MANVANTARA meaning the age of each MANU.  The Wikipedia gives the following definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manvantara#First_Manvantara_-_the_interval_of_Swayambhu_Manu Manvantara or Manuvantara [ 1 ] , or age of a Manu [ 2 ] , the Hindu progenitor of mankind, is an astronomical period of time measurement. Manvantara is a Sanskrit sandhi , a combination of