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The Sulamani (occasionally Sulamuni) Guphaya, or Pahto, is one of Bagan's premier temple attractions. The name itself means 'Crowning Jewel' or 'Small Ruby.' Paul Strachan, one of the leading modern authorities on the Bagan archeological plain, calls it "the grandiloquent gesture of an empire at its meridian". It was actually more than a temple, for the complex originally contained a large number of associated buildings, including a lecture and ordination hall, cells for the monks and a library,
Sulamani was the first and most important temple of the late period (1170-1300) of Bagan monument building. It was one of many temples and stupas built by Sithu II (or Narapatisithu) (1174-12ll), probably as atonement for some of his many misdeeds. It was a direct model for the Htilominlo. It majestically combines the massive verticality of the Thatbyinnyu with the horizontalism and monumentality of the Dhammayangyi.
The red brick temple is step pyramidal on a square base and is oriented to the east. There are two major levels with porches at each of the cardinal points and prominent eastward-facing doorways. Each of the ascending squares has pilasters in the form of stupas at the corners and a beautifully wrought sikhara, restored since the devastating earthquake of July 1975, crowns the entire complex. Each of the major levels has inner ambulatories running along the perimeter with niches for Buddhas. Ascent to the second story and upper levels is now prohibited here as it is with most Bagan temples.
Important features of the Sulamani include its fine brickwork and use of stone in both load-bearing areas as well as on vulnerable external corner elements. The numerous original unique glazed roundels and panels along the plinth and terrace moldings add joy and exuberance to the exterior, while the rich frescoes on the stuccoed interior ambulatory(from the 12th to 19th centuries)—though damaged—with their lively depiction of both the sublime and the grotesque reflect a constant interplay of the physical and mythical light and darkness. The first story ambulatory is lit well enough from its doorways and windows to permit available light photographs of the frescoes. A wall with elaborate entries in the four cardinal directions surrounds the complex.
Bagan Monument Number 748
Introduced, cool-season, annual, ascending to decumbent herb to 40 cm tall. Stems have non-glandular and glandular hairs. Basal leaves are pinnately compound and 4–11 cm long; leaflets are pinnatifid, toothed and hirsute or glandular-hairy. Flowerheads are umbels of 2–5 flowers. Sepals are to 7 mm long and hirsute or glandular-hairy. Petals 5, longer than sepals, pink to white, sometimes with dark lines or dots towards their base. Fruit are hirsute mericarps. Floweringis from late winter to mid-summer. Commonly found near roadsides and in crops and pastures; on stony or poor gravely soils; a pioneer of disturbed sites. Seed is spread by wind, water, and contaminated grain, machinery, hay & manure. Some feed value to livestock, but usually only in early spring. Can cause yield reductions of crops and seed is difficult to remove from small-seeded crops. Competitive pastures will help promote upright leafy growth which can be more readily grazed. Improved ground cover in late winter can help prevent storksbill germination.
'Andromeda Ascending'
2 drop peyote stitch necklace
21" in length
Pendent- 2.25" wide x 4.50" long
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'Andromeda Ascending' is a gorgeous 2 drop peyote stitch pendant featuring a stunning raku button by Lisa Peters Art on Etsy. The pendant itself is made from sterling silver triangle beads in 2 sizes, and matte iris 'E' beads in the fringe.
THe actual necklace portion is made from hand dyed silk shibori ribbon by ShiboriGirl on Etsy. It has been wrapped with a single strand of the matter iris 'E' beads and the larger sized sterling silver triangle beads, then stitched into place with more triangle beads.
The beaded end caps are again made from the triangle beads and 'E' beads, then topped off with a sterling silver 'stardust coated' toggle clasp.
The entire beadwork has been hand beaded using 6lb Fireline for strength and durability.
The overall effect is one of lightness and looks delicate, yet anchored by a substantial pendant. Very easy to wear, and guarenteed to catch the eye of anyone who sees it.
Came home late last night, and noticed something strange. A lot of the lights had streaks going vertically from them. At first I thought it was just a refraction through the car window. However, they were still there when I went outside. So I got the camera and took this picture (on a not quite steady hand). Thought it fitted this weeks theme (in a roundabout way). The image has not been altered in any way.
Architect: L'Observatoire International, 2012
New York City has many parks, but none can reach the physical and aesthetic heights of the High Line. As visitors ascend the stairwell to the reclaimed public space, each step brings them closer to an extraordinary experience. The High Line drifts above the city, granting its visitors a never-before-seen tour. This birds eye voyage takes guests on a timeless journey through lower Manhattan, embraced on both sides by beautifully cultivated flora. At night the park softly glows, guiding visitors through the city supported on a shimmering path of light.
