindu Sun-God, located in Suryanar Kovil, a village near the South Indian town of Kumbakonam Thanjavur District in Tamil Nadu, India  The presiding deity is Suriyanar, the Sun and his consorts Ushadevi and Pratyusha Devi  The temple also has separate shrines for the other eight planetary deities  The temple is considered one of the nine Navagraha temples in Tamil Nadu  The temple is one of the few historic temples dedicated to Sun god and is also the only temple in Tamil Nadu which has shrines for all the planetary deities The present masonry structure was built during the reign of Kulottunga Choladeva (1060-1118 CE) in the 11th century with later additions from the Vijayanagar period  Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple has a five-tiered rajagopuram, the gateway tower and a granite wall enclosing all the shrines of the temple It is believed that the planetary deities were cursed by Brahma to dwell in Vellurukku Vanam, the white wild flower jungle and were blessed by Shiva to make it their abode to devotees  The temple has six daily rituals at various times from 5:30 a m  to 9 p m , and two yearly festivals on its calendar  The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu 

Legend
As per Hindu legend, Sage Kalava was suffering from serious ailments along with leprosy  He prayed to the Navagrahas, the nine planet deities  The planets were pleased by his devotion and offered cure to the sage  Brahma, the Hindu god of creation, was angered as he felt that the planets have no powers to provide boons to humans  He cursed the nine planets to suffer from leprosy and were sent down to earth in Vellurukku Vanam, the white wild flower jungle  The planets prayed to Shiva to relieve them off the curse  Shiva appeared to them and said that the place belonged to them and they would have to grace the devotees worshipping them from the place  This is the only temple where there are separate shrines for each of the planet deities  It is also the only temple among the nine planetary temples where Shiva is not the presiding deity 

History
It is stated in one of the inscriptions found in the temple that it was built in the reign of Kulottunga Choladeva (1060-1118 CE) and was called Kulottungachola-Marttandalaya  In modern times, the temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu  The temple is mentioned in the songs of Muthuswami Dikshitar, who has composed a song starting with "Suryamurthe" in Saurashatra ragam 

Architecture
Suriyanar Temple is located at the distance of 15 km from Kumbakonam in west, 2 km from Aduthurai, 8 km from Thiruppanandal and 58 km (36 mi) from Thanjavur  The temple can be accessed by road through Aduthurai in Kumbakonam - Mayiladuthurai road and Thiruppanandal in Kumbakonam - Chennai road  The temple has a rectangular plan with compound walls, pierced by a five-tiered raja gopuram (entrance tower)  The central shrine is of Surya, the Sun God, is built on an elevated structure  The central shrine houses the image of Surya and his consorts Usha and Chhaya  The hall leading to the central shrine has images of Viswanathar, Visalakshi, Nataraja, Sivakami, Vinayagar and Murugan  On the axial line in front of the central shrine, there is an image of Guru (Jupiter), one of the planetary deities  There are separate shrines for all the other seven planet deities namely Budha (Mercury), Shani (Saturn), Sukran (Venus), Soma (Moon), Angaragan (Mars), Rahu and Ketu  All the other eight shrines of the Navagrahas are arranged facing the shrine of Suryanar  Guru is depicted performing pooja to Shiva 

Worship and festivals
The temple priests perform the pooja (rituals) during festivals and on a daily basis  Like other Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu, the priests belong to the Shaivaite community, a Brahmin sub-caste  The temple rituals are performed six times a day; Ushathkalam at 5:30 a m , Kalasanthi at 8:00 a m , Uchikalam at 10:00 a m , Sayarakshai at 6:00 p m , Irandamkalam at 8:00 p m  and Ardha Jamam at 10:00 p m  Each ritual comprises four steps: abhisheka (sacred bath), alangaram (decoration), neivethanam (food offering) and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for Surya, Usha and Chhaya  The worship is held amidst music with nadaswaram (pipe instrument) and tavil (percussion instrument), religious instructions in the Vedas  read by priests and prostration by worshippers in front of the temple mast  There are weekly rituals like somavaram and sukravaram, fortnightly rituals like pradosham and monthly festivals like amavasai (new moon day), kiruthigai, pournami (full moon day) and sathurthi 

Religious importance
The temple is one of the nine Navagraha temples of Tamil Nadu and is a part of the popular Navagraha pilgrimage in the state - it houses the image of Surya (Sun)  The planets are believed to influence the horoscope computed based on time of one's birth and subsequently influence the course of life  Each of the planets are believed to move from a star to another during a predefined period and thus sway over an individual's fortunes  Kol vinay theertha Vinayagar is an important deity inside the temple and should be worshiped first before worshiping Lord Suriyan and other planets
  The Navagrahas, as per Hindu customs, are believed to provide both good and bad effects for any individual and the bad effects are mitigated by prayers  As in other Navagraha temples, the common worship practises of the devotees include offering of cloth, grains, flowers and jewels specific to the planet deity  Lighting a set of lamps is also commonly followed in the temple  As per contemporary Saivite belief, the energies distributed cyclically by Navagrahas can be channeled based on remedial measures  As per local legends, Shiva, the overlord of the nine planetary deities, allowed them to freely grant wishes based on devotion of the devotees According to Hindu legend, Mahalingaswamy is the centre of all Shiva temples in the region and the Saptha Vigraha moorthis (seven prime consorts in all Shiva temples) are located at seven cardinal points around the temple, located in various parts of the state  The seven deities are Nataraja in Chidambaram Nataraja Temple at Chidambaram, Chandikeswarar temple at Tirucheingalur, Vinayagar in Vellai Vinayagar Temple at Thiruvalanchuzhi, Muruga in Swamimalai Murugan Temple at Swamimalai, Bhairava in Sattainathar Temple at Sirkali, Navagraha in this temple and Dakshinamoorthy in Apatsahayesvarar Temple at Alangudi, Nannilam  The temple is counted as one of the temples built on the northern banks of River Kaveri 
Passage 8:
Sawaare Sabke Sapne    Preeto
Sawaare Sabke Sapne Preeto (SSSP) is an Indian television series that premiered on Imagine TV on 4 July 2011 and ended abruptly on 12 April 2012  The story is located against a Punjabi backdrop and is based on the lives of five sisters  Set in the picturesque north Indian town of Amritsar, which is also an Indian Air Force base, this is the story of the quirky, lovable Dhillon family  They live in a run-down mansion, having moved to India from Pakistan after the Partition, a generation ago  In many ways the Dhillon family is a typical lower-middle-class Indian family 
At the head of the family is retired school master Gangandeep Dhillon, who lives with his wife Kanwal and five daughters 

Plot
Sawaare Sapke Sapne Preeto is the story of Preeto, third among the five Dhillon sisters  The eldest sister is Jasmeet (Meeta) who is lovable and plump, second is Ishmeet (Ishu) who is quiet and respectful and is considered the prettiest, third is Manpreet (Preeto) who is respectful but always speaks her mind, fourth is Gurbaani (Bani) who is in college and like partying, and the youngest is Sonu who is in school and is everybody's favorite  Their father's income is not enough to maintain the entire family  Preeto's mother often regrets that she does not have a son who could have supported them all  Hence Preeto decides to contribute to the family income by designing and stitching clothes for clients  Her dream is to get her older sisters married and the younger ones educated 
Meeta is engaged to Bobby but he tries to take advantage of Ishu and the wedding is called off  At her friends' wedding, Preeto meets Rajbeer, an air force officer and they develop feelings for each other  Dhruv, another air force officer, falls in love with Ishu  Dhruv and Ishu's wedding is fixed and Preeto and Rajbeer confess their love to each other  But Preeto's father meets with an accident and loses his job  Preeto decides to break up with Rajbeer to focus on arranging money for Ishu's wedding 
However, Dhruv's parents are unhappy with the wedding  At a family outing in Manali, Rajbeer saves Dhruv's sister Simran and she falls in love with him  In Amritsar, Bani falls in love with a man named Ranjeet but he only wants to destroy Rajbeer  He sells Bani off to some goons but Preeto and Rajbeer are able to save her and expose Ranjeet's true intentions  Meanwhile, Preeto's Biji finds out about Preeto and Rajbeer and encourages Preeto to fight for her love 
Dhruv and Simran's mother, Neelam, blackmails Preeto that if she confesses her love to Rajbeer, Neelam would make sure Dhruv divorces Ishu  Conflicted, Preeto decides to fake marriage with Sunny, a cousin of Pankaj's (Meeta's husband) who loves Preeto but knows about her feelings for Rajbeer  But one day Rajbeer overhears Preeto talking to herself and realizes that her marriage is fake and she still loves him 

Cast
Main
Ankita Sharma as Manpreet "Preeto" Dhillon: Kavaljit and Gagandeep's third daughter; Meeta, Ishu, Bani and Sonu's sister; Rajbeer's lover (2011–2012)
Aditya Redij as Rajbeer Singh: Preeto's lover (2011–2012)

