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Approximately 1,500 community members attended College of DuPage’s STEMCON, a public outreach event designed to inspire and educate K-12 students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The all-day event featured more than 25 exhibits offering interactive, educational activities, including soldering a blankie, building a catapult, exploring archaeology, dissecting trees and tinkering with Edison Robots.
Approximate Floor Area 64 sq.m
Approximate Lot Area 88 SQ.M
3 Bedrooms, 2 Toilet and Bath
Provisions for Balcony and Carport
Homes Available in the Following Areas
C6 Area Taguig / BF Resort, Las Pinas / Bacoor, Cavite, Imus, Cavite, San Pedro, Laguna, Daang Hari, Muntinlupa
Access roads have been constructed in project areas for easy access to transportation route and residence convenience.
Approximately 2,000 community members attended College of DuPage’s third annual STEMCON, an interactive conference celebrating science, technology, engineering and math. The all-day event featured more than 60 booths offering interactive activities designed to inform, entertain and stimulate an interest in STEM.
Approximately 700 undergraduate, graduate and law students participated in Hofstra’s midyear commencement ceremony on Sunday, December 20, 2015, at 11:30 a.m. New York State Lieutenant Governor Kathleen C. Hochul was the guest speaker and receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Hofstra.
Approximately 1,500 community members attended College of DuPage’s STEMCON, a public outreach event designed to inspire and educate K-12 students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The all-day event featured more than 25 exhibits offering interactive, educational activities, including soldering a blankie, building a catapult, exploring archaeology, dissecting trees and tinkering with Edison Robots.
Fountains Abbey is one of the largest and best preserved ruined Cistercian monasteries in England. It is located approximately 3 miles (5 kilometres) south-west of Ripon in North Yorkshire, near to the village of Aldfield. Founded in 1132, the abbey operated for 407 years becoming one of the wealthiest monasteries in England until its dissolution in 1539 under the order of Henry VIII.
The abbey is a Grade I listed building owned by the National Trust and part of the designated Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of Fountains Abbey UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Foundation
After a dispute and riot in 1132 at the Benedictine house of St Mary's Abbey, in York, 13 monks were expelled (among them Saint Robert of Newminster) and, after unsuccessful attempts to form a new monastery were taken under the protection of Thurstan, Archbishop of York. He provided them with land in the valley of the River Skell, a tributary of the Ure. The enclosed valley had all the natural features needed for the creation of a monastery, providing shelter from the weather, stone and timber for building, and a supply of running water. After enduring a harsh winter in 1133, the monks applied to join the Cistercian order which since the end of the previous century was a fast-growing reform movement that by the beginning of the 13th century was to have over 500 houses. So it was that in 1135, Fountains became the second Cistercian house in northern England, after Rievaulx. The Fountains monks became subject to Clairvaux Abbey, in Burgundy which was under the rule of St Bernard. Under the guidance of Geoffrey of Ainai, a monk sent from Clairvaux, the group learned how to celebrate the seven Canonical Hours according to Cistercian usage and were shown how to construct wooden buildings in accordance with Cistercian practice.
Consolidation
After Henry Murdac was elected abbot in 1143, the small stone church and timber claustral buildings were replaced. Within three years, an aisled nave had been added to the stone church, and the first permanent claustral buildings built in stone and roofed in tile had been completed.
In 1146 an angry mob, annoyed at Murdac for his role in opposing the election of William FitzHerbert as archbishop of York, attacked the abbey and burnt down all but the church and some surrounding buildings.The community recovered swiftly from the attack and founded four daughter houses. Henry Murdac resigned as abbot in 1147 upon becoming the Archbishop of York and was replaced first by Maurice, Abbot of Rievaulx then, on the resignation of Maurice, by Thorald. Thorald was forced by Henry Murdac to resign after two years in office. The next abbot, Richard, held the post until his death in 1170 and restored the abbey's stability and prosperity. In 20 years as abbot, he supervised a huge building programme which involved completing repairs to the damaged church and building more accommodation for the increasing number of recruits. Only the chapter house was completed before he died and the work was ably continued by his successor, Robert of Pipewell, under whose rule the abbey gained a reputation for caring for the needy.
