Sabhā

For the district of Libya, see Sabha District.

A sabhā in Ancient India was an assembly, congregation, or council. Personified as a deity, Sabhā is a daughter of Prajapati in the Atharvaveda. In Epic Sanskrit, the term refers also to an assembly hall or council-chamber, and to a hostel, eating-house, or gambling-house. While the term Jansabha refers to large public gathering.

The Mahabharata, Book 2, has a Sabha Parva or Sabha episode, which describes the sabha under King Yudhishthira. 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 sabhā in south India, particularly in Tamil Nadu, popularly refers to a body or organization involved in the promotion of fine arts such as Carnatic music, Bharatanatyam, Drama among numerous other arts. These Sabhas are concentrated mostly in and around Mylapore in Chennai and are instrumental in ensuring that connoisseurs (known as Rasikaas) from all parts of the world are treated with variety during the Music and Dance Season of Maargazhi (December / January mostly).

Modern usage

The term Sabha has also given rise to modern terms of Parliament of India, such as Lok Sabha (Lower House) and Rajya Sabha (Upper House), and the Indian states' Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly).

The Federal Parliament of Nepal uses the word Sabha (Nepali: सभा) for Pratinidhi Sabha House of Representatives (Lower house), Rastriya Sabha National Assembly (Upper House), and Pradesh Sabha (Provincial Assemblies).

See also

• Dharma Vardhiny Sabha
• Shreni