Recurring
Ira Soni as Ishmeet "Ishu" Ahluwalia: Kavaljit and Gagandeep's second daughter; Preeto, Meeta, Bani and Sonu's sister; Dhruv's wife (2011−2012)
Divya Bhatnagar as Jasmeet "Meeta" Ambrela: Kavaljit and Gagandeep's eldest daughter; Ishu, Preeto, Bani and Sonu's sister; Pankaj's wife (2011–2012)
Devoleena Bhattacharjee as Gurbani "Bani" Dhillon: Kavaljit and Gagandeep's fourth daughter; Meeta, Ishu, Preeto and Sonu's sister (2011−2012)
Mahima Makwana as Sonam "Sonu" Dhillon; Kavaljit and Gagandeep's youngest daughter; Meeta, Ishu, Preeto and Bani's sister (2011−2012)
Kanan Malhotra as Dhruv Ahluwalia: Neelam and Kulbhushan's son; Simmi's brother; Ishu's husband (2011–2012)
Rohit Mehta as Mr  Kumar administrative officer (2012)
Pavitra Punia as Simran "Simmi" Ahluwalia: Neelam and Kulbhushan's daughter; Dhruv's sister (2011−2012)
Sailesh Gulabani as Pankaj Ambrela: Sunny's cousin; Meeta's husband (2011−2012)
Shresth Kumar as Shivansh "Sunny" Ambrela: Pankaj's cousin; Preeto's ex-fiancé (2012)
Ujjwal Rana as Baljeet "Bobby" Singh: Meeta's former fiancé (2011−2012)
Susheel Parashar as Gagandeep Dhillon: Kavaljit's husband; Meeta, Ishu, Preeto, Bani and Sonu's father (2011–2012)
Nitika Anand as Kavaljit Kaur Dhillon: Gagandeep's wife; Meeta, Ishu, Preeto, Bani and Sonu's mother (2011–2012)
Ritwika Gupta as Aisha Sood: Simmi's friend (2011–2012)
Vijay Aidasani as Kulbhushan Ahluwalia; Dhruv and Simmi's father (2011−2012)
Aradhana Uppal as Neelam Ahluwalia: Kulbhushan's wife; Dhruv and Simmi's mother (2011−2012)

Guest stars
Himesh Reshammiya as himself for the promotion of Bodyguard and Damadamm! (2011)
Passage 9:
Buckingham Archeological Site
Buckingham Archeological Site is an archaeological site near Berlin in Worcester County, Maryland   It is one of the few known Woodland period village sites in the coastal marsh areas of the Atlantic Coast section of Maryland  The site falls within the general vicinity of an Assateague Indian town  It is located four miles east of the Sandy Point Site, both including the southernmost reported occurrence of Townsend Series ceramics on the coastal section of the Eastern Shore It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 
Passage 10:
Paravakkal
Paravakkal is a town in the Kadungapuram village of the Puzhakkattiri panchayath, located in the Malappuram district, in the state of Kerala, southeast India  It was the homeland of Valluvanad, an erstwhile kingdom in Malabar  Perinthalmanna, Malappuram, and Kottakkal are some of the major towns nearby 
There is a tradition known as Nercha and Pooram which is a symbol of unity among various religions in the area 

Geography
The town is 12 km (7 5 mi) from Perinthalmanna, the taluk headquarters, and 11 km (6 8 mi) from the district headquarters at Malappuram  The town is midway between Perinthalmanna and Kottakkal road  The Paravakkal Lake is located north of the town, which lays close south to National Highway 213  The land is mostly dry and flat, few hills obstruct the nearby fields  An abundant amount of trees and shrubbery lie to the south of the town 

People
Paravakkal consists of 1723 people, 838 of which are male, and 885 female 

Culture
Paravakkal village is a predominantly Muslim populated area  Hindus exist in comparatively smaller numbers  So the culture of the locality is based upon Muslim traditions  Duff Muttu, Kolkali and Aravanamuttu are common folk arts of this locality  There are many libraries attached to mosques giving a rich source of Islamic studies  Most of the books are written in Arabi-Malayalam which is a version of the Malayalam language written in Arabic script  People gather in mosques for the evening prayer and continue to sit there after the prayers discussing social and cultural issues  Business and family issues are also sorted out during these evening meetings  The Hindu minority of this area keeps their rich traditions by celebrating various festivals in their temples  Hindu rituals are done here with a regular devotion like other parts of Kerala 

Transportation
Paravakkal village connects to other parts of India through Perinthalmanna town  National highway No 66 passes through Tirur and the northern stretch connects to Goa and Mumbai  The southern stretch connects to Cochin and Trivandrum  Highway No 966 goes to Palakkad and Coimbatore  The nearest airport is at Kozhikode  The nearest major railway station is at Tirur 
Context 3: Passage 1:
Redwood City Daily News
The Redwood City Daily News was a free daily newspaper in Redwood City, California, United States, published 6 days a week with an average daily circulation of 8,000  The newspaper was founded August 9, 2000 by Dave Price and Jim Pavelich, who also published the Palo Alto Daily News  The Redwood City Daily News was adjudicated as a newspaper of general circulation by the San Mateo County Superior Court in 2001, enabling it to publish legal notices  Both the Palo Alto and Redwood City Daily News editions were distributed in large red newspaper racks and in stores, coffee shops, restaurants, schools and major workplaces  The Redwood City Daily News, along with five other Daily News editions, was sold to Knight Ridder on Feb  15, 2005  After McClatchy's acquisition of Knight Ridder in early 2006, all six Daily News editions, including the Redwood City Daily News, were bundled with the San Jose Mercury News and sold to MediaNews Group of Denver, Colorado 
On November 12, 2004, the Redwood City Daily News became one of the first print media outlets in the United States to report late-breaking news of national interest  The trial of Scott Peterson for the murder of his wife Laci Peterson and their unborn son had taken place at the Redwood City courthouse, and less than an hour after the jury read their verdict the Daily News began circulation of an "extra" edition which announced the result The surviving Daily News papers merged on April 7, 2009 
Passage 2:
Sawin Millett
Howard Sawin Millett Jr  (born October 8, 1937) is a Maine politician  A Republican, Millett served as the Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services in the administration of Governor Paul LePage from 2011 to 2014  In January 2011, Millett was unanimously approved as Commissioner by the Maine Senate, with key Democrats also endorsing his appointment  In December 2011, a poll of policymakers by the Bangor Daily News ranked Millett as the ninth most influential person in Maine politics 

Government career
Millett served in the administrations of four separate governors (Longley, McKernan, King and LePage) with two different political affiliations (two Independents and two Republicans)  Millett advanced in the field of education until he became commissioner of education for Maine's first independent governor, James Longley  He was appointed to the position in 1975 at the age of 37 and served until 1979  In 1979, Republican Governor John McKernan appointed Millett Commissioner of the state finance department  During his time in the McKernan administration, the government was shut down due to the inability to agree on a budget  He also served from 1995 to 2000 as Associate Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health/Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services for Independent Angus King  In 2011, Millett was unanimously confirmed as Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services by the Maine Senate after being selected by Republican Paul LePage 
Millett announced his retirement on April 3, 2014, to be effective on May 30  He stated he wanted to spend more time with his family and in his hometown   Governor LePage praised his service and knowledge of state budgeting  Millett retired in May 2014 and was replaced by Richard Rosen 

Legislative career
Millett first served in the legislature from 1969 to 1972  In 2002, Millett won a seat in the Maine House of Representatives  Unable to run for his seat again in 2010, he challenged John Patrick for Senate District 14 and was defeated  In 2018, he won election to the Maine House of Representatives from District 71 

Personal
Millett was born in Waterford, Maine in Oxford County, Maine and his family settled on a farm in Dixmont in Penobscot County when he was in fourth grade  Millett's father was a superintendent of schools and his mother was primarily a homemaker  He was one of five boys in his family  Millett, despite being an avid baseball fan and having lived his entire life in Maine, became a supporter of the St  Louis Cardinals during the 1946 World Series in which the Cardinals beat the Boston Red Sox  He graduated from Carmel High School in Carmel, Maine in 1955 and attended the same college as his father, Bates College  After graduating, he returned to Penobscot County and began teaching at Hermon High School  He continued teaching in the district until 1971 In 1977, while serving as Commissioner of Education, Millett and his wife bought a home in Manchester, Maine to cut down on his daily commute for work in Augusta, but the couple disliked living in a subdivision so much that he and his wife bought 25 acres of land next to his parents farm in Waterford and built a house to live in   He could barely stand to address the Maine Senate during his 2011 confirmation hearing due to an infection after knee replacement surgery  Shortly after being appointed commissioner, Millett had to miss work due to a second infection in his knee; he was temporarily replaced by Ryan Low, who had served as Commissioner of Finance under Democrat John Baldacci  Low said of Millett "I would do just about anything for him   There's no one more of an expert on budgeting and legislative process; but even more than that, he's a genuinely nice person "
Passage 3:
Burlingame Daily News
The Burlingame Daily News was a free daily newspaper in Burlingame, California published six days a week with an average daily circulation of 7,000  The newspaper was founded August 9, 2000 by Dave Price (journalist) and Jim Pavelich, who also published the Palo Alto Daily News 

Distribution
Both papers were distributed in large red newspaper racks and in stores, coffee shops, restaurants, schools and major workplaces  
Burlingame Daily News, along with five other Daily News editions, was sold to Knight Ridder in 2005  
After McClatchy's acquisition of Knight Ridder in early 2006, all six Daily News editions, including the Burlingame Daily News, were bundled with the San Jose Mercury News and sold to MediaNews Group of Denver, Colorado  The surviving Daily News papers merged on April 7, 2009 

External links
Official site
Knight Ridder buys Daily News
Daily News publishers ride into sunset
Passage 4:
East Bay Daily News
The East Bay Daily News was a free daily newspaper in Berkeley, California published 5 days a week with an average daily circulation of 10,000  The newspaper was founded May 20, 2005 by journalist Dave Price and Jim Pavelich, who also published the Palo Alto Daily News  The East Bay Daily News was distributed in large red newspaper racks and in stores, coffee shops, restaurants, schools and major workplaces in Berkeley, Albany, Piedmont and Oakland  After McClatchy's acquisition of the paper's previous owner Knight Ridder in early 2006, the Palo Alto Daily News group, including the East Bay Daily News, was bundled with the San Jose Mercury News and sold to MediaNews Group of Denver, Colorado 