The next abbot was William, who presided over the abbey from 1180 to 1190 and he was succeeded by Ralph Haget, who had entered Fountains at the age of 30 as a novice, after pursuing a military career. During the European famine of 1194 Haget ordered the construction of shelters in the vicinity of the abbey and provided daily food rations to the poor enhancing the abbey's reputation for caring for the poor and attracting more grants from wealthy benefactors.
In the first half of the 13th century Fountains increased in reputation and prosperity under the next three abbots, John of York (1203–1211), John of Hessle (1211–1220) and John of Kent (1220–1247). They were burdened with an inordinate amount of administrative duties and increasing demands for money in taxation and levies but managed to complete another massive expansion of the abbey's buildings. This included enlarging the church and building an infirmary.
Difficulties
In the second half of the 13th century the abbey was in more straitened circumstances. It was presided over by eleven abbots, and became financially unstable largely due to forward selling its wool crop, and the abbey was criticised for its dire material and physical state when it was visited by Archbishop John le Romeyn in 1294. The run of disasters that befell the community continued into the early 14th century when northern England was invaded by the Scots and there were further demands for taxes. The culmination of these misfortunes was the Black Death of 1348–1349. The loss of manpower and income due to the ravages of the plague was almost ruinous.
A further complication arose as a result of the Papal Schism of 1378–1409. Fountains Abbey along with other English Cistercian houses was told to break off any contact with the mother house of Citeaux, which supported a rival pope. This resulted in the abbots forming their own chapter to rule the order in England and consequently they became increasingly involved in internecine politics. In 1410, following the death of Abbot Burley of Fountains, the community was riven by several years of turmoil over the election of his successor. Contending candidates John Ripon, Abbot of Meaux, and Roger Frank, a monk of Fountains were locked in conflict until 1415 when Ripon was finally appointed, ruling until his death in 1434. Under abbots John Greenwell (1442–1471), Thomas Swinton (1471–8), John Darnton (1478–95), who undertook some much needed restoration of the fabric of the abbey, including notable work on the church, and Marmaduke Huby (1495–1526) Fountains regained stability and prosperity.
At Abbot Huby's death he was succeeded by William Thirsk who was accused by the royal commissioners of immorality and inadequacy and was dismissed as abbot. He was replaced by Marmaduke Bradley, a monk of the abbey who had reported Thirsk's supposed offences, testified against him and offered the authorities six hundred marks for the post of abbot. In 1539 it was Bradley who surrendered the abbey when its seizure was ordered under Henry VIII at the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
The abbey precinct covered 70 acres (28 ha) surrounded by an 11-foot (3.4 m) wall built in the 13th century, some parts of which are visible to the south and west of the abbey. The area consists of three concentric zones cut by the River Skell flowing from west to east across the site. The church and claustral buildings stand at the centre of the precinct north of the Skell, the inner court containing the domestic buildings stretches down to the river and the outer court housing the industrial and agricultural buildings lies on the river's south bank. The early abbey buildings were added to and altered over time, causing deviations from the strict Cistercian type. Outside the walls were the abbey's granges.[citation needed]
The original abbey church was built of wood and "was probably" two stories high; it was, however, quickly replaced in stone. The church was damaged in the attack on the abbey in 1146 and was rebuilt, in a larger scale, on the same site. Building work was completed c.1170.[11] This structure, completed around 1170, was 300 ft (91 m) long and had 11 bays in the side aisles. A lantern tower was added at the crossing of the church in the late 12th century. The presbytery at the eastern end of the church was much altered in the 13th century. The church's greatly lengthened choir, commenced by Abbot John of York, 1203–11, and carried on by his successor terminates, like that of Durham Cathedral, in an eastern transept, the work of Abbot John of Kent, 1220–47. The 160-foot-tall (49 m) tower, which was added not long before the dissolution, by Abbot Huby, 1494–1526, is in an unusual position at the northern end of the north transept and bears Huby's motto 'Soli Deo Honor et Gloria'. The sacristry adjoined the south transept.
The cloister, which had arcading of black marble from Nidderdale and white sandstone, is in the centre of the precinct and to the south of the church. The three-aisled chapter-house and parlour open from the eastern walk of the cloister and the refectory, with the kitchen and buttery attached, are at right angles to its southern walk. Parallel with the western walk is an immense vaulted substructure serving as cellars and store-rooms, which supported the dormitory of the conversi (lay brothers) above. This building extended across the river and at its south-west corner were the latrines, built above the swiftly flowing stream. The monks' dormitory was in its usual position above the chapter-house, to the south of the transept. Peculiarities of this arrangement include the position of the kitchen, between the refectory and calefactory, and of the infirmary above the river to the west, adjoining the guest-houses.
