Teaching is one of the most noble professions. It is a career which not only helps a child gain knowledge about various subjects and domains, but also helps a child recognise his strengths and weaknesses, helping him/her to become a better human being. India has a deep rooted history as far as the field of education is concerned and the contribution, talent and skills of our very own educationalists, teachers and lecturers have been acknowledged globally. 1.Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan The first Vice-President of India and the second President, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, was born on 5 September 1888 in Tiritani, a small town 84 kilometers away from Chennai. His family was a simple Brahmin family living a cultural life. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan , a great educationist, great philosopher, great speaker, thinker and a knowledgeable doctor of Indian culture, was rich in virtuous talent.Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the great teacher who took India to new heights in the field of education, is celebrated every year on 5th September as the honor of teachers. Doctor Radhakrishnan looked at the entire world as a school. He was of the opinion that through education only human brain can be used properly. Therefore, management of education should be treated as a single unit of the world Dr. Radhakrishnan's talent was considered not only in the country but also in foreign countries. The different lectures given on foreign subjects were appreciated everywhere. In his lifetime and posthumously, he was honored with many honors, let's take a look at him. 1931: Knight Bachelor / Sir's title, after independence, he returned it 1938: Fellow of the British Academy. 1954: Bharat Ratna 1954: German "Order Poor Le Merit for Arts and Sciences" 1961: Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. 1962: Beginning to celebrate his birthday on 5th September Teacher's Day 1963: British Order of Merit. 1968: Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, Dr. Radhakrishnan was the first person to receive this 1975: Templates prize (posthumous) 1989: Oxford University introduces Scholarship with their name Death is not the end or the obstacle, but the beginning of the new kadam is greater." After the death of Dr. Radhakrishnan, the rich Sarvapalli of Asim Taliban, who took such positive ideas in life, on April 17, 1975, after the prolonged illness, Gone This was irreparable damage to the country. But as a great philosopher and educationist of his time, he is still immortal.Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who considered education as the greatest basis of human and society, will be unforgettable and unmatched contribution to the educational world. 2.APJ Abdul Kalam APJ Abdul Kalam was born on October 15, 1931 in the small village of Tamil Nadu, whose name is Dhanushkodi. In this village, he lived with his joint family. The economic condition of his family was not correct. His father used to rent boat to fishermen and his mother was a homemaker. APJ Abdul Kalam Sahib started his education from an elementary school of Rameshwaram. Kalam Sahib started the work of selling newspaper for his studies and financial support of the house. APJ Abdul Kalam completed the twelfth Schwartz Higher Secondary School located in Ramanathapuram.Thereafter, he enrolled at St. Joseph College to obtain a Bachelor Degree, which is located in Tiruchirappalli. But their education was not ended here, they were very fond of reading and learning. He went to Madras in 1955 for further studies from where he graduated in Space Science in 1958. Dr. Kalam is a practical educational thinker and visionary who stands for integrating ancient and modern educational ideals for the development of a balanced Indian society. Being a top scientist of international reputation, his direct contribution to the advancement of science and technology is unique and commendable. His scholarly research publications, articles, books etc. have opened new avenues for research and studies in the area of aeronautics, ballistics, and metallurgy. Below are some important factors of Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam, for better Education. Capacities to be built among students: The primary focus of the students should be to excel in their studies. This is their first contribution to the development of the nation. The education system should instill in the minds of students capacities of inquiry, creativity, technology, entrepreneurial and moral leadership. If we develop in all our students these five capacities, we will produce "Autonomous Learner" a self-directed, self controlled, lifelong learner, who will have the capacity to both respect authority and at the same time is capable of questioning authority, in an appropriate manner. Planning for good education for children in villages: Every school should have basic amenities such as a good building equipped with ventilation and lighting. The rooms should be airy and have spacious classrooms. Mission of education: Education is the most important element for growth and prosperity of a nation. India is in the process of transforming itself into a developed nation by 2020. Yet we