External links
East Bay Daily News Official Website
Passage 5:
Bangor Daily News
The Bangor Daily News is an American newspaper covering a large portion of central and eastern Maine, published six days per week in Bangor, Maine 
The Bangor Daily News was founded on June 18, 1889; it merged with the Bangor Whig and Courier in 1900  Also known as the News or the BDN, the paper is published by Bangor Publishing Company, a local family-owned company 
It has been owned by the Towle-Warren family for four generations; current publisher Richard J  Warren is the great-grandson of J  Norman Towle, who bought the paper in 1895  Since 2018, it has been the only independently owned daily newspaper in the state 

History
The Bangor Daily News's first issue was June 18, 1889; the main stockholder in the publishing company was Bangor shipping and logging businessman Thomas J  Stewart  Upon Stewart's death in 1890, his sons took control of the paper, which was originally a tabloid with "some news, but also plenty of gossip, lurid stories and scandals " In 1895, J  Norman Towle purchased the newspaper  Ownership of the paper remained in the family, and Towle's great-grandson Richard J  Warren remains the publisher today The Bangor Daily News merged with the Bangor Whig & Courier in 1900, leaving two newspapers in the city: BDN and the Bangor Daily Commercial (which ceased publication in 1949)  Towle's son-in-law Fred Jordan took control of the paper in 1929  Forty-six BDN staff members served in the U S  forces during World War II, and the paper's managing editor John M  O'Connell was sent to Europe as a war correspondent  After Fred Jordan's death in 1947, his widow Lillis Towle Jordan became publisher  Richard K  Warren became publisher in 1955 and remained in that role until 1984, a time when the newspaper's circulation dramatically increased  It has only missed one day of delivery in its entire history  On New Year's Eve 1962, a massive blizzard dumped over three feet of snow on Bangor, with 20-foot snowdrifts that made it impossible for the delivery trucks to move The newspaper's peak came in the mid-1980s, when Bangor Daily News had 150 reporters and editors and 150 other employees   At the time, published seven regional editions of the newspaper throughout Maine, and in addition to its main office on Main Street in Bangor had news bureaus at Madawaska, Presque Isle, Houlton, Pittsfield, Calais, Machias, Rockland, Augusta and Ellsworth In 1982, a reporter for the Bangor Daily News, Beurmond Banville, who ran a one-person news bureau for the paper in Madawaska, Maine, on the U S -Canada border, wrote about a pretrial hearing in a murder case in New Brunswick, Canada  After publishing an account of the restricted proceeding in BDN, Banville was convicted in a Canadian court for violating a publication ban, and was fined $160; in 1983, the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick upheld the conviction, but gave Banville an absolute discharge, meaning that he does not have any Canadian criminal record  Banville and the newspaper considered the Canadian court's ruling to be a prior restraint on freedom of the press, but decided not to further appeal considering the cost  The ruling appears in a textbook on Canadian media law Richard J  Warren succeeded his father as editor in 1984; five years later, the newspaper moved its printing plant from Bangor to a new printing plant in Hampden (which was closed in 2013 and sold in 2015) The newspaper was an early adopter of a policy prohibiting tobacco advertising  As of 1993, the Bangor Daily News was one of fewer than twenty American newspapers that declined to accept ads for tobacco products The newspaper launched its Web presence in 1997 at bangornews com, later moving to bangordailynews com in the 2000s  From 1997 to 2001, BDN acted as an Internet service provider in addition to a newspaper, working with two local, small telecommunications companies to provide dial-up Internet access to a few thousand people in Maine BDN adopted an aggressive "digital-first" publishing strategy, and became the most-read online news source in the state; in 2011, the Portland Press Herald outsold BDN in print copies by a few thousand papers on an average weekday, but BDN's website had more than 100,000 unique visitors than the Press Herald's website In 2008, the paper's editorial page director, Todd Benoit, was appointed BDN's director of new media; he later became  BDN's president and chief operating officer  In 2014, Richard J  Warren became publisher of the newspaper   The company that owns and operates the newspaper, Bangor Publishing Co , expanded through acquisitions of Bangor Metro magazine (2014), Madawaska's St  John Valley Times (2015), and Fort Kent's Fiddlehead Focus (2016)  The company also owns several weekly newspapers in Maine: the Presque Isle Star-Herald, Caribou Aroostook Republican and News, Dover-Foxcroft Piscataquis Observer, Houlton Pioneer Times, and Greater Bangor The Weekly In 2011 and 2012, BDN established the partnerships The Maine Campus (the independent student newspaper at the University of Maine) and The Free Press (the student newspaper at the University of Southern Maine) through the BDN media partners program  The program involves a content-sharing agreement as well as training and Web hosting services provided by BDN to the student newspapers In 2011, BDN hired an additional reporter to cover Greater Portland and reassigned another reporter to cover the southern mid-coast of Maine  Editor-in-chief Mike Dowd also named editorial-page editor Susan Young as "managing editor for investigative reporting and new initiatives" and appointed Tom Groening as editorial-page editor The Bangor Daily News and The Quoddy Tides sought records under the Maine Freedom of Access Act of closed-door tribal councils of the Passamaquoddy Tribe relating to a proposed $500 million liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on tribal land at the Pleasant Point Reservation  A Maine court decided that the newspapers were not entitled to the records because the tribal officials' negotiations with the Oklahoma-based LNG developer were undertaken in the reservation's capacity as "a profit-making business rather than municipal governance" and were therefore not subjected to the Freedom of Access Act  The Maine Supreme Judicial Court unanimously affirmed the ruling in 2006  In 2013, Bangor Daily News reporters submitted a public records request to Maine's state government for public information that included the names and addresses of the holders of concealed-weapon permits  The request, made in furtherance of newsgathering, prompted a fierce uproar, and the newspaper dropped the request In 2018, Bangor Daily News became the state's only independently owned daily newspaper in the state, after MaineToday Media, owned by Reade Brower, acquired additional newspapers in Maine  MaineToday now owns  seven of Maine's eight daily newspapers: the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram, the Times Record of Brunswick, the Journal Tribune of Biddeford, the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, the Morning Sentinel in Waterville, and the Coastal Journal in Bath  Although Brower's company does not own BDN, it does provide printing services for BDN As of 2020, about half of BDN's journalists were based in Bangor, with the other half spread across Maine In May 2022, the newsroom staff unionized with the Maine NewsGuild and won recognition from management 

Editorial stance
The Bangor Daily News's editorial stance has traditionally leaned toward conservatism and the Republican Party, in contrast to the Portland Press Herald, which was regarded as having a more liberal, pro-Democratic editorial stance  It historically endorsed Republican candidates for office, such as Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential election, but has also sometimes endorsed Democratic candidates  In the 1974 Maine gubernatorial election, the Bangor Daily News endorsed independent candidate James B  Longley: "The newspaper had always endorsed Republicans, so backing an independent was stunning " The endorsement was a major boost to Longley's candidacy  The paper also backed independent candidate Herman "Buddy" Frankland and Republican Susan Collins BDN's editorial board endorsed Republican George W  Bush in the 2000 presidential election, but endorsed Democrat John Kerry over Bush in the 2004 presidential election  In 2008, BDN endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president, Republican Susan Collins for Senate, and Democrats Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree for Maine's congressional seats  The paper's editorial board endorsed Obama for re-election in 2012 over Republican challenger Mitt Romney 
Passage 6:
Lawrence Lockman
Lawrence E  Lockman is an American lumber worker, lobbyist and political activist from Amherst, Maine, who has served as a Republican member of the Maine House of Representatives since 2012  In 2020, Lockman ran for the Maine State Senate, challenging incumbent state Senator Kimberly Rosen in the Republican primary 

Background
Lockman is a 1967 graduate of Philadelphia-Montgomery Christian Academy in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania  He studied liberal arts at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia and Pasadena City College in California  Around 1976, he began working at a sawmill in Passadumkeag, Maine 

Controversies
In 1975, Lockman stopped paying federal and state income taxes and founded a group called Maine Patriots which put forth various tax protester arguments and urged other Mainers to follow his example In the mid-to-late 1980s, Lockman switched his emphasis to activism about HIV, the AIDS epidemic, and homosexuality  In a letter to the Lewiston Daily Sun, Lockman wrote "Clearly the practice of sodomy is learned behavior, and those addicted to this form of biologically-insane sex are at high risk for all manner of serious medical problems "In 1986 and 1988, Lockman ran in District 143 of the Maine House of Representatives against the incumbent Democrat Michael Michaud  He lost both, finishing with 639 votes to Michaud's 2,438 
In 1991, Lockman became one of the directors of the Pro Life Education Association, a Maine-based anti abortion organization In a 1995 op-ed, Lockman warned of a "secret gay affirmative action plan," claiming "You can bet the rent money they will demand that employers set up goals and timetables to achieve 10 percent homosexual representation in the workforce and in government contracts "In a 1995 letter in the Sun Journal in Lewiston, a reader quoted a press statement by Lockman, then part of the Pro Life Education Association, saying, “If a woman has (the right to an abortion), why shouldn’t a man be free to use his superior strength to force himself on a woman? At least the rapist’s pursuit of sexual freedom doesn’t (in most cases) result in anyone’s death ” In 2012, Lockman was elected to the House's District 30, which included portions of Hancock and Washington counties, with 2188 votes to 2082 for Democrat Dennis Mahar  He was a strong supporter of Maine's governor Paul LePage, who was challenged for re-election in the 2014 race by Lockman's previous opponent, Michael Michaud (who in 2013 came out as gay) LePage was succeeded by Democrat Janet Mills in 2018 