The abbot's house, one of the largest in all of England,is located to the east of the latrine block, where portions of it are suspended on arches over the River Skell.It was built in the mid-twelfth century as a modest single-storey structure, then, from the fourteenth century, underwent extensive expansion and remodelling to end up in the 16th century as a grand dwelling with fine bay windows and grand fireplaces. The great hall was an expansive room 52 by 21 metres (171 by 69 ft).
Among other apartments, for the designation of which see the ground-plan, was a domestic oratory or chapel,
1⁄2-by-23-foot (14 by 7 m), and a kitchen, 50-by-38-foot (15 by 12 m)
Medieval monasteries were sustained by landed estates that were given to them as endowments and from which they derived an income from rents. They were the gifts of the founder and subsequent patrons, but some were purchased from cash revenues. At the outset, the Cistercian order rejected gifts of mills and rents, churches with tithes and feudal manors as they did not accord with their belief in monastic purity, because they involved contact with laymen. When Archbishop Thurstan founded the abbey he gave the community 260 acres (110 ha) of land at Sutton north of the abbey and 200 acres (81 ha) at Herleshowe to provide support while the abbey became established. In the early years the abbey struggled to maintain itself because further gifts were not forthcoming and Thurstan could not help further because the lands he administered were not his own, but part of the diocesan estate. After a few years of impoverished struggle to establish the abbey, the monks were joined by Hugh, a former dean of York Minster, a rich man who brought a considerable fortune as well as furniture and books to start the library.
By 1135 the monks had acquired only another 260 acres (110 ha) at Cayton, given by Eustace fitzJohn of Knaresborough "for the building of the abbey". Shortly after the fire of 1146, the monks had established granges at Sutton, Cayton, Cowton Moor, Warsill, Dacre and Aldburgh all within 6 mi (10 km) of Fountains. In the 1140s the water mill was built on the abbey site making it possible for the grain from the granges to be brought to the abbey for milling.Tannery waste from this time has been excavated on the site.
Further estates were assembled in two phases, between 1140 and 1160 then 1174 and 1175, from piecemeal acquisitions of land. Some of the lands were grants from benefactors but others were purchased from gifts of money to the abbey. Roger de Mowbray granted vast areas of Nidderdale and William de Percy and his tenants granted substantial estates in Craven which included Malham Moor and the fishery in Malham Tarn. After 1203 the abbots consolidated the abbey's lands by renting out more distant areas that the monks could not easily farm themselves, and exchanging and purchasing lands that complemented their existing estates. Fountains' holdings both in Yorkshire and beyond had reached their maximum extent by 1265, when they were an efficient and very profitable estate. Their estates were linked in a network of individual granges which provided staging posts to the most distant ones. They had urban properties in York, Yarm, Grimsby, Scarborough and Boston from which to conduct export and market trading and their other commercial interests included mining, quarrying, iron-smelting, fishing and milling.
The Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 was a factor that led to a downturn in the prosperity of the abbey in the early fourteenth century. Areas of the north of England as far south as York were looted by the Scots. Then the number of lay-brothers being recruited to the order reduced considerably. The abbey chose to take advantage of the relaxation of the edict on leasing property that had been enacted by the General Chapter of the order in 1208 and leased some of their properties. Others were staffed by hired labour and remained in hand under the supervision of bailiffs. In 1535 Fountains had an interest in 138 vills and the total taxable income of the Fountains estate was £1,115, making it the richest Cistercian monastery in England.
After the Dissolution
The Gresham family crest
The Abbey buildings and over 500 acres (200 ha) of land were sold by the Crown, on 1 October 1540, to Sir Richard Gresham, at the time a Member of Parliament and former Lord Mayor of London, the father of Sir Thomas Gresham. It was Richard Gresham who had supplied Cardinal Wolsey with the tapestries for his new house of Hampton Court and who paid for the Cardinal's funeral.
Gresham sold some of the fabric of the site, stone, timber, lead, as building materials to help to defray the cost of purchase. The site was acquired in 1597 by Sir Stephen Proctor, who used stone from the monastic complex to build Fountains Hall. Between 1627 and 1767 the estate was owned by the Messenger family who sold it to William Aislaby who was responsible for combining it with the Studley Royal Estate.