have 350 million people who need literacy and many more who have to acquire employable skills to suit the emerging modern India and the globe. Mobilising resources for the mission of education: Today our expenditure on education in India is little more than 4 per cent of our GDP. If we have to achieve nearly 100 per cent literacy, it is necessary to increase expenditure on education to about 6 to 7 per cent of GDP. This 2 to 3 per cent increase has to be sustained only for a few years. Thereafter, a lower percentage of GDP allocation to education will be adequate to sustain the high degree of literacy in this country for all time to come. 3.Chanakya Chanakya was born in a very poor family. They also called 'Kautilya' due to their fierce and mysterious nature. His name was probably also 'Vishnugupta'. Chanakya received education at Takshshila, a great education center of that time. After 14 years of study, at the age of 26, he completed his education of sociology, politics and economics and he also did teaching work in Nalanda. He was a strong supporter of the monarchy They are also known as 'Meikivali of India'. There is such a legend that once he was insulted for some reason in Magadha's court, then he had taken the initiative of the destruction of the Nand-dynasty. He Chandragupta Maurya By sitting on the throne, in fact, completed his vow and erased the Nand-Dynasty to establish the Maurya dynasty. Chanakya was also an ambassador of the country's integrity, so he gave the Greek invaders out of India by Chandragupta and gave freedom to the people suffering from the atrocities of Nand-dynasty. Acharya Chanakya is considered to be the most intelligent patron of Indian history. He has rendered his political theories in the book, 'Economics', whose importance is still accepted. Many universities have also set 'Economics' of Kautilya (Chanakya) in its curriculum. The genuine credit for the establishment of the Great Maurya dynasty goes to the wonderful diplomat Chanakya. Chanakya was a scholar, visionary and a strong man, and was an architect of economics, politics and diplomacy. Acharya Chanakya , also known asVishnugupta and Kautilya , was a great scholar, whose policies established many empires. Let us know in detail about their lives today. According to the Buddhist religion, according to the Buddhist tradition, Mahapandit Chanakya was born in a Brahmin dynasty named Kettle of Taxila. They are also known as India's Macawalas .Kautilya was a supporter of the monarchy He said that the happiness of the king should be in the happiness of the people and the interests of the king should be inherent in the interest of the king itself. For this, he should be educated only from childhood.The process of becoming a good ruler should start with a Mundan rite. First of all, the alphabet and the numeral should be practiced and after the Upaniyan, knowledge of new analytical dialogue and punishments should be made. Kautilya educated Chandra Gupta Maurya from her childhood as a great ruler from childhood. Chandragupta did not defeat Sikandar, but with his education and intellectual skills, he became immortalized in the pages of history as a noble ruler. According to Chanakya, a description of how a ruler should be, he has written detailed in Chanakya Nityi. According to Kautilya: The king should be elite The king should be healthy and follow the rule. Good ruler should be Nirbhik, Shastri, Knowledge, Spartan should be strong. Should be free from work-anger and greed. Chanakya says that- Just as the lick of wood is destroyed quickly, in the same way the princes of the princess are not educated, the princes are destroyed without any war. 4.Swami Dayanand Saraswati Swami Dayanand Saraswati was born on February 12, 1825, in Tanka village of the Maury state of Kathiawar in the state of Gujarat. His childhood name was original Shankar. Swami Dayanand Saraswati Swami Dayanand's father was named Karsanji Tiwadi and mother's name was Yashodabai. Karsanji was a large landlord and Tehsildar in the Revenue Department of Government. He had a good influence in the areas around him and he was a follower of Shaivism. Swami Dayanand Saraswati was more than a religious leader of India who left deep impact on the Indian society. He founded the Arya Samaj that brought about changes in the religious perception of Indians. He voiced his opinions against idolatry and the pointless emphasis on empty ritualism, and man-made dictates that women are not allowed to read the Vedas. His idea of denouncing the caste system inherited by oneself in lieu of their birth was nothing short of radical. He brought about a complete overhaul of the education system by introducing Anglo-Vedic schools to offer Indian students an updated curriculum teaching both the knowledge of the Vedas along with contemporary English education. Although he was never really involved in politics directly, his political observations were the source of inspiration for a number of political leaders during India’s struggle for independence. He was given the epithet of Maharishi and is considered as one of the Makers of Modern India. Maharishi Dayanand was fully convinced that the lack of knowledge was the main culprit behind the adulteration of Hinduism. He set up a number of Gurukuls to teach his followers the knowledge of the Vedas and for them to spread the knowledge further. Inspired by his beliefs, teachings and ideas, his disciples established the Dayanand Anglo Vedic College Trust and Management Society, after his death in 1883. The first DAV High School was established at Lahore on June 1, 1886 with Lala Hans Raj as its headmaster. The great work of Maharishi Devanand also involves fighting for women's rights. Rights of women such as- Right to study, Right to study Vedic culture, They emphasized on all this, so that all people know Hindu culture very well. Dayanand was the first person who named Dalits as indigenous and Harijan Ajije and removed untouchable tradition before Mahatma Gandhi . Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati had a huge hand in the campaign for Indian independence. He worked many social reforms in his life. And along with, inspired the people to get freedom. By establishing Arya Samaj, he restored the Vedic traditions which were sunk in India and identified the world as Hindu Dharma. Many freedom fighters followed their work after them. And today, due to such great men, we are living in independent India. 5. Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath was born on May 7, 1861 in Chittorgarh, in Kolkata, Kolkata, on the road of Dwarkanath Thakur, as the son of Devendranath Thakur. Devendranath Thakur himself was very famous and due to conduct like Santo, he is called "Maharishi". The people of the Thakur family were the leaders of the society.Brahmin of caste and education went a long way in culture, but the fundamentalist people used to denote him as "Pirali". "Pirali" Brahmins were considered to be caste-based due to rising and sitting with the Muslims. Rabindranath Tagore was the father of Rabindranath Tagore as Dwarkanath Thakur King.At this time his family had immense fascination.Zamindari was big because of which the color of playing songs till late in the night was stored. If some of the plays were performed, then there was a gathering of special Athithians. In childhood, Ravindra seemed like a school jail. After taking the three schools, he discontinued his schooling, but he had a good education in the free environment.Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath had spent eleven times traveling abroad, which was introduced to prominent English writers. With the encouragement of them, Rabindranath published English translations of some of his songs and poems. These compositions were published under the title "Gitanjali". Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath got the Nobel Prize on this, which is the highest award in the world. On August 7, 1941, Rakhi, this great poet took a blind eye, but the nation still gave him the singing of the whole country together with honor. Rabindranath composed his first poem at age eight, and by the end of his life, had written over twenty-five volumes of poetry, fifteen plays, ninety short stories, eleven novels, thirteen volumes of essays, initiated and edited various journals, prepared Bengali textbooks, kept up a correspondence involving thousands of letters, composed over two thousand songs; and – after the age of seventy – created more than two thousand pictures and sketches. He dedicated forty years of his life to his educational institution at Santiniketan, West Bengal. Rabindranath’s school contained a children’s school as well as a university known as Visva-Bharati and a rural education Centre known as Sriniketan. Key ideas Rabindranath did not write a central educational treatise, and his ideas must be gleaned through his various writings and educational experiments at Santiniketan In general, he envisioned an education that was deeply rooted in one’s immediate surroundings but connected to the cultures of the wider world, predicated upon pleasurable learning and individualized to the personality of the child. He felt that a curriculum should revolve organically around nature with classes held in the open air under the trees to provide for a spontaneous appreciation of the fluidity of the plant and animal kingdoms, and seasonal changes. Children sat on hand-woven mats beneath the trees, which they were allowed to climb and run beneath between classes. Nature walks and excursions were a part of the curriculum and students were encouraged to follow the life cycles of insects, birds and plants. Class schedules were made flexible to allow for shifts in the weather or special attention to natural phenomena, and seasonal festivals were created for the children by Tagore. In an essay entitled “A Poet’s School,” he emphasizes the importance of an empathetic sense of interconnectedness with the surrounding world: In terms of curriculum, he advocated a different emphasis in teaching. Rather than studying national cultures for the wars won and cultural dominance imposed, he advocated a teaching system that analysed history and culture for the progress that had been made in breaking down social and religious barriers. Such an approach emphasized the innovations that had been made in integrating individuals of diverse backgrounds into a larger framework, and in devising the economic policies which emphasized social justice and narrowed