The High Line was not always so transcendent. Constructed in the early 1930's, the elevated train track was intended to transport freight to the factories and warehouses populating Manhattan's lower west side. It did so until the line was shut down in 1980 and the tracks were abandoned. The group Friends of the High Line was formed in 1999 in response to a demolition campaign. The High Line design, a product of a collaboration between James Corner Field Operations, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, horitcultural designer Piet Oudolf, and lighting designers L'Observatoire International, transformed an industrial eyesore into a vibrant public park.
Tour the park with L'Observatoire International, which played a crucial role in the development of the High Line as an iconic space. The design established a low and consistent plane of light along the length of the park, making the elevated tracks appear to float over the city below. This served to visually connect the greater surrounding areas while providing an unobstructed view of the city at night. This effect, achieved by utilizing energy efficient LED lights, gives the park ethereal buoyancy, letting it drift through the Manhattan cityscape. Spike lighting for large trees punctuates the park with another layer of color and texture, contributing to a secondary layer of light. This illuminated duality is a central part of the High Line's original design.
London West End St James's Square Equestrian Statue of William III by John Bacon Junior William III Prince of Orange ascended the English throne in 1688 Dee from Botswana in Brown Leather Coat with Black Wool Beret Hat and Red Scarf Out on the Town
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equestrian_statue_of_William_III,_L...
As the sunlight retreats to the top of the trees, the menacing howl of two EMD motors in notch 8 echoes throughout the forests and fields as NS 204 (UP IDIMN) climbs to the ~1,125-foot summit of Braswell Mountain, with grades in upwards of 1.2%. CP 7023, an SD70ACU dedicated to the Royal Canadian and United States Air Forces, is doing the honors.
May 30, 2024
Braswell, GA
(Foto is digitally captured from my paper print)
Borobudur is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist Temple in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The monument consists of six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. A main dome, located at the center of the top platform, is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside a perforated stupa.
Built in the 9th century during the reign of the Sailendra Dynasty, the temple's design in Gupta architecture reflects India's influence on the region. It also depicts the gupta style from India and shows influence of Buddhism as well as Hinduism. The monument is both a shrine to the Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. The journey for pilgrims begins at the base of the monument and follows a path around the monument and ascends to the top through three levels symbolic of Buddhist cosmology: Kāmadhātu (the world of desire), Rupadhatu (the world of forms) and Arupadhatu (the world of formlessness). The monument guides pilgrims through an extensive system of stairways and corridors with 1,460 narrative relief panels on the walls and the balustrades.
Evidence suggests Borobudur was constructed in the 9th century and abandoned following the 14th century decline of Hindu kingdoms in Java, and the Javanese conversion to Islam. Worldwide knowledge of its existence was sparked in 1814 by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, then the British ruler of Java, who was advised of its location by native Indonesians. Borobudur has since been preserved through several restorations. The largest restoration project was undertaken between 1975 and 1982 by the Indonesian government and UNESCO, following which the monument was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Borobudur is still used for pilgrimage; once a year Buddhists in Indonesia celebrate Vesak at the monument, and Borobudur is Indonesia's single most visited tourist attraction.
There is no written record of who built Borobudur or of its intended purpose. The construction time has been estimated by comparison between carved reliefs on the temple's hidden foot and the inscriptions commonly used in royal charters during the 8th and 9th centuries. Borobudur was likely founded around 800 CE. This corresponds to the period between 760 and 830 CE, the peak of the Sailendra dynasty in central Java, when it was under the influence of the Srivijayan Empire. The construction has been estimated to have taken 75 years and been completed during the reign of Samaratungga in 825.
There is confusion between Hindu and Buddhist rulers in Java around that time. The Sailendras were known as ardent followers of Buddhism, though stone inscriptions found at Sojomerto suggest they may have been Hindus. It was during this time that many Hindu and Buddhist monuments were built on the plains and mountains around the Kedu Plain. The Buddhist monuments, including Borobudur, were erected around the same time as the Hindu Shiva Prambanan temple compound. In 732 CE, the Shivaite King Sanjaya commissioned a Shivalinga sanctuary to be built on the Wukir hill, only 10 km east of Borobudur.
Construction of Buddhist temples, including Borobudur, at that time was possible because Sanjaya's immediate successor, Rakai Panangkaran, granted his permission to the Buddhist followers to build such temples. In fact, to show his respect, Panangkaran gave the village of Kalasan to the Buddhist community, as is written in the Kalasan Charter dated 778 CE. This has led some archaeologists to believe that there was never serious conflict concerning religion in Java as it was possible for a Hindu king to patronize the establishment of a Buddhist monument; or for a Buddhist king to act likewise. However, it is likely that there were two rival royal dynasties in Java at the time—the Buddhist Sailendra and the Saivite Sanjaya—in which the latter triumphed over their rival in the 856 battle on the Ratubaka plateau. This confusion also exists regarding the Lara Jonggrang temple at the Prambanan complex, which was believed that it was erected by the victor Rakai Pikatan as the Sanjaya dynasty's reply to Borobudur, but others suggest that there was a climate of peaceful coexistence where Sailendra involvement exists in Lara Jonggrang.