Response to controversy
Lockman has released a statement saying "I have always been passionate about my beliefs, and years ago I said things that I regret  I hold no animosity toward anyone by virtue of their gender or sexual orientation, and today I am focused on ensuring freedom and economic prosperity for all Mainers "

Personal life
In 1990, Lockman was part of a group seeking to break the union at the Passadumkeag Stud Mill where he worked, a drive which was defeated by an 81 to 18 vote  He had worked there for sixteen years before leaving in 1992 to work as a territory manager in eastern Maine for the National Federation of Independent Business, a position he held until 2010  He now works as a territory manager in eastern and central Maine for National Write Your Congressman 
Lockman and his wife Debbie were married in 1974  They have four adult children and five grandchildren 
Passage 7:
Ralph W  'Bud' Leavitt Jr 
Ralph W  "Bud" Leavitt Jr  (January 13, 1917 – December 20, 1994) was a Maine newspaperman who was executive sports editor of the Bangor Daily News, and a longtime outdoor columnist recognized statewide  In addition to his writing, Leavitt hosted one of Maine's earliest television shows, which was devoted to fishing, hunting and the out-of-doors  Leavitt's stature within the state  was such that columnist Roy Blount Jr  wrote of the Maine sportswriter that he "fishes with Ted Williams and Red Smith – or, rather, they trout-fish with him " An early conservationist and son of a paper mill union leader, Leavitt urged the state of Maine to acquire lands for public use; one such preserve is today named for the sportswriter and television personality 

Early life and career beginnings
Ralph W  Leavitt Jr  was born in Old Town, Maine, on January 13, 1917, to Ralph W  Leavitt Sr , union manager at Penobscot Chemical Fiber Company, and his wife Elise  Following graduation from Old Town High School, Leavitt went to work in the plant where his father was manager of the union – and quit the next day  "He didn't like getting all covered with dirt and sweat anywhere but on the athletic field", said Leavitt's cousin Alden Leavitt 
Following his one-day career in the industrial world, Leavitt went looking for other employment  He landed his first newspaper job at age 17 when he began writing for The Bangor Daily Commercial in 1934  At the outbreak of World War II, Leavitt joined the Army Air Corps as a civilian employee



ground_truth: 1,693

prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: Thirukkalacherry is a village in which Indian town?

The following are given passages.
Context 3:  Following the War, in 1946 Leavitt took a job as general sportswriter at the Bangor Daily News, with which he associated as sportswriter, sports editor and outdoor columnist for the next 48 years  Leavitt's retirement from his Maine newspaper duties was considered noteworthy enough that Maine Senator George J  Mitchell issued a statement about it During his tenure as sports editor and outdoor columnist, Leavitt also occasionally filed stories to national publications, including Time magazine  High school graduate Leavitt's prose on sporting topics even turned up occasionally in the highbrow The New Yorker magazine  In its issue of June 25, 1979, The New Yorker quoted at length from sportswriter Leavitt's essay on fishing in Maine  "He wrote when the fog shuts out the land, it is like a pussy-footing cat laying down a paw", wrote the magazine, paraphrasing Leavitt's prose  Even Leavitt's admirers concede the columnist and sportswriter wasn't known for his adept turns of phrase  Some observers attributed his popularity in Maine to his no-nonsense, somewhat gruff style, in which he delivered the facts without embroidery 
Leavitt also frequently hunted and fished with his friend Nelson Bryant, outdoor columnist for The New York Times, who wrote about their jaunts in his newspaper  During this time, Leavitt began to make himself indispensable to the Bangor newspaper, where the owners noted that his presence on the sports pages came to embody for many readers the newspaper itself In 1948 Leavitt began writing a daily outdoor column for the newspaper in addition to his sportswriter duties  The column, in which Leavitt discussed hunting and fishing and life in Maine, ran in the Bangor Daily News until November 30, 1994, – six years after Leavitt had retired as the paper's sports editor, and only weeks before the columnist's death from cancer 

The columnist and the television host
Leavitt hosted one of the first outdoor shows on national television  In 1953 Maine's first TV station went on the air, and asked Leavitt to anchor a show on the themes he wrote about in his column  The Bud Leavitt Show debuted that year as one of the first local programs on the air in Maine  For the next 20 years Leavitt appeared every Saturday night to talk about the pressing issues of a Maine outdoorsman: how to remove a fishhook; the death of a favorite dog; snoeshowing and moose hunting and salmon fishing  There was little that Bud Leavitt wouldn't fish for  When the salmon runs on the rivers of Maine and New Brunswick tapered off, Leavitt often took to the rips off Maine's Petit Manan Light, where he cast a fly to schools of 25-pound pollock 
That Leavitt's newspaper permitted him to appear on a competing news outlet startled no one  "They had to have him", said Bangor Daily News managing editor Mike Dowd of the demand for the popular columnist  "He had to have it  So [Leavitt] became multimedia before the term was invented "Leavitt's last show on local Maine television was taped in 1973, but in 1978 the Maine Public Broadcasting Network asked the sportswriter to host a new show  Leavitt's early broadcasts on Maine's TV airwaves were marked by the times  The balding, avuncular Leavitt closed each show with the homily, "Remember, the family that plays together stays together " And the show's trademark music jingle is still the subject of Mainers posting to internet message boards, recalling Saturday night with beans and biscuits, watching Bud Leavitt  That show, called Woods and Waters, went on to become a public TV sensation  Within a year it was broadcast nationally  The Outdoor Writers of America later rated it the nation's best outdoor-oriented program  The show's success launched the local Maine sportswriter into the national consciousness: Leavitt was featured as a guest several times on the ABC show American Sportsman, and was a frequent guest on national radio programs 
Sometimes Leavitt was joined on his Maine TV show by friends like broadcaster Curt Gowdy, or baseball players Brooks Robinson or Ted Williams  "He was to outdoor journalism what Norman Rockwell was to art", wrote longtime Bangor Daily News sports columnist Larry Mahoney  The comparison was apt  Leavitt was not known for his eloquent turns-of-phrase, but for his directness and lack of artifice—what some might call his "Maine-ness" 
Thanks to his notoriety, Leavitt kept a running correspondence with people that he might never have met  His friendship with Albany, New York mayor Erastus Corning 2nd, for instance, lasted decades, and the pair's letters about angling are among the papers collected in Corning's archives Leavitt's friendship with baseball player Ted Williams spanned decades, and the two were frequent fishing buddies  Leavitt had been sent to Boston's Fenway Park in 1939 to write about the Boston Red Sox, where he met Williams, then a first-year rookie already making a name for himself as a slugger  Overhearing that the cub sportswriter was from Maine, Williams asked about the fishing up north  A lifelong friendship ensued 
"One journalist with whom Williams had a genuine friendship was the late Bud Leavitt, former sports editor and outdoor writer for the Bangor Daily News", wrote Tony Chamberlain of The Boston Globe  "Leavitt fished often with Williams in the lakes and streams of Maine and Canada  Most of their fishing up north was for salmon, and Williams fished with Leavitt near the writer's home along the Penobscot River "

Recognition in Maine and later years
Leavitt's stature as a writer on some of Maine's favorite topics, and his weekly television presence made him one of the state's celebrities – in the days when the words "Maine" and "celebrity" were oxymorons  Once, on a bird hunting drive in northern Maine with his friends Curt Gowdy and Brooks Robinson, Leavitt got lost  He stopped at a local home where he saw several men talking in the driveway  After inquiring after directions, Leavitt gestured at his car  Did the local Mainers know either of the two men in his automobile, Leavitt asked the group "No, we don't", answered one man, "but we sure know who you are  You're Bud Leavitt!"
Even Maine Senator Edmund Muskie tested the limits of political muscle when he brushed against Leavitt's following  It was arranged for Muskie to go ice-fishing with Leavitt—or as Muskie adviser Clyde MacDonald Jr  put it, "possibly the greatest political event that could be arranged at that time " MacDonald lived next to columnist Leavitt, whom the Muskie aide inveigled to accompany Muskie on a fishing trip to an Ellsworth, Maine, lake  Muskie landed the prize-winning fish, headlined in the next day's Bangor newspaper  As Muskie recalled, his fishing trip with Leavitt made a deeper impression than most of his electoral efforts  "Muskie throughout the rest of his career would say, 'You know, I fought for Dickey-Lincoln [Dam], and I prevented them from closing Loring, but the thing that people talk about is that fish '"Leavitt died on December 20, 1994, and his funeral mass was held in Bangor, not far from his home in Hampden, Maine, on December 26, 1994  His wife Barbara had predeceased him, dying five years prior in 1989  During his career, Leavitt wrote 13,104 columns for Maine newspapers, and a book called, simply, Twelve Months in Maine  Leavitt's essay most often collected in outdoor writing anthologies is "Hunting for Grouse and Woodcock" from his book Twelve Months in Maine  Following his death, the State of Maine named the Bud Leavitt Wildlife Management Area, 6,500 acres (26 km2) of upland forest 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Bangor, in honor of the sportswriter, a longtime advocate for conservation and public lands  In 2000, six years after Leavitt's death, the Maine Press Association posthumously inducted Leavitt into its Hall of Fame Leavitt is interred, alongside his wife Barbara, at Lakeview Cemetery in Hampden, Maine 

Works
Bud Leavitt and Senator William S  Cohen, Bangor: The Twentieth Century, Vol  II, Images of America, Richard R  Shaw, Arcadia Publishing, 1997 ISBN 0-7385-3703-9
Twelve Months in Maine, Bud Leavitt, Bangor Publishing Company, Bangor, Maine, 1977
Passage 8:
The Daily News (Palo Alto)
The Daily News, originally the Palo Alto Daily News, is a free newspaper owned by MediaNews Group and located in Menlo Park  Founded in 1995, it was formerly published seven days a week and at one point had a circulation of 67,000 (a figure that included five zoned editions which no longer exist)  The Daily News is distributed in red newspaper racks and in stores, coffee shops, restaurants, schools and major workplaces   As of April 7, 2009 the paper ceased to be published as The Palo Alto Daily News and was consolidated with other San Francisco Peninsula Daily News titles; it published five days a week, Tuesday through Saturday  Weekday editions were delivered to selected homes  While continuing to publish daily online, The Daily News cut its print edition back to three days a week in 2013, and one day a week in 2015 

Format and content
Originally, the Daily News had a distinctive format with pages that were 16 inches long and 10 75 inches wide, dimensions which were thought to make the Daily News easier to hold than traditional broadsheet papers, but allow more stories to be published per page than a typical tabloid 
On May 5, 2009, the paper went to a smaller page size (11-1/4 by 11-3/8 inches) to save money  "The change also brands our newspaper as different than the local competition, and makes it easier for our on-the-go readers to carry around," an announcement to readers said  They now have a larger version than their original one, with different sections, like add-ins or inserts 
The newspaper prints a combination of local stories and news from a number of wire services including The Associated Press, Bay City News, The New York Times and McClatchy-Tribune (the former Knight-Ridder Tribune)  Local columnists include John Angell Grant, Larry Magid and John Reid  Syndicated opinion columns include those by Bob Herbert, Thomas Friedman and Maureen Dowd 

History
The Palo Alto Daily News debuted on December 7, 1995, with an initial circulation of 3,000  Within nine months, the paper was in the black  The paper generates all of its revenue from advertising  The original publishers, Jim Pavelich and Dave Price, understood that the advertising would reach more potential customers if the paper were free and thus widely available 
The newspaper's press run is determined by consumer demand; by 1997, the circulation had nearly tripled to 10,000 copies a day 
On August 9, 2000, the newspaper expanded into San Mateo County by opening three dailies, the San Mateo Daily News, Redwood City Daily News and Burlingame Daily News  These became the first free daily newspapers in San Mateo County, although within two years, other free dailies started in that area, replicating the format of the Daily News 
On May 15, 2002, the Daily News launched the Los Gatos Daily News  In addition to Los Gatos, it served Saratoga, Campbell, Cupertino and western San Jose 
In the first quarter of 2003, the combined circulation of the Daily News reached 55,000 per day, and on March 23 a home-delivered Sunday edition was added 
On November 12, 2004, the Daily News beat the competition by putting out an "extra" minutes after a jury in Redwood City convicted Scott Peterson of murdering his wife Laci and their unborn son  Editors put the "Redwood City Daily News" flag at the top of the Extra because the trial was taking place in that city, but it was distributed in all of the communities served by the Daily News, including Palo Alto 
On February 15, 2005, Knight Ridder, then the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, bought the Palo Alto Daily News and its four sister papers for $25 million  Price and Pavelich, the publishers, were asked to stay on during the transition, but they left by the end of the year 
In May 2005, the Daily News launched the East Bay Daily News, which served Berkeley, Emeryville, Piedmont, Albany and the Oakland neighborhood of Rockridge 
In January 2006, Shareef Dajani, formerly general manager of the Knight Ridder-owned Hills Newspapers, a group of weeklies in Alameda County, was named publisher  In March, Dajani fired editor Diana Diamond, a long-time Palo Altan who was also a columnist  Her dismissal triggered numerous letters-to-the-editor and the competing Palo Alto Weekly picked up her column  Dajani replaced Diamond with Lucinda Ryan, who had worked with him at the Hills Newspapers 
In March 2006, Knight Ridder agreed to be purchased by The McClatchy Company, owner of the Sacramento Bee among other papers  McClatchy later announced it would sell 12 of the 32 Knight Ridder dailies, including the San Jose Mercury News and two other regional papers, The Monterey County Herald and the Contra Costa Times  The Palo Alto Daily News, along with other papers, was included in the Mercury News' 'bundle,' to be sold as one entity  MediaNews Group, which already owned several area papers, agreed to acquire The Mercury News, Contra Costa Times, Monterey County Herald and the St  Paul Pioneer Press of Minnesota for $1 billion, with $263 million of that coming from the Hearst Corporation, owner of the San Francisco Chronicle  The two deals — the sale of Knight Ridder to McClatchy, and McClatchy's sale to MediaNews — closed in August 2006  However, a lawsuit filed by San Francisco real estate developer Clint Reilly challenged the sale on anti-trust grounds  The suit was settled with Hearst and MediaNews agreeing not to work together on national advertising or distribution 
In January 2007, Dajani was replaced by Carole Leigh Hutton, former editor and publisher of the Detroit Free Press when it was owned by Knight Ridder  When Knight Ridder sold the Free Press to Gannett on August 3, 2005, Hutton was named Knight Ridder's vice president of news, a position she held until the company folded in 2006 
In March 2007, former Oakland Tribune editor Mario Dianda replaced Lucinda Ryan as executive editor 
In May 2008, Daily News founders Dave Price and Jim Pavelich announced that they were reviving the original paper, in its original headquarters at 324 High St , under the name Palo Alto Daily Post In June 2008, the Daily News laid off five newsroom workers and eliminated its Monday edition in Palo Alto and its Tuesday edition in San Mateo, Redwood City and Burlingame  Those three cities had lost their Monday edition two years earlier In August 2008, it came to light that the Daily News had hired a company in India to manage writing, copy-editing and design of a weekly real-estate product In April 2009, the Daily News dropped its Sunday edition and editions for San Mateo, Burlingame and Redwood City 
Passage 9:
Mildred Brown Schrumpf
Mildred Brown "Brownie" Schrumpf (January 24, 1903 – March 2, 2001) was an American home economist, food educator, and author  Named the "Unofficial Ambassador of Good Eating" by the Maine Department of Agriculture, she wrote a weekly food column for the Bangor Daily News from 1951 to 1994 promoting traditional Maine recipes  She was the main proponent of the claim that the chocolate brownie was invented in Bangor  She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 1997 

Early life and education
Schrumpf was born Mildred Greely Brown on a farm in Readfield Depot, Maine, to Fred Brown and Nellie Mabel Gordon Brown  She was a member of the Kennebec County 4-H club and won a canning contest in her teens  After graduating from Winthrop High School in 1921, Schrumpfh attended the University of Maine – the first person in her family to go to college – and earned a bachelor's degree in home economics in 1925 

Career
Schrumpf began her career as a tester for home gas stoves for the Bangor Gas Company  She next worked as an assistant leader in 4-H clubs statewide and as the Penobscot County 4-H club agent through the 1930s, updating home demonstrators on "food preservation, kitchen design and farm life"  In the 1940s, Schrumpf worked for the United States Department of Agriculture Extension Service, giving demonstrations and classes and also teaching "camp cookery to forestry students"  She also taught home economics classes at the University of Maine In the 1950s and 1960s, Schrumpf became the Maine Food Products Promoter for the Maine Department of Agriculture, and also did cooking demonstrations on television 

Food columnist
Schrumpf began writing a weekly food column called "Brownie's Kitchen" for the Bangor Daily News on August 31, 1951  Each column opened with remembrances of life in 20th-century Maine and featured traditional recipes, using simple ingredients that could be found in any Maine grocery  Although she initially eschewed the use of ready-made ingredients, Schrumpf later printed recipes using convenience foods, which were included in her second cookbook collection, Memories from Brownie's Kitchen (1989)  She continued producing her column until April 4, 1994 

"Bangor Brownies"
Schrumpf received widespread publicity for her claim that the chocolate brownie was invented in Bangor, Maine  In its first edition (2007), The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink refuted her premise that "Bangor housewives" had created the brownie  The Oxford Companion noted that while Schrumpf cited the inclusion of the recipe in the Girl's Welfare Cook Book published in Bangor in 1912 as proof of the brownie's origins, a Fannie Farmer cookbook published in 1905 already contained a recipe for the chewy chocolate treat  However, in its second edition (2013), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America said it had discovered evidence to support Schrumpf's claim, in the form of several 1904 cookbooks that listed a recipe for "Bangor Brownies" 

Other activities
Schrumpf served as a judge for the Bangor State Fair and the national Pillsbury Bake-Off  She chaired the Maine Boiler Festival Chicken Barbecues and Luncheons, and headed delegations of Maine food demonstrators to the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, Massachusetts She maintained a lifelong association with the University of Maine and its alumni association, serving as class secretary for 40 years  She provided many artifacts for the "Brownie's Kitchen" exhibit, a replica of an early 20th-century farmhouse kitchen, at the Page Farm & Home Museum on the university campus 

Honors and awards
The University of Maine alumni association awarded her its Black Bear Award in 1957 and Pine Tree Alumni Service Emblem in 1974  She was named Woman of the Year by the Maine Press, Radio and TV Women in 1968 and "Unofficial Ambassador of Good Eating" by the Maine Department of Agriculture in 1970  She received a Kiwanis Recognition in Service Award from the Orono-Old Town Kiwanis chapter in 1976 and an Achievement Citation Award from the Maine chapter of the American Association of University Women in 1989  She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 1997 

Personal
Known for her lively and energetic personality, she was always happy to answer cooking questions and share recipe advice  As she advanced in years, her birthday celebrations were well-attended affairs that were said to "require traffic control"; for one "birthday bash", a 20-person committee coordinated the event She married William E  Schrumpf, an agricultural economist at the University of Maine Agricultural Experimental Station, in 1932; he predeceased her in 1976  In her final years, she resided in a nursing home in Orono, where she died on March 2, 2001, at the age of 98 The Brownie and William E  Schrumpf Papers, including her extensive collection of Maine community cookbooks and recipe pamphlets, are housed in the special collections department of the Raymond H  Fogler Library at the University of Maine 

Works
Memories from Brownie's Kitchen: A collection of recipes compiled over thirty-seven years (2nd ed )  Bangor Publishing Company  1989  ISBN 0962389005 
The Flavor of Maine: Recipes in honor of the bicentennial  Bangor Daily News  1976 
"Maine's Own: Baked Bean Recipes"  Maine Department of Agriculture  1951 

Notes
Passage 10:
San Mateo Daily News
The San Mateo Daily News was a free daily newspaper in San Mateo, California published 6 days a week with an average daily circulation of 22,000  The newspaper was founded August 9, 2000 by Dave Price (journalist) and Jim Pavelich, who also published the Palo Alto Daily News  Both papers were distributed in large red newspaper racks and inside stores, coffee shops, restaurants, schools, and major workplaces  The San Mateo Daily News, along with five other Daily News editions, was sold to Knight Ridder on February 15, 2005  After McClatchy's acquisition of Knight Ridder in 2006, all six Daily News editions, including the San Mateo Daily News were bundled with the San Jose Mercury News and sold to MediaNews Group of Denver, Colorado  The surviving Daily News, papers merged on April 7, 2009 

External links
Knight Ridder buys Daily News
Daily News publishers ride into sunset



ground_truth: Tharangambadi

prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: Why is Bangor Daily News talkin about Sawin Millett?

The following are given passages.
Context 4:  Citing other scholars (Shafer 1970, Blust 1996, Sagart 2004, Sagart 2005, Ostapirat 2013, Kelley 2013, and Chamberlain), Joachim Schliesinger states that the theory that the Vietnamese language was originally based in the area of the Red River in what is now northern Vietnam has been widely rejected by modern Western scholarship, based on historical records and linguistic evidence  The Red River Delta region is now considered to be originally Tai-speaking, ethnic Hlai people in particular  The area is believed to have become Vietnamese-speaking as late as the tenth century, as a result of immigration from the south, i e , modern central Vietnam Zhao Tuo wrote that he only considered his native subjects to be "barbarians"  Vietnamese historian Ngô Thì Sĩ (1726–1780) refused to consider Zhao Tuo as a Vietnamese leader, saying that he was based in Panyu (Guangzhou), and only ruled the Hong River Delta indirectly  He compared this to the example of the Southern Han dynasty based in Guangzhou There is evidence that Vietnamese elites of the Red River Delta, during the medieval ages, tried to invent an origin of their own (the legendary Hồng Bàng dynasty) based on ancient Chinese texts, which recorded the movements of Tai-speaking peoples across the region of South China 

Culture
There was a fusion of the Han and Yue cultures in significant ways, as shown by the artifacts unearthed by archaeologists from the tomb of King Zhao Mo in Guangzhou  The Nanyue tomb in Guangzhou is extremely rich  There are quite a number of bronzes that show cultural influences from the Han, Chu, Yue and Ordos regions 

Gallery
Jade wares unearthed from the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King
See also
Notes
Passage 2:
Han campaigns against Minyue
The Han campaigns against Minyue were a series of three Han military campaigns dispatched against the Minyue state  The first campaign was in response to Minyue's invasion of Eastern Ou in 138 BC  In 135 BC, a second campaign was sent to intervene in a war between Minyue and Nanyue  After the campaign, Minyue was partitioned into Minyue, ruled by a Han proxy king, and Dongyue  Dongyue was defeated in a third military campaign in 111 BC and the former Minyue territory was annexed by the Han Empire 

Background
The Qin dynasty's military incursions in the south of what is now China began a period of expansion that continued under the next dynasty, the Han   After the fall of the Qin, Minyue was established in 202 BC, and Eastern Ou in 192 BC, with the support of the Han  They were rewarded with greater autonomy in return for their contributions to the revolt against the Qin  The local rulers of the Minyue region had also sided with Liu Bang's Han instead of Xiang Yu's Chu during the Chu–Han Contention, a civil war that ensued during the collapse of the Qin Minyue was created by carving out the former Qin province of Minzhong, with Dongye as the capital, into a new kingdom ruled by Zou Wuzhu  A decade later, Zou Yao was granted control over Donghai, popularly referred to as Eastern Ou after the name of the kingdom's capital  The title was bestowed with a declaration by the Han emperor that "Zou Yan, the chief of Min, achieved great merit and his people supported the Han cause"  The Han historian Sima Qian claims both rulers were descendants of Goujian, the 5th century BC ruler of Yue  The family had lost their status as rulers during the Qin's wars of unification, when they were demoted to local chieftains 

Han–Minyue wars
Intent of Minyue
While Minyue invasion of its neighbours appears to be a "spontaneous whim of a foolhardy and greedy king Zou Ying" in the Han dynasty history books, given the geopolitical circumstances, Brindley (2015) wrote that "We should therefore consider Minyue aggression in the 130s in terms of a series of pre-emptive, southerly strikes intended to stave off Han encroachment and potential takeover" 

Initial military intervention
In 138 BC, Minyue invaded the Eastern Ou, prompting Eastern Ou to request the intervention of Han forces  The Han court was divided over offering military support  The campaign was opposed by the Han commander-in-chief Tian Fen, who argued that warfare between the Yue tribes occurred frequently and the affairs of Yue were not the responsibility of the Han government  The concept of Chinese centrality among nations persuaded the court to dispatch an army  In accordance with Chinese political philosophy, the ruler or Son of Heaven held a mandate that obligated the emperor to help smaller countries in need  Otherwise, as the Han official Zhuang Zhu phrased it, "how could we treat the myriad kingdoms as our children?"A Han naval force led by Zhuang Zhu departed from Shaoxing in northern Zhejiang towards Minyue  The Minyue surrendered before the arrival of the Han troops, and withdrew from Eastern Ou  There were plans to move the residents of Eastern Ou to the area between the Huai River and Yangtze River, following a request by the king of Eastern Ou 

Second intervention
In 135 BC, war broke out when Minyue invaded Nanyue  Zhao Mo, the king of Nanyue, asked for and received the military assistance of the Han  In 180 BC, Zhao had offered to submit as a vassal and the Han agreed, a decision that was partly based on Zhao's ancestral roots in northern China  An army led by the generals Wang Hui and Han Anguo was ordered to invade Minyue  The campaign was cut short by palace infighting in the Minyue court  Panicked at news of an invasion, the younger brother of the Minyue king Zou Ying, Zou Yushan, conspired with the royal court to depose Ying  Yushan killed his brother with a spear, decapitated the corpse, and sent the head to Wang  The Han forces withdrew soon after Zhao Mo was grateful for the speed of the intervention against Minyue  The Han official Zhuang Zhu was dispatched to meet with the Nanyue emperor, who expressed his gratitude  Zhao sent his son, the prince Zhao Yingqi, to the Han capital at Chang'an, where he was to work for the Emperor  In the aftermath of the campaign, Minyue had split into a dual monarchy, Minyue and Dongyue  Minyue was controlled by the Han through a proxy ruler, while Dongyue was independently ruled by Zou Yushan, the brother who deposed the former king during the invasion Zou Chou was selected to fill the role of Han proxy ruler because he was the only member of the Minyue royal family who refused to take part in the war against Nanyue  However, his efforts to exert control over the people of Minyue were not successful  The subjects of the kingdom pledged their loyalty to Zou Yushan instead  Yushan declared himself king of Minyue without the consent of the Emperor Wu, the Han ruler  The emperor was informed of Yushan's actions, and recognized him as king of Dongyue instead of ordering a second invasion  Emperor Wu considered it a reward to Yushan for killing Zou Ying and ending the war  The assassination had prevented the Han from wasting any more resources on the conflict  Dongyue had an uneasy relationship with the Han  In 112 BC, Han officials were killed in a military engagement with Dongyue 

Third campaign and conquest
As Han troops returned from the Han–Nanyue War in 111 BC, the Han government debated annexing Dongyue  Dongyue, under King Zou Yushan, had agreed to assist the Han campaign against Nanyue, but the Dongyue army never reached Nanyue  Yushan blamed the delay on the weather  The proposal to annex Dongyue was suggested by General Yang Pu, but was dismissed by Emperor Wu  The naval force arrived home without having attacked Dongyue  Zou caught wind of Yang's request, and responded by revolting against the Han  Han forces were led by General Han Yue, General Yang Pu, commander Wang Wenshu, and two marquises of Yue ancestry  The army crushed the rebellion and captured Dongyue in the last months of 111 BC, placing the former Minyue territory under Han rule Historical records report that Minyue and Dongyue were emptied of people, and that its residents were deported to the territories between the Huai River and the Yangtze River  The alleged population transfer was a resumption of a policy that had been planned since 138 BC  The Han government considered the mountainous region difficult to control and was wary of trusting its residents  Modern historians doubt the event happened  The deportation of an entire kingdom is implausible, and nothing has been found to verify a migration of Han settlers to the Minyue region around the year 1, something that would have occurred had the area been abandoned while under Han control  There was only one town of Han settlers, Dongyue, in Minyue  Dongyue was built where the Min River meets the sea, around the time of Emperor Wu's reign  It is more likely that the assimilation of Minyue into Han Chinese culture through Han conquest happened later in the dynasty 

Historical significance
From one settlement in year 1, the Han Dynasty's involvement in the Minyue region grew into several counties  There were many Chinese counties in the area by the 4th century AD  The Minyue had been culturally assimilated by the time the Han Dynasty collapsed, and Chinese civilization was undergoing a transition to the Three Kingdoms period of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu  Political upheaval in the north, such as Wang Mang's usurpation, had caused Han migrants to resettle in the south  The Han Dynasty's military expansion widened its commercial ties in addition acquiring large amounts of new territories  The empire's conquest of Minyue and Nanyue spoke of its vast size that it bordered the ancient kingdoms of Southeast Asia  Economic ties with the Han and subsequent dynasties affected the trajectory of maritime trade of Southeast Asia, where goods have been excavated made in styles resembling that of the ancient Han Chinese  Maritime trade and the Silk Road also linked China with Ancient Rome, India, and the Near East 

Citations
Bibliography
Brindley, Erica (2015)  Ancient China and the Yue Perceptions and Identities on the Southern Frontier, c 400 BCE–50 CE  Cambridge University Press 
Gernet, Jacques (1996)  A History of Chinese Civilization  Cambridge University Press  ISBN 978-0-521-49781-7 
Holcombe, Charles (2001)  The Genesis of East Asia: 221 B C  – A D  907  University of Hawaii Press  ISBN 978-0-8248-2465-5 
Yu, Yingshi (1986)   Twitchett, Denis; Loewe, Michael (eds )  Cambridge History of China: Volume I: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B C  – A D  220  University of Cambridge Press  ISBN 978-0-521-24327-8 
Lorge, Peter (2012)   Graff, David Andrew; Higham, Robin D  S  (eds )  A Military History of China  University Press of Kentucky  ISBN 978-0-8131-3584-7 
Sima, Qian; Watson, Burton (1993)  Records of the Grand Historian: Han Dynasty II  Translation and commentary by Watson  Columbia University Press  ISBN 978-0-231-08166-5 
Passage 3:
Ballaios
Ballaios (Ancient Greek: Βαλλαῖος; ruled c  260 – c  230 BC) was an Illyrian king of the Ardiaei tribe  Attested only in coinage, Ballaios is considered as the predecessor of Agron  He is considered to have been a powerful and influential king as testified by the abundance of his silver and bronze coinage found along both coasts of the Adriatic  A hoard found in 2010 is one of the biggest hoards of ancient coins known, not only from Illyria  The capital of Ballaios' kingdom was Rhizon His silver issues are rare, but bronze coins, without the royal title, occur on Hvar, both in single finds and in hoards, and at Rhizon in a different series bearing the royal title  In the city of Ulcinj there is still a fully functioning water source bearing his name: "Kroni i Ballos"  The coins of Ballaios were widely imitated in the region, sometimes so crudely that they are unintelligible 

Reign
Prior to the recent excavations carried out in the 2010s, archaeologist Arthur Evans dated Ballaios' coinage c  between 167 BC and 135 BC, in the period between the fall of Macedon and the expedition by the consul Servius Fulvius Flaccus against the Illyrians  J  M  F  May (1930s) dated it c  between 195/190 BC and 175 BC, which was followed by G  Gorini (1991), and Šašel Kos (2007) After the recent excavations, the archaeological contexts of the coin hoards of Ballaios found in the 2010s indicate an earlier period  Archaeological investigations conducted in the area of Rhizon have revealed that Ballaios was in power and minted coins in the period between c  260 and 230 BC, providing a clear dating for his reign 

Coinage
Ballaios minted coins in his own name  His coins with the long legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΛΛΑΙΟΥ (BASILEOS BALLAIOY) were minted in Rhizon while the coins with the short legend ΒΑΛΛΑΙΟΥ and the head of the king Ballaios which is of a different type and are older, were minted in Pharos  In some cases it is possible to observe that Ballaios' coins were over struck on the older Pharos specimens  The distribution of his coinage indicates that they were concentrated in the central Dalmatian area, while the large number of different dies that have been identified to date indicates a long minting of his coins  Numismatic evidence shows that Ballaios reigned for quite a lengthy time  His coins are also frequently found in Italy, which confirms the trade contacts between both Adriatic coasts 
On the obverse of the coins a bust of the king facing left to right is depicted, while on the reverse Artemis, advancing or standing, is represented with or without a torch, sometimes carrying one or two spears, surrounded by either the long or short legend  Most of these coins are bronze, some, and always those with the long legend are silver  Their weight, c  3 5g corresponds top the Roman victorium  It is significant the Ballaios also had silver coins minted, which indicates his wealth and power, since elsewhere in Hellenistic Dalmatia silver coinage is very rarely documented from Greek/Illyrian mints  The weight of the bronze coins of Ballaios is between 1 0 and 4 5g, while most of the documented specimens weigh between 2 0 and 2 5g  The relatively great impact of the coinage of Ballaios is also indicated by a large number of imitations of his coins  In several instances on some coins, an embossed circular Illyrian shield on one side and the flying horse Pegasus, a mythological creature, and the letter "B", "A" and "L" on the other side, are depicted 
Ballaios' coins were in circulation in the regions along both Adriatic coasts; along the eastern Adriatic, they have been found in a broad area extending from Phoenice in Epirus to Shkodër, in present-day Albania, to Pharos, and along the western Adriatic from Leuca and Locri to Aquileia, indicating trade activity of Ballaios that was no longer controlled by Issa  As expected the coins of Ballaios were also found in the broad area of Narona, the most important Greek/Illyrian emporium which maintained along with the river Neretva, commercial and other contacts with the interior regions or Illyricum 

See also
List of rulers of Illyria
Illyrian coinage
Passage 4:
List of solar eclipses in the 2nd century BC
This is a list of selected solar eclipses from antiquity, in particular those with historical significance  Eclipses on this list were not only recorded, but sometimes would have large effects such as ending a war 

Historically significant solar eclipses
Statistics
Longest total eclipses
Below is a list of the 10 longest total eclipses between the 30th century BC and the 4th century 

Solar eclipses by century
Passage 5:
Dong'ou Kingdom
Dong'ou (simplified Chinese: 东瓯; traditional Chinese: 東甌; pinyin: Dōng'ōu) also known as Ouyue (simplified Chinese: 瓯越; traditional Chinese: 甌越; pinyin: Ōuyuè), was an ancient  kingdom in modern Wenzhou and Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China  The realm of Dong'ou was given to Zou Yao by Emperor Gaozu of Han in 192 BC  During the Han campaigns against Minyue in 138 BC, the king of Dong'ou no longer wished to live in his realm after the incident, and had all his people moved into the Han dynasty 
Passage 6:
Dian Kingdom
Dian (Chinese: 滇) was an ancient kingdom established by the Dian people, a non-Han metalworking civilization that inhabited around the Dian Lake plateau of central northern Yunnan, China from the late Spring and Autumn period until the Eastern Han dynasty  The Dian buried their dead in vertical pit graves  The Dian language was likely one of the Tibeto-Burman languages  The Han Empire's annexation of the Dian Kingdom in 109 BCE eventually led to the establishment of the Yizhou commandery  Dian culture started from at least the 8th century BCE, until it fell under the control of the Han dynasty in 109 BCE 

