Dvipa

Dvipa (Sanskrit: द्वीप, lit. 'island', IAST: Dvīpa)[1] is a term in Hindu cosmography. The Puranas describe a dvipa to be one of the seven islands[2] or continents that are present on earth, each of them surrounded by an ocean.[3] The same terminology is also used to refer to the seven regions of the cosmos.[4][5]

In the geocentric model of Hinduism, the seven dvipas are present around Mount Meru, which is present at the centre of Jambudvipa,[6] the term employed for the Indian subcontinent.[7] Dvipa is also sometimes used to refer to the abodes of deities, such as Manidvipa.[8]

  1. ^ Hazra, Rajendra Chandra (1975). Studies in the Purāṇic Records on Hindu Rites and Customs. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. p. 81. ISBN 978-81-208-0422-7.
  2. ^ Sears, M.; Merriman, D. (2012-12-06). Oceanography: The Past: Proceedings of the Third International Congress on the History of Oceanography, held September 22-26, 1980 at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA on the occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the founding of the Institution. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 782. ISBN 978-1-4613-8090-0.
  3. ^ Shastri, J. L. (2014-01-01). The Siva Purana Part 3: Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology Volume 3. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 1151. ISBN 978-81-208-3870-3.
  4. ^ Warrier, Shrikala (December 2014). Kamandalu: The Seven Sacred Rivers of Hinduism. MAYUR University. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-9535679-7-3.
  5. ^ Schnepel, Burkhard; Alpers, Edward A. (2017-10-30). Connectivity in Motion: Island Hubs in the Indian Ocean World. Springer. p. 352. ISBN 978-3-319-59725-6.
  6. ^ Taylor, W. Munro (1870). A Hand-book of Hindu Mythology and Philosophy: With Some Biographical Notices. Higginbotham and Company. p. 76.
  7. ^ Ray, Himanshu Prabha (2020-11-18). The Archaeology of Knowledge Traditions of the Indian Ocean World. Taylor & Francis. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-000-22067-4.
  8. ^ Campbell, Joseph (2020-11-06). The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Joseph Campbell Foundation. p. 145. ISBN 978-1-61178-032-1.