Borobudur lay hidden for centuries under layers of volcanic ash and jungle growth. The facts behind its abandonment remain a mystery. It is not known when active use of the monument and Buddhist pilgrimage to it ceased. Sometime between 928 and 1006, King Mpu Sindok moved the capital of the Medang Kingdom to the region of East Java after a series of volcanic eruptions; it is not certain whether this influenced the abandonment, but several sources mention this as the most likely period of abandonment. The monument is mentioned vaguely as late as ca. 1365, in Mpu Prapanca's Nagarakretagama written during Majapahit era and mentioning "the vihara in Budur". Soekmono (1976) also mentions the popular belief that the temples were disbanded when the population converted to Islam in the 15th century.
The monument was not forgotten completely, though folk stories gradually shifted from its past glory into more superstitious beliefs associated with bad luck and misery. Two old Javanese chronicles (babad) from the 18th century mention cases of bad luck associated with the monument. According to the Babad Tanah Jawi (or the History of Java), the monument was a fatal factor for Mas Dana, a rebel who revolted against Pakubuwono I, the king of Mataram in 1709. It was mentioned that the "Redi Borobudur" hill was besieged and the insurgents were defeated and sentenced to death by the king. In the Babad Mataram (or the History of the Mataram Kingdom), the monument was associated with the misfortune of Prince Monconagoro, the crown prince of the Yogyakarta Sultanate in 1757. In spite of a taboo against visiting the monument, "he took what is written as the knight who was captured in a cage (a statue in one of the perforated stupas)". Upon returning to his palace, he fell ill and died one day later.
Lieutenant Governor-General Thomas Stamford Raffles took great interest in the history of Java. He collected Javanese antiques and made notes through contacts with local inhabitants during his tour throughout the island. On an inspection tour to Semarang in 1814, he was informed about a big monument deep in a jungle near the village of Bumisegoro. He was not able to make the discovery himself and sent H.C. Cornelius, a Dutch engineer, to investigate. In two months, Cornelius and his 200 men cut down trees, burned down vegetation and dug away the earth to reveal the monument. Due to the danger of collapse, he could not unearth all galleries. He reported his findings to Raffles including various drawings. Although the discovery is only mentioned by a few sentences, Raffles has been credited with the monument's recovery, as one who had brought it to the world's attention.
The Dutch East Indies government then commissioned F.C. Wilsen, a Dutch engineering official, who studied the monument and drew hundreds of relief sketches. J.F.G. Brumund was also appointed to make a detailed study of the monument, which was completed in 1859.
Borobudur attracted attention in 1885. The restoration was carried out between 1907 and 1911. Due to the limited budget, the restoration had been primarily focused on cleaning the sculptures, and Van Erp did not solve the drainage problem. Within fifteen years, the gallery walls were sagging and the reliefs showed signs of new cracks and deterioration. Van Erp used concrete from which alkali salts and calcium hydroxide leached and were transported into the rest of the construction. This caused some problems, so that a further thorough renovation was urgently needed.
In 1973, a master plan to restore Borobudur was created. The Indonesian government and UNESCO then undertook the complete overhaul of the monument in a big restoration project between 1975 and 1982. The foundation was stabilized and all 1,460 panels were cleaned. The restoration involved the dismantling of the five square platforms and improved the drainage by embedding water channels into the monument. Both impermeable and filter layers were added. This colossal project involved around 600 people to restore the monument and cost a total of US$ 6,901,243. After the renovation was finished, UNESCO listed Borobudur as a World Heritage Site in 1991. It is listed under Cultural criteria "to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius", "to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design", and "to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance".
Borobudur contains approximately 2,670 individual bas reliefs (1,460 narrative and 1,212 decorative panels), which cover the façades and balustrades. The total relief surface is 2,500 square metres and they are distributed at the hidden foot and the five square platforms.
The narrative panels, which tell the story of Sudhana and Manohara,[69] are grouped into 11 series encircled the monument with the total length of 3,000 metres (9,800 ft). The hidden foot contains the first series with 160 narrative panels and the remaining 10 series are distributed throughout walls and balustrades in four galleries starting from the eastern entrance stairway to the left. Narrative panels on the wall read from right to left, while on the balustrade read from left to right. This conforms with pradaksina, the ritual of circumambulation performed by pilgrims who move in a clockwise direction while keeping the sanctuary to their right.[70]
The hidden foot depicts the workings of karmic law. The walls of the first gallery have two superimposed series of reliefs; each consists of 120 panels. The upper part depicts the biography of the Buddha, while the lower part of the wall and also balustrades in the first and the second galleries tell the story of the Buddha's former lives. The remaining panels are devoted to Sudhana's further wandering about his search, terminated by his attainment of the Perfect Wisdom.
Apart from the story of the Buddhist cosmology carved in stone, Borobudur has many statues of various Buddhas. