The ruling period of one Manu is known as 'Manvantara'
The four yugas that come in cyclic order are called the 'Chaturyugas'.
71 consecutive Chaturyugas make 1 Manvantara
14 Manvantaras equals 1 daytime of Brahma, called Kalpa.
Another 14 manvantaras equals 1 night time or Pralaya of Brahma.
After Pralaya, when Brahma wakes up, it is yet another Kalpa.
Manvantara has great importance since each Manvantara has a different Indra (King of Gods). The Gods achieve their Godly status through their good Karma. Once their Karma is used up, they reincarnate somewhere to earn their Karma. So even the Gods do not retain their status for ever.
The current manvantara is the 7th manvanthara. Name of the Manu is Vaivasvata Manu, who is the son of Surya (Sun God ) and his wife Sapjna. Yama (God of Death) and Yamuna (the River) are his siblings.
The Sapta Rishis in each manvantara are also different. The Vaivasvata manvantara has Atri, Vashista, Kashyapa, Viswamitra,Gautama, Jamadagni, and Bharadwaj as the Sapta Rishis.