the gap between rich and poor. Art would be studied for its role in furthering the aesthetic imagination and expressing universal themes. It should be noted that Rabindranath in his own person was a living icon of the type of mutuality and creative exchange that he advocated. His vision of culture was not a static one, but one that advocated new cultural fusions, and he fought for a world where multiple voices were encouraged to interact with one another and to reconcile differences within an overriding commitment to peace and mutual interconnectedness. His generous personality and his striving to break down barriers of all sorts gives us a model for the way multiculturalism can exist within a single human personality, and the type of individual which the educational process should be aspiring towards. Tagore’s educational efforts were ground-breaking in many areas. He was one of the first in India to argue for a humane educational system that was in touch with the environment and aimed at overall development of the personality. Santiniketan became a model for vernacular instruction and the development of Bengali textbooks; as well, it offered one of the earliest coeducational programs in South Asia. The establishment of Visva-Bharati and Sriniketan led to pioneering efforts in many directions, including models for distinctively Indian higher education and mass education, as well as pan-Asian and global cultural exchange. One characteristic that sets Rabindranath’s educational theory apart is his approach to education as a poet. At Santiniketan, he stated, his goal was to create a poem ‘in a medium other than words.’ It was this poetic vision that enabled him to fashion a scheme of education which was all inclusive, and to devise a unique program for education in nature and creative self-expression in a learning climate congenial to global cultural exchange. 6. Savitribai Phule Savitribai Phule was born in Maharashtra's Naigaon. At the age of 9, in 1840, she was married to 13-year-old Jyotirao Phule, who taught her to read and write. She is considered to be one of the most prominent faces of the social reform movement in Maharashtra for her work against caste and gender-based discrimination in colonial India. She set up the first school for girls from different castes in Bhidewada, Pune and became first woman teacher in the country. In her lifetime she built 18 such schools in the region.Along with her husband Jyotirao Phule, she established a home for the prevention of infanticide for widows thrown out by their families after being sexually abused by other men.Savitribai died of an infection while taking care of patients during the third global pandemic of the bubonic plague in 1897.In 2014, the Maharashtra government in a tribute to Savitribai Phule renamed Pune University in her name.Her mantra for education: Awake, arise and educate. She was one of the first women social reformers of the country who despite all odds in the male dominated society and the prevailing absurd Hindu social customs continued her endeavor of serving downtrodden and the women. However, due to the brahmnical hegemony over the intellectual domain, she could not find a proper place in the annals of history. The government however, has recognised her contribution only after a lapse of one century from her death. In March, 2015 the University of Pune has been renamed as the “Savitribai Phule University of Pune.”In 1998, the government of India released a stamp in her honor. The Maharashtra government has also instituted an award in her name to recognize women social reformers. As she was a first woman teacher of India, it would have been more proper and more relevant if her birthday declared as Teachers Day or Women’s Day to offer her a real tribute. Recently, a member parliament from Maharashtra demanded Bharat Ratna for her which is a just demand keeping in view her great contribution in the reformation of the society. She was also a good poet of Marathi and English. In one of her poems, she writes about the importance of education in the following words. “ All gets lost without knowledge, We become animals without wisdom” Her first poetry composition ‘Kavya Phule’ was published in 1854. Her poetry was mainly centered at educational and social reforms. She is known as the pioneer of Marathi poetry. She did a remarkable work when there was a severe draught in Pune. She, along with her husband used to feed the children and it is said that they fed more than one thousand children in a day. For this purpose, they moved from village to village to raise the funds. Then again in 1897, Pune and surroundings were hit by the dreaded disease ‘Plague’. Both Jyotiba and Savitribai made vigorous efforts for the treatment of the affected people. A treatment centre was opened by them where their doctor son Yashwantrao used to treat them. They also made arrangement for the stay of the patients. She personally took care of the victims of the disease. Due to her continued presence among the patients, she was also infected with the plague and died on March 10,1897 as a result of the same. 7. Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda was born on 12 January 1863 in Kolkata, and was named as Narendra in childhood.His father's name was Vishwanath Dutt and mother's name was Bhuvaneshwari Devi. Vishwanath Dutt was a successful and well known lawyer of the Calcutta High Court of his time, he was also a knowledgeer of English and Persian. Mother Bhuvaneshwari Devi was a wise and wise woman, she was proficient in religious texts like Mahabharata and Ramayana. He was also the best known of English. In such a situation, it was natural that Balendra Narendra got an early knowledge of Western English language in his home and he got an opportunity to understand Hindu religion and culture from his mother.Swami Vivekananda thought that it was a pity that the existing system of education did not enable a person to stand on his own feet, nor did it teach him self-confidence and self-respect. To Vivekananda, education was not only collection of information, but something more meaningful; he felt education should be man-making, life giving and character-building. To him education was an assimilation of noble ideas. Swami Vivekananda stressed on giving the public only positive education, because negative thoughts weaken men. He said, if young boys and girls are encouraged and are not unnecessarily criticized all the time, they are bound to improve in time.The educational philosophy of Swami Vivekananda is a harmonious synthesis between the ancient Indian ideals and modern Western beliefs. He not only stressed upon the physical, mental, moral, spiritual and vocational development of the child but also advocated women education as well as education of the masses.The essential characteristics of the educational philosophy of Swami Vivekananda are idealism, naturalism and pragmatism. According to him education is a continuous process; it should cover all aspects of life - physical, material, intellectual, emotional, moral, and spiritual. His attitude towards modernization is that the masses should be educated before anything else is done. He wanted to remove from India four major evils, via; 1) priest-craft, 2) poverty 3) ignorance 4) tyranny of the wise. He tried to make the people of India understood that political and social strength should have their foundations on cultural strength. He has a true vision of philosophy of education in India in its cultural context. His educational thought has very great significance today because modern education has lost much of its connection with the values of human life. Therefore, he suggested that education should not be for stuffing some facts into the brain, but should aim at reforming the human mind. True education to him, was not for the carrier, but for the contribution to the nation. The great religious saint and social reformer died in 1902 when he was just 39 years. He is no more but he will be remembered for ever on this earth. His missions and his preaching are will continue inspiring the coming generations. 8. Premchand Premchand was born on July 31, 1880, four miles away from the city of Banaras in the village of Lamhi. your father name was Ajayab rai. He used to work as a minor servant in the post office. Dhanpatrai was only eight years old, and after the death of Mata, till the end of her life, Dhanparataya faced constant inconsistent circumstances. Dad got married the second because of which the child could not even get the love and affection he could. He grew up in a state of poverty. It is said that there was a severe poverty in your house. There were no clothes to wear and neither was enough food to eat. Apart from all this, the step mother's behavior at home was also going to get worse.While fighting his poverty, Premchand passed his matriculation At the beginning of life, you used to go barefoot to read Benaras far away from your village.In the meantime father passed away. Wish to read, wanted to become a lawyer later. But poverty broke him. To escape from the hassle of going to school, a lawyer took a tuition at Sahib and started living in his house. Used to get rupees five for the tuition. Three rupees out of five rupees kept the lives of the people alive and from the two rupees. What would have been the two rupees for this month to spend a life of shortage and lack of money? He passed matriculation in these adverse circumstances Premchand wrote his first composition about a particular incident of his relationship with Mamoo. At the age of 13, Premchand stood in the line of fidelity as soon as the composition was completed. In 1894 E. created a play called "Smriti-Giribari of Smriti Birywar". In 1898 he wrote a novel. Around this time, the second novel "Ruthi Rani", whose theme was history, was composed. In the year 1902 in Love and in the year 904-05, the novels "Hum Khur and Hum Saab" were written. In these novels, Premchand has done a very good illustration of widow-life and widow-problem. When some economic uncertainty arose, in 1907, the collection of five stories was composed of Sodo Vatan (Sadan Patiya Pain Pain). As it is known by its name, the creator presented the country's pain and public pain to the country. The British rulers saw a glimpse of the rebellion from this collection. At this time, Premchand used to write Nayabaraye's name.So the discovery of the unsurpassed ray began.Nayabauri was captured and called in front of the ruler. In front of you that day, this masterpiece was burnt by the British rulers and it was binding without writing any order. To avoid this bond, Premchand wrote a letter to Dayanarayan Corporation and told him that he would no longer write in the name of Nayabaray or Dhanpatrai, so Munshi Dayanarayan Corporation proposed the name Premchand for the first time.From here only Dhanpatrai turned into Premchand forever. "Service House", "Mill Worker" and composed of Gondan in 1935. Gauda started writing the last novel named Manglesutra in the last journey of your lifetime, the most famous of all your works.Unfortunately Mangalasutra was left unfinished.Earlier, he also wrote an article titled "Mahajani Civilization" while condemning the trend of Mahajan and Capitalist era. Premchand, the great Hindi novelist, and story writer wrote for the common people in a simple and lucid Hindi. He was a trailblazer who ushered in the era of realism in literature. This article explores the unforgettable contribution of Munshi Premchand to India’s struggle for emancipation. He was a broad-hearted man with a broad vision. He was modest, simple, and unassuming by nature and had a deep and lasting love for the poor and downtrodden. He bitterly criticized the Indian bourgeoisie and its lust for power and money. He inspired not only many students and youth to fight against injustice but also many young writers to write for the common people. His works are still widely read and appreciated. 9.Aryabhatta Land of Pataliputra (Patna) gives us more than couples of great mankind. One of them was Aryabhatta who was from the olden period. He used to live in Magadha in the time of Gupta rulers and he was capable enough to learn many unique things. One of his notable ideas was the lunar eclipse and solar eclipse, rotation of Earth on its axis, the reflection of light by Moon. This gem of India namely Aryabhatta was born in 3,600 in Kaliyug. That time Patliputra (Patna) was highly advanced for education. He also is known for setup observatory Sun temple in Teregena in Bihar. Bhaskara words for him were that Aryabhatta is master of mathematics, Kinematics and Spheric. But in that period Sanskrit was not used in Kerala. Still no Historians having much proved Aryabhatta and his birth place but Bihar is considered as his most important working place. Certainly, Aryabhatta is the first Indian Mathematician and Space exploration and he was being an expert on it. Still, Indian space reminds his invulnerable work as a space project.Aryabhatta was an extraordinary teacher and scholar who had immense knowledge about mathematics and astronomy. He suggested the heliocentric theory which proved that the sun is located in the centre of the solar system and all the planets revolve around it. In fact he made this discovery way before Copernicus made this discovery in the West. The astronomical calculations and deductions suggested by Aryabhatta are extraordinary by the fact that he didn’t have any modern equipment or instrument to do it. He had a very sharp brain and his dedication and hard work led him to solve the various mysteries of the solar system. He also deduced that the earth is round in shape and rotates along its own axis, which forms the existence of day and night. Many superstitious beliefs were challenged by him and he presented scientific reasons to prove them wrong. He also said that the moon has no light and shines because it reflects light from the sun. He also proved wrong the false belief that eclipse is caused because of the shadows formed by the shadows cast by the earth and the moon. Aryabhatta used epicycles in a similar manner to the Greek Philosopher Ptolemy to illustrate the inconsistent movement of some planets. This great astronomer wrote the famous treatise Aryabhatiya, which was based on astronomy in 499 AD. This treatise was acknowledged as a masterpiece. In honour of this excellent work Aryabhatta was made head of the Nalanda University by the Gupta ruler Buddhagupta. Aryabhatta is among the mathematicians who brought new deductions and theories in mathematics and astronomy. His contribution to the mathematics is unmatched and cannot be ignored, as he was the one who deduced the approximate value of pi, which he found it to be 3.14. He also derived the correct formulas for calculating the areas of triangles and circles. He also played a very important role in the formation of the table of Sines. He also played a very major role in determining the place value system and discovering the zero. He also worked on the summation series of square roots and cube roots. He is also regarded as the first to use zero in the place value system. He also calculated the sidereal rotation, which is the rotation of the earth in relation to the fixed stars. His theories and deductions formed the base of the trigonometry and algebra. For his extraordinary works and contributions to mathematics and astronomy, India’s first satellite was named as Aryabhatta. Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences near Nainital and the Aryabhatta Knowledge University in Patna, in India are also named after him. 10. GAUTAM BUDDHA Siddhartha Gautama was born in 563 BCE (Cousins, 1996) in Lumbini (i.e. in modern-day Nepal) and raised in the small principality of Kapilavastu. His father was King Suddhodana, the leader of the Shakya clan. His mother, Queen Maha Maya, was a Koliyan princess who died during his birth. The infant was given the name Siddhartha, meaning “he who achieves his aim” (Buddha Dharma Education Association, Inc. [BDEA] & BuddhaNet, 2008A, para. 1). After his mother’s death, Siddhartha was brought up by his aunt, his mother's younger sister (and another of his father’s wives), Maha Pajapati (Narada, 1992, p. 14). It is said that Suddhodana, wishing for his son to be a great and mighty king, shielded Siddhartha for many years from religious teachings as well as from the knowledge of human suffering (Thaper, 2002, p. 137). The Buddha, or "enlightened one" (free from ignorance and misunderstanding), was born Siddhartha Gautama in northern India near the town of Kapilavastu. His father was ruler of a poor Indian tribe, the Shakyas. His mother died seven days after giving birth to him. Some legends say that he was able to walk and talk at birth. It is also written that he first fell into a state of meditation (focusing all of one's thoughts on something) as a boy while sitting under a tree watching his father plow a field. Meditation was to become an important part of his life. It is said that Gautama's father, in order to prevent him from worrying about the problems of suffering, death, and injustice, built a special palace for him surrounded with distracting luxuries. Gautama eventually married and had a son. But he continued to dwell on the great religious questions, and at the age of twenty-nine he made a bold move. He officially gave up his worldly commitments, left his family, and began a search for the answers to the questions that bothered him. Gautama is said to have experimented with many different teachings for seven years but found none of them acceptable. He set them all aside, and at last, in a single night of deep meditation, he achieved a major breakthrough, an absolutely clear awareness of the real questions of life and the unique religious means for dealing with them. This enlightenment confirmed the truth of his insight, and at this point he became the Buddha. The traditions relate that the Buddha first preached his doctrine (Dharma) in Benares, India's great holy city. He began his missionary work soon after with a handful of followers, offering the teaching to all who would hear and understand. The lives and practices of this little band were at first centered on the spiritual authority of the Buddha himself. As the number of followers grew, the loosely structured community (Sangha) became more organized. It seems probable that by the time of the Buddha's death, at the age of eighty, a number of basic institutional patterns had been set. These included a code of rules to keep order and a collection of the Buddha's sayings. The major ceremonies included the twice-monthly uposatha, a gathering of the monks to recite the rules. Women were admitted to the order. Within the community all barriers of class, race, sex, and previous background were ignored under the impact of the universal message of the teaching. Despite this appearance of routine organization, the Buddha in one of his last sermons is shown as rejecting all forms of religious authority: "Be lamps unto yourselves, O monks." The main purpose of the rules was to guard the independence of each monk in his own spiritual quest. All those who had become official monks had an equal vote on matters affecting the welfare of the community. When disagreements within the group could not be resolved, those who disagreed simply left and formed a new community. Monks guilty of breaking the code of rules were expected to confess and to punish themselves. The Buddha is occasionally represented as being confused and disgusted by the often selfish behavior of the monks. On at least one occasion he took time to wash and care for a sick monk who had been neglected by the others. His own cousin, Devadatta, is believed to have started a movement to replace the Buddha as head of the order. Although most of the Buddha's followers devoted their entire lives to the teachings, the power of the Buddha's personality also attracted many lay (nonreligious) followers, known as the "householders." The tradition relates that the Buddha said only that it was harder for the lay followers to attain final salvation, or nirvana, but this did not stop its members from trying. Lay devotees promised to follow the five rules (no killing, stealing, lying, having sex outside of marriage, or consumption of alcoholic beverages) for the sake of "well-being in this world and the next." The most striking feature of Buddhism is the wide variety of faiths and practices its teachings have inspired. In Tibet the political system was ruled until recently by spiritual leaders, the Dalai and Panchen Lamas, who were regarded as supreme versions of the Buddha. Tibetan Tantrism is a combination of Buddhist and primitive teachings. In China and Japan, Zen Buddhism represents a special meditation-based adaptation that has been strongly influenced by Chinese values. In Sri Lanka Theravada Buddhism has served as an effective state religion, and is often combined with primitive animism (belief in spirits) and magic.