05 March - Alessandro Volta death anniversary

 

Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta ( 18 February 1745 – 5 March 1827) was an Italian physicist and chemist who was a pioneer of electricity and power who is credited as the inventor of the electric battery and the discoverer of methane. He invented the voltaic pile in 1799, and reported the results of his experiments in 1800 in a two-part letter to the president of the Royal Society.With this invention Volta proved that electricity could be generated chemically and debunked the prevalent theory that electricity was generated solely by living beings. Volta's invention sparked a great amount of scientific excitement and led others to conduct similar experiments, which eventually led to the development of the field of electrochemistry.

05 March - Gangubai Hangal born in 1913

 

Gangubai Hangal (5 March 1913 – 21 July 2009) was an Indian singer of the khayal genre of Hindustani classical music from Karnataka, who was known for her deep and powerful voice.Hangal belonged to the Kirana gharana

Hangal's mother's family was considered to be of low social status and for women of her generation singing was not considered appropriate employment; Hangal struggled against this prejudice and made a career.She performed all over India and for All India Radio stations until 1945. Hangal had initially performed light classical genres, including bhajan and thumri, but concentrated on khyal.Later, however, she refused to sing light classical, saying she sang only ragas.Hangal served as honorary music professor of the Karnataka University.She gave her last concert in March 2006 to mark her 75th career year.
Gangubai died on July 21 in 2009. The Karnataka state government declared two days of mourning for Hangal.A state funeral was announced for 22 July in Hubli by the district commissioner of the Dharwad district.

In September 2014, a postage stamp featuring Hangal was released by India Post commemorating her contributions to Hindustani music
   

05 March - Sant Dnyaneshwar commemorative postage stamp released

 

A commemorative postage stamp on Dnyaneshwar, a 13th century Marathi saint-poet, authored Dnyaneshwari, the first book to translate Bhagavad Gita from Sanskrit to Marathi language : Issued by India Issued on Mar 5, 1997 Design : The commemorative postage stamp in honour of Saint Dnyaneshwar, has been designed by I.S.P. Nashik, on the basis of artwork provided by Shree Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Sansthan Committee.

Sant Dnyaneshwar also referred to as Jnaneshwar, Jnanadeva, Dnyandev or Mauli or Dnyaneshwar Vitthal Kulkarni (1275–1296),as a 13th-century Indian Marathi saint, poet, philosopher and yogi of the Nath Shaiva and Varkari tradition. In his short life of 21 years, he authored Dnyaneshwari (a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita) and Amrutanubhav.These are the oldest surviving literary works in the Marathi language, and considered to be milestones in Marathi literature.Sant Dnyaneshwar's ideas reflect the non-dualistic Advaita Vedanta philosophy and an emphasis on Yoga and bhakti towards Vithoba, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.[6] His legacy inspired saint-poets such as Eknath and Tukaram, and he is one of the founders of the Varkari (Vithoba-Krishna) Bhakti movement tradition of Hinduism in Maharashtra.Dnyaneshwar undertook samadhi at Alandi in 1296 by entombing himself in an underground chamber.