Burials
Roger de Mowbray, 1st Baron Mowbray
John de Mowbray, 2nd Baron Mowbray
Abbot Marmaduke Huby (d. 1526)
Rose (daughter of Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester), wife of Roger de Mowbray, 1st Baron Mowbray
Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy
William II de Percy, 3rd feudal baron of Topcliffe
Becoming a World Heritage Site
The archaeological excavation of the site was begun under the supervision of John Richard Walbran, a Ripon antiquary who, in 1846, had published a paper On the Necessity of clearing out the Conventual Church of Fountains.In 1966 the Abbey was placed in the guardianship of the Department of the Environment and the estate was purchased by the West Riding County Council who transferred ownership to the North Yorkshire County Council in 1974. The National Trust bought the 674-acre (273 ha) Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal estate from North Yorkshire County Council in 1983. In 1986 the parkland in which the abbey is situated and the abbey was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It was recognised for fulfilling the criteria of being a masterpiece of human creative genius, and an outstanding example of a type of building or architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates significant stages in human history. Fountains Abbey is owned by the National Trust and maintained by English Heritage. The trust owns Studley Royal Park, Fountains Hall, to which there is partial public access, and St Mary's Church, designed by William Burges and built around 1873, all of which are significant features of the World Heritage Site.
The Porter's Lodge, which was once the gatehouse to the abbey, houses a modern exhibition area with displays about the history of Fountains Abbey and how the monks lived.
In January 2010, Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal became two of the first National Trust properties to be included in Google Street View, using the Google Trike.
Film location
Fountains Abbey was used as a film location by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark for their single "Maid of Orleans (The Waltz Joan of Arc)" during the cold winter of December 1981. In 1980, Hollywood also came to the site to film the final scenes to the film Omen III: The Final Conflict.Other productions filmed on location at the abbey are the films Life at the Top, The Secret Garden, The History Boys, TV series Flambards, A History of Britain, Terry Jones' Medieval Lives, Cathedral, Antiques Roadshow and the game show Treasure Hunt. The BBC Television series 'Gunpowder' (2017) used Fountains Abbey as a location.
Approximately 90 U.S. Army Reserve military police Soldiers from the 443rd Military Police Company, of Owings Mills, Maryland, return home to embrace family and loved ones after a 10-month deployment to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Sept. 9. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Master Sgt. Michel Sauret)
Approximately 1,600 people wait for their lunch after touring a local farm to see first-hand how a modern dairy is operated.
Approximately 34 U.S. Army Soldiers from the 615th Engineer Construction Company, 4th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade from Ft. Carson, Colo. and 15 Soldiers from the Armed Forces of Senegal come together to build a multi-purpose facility that will be used as the command post for next year's United Accord 20 exercise.
These types of events strengthen our nations' long standing partnerships and increases interoperability.
Approximately 26" diameter hemisphere constructed from popsicle sticks and may function as sarcastic birdhouse (see photo in comments).
Left: As currently painted.
Right: Digitally added blue for evaluation.
Approximately 10 veterans from Hunterdon, Mercer, Union and Somerset counties are awarded state medal at the Bridgewater Commons Mall in Bridgewater, N.J., Feb. 18, 2014. (NJDMAVA photo by Tech. Sgt. Armando Vasquez / Released)
The Suffolk Square Pillbox is a bulletproof infantry pillbox approximately 12ft 6in square, it was used for Rifles and Light Machine Guns, there is a slight variation in some designs, it was designed by CRE (Commander Royal Engineers) 55th Division and is unique to Suffolk. The walls are 15in thick, some have no reinforcing rods (as some demolished examples have shown) and the roof is 12in thick. There are usually two Loopholes in each face except the entrance which only has the one Loophole.
The entrance is protected by an L-Shaped Blast Wall, which was quite often chamfered on the outer edge to increase the field of fire from the Loophole in the entrance face, this example unusually has a Turnbull Gun Mount fitted to the rear Loophole for rear defence. Normally there is no Anti-Ricochet Wall, which would have made the personnel inside vulnerable to stray bullets (some Loopholes were blocked up to help eliminate this) there are several bricked up Loopholes, but it's not easy to tell if this happened during the war or after.
A different range of shuttering was used, between Aldeburgh to Thorpness and in South Suffolk pre-cast concrete blocks were used. The Walberswick Pillboxes used bricks for the internal shuttering and pre-cast concrete blocks for the external shuttering. From Southwold to Lowestoft most Pillboxes were shuttered with timber. Loopholes were pre-cast concrete and either stepped or splayed, sometimes both types were used in the same Pillbox and fitted with a concrete Weapons Shelf below, and in some cases a Loophole was fitted in to the External Blast Wall.
At Trimley St Martin there is a ''Hybrid Pillbox'' consisting of a 'Suffolk Square Pillbox' married to a 'FW3/23 Type-23' Pillbox, which is a unique example ! The Suffolk Square Pillbox is only found in forward defences, such as in the defence of a vulnerable point or to the rear of the beaches, there are none found on inland Stop Lines. There were 245 Suffolk Square Pillboxes listed as being constructed.
Approximately 450 runners participated in the 2nd annual West Point Half Marathon April 1. The course began near the steps of Washington Hall and out Washington Gate to Route 218 before circling back on post. The run was launched last year and continued by the Class of 2012 to honor fallen graduates and Soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice to their country. Photo by Mike Strasser, West Point Public Affairs
Approximately 170 Italian-American students from COD and local high schools gathered to immerse themselves in Italian language, heritage and culture during the College’s inaugural Italian Immersion Day
Shakhrisabz (Uzbek: Шаҳрисабз Shahrisabz; Tajik: Шаҳрисабз; Persian: شهر سبز shahr-i sabz (city of green / verdant city); Russian: Шахрисабз), is a city in Qashqadaryo Region in southern Uzbekistan located approximately 80 km south of Samarkand with a population of 100,300 (2014).[1] It is located at an altitude of 622 m. Once a major city of Central Asia, it is primarily known today as the birthplace of 14th-century Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur.
History
Formerly known as Kesh or Kish (i.e., "heart-pleasing") and tentatively identified with the ancient Nautaca, Shahrisabz is one of Central Asia’s most ancient cities. It was founded more than 2,700 years ago. Its name was officially changed to Shahrisabz in the modern era.
From the 6th to 4th centuries BC it was a part of Akhemenid empire.
Alexander the Great's general Ptolemy captured the satrap of Bactria and pretender to the Persian throne, Bessus, at Nautaca thus ending the once great Achaemenid Empire. Alexander the Great chose to spend his winters and met his wife Roxanna in the area in 328-327 BC.
From 4th to 8th century Kesh was one of urban centers of Sogdiana. Between 567 and 658 rulers of Kesh paid taxes to khagans of Turkic and Western Turkic khaganates. In 710 the city was conquered by the Arabs.
Shahrisabz was the birthplace of Timur on April 9, 1336, to the family of a minor local chief, and during the early years of the Timurid Dynasty, enjoyed his considerable patronage. Timur regarded Shahrisabz as his “home town” and planned it eventually to be the location of his tomb. However, during his reign, the center of activity shifted to Samarkand instead.
According to legend, the Khan of Bukhara, Abdullah Khan II had the city destroyed in a fit of rage over the death of his favorite horse from exhaustion on a steep approach to the city, but was later overcome with remorse for the damage he had done.
The city struggled for autonomy under Bukharan rule. The Russians helped the Bukharan emir conquering the city in 1870.
Historical sites
Remains of the Ak-Saray Palace.
Remains of the Ak-Saray Palace.
Several remaining impressive monuments from the Timurid Dynasty have enabled the old part of the city to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.(See List of World Heritage Sites in Uzbekistan)
Ak-Saray Palace
Timur's Summer Palace, the “White Palace” was planned as the most grandiose of all Timur's constructions. It was started in 1380 by artisans deported by Timur from the recently conquered Khwarezm. Unfortunately, only parts of its gigantic 65 m gate-towers survive, with blue, white and gold mosaics. Above the entry of the Ak-Saray are big letters saying: "If you challenge our power - look at our buildings!"
Kok Gumbaz Mosque / Dorut Tilovat (Dorut Tilavat) Complex
A Friday mosque built in 1437 by Ulugh Beg in honor of his father Shah Rukh, its name meaning “Blue Dome”. Located immediately behind the Kok Gumbaz Mosque is the so-called “House of Meditation”, a mausoleum built by Ulugh Beg in 1438 but apparently never used for burials.
Hazrat-i Imam Complex
East of the Kok Gumbaz is another mausoleum complex called Dorus-Saodat (Seat of Power and Might), which contains the Tomb of Jehangir, Timur’s eldest and favorite son. The adjacent mosque is said to house the tomb of a revered 8th century imam Amir Kulal.
Dorus-Saodat mausoleum
Dorus-Saodat mausoleum
Tomb of Timur
Behind the Hazrat-i Imam Emsemble is a bunker with a door leading to an underground chamber, discovered by archaeologists in 1943. The room is nearly filled with a single stone casket, on which inscriptions indicate that it was intended for Timur. However, the conqueror was buried in Samarkand, not at Shahrisabz, and mysteriously, his tomb in Shahrisabz contained two unidentified corpses.
Also of interest are medieval baths and an 18th-century bazaar.
Shahrisabz Museum of History and Material Culture
CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait -- Approximately 60 Soldiers assigned to the 248th Aviation Support Battalion, 449th Combat Aviation Brigade participated in the Dam to Dam Shadow Run held at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, June 2, 2018. The Dam to Dam, which originated in Des Moines, Iowa in 1980, just concluded it's 39th and final race. The purpose of the shadow run is to give Soldiers the opportunity to participate in a race they otherwise couldn't do while being deployed to the Middle East in support of Operations Spartan Shield and Inherent Resolve. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Devin Fleming, 244th AHB)
Approximately milepost 93 coming south out of Corvallis, Benton County, Oregon proper and into the countryside toward Monroe, Benton County, Oregon, USA. This was a hand held shot, and SOOC (straight out of camera).
Approximately 400 attendees participated in the COD Cares 2015 Fall Day of Action and Pumpkin Party.
Approximately 70 students from Naperville Central, Waubonsie Valley, Neuqua Valley, Kaneland, Oswego, Dwight Township, Lockport Township, Glen Brook South and Byron high schools, and Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences participated in a recent Floral Design Career Development event at College of DuPage. Students were challenged to recreate arrangements and corsages from provided images.
Approximately 960 winter warriors Plunged in Duluth on February 16, 2013, to support Special Olympics Minnesota. These Plungers raised $170,000! Photo taken by Nancy J. Lindberg.
Approximately 70 students from Naperville Central, Waubonsie Valley, Neuqua Valley, Kaneland, Oswego, Dwight Township, Lockport Township, Glen Brook South and Byron high schools, and Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences participated in a recent Floral Design Career Development event at College of DuPage. Students were challenged to recreate arrangements and corsages from provided images.
Approximately 25 Special Olympics athletes joined retired NBA basketball player Harvey Catchings and five members of the MSU Bobcats Men's Basketball team to learn about basketball and healthy hydration in a clinic sponsored by the Project WET Foundation.
Ta Prohm (Khmer: ប្រាសាទតាព្រហ្ម, pronunciation: brasaeattaproh) is the modern name of the temple at Angkor, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia, built in the Bayon style largely in the late 12th and early 13th centuries and originally called Rajavihara (in Khmer: រាជវិហារ). Located approximately one kilometre east of Angkor Thom and on the southern edge of the East Baray, it was founded by the Khmer King Jayavarman VII as a Mahayana Buddhist monastery and university. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Ta Prohm has been left in much the same condition in which it was found: the photogenic and atmospheric combination of trees growing out of the ruins and the jungle surroundings have made it one of Angkor's most popular temples with visitors. UNESCO inscribed Ta Prohm on the World Heritage List in 1992. Today, it is one of the most visited complexes in Cambodia’s Angkor region. The conservation and restoration of Ta Prohm is a partnership project of the Archaeological Survey of India and the APSARA (Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap).
HISTORY
FOUNDATION & EXPANSION
In 1186 A.D., Jayavarman VII embarked on a massive program of construction and public works. Rajavihara ("monastery of the king"), today known as Ta Prohm ("ancestor Brahma"), was one of the first temples founded pursuant to that program. The stele commemorating the foundation gives a date of 1186 A.D.
Jayavarman VII constructed Rajavihara in honor of his family. The temple's main image, representing Prajnaparamita, the personification of wisdom, was modelled on the king's mother. The northern and southern satellite temples in the third enclosure were dedicated to the king's guru and his elder brother respectively. As such, Ta Prohm formed a complementary pair with the temple monastery of Preah Khan, dedicated in 1191 A.D., the main image of which represented the Bodhisattva of compassion Lokesvara and was modelled on the king's father.
The temple's stele records that the site was home to more than 12,500 people (including 18 high priests and 615 dancers), with an additional 800,000 souls in the surrounding villages working to provide services and supplies. The stele also notes that the temple amassed considerable riches, including gold, pearls and silks. Expansions and additions to Ta Prohm continued as late as the rule of Srindravarman at the end of the 15th century.
ABANDONMENT & RESTAURATION
After the fall of the Khmer Empire in the 17th century, the temple of Ta Prohm was abandoned and neglected for centuries. When the effort to conserve and restore the temples of Angkor began in the early 21st century, the École française d'Extrême-Orient decided that Ta Prohm would be left largely as it had been found, as a "concession to the general taste for the picturesque." According to pioneering Angkor scholar Maurice Glaize, Ta Prohm was singled out because it was "one of the most imposing [temples] and the one which had best merged with the jungle, but not yet to the point of becoming a part of it". Nevertheless, much work has been done to stabilize the ruins, to permit access, and to maintain "this condition of apparent neglect."
As of 2013, Archaeological Survey of India has restored most parts of the temple complex some of which have been constructed from scratch. Wooden walkways, platforms and roped railings have been put in place around the site to protect the monument from further damages due to the large tourist inflow.
THE SITE
LAYOUT
The design of Ta Prohm is that of a typical "flat" Khmer temple (as opposed to a temple-pyramid or temple-mountain, the inner levels of which are higher than the outer). Five rectangular enclosing walls surround a central sanctuary. Like most Khmer temples, Ta Prohm is oriented to the east, so the temple proper is set back to the west along an elongated east-west axis. The outer wall of 1000 by 650 metres encloses an area of 650,000 square metres that at one time would have been the site of a substantial town, but that is now largely forested. There are entrance gopuras at each of the cardinal points, although access today is now only possible from the east and west. In the 13th century, face towers similar to those found at the Bayon were added to the gopuras. Some of the face towers have collapsed. At one time, moats could be found inside and outside the fourth enclosure.
The three inner enclosures of the temple proper are galleried, while the corner towers of the first enclosure form a quincunx with the tower of the central sanctuary. This basic plan is complicated for the visitor by the circuitous access necessitated by the temple's partially collapsed state, as well as by the large number of other buildings dotting the site, some of which represent later additions. The most substantial of these other buildings are the libraries in the southeast corners of the first and third enclosures; the satellite temples on the north and south sides of the third enclosure; the Hall of Dancers between the third and fourth eastern gopuras; and a House of Fire east of the fourth eastern gopura.
REPRESENTATIONAL ART
Ta Prohm has not many narrative bas-reliefs(compared to Angkor Wat or Angkor Thom). One explanation that has been proffered for this dearth is that much of the temple's original Buddhist narrative artwork must have been destroyed by Hindu iconoclasts following the death of Jayavarman VII. At any rate, some depictions of scenes from Buddhist mythology do remain. One badly eroded bas-relief illustrates the "Great Departure" of Siddhartha, the future Buddha, from his father's palace. The temple also features stone reliefs of devatas (minor female deities), meditating monks or ascetics, and dvarapalas or temple guardians.
TREES
The trees growing out of the ruins are perhaps the most distinctive feature of Ta Prohm, and "have prompted more writers to descriptive excess than any other feature of Angkor." Two species predominate, but sources disagree on their identification: the larger is either the silk-cotton tree (Ceiba pentandra) or thitpok Tetrameles nudiflora, and the smaller is either the strangler fig (Ficus gibbosa). or Gold Apple (Diospyros decandra). Indulging in what might be regarded as "descriptive excess," Angkor scholar Maurice Glaize observed, "On every side, in fantastic over-scale, the trunks of the silk-cotton trees soar skywards under a shadowy green canopy, their long spreading skirts trailing the ground and their endless roots coiling more like reptiles than plants."
IN POPULAR MEDIA
The temple of Ta Prohm was used as a location in the film Tomb Raider. Although the film took visual liberties with other Angkorian temples, its scenes of Ta Prohm were quite faithful to the temple's actual appearance, and made use of its eerie qualities.
Some believe that one of the carvings resembles a stegosaurus.
Approximately 2.5 Mio people have visited the Museumsuferfest in Frankfurt that has taken place on the last August weekend. The weather was not that great, but this event is always worth visiting it.
Approximately 2500 students, faculty, staff and community members visited Lewis and Clark Community College for the total solar eclipse Aug. 21, during the first day of the 2017-2018 school year. L&C handed out free solar viewing glasses, spaced themed food and other giveaways. Photo by Louise Jett, L&C media specialist
Approximate Focus Distance : 8.02m
Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS USM Lens
ISO Speed 1000
Aperture : f/9.0
Exposure : 1/1000 secs
Exposure Bias : +1/3 EV
Focal Length : 600mm
File name: 08_06_031676
Title: Woman in ice skates
Creator/Contributor: Jones, Leslie, 1886-1967 (photographer)
Date created: 1934 - 1956 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 negative : film, black & white; 4 x 5 in.
Genre: Film negatives
Subject: Skaters
Notes: Title from information provided by Leslie Jones or the Boston Public Library on the negative or negative sleeve.; Date supplied by cataloger.; Additional information on item: People: unidentified.
Collection: Leslie Jones Collection
Location: Boston Public Library, Print Department
Rights: Copyright Leslie Jones.
Preferred credit: Courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection.
Approximately 1,500 community members attended College of DuPage’s STEMCON, a public outreach event designed to inspire and educate K-12 students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The all-day event featured more than 25 exhibits offering interactive, educational activities, including soldering a blankie, building a catapult, exploring archaeology, dissecting trees and tinkering with Edison Robots.
Approximately 400 attendees participated in the COD Cares 2015 Fall Day of Action and Pumpkin Party.
Yes, that is a deer leg immediately adjacent to my car. What you can't see in this picture is the dead possum, which is behind my car on the other side of the driveway. Today's series of events:
#1. Drive down driveway while on phone with friend.
#2. See dead possum, tell friend, freak out a little, discuss whom I should call, how I should not touch it, etc.
#3. Promptly park car in regular spot.
#4. Hop out of car, leaving driver's side door open, run over near possum, cautiously get close and tell friend that yes, it appears to be dead. Get incredibly skeeved out by rat-like tail and creepy, pale possum hands. My sister isn't home, so I tell my friend I need to call her to find out if she's seen it.
#5. Turn around to return to car, see deer leg immediately next to my car, within the arc of the open door. Realize in that split-second that it's likely I stepped on it while getting out of car.
#6. Make yelpy alarmed screaming noise, hyperventilate and vomit within a space of about ten seconds.
#7. Tell friend via hyperventilating gibberish that there is a deer leg next to my car, and that I probably stepped on it. Start seeing spots like I'm going to faint. Sit on porch.
#8. Calm down enough to assure friend that I'm not dying, I did not find one of our cats dead, and I'm okay, but there is a piece of bloody deer carcass in my driveway.
#9. Call my sister while still freaking out, scare the shit out of her but quickly clear up any possibility of sister/car/bloody deer/coyote accidents. Sister realizes she may have parked her car over deer leg last night.
Jesus my head still hurts from the panic attack/crying/freaking out/laughing hysterically when my sis came home and we had to get the whole mess into garbage bags, etc.
F-ing coyotes or something, wtf.
And I don't live out in the country, I live in Green Hills.
Approximate Focus Distance : 13.7m
Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS USM Lens
ISO Speed 2500
Aperture : f/5.6
Exposure : 1/20 secs
Exposure Bias : -1 EV
Focal Length : 600mm
The Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton’s (WMSL 753) crew poses with approximately 26,250 pounds of cocaine and 3,700 pounds of marijuana at Port Everglades, Florida, Nov. 22, 2021. The largest drug interdiction in the ship’s history. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jose Hernandez)
Approximately 120 Soldiers of the 311th Expeditionary Sustainment Command flew in to Long Beach Airport, Long Beach, Calif., Sept. 18. These Soldiers are returning home after a year-long deployment.
The 311th ESC, an Army Reserve logistical command headquarters in West Los Angeles was based in Kandahar, Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The 311th ESC's main operations were to execute sustainment and retrograde operations throughout Afghanistan in support of the U.S. and Coalition forces. The mobilized 311th consisted of approximately 240 Soldiers from various states across the country.
(U.S. Army photo by Spc. Heather Doppke/released)