History
Dian was an ancient kingdom situated in modern Yunnan, southwestern China, in the region around the Dian Lake  According to Han historian, Sima Qian, it was established in 279 BCE when King Qingxiang of Chu sent a military force to the southwest  Zhuang Qiao, a general of Chu, reached the Dian Lake as part of the Chu military campaign  When the Chu homeland was invaded by the Qin, Zhuang Qiao decided to stay in Yunnan and adopt the native ways, establishing the Dian kingdom  The Qin dynasty was subsequently overthrown by the Han, and the commanderies of the new dynasty, Ba and Shu, bordered Dian According to the Shiji, the southwest was dominated by barbarians, among whom the ruler of Yelang was the most powerful  To the west of Yelang were the Mimo and the most powerful among them was the ruler of Dian  North of Dian was Qiongdu  All these people styled their hair in a mallet-shaped fashion  These were settled peoples who worked the fields and lived in settlements In the area from Tongshi east to Yeyu were the Sui and Kunming tribes who braided their hair and moved from place to place with their herds  They had no fixed abodes or rulers  Northeast of the Sui were the Xi and Zuodu  The most powerful of the Zuodu were the Ran and Mang, who lived west of Shu  Some of them moved from place and place but others lived in fixed abodes  Northeast of the Ran and Mang were the Baima, who belonged to the Di tribe 
Shu is the only place that makes ju berry sauce  large quantities of it are exported in secret to the markets of Yelang, which is situated on the Zangke  The Zangke at that point is over 100 paces across, wide enough to allow boats to move up and down it  The king of Southern Yue sends money and goods in an effort to gain control of Yelang, extending his efforts as far west as Tongshi, but so far he has not succeeded in getting Yelang to acknowledge his sovereignty 
In 135 BCE, the Han envoy Tang Meng brought gifts to Duotong, the king of Yelang, which bordered Dian, and convinced him to submit to the Han  The Jianwei Commandery was established in the region  In 122 BCE, Emperor Wu dispatched four groups of envoys to the southwest in search of a route to Daxia in Central Asia  One group was welcomed by the king of Dian but none of them were able to make it any further as they were blocked in the north by the Sui and Kunming tribes of the Erhai region and in the south by the Di and Zuo tribes  However they learned that further west there was a kingdom called Dianyue where the people rode elephants and traded with the merchants from Shu in secret In 111 BCE, Emperor Wu of Han ordered the barbarian tribes of Jianwei Commandery to raise troops for the campaign against Nanyue  Fearing that neighboring tribes would attack them in the absence of their men, the tribe of Julan rebelled against the Han and killed the governor of Jianwei Commandery  After Nanyue was defeated, Han forces turned north and subjugated the various tribes of Yelang, Julan, Toulan, Qiong, Zuo, Ran, and Mang The Dian Kingdom was annexed by the Han under the reign of Emperor Wu of Han in 109 BCE and the Yizhou commandery established  The Dian King willingly received the Chinese invasion in the hopes of assistance against rival tribes  It was at this time he received his seal from the Chinese, and became a tributary Emperor Wu sent Wang Ranyu to persuade the king of Dian to submit, pointing out that many of the neighboring tribes had already been defeated  The king of Dian was initially reluctant to accept the offer for he still possessed some 30,000 troops as well as the allegiance of the nearby Laojin and Mimo tribes  However, in 109 BCE, Han troops from Ba and Shu wiped out the Laojin and Mimo, leading the king of Dian to surrender  While Dian became Yizhou Commandery (Chinese: 益州), the king was allowed to continue his rule until a rebellion during the reign of Emperor Zhao of Han  The Han proceeded with colonization and conquered the people of Kunming in 86 and 82 BCE, reaching all the way to what is now modern day Myanmar 

Royal burials
The Dian buried their kings at Shizhaishan, which was uncovered in 1954 near Shizhai Village in Jinning County, Yunnan  The burials were identified by the inscription King Dian's Seal  The inscription was written in seal script on a gold imperial seal of investiture given by the Han Emperor  Sima Qian noted that the Dian were one of only two local groups to have received an imperial seal, the other being Yelang  Both have survived: the Yelang Seal emerged in 2007 from a Hmong man in Guizhou, claiming to be the Yelang King's 75th generation descendant 

Culture
Bronze working
The largest tin deposits on the Eurasian continent are located on the Malay peninsula, and as such, the Dian people were sophisticated metal workers, casting both bronze and iron  The Dian cast bronze objects using both the piece mould method and the lost wax method  Dian elite burials contained an impressive array of bronze objects, although late Dian burials also contained locally cast iron objects 
Large bronze drums were employed by the Dian to communicate in battle; ritual burials of Dian elites were accompanied by large bronze drums filled with cowrie shells  The tops of the drums were removed and replaced by a bronze lid 

Saka influences
Iaroslav Lebedynsky and Victor H  Mair speculate that some Sakas may also have migrated to the area of Yunnan in southern China following their expulsion by the Yuezhi in the 2nd century BCE  Excavations of the prehistoric art of the Dian civilization of Yunnan have revealed hunting scenes similar to that of Indo-European artwork depicting horsemen in Central Asian clothing  The scenes depicted on these drums sometimes represent these horsemen practicing hunting  Animal scenes of felines attacking oxen are also at times reminiscent of Scythian art both in theme and in composition 

Depiction of Dian society
The bronze lids were covered with miniature figurines and structures, depicting various scenes from the life of the Dian people  The bronze lids depicted the Dian people engaged in everyday activities such as hunting, farming and weaving  Other scenes depicted the leisurely pursuits of the Dian people, such as bullfighting, dancing and music-making  The Dian people dressed in tunics over short pants and wore their hair in topknots  The bronze lids corroborated Sima Qian's description of the Dian hairstyle 
Many scenes depicted the Dian at war, often riding horses  Archaeological evidence shows that horses had been domesticated by the Dian people as early as the sixth century BCE  The bronze lids also depicted the Dian decapitating their enemies (who wore their hair in long plaits) 
The Kingdom was based on agriculture, the bronzes also showed head hunting, human sacrifice, and slaves as part of Dian society 

Underwater ruins
Archaeologists recently discovered the inundated remains of Dian-period buildings and pottery fragments under Fuxian Lake and were able to verify their age with carbon dating 

Other artifacts
At Dabona, a site connected with the Dian culture, archaeologists discovered a large double coffin burial; The outer coffin was made of wood and the inner coffin was made of bronze  The inner coffin was shaped like a house and weighs over 157 kg 
The Yunnan Provincial Museum holds many archaeological relics of the Dian culture 

Gallery
Passage 7:
Go dynasty
Go Royal Family (Reigned from 37 BC to 668 AD) was the dynasty that founded and ruled over the ancient Korean kingdom of Goguryeo  Its founder, Jumong (Korean: 주몽; Hanja: 朱蒙), broke away from another ancient Korean kingdom called Dongbuyeo to start his own kingdom  The Taewangs were all members of the Go Royal Family 

Ancestry of Jumong
Jumong was the 4th generation descendant of Hae Mosu, as the grandson of Hae Mosu's second son, King Go Jin, the ruler of Gori  This explains why Jumong was able to rise to the throne of Bukbuyeo 

The Founding
The Go Royal Family (Hangul: 고씨 왕족), The Han Royal Family (Hangul: 한씨왕족) was founded and descended from one common ancestor, who was Jumong, also the first ruler of Goguryeo  Jumong was the son of Go Mosu and Lady Yuhwa (Korean: 유화부인; Hanja: 柳花夫人)  Lady Yuhwa was the daughter of Habaek (Korean: 하백; Hanja: 河伯), the god of the Amnok River or, according to an alternative interpretation, the sun god Haebak (Korean: 해밝)  Go Mosu was a descendant of Haemosu, the founder of Bukbuyeo, or North Buyeo, and was also said to have been a direct descendant or successor to the Emperors of Ancient Joseon (also known as Gojoseon)  As a descendant of Haemosu, Jumong was driven by the goal of reuniting all of Gojoseon's ancient territory into one whole empire and one whole nation  With this goal in mind, he set off from Dongbuyeo and began building the foundations for his kingdom  After three years, he had already conquered several of the neighboring kingdoms and was ready to go into the final phase of constructing his kingdom  He completed this phase by holding hands with Jolbon and bringing it under his control  In 37 BC, Jumong finally established his kingdom and named it 'Goguryeo' (Hangul: 고구려)  He also changed his last name from 'Hae' to 'Go,' which means 'high ' Goguryeo progressed and continued to grow stronger under Go Jumong's reign of 19 years  His first wife and their son, Yuri, soon to be Emperor King Yuri, fled from Dongbuyeo and came to Goguryeo during the last year of Jumong's reign  Jumong proclaimed Yuri his successor and Crown Prince (Hangul: 태자) before dying five months later 

Complete Transition of the family name
King Yuri rose to the throne in 19 BC and ruled until his death in 18 AD  During his reign, the royal family had absolute power and all power was in the hands of the reigning emperor  Under Yuri, the kingdom was able to grow powerful enough to fight the Han Dynasty  After King Yuri, Daemusin, Mobon, and Minjung, the young prince Gung took the surname "Go" (Hanja: 高) for the first time in 3 generations  From King Taejo to King Bojang, the rulers of Goguryeo kept their ancestor's surname "Go" and "Han" 
According to the Samguk Sagi, the Goguryeo royal family claimed descent from the mythical god Gao Yang, who was the grandson of the Yellow Emperor of Chinese mythology, and thus took the surname of "Go" (高); however, this legend was discredited in the commentaries (논찬; 論贊) by Kim Busik, the compiler of the Samguk Sagi, who concluded that both Baekje and Goguryeo originated from Buyeo 

Height of Imperial power
Goguryeo's height of power came in the reign of Taewang Gwanggaeto the Great of Goguryeo, who created and strengthened Goguryeo's cavalry and naval units to pacify the south and the north  Gwanggaeto the Great attacked and conquered Buyeo, Biryu-guk, the Later Yan, Malgal, and the Ainu tribes  Goguryeo's height of power finally came, but the bringer of glory died at the young age of 39 

Decline of Imperial power
King Munjamyeong continued to expand Goguryeo's territories after receiving the full surrender of the ancient Korean state of Buyeo in 494  After the reign of King Munjamyeong, his son Heung-An became King Anjang  King Anjang continued to attack the southern kingdoms and weaken their power, further establishing the empire's power over both the Korean peninsula and Manchuria  After King Anjang, his son became King Anwon 

Fall of Goguryeo
Goguryeo's 27th ruler, King Yeongryu, submitted to the newly-risen Tang Dynasty, despite the overwhelming victories that Goguryeo had achieved over the Sui  King Yeongryu was assassinated by Yeon Gaesomun (연개소문), who was Dae Magniji (대막리지/Grand Prime Minister) of Goguryeo until 666 CE  King Bojang, the nephew of King Yeongryu, rose to the throne and ruled until 668 CE, when Goguryeo was destroyed 

See also
History of Korea
Three Kingdoms of Korea
Taewang



ground_truth: Commissioner by the Maine Senate