Sabhā

For the district of Libya, see Sabha.

A sabhā in Ancient India was an assembly, congregation, or council. Personified as a deity, Sabhā is a daughter of Prajapati in the Atharvaveda. The term has also given rise to modern terms of Parliament of India, such as Lok Sabha (Lower House) and Rajya Sabha (Upper House), and Legislative Assembly, Vidhan Sabha.

In Epic Sanskrit, the term refers also to an assembly hall or council-chamber, and to a hostel, eating-house, or gambling-house.

The Mahabharata, Book 2, has a Sabha Parva or Sabha episode, which describes the sabha under King Yudhisthira.^[1] Monier-Williams compares the word to Old English sibb "clan" (Old High German sippa), in Modern English surviving in the term gossip (from god-sib).

A Sabha in South India, particularly in Tamil Nadu, popularly refers to a body or organization involved in the promotion of fine arts such as Saastriya Sangeetham, Bharathanatyam, Drama among numerous other arts. These Sabhas are concentrated at a place called as [Mylapore] in Chennai and are instrumental in ensuring the connoisseurs (known as Rasikaas) from all parts of the world treated with variety during the Music and Dance Season of Maargazhi (December / January mostly).

Popular Sabhas include Parthasarathy Sabha, Rasika Ranjani Sabha, Krishnagana Sabha, Ganamukundhapriya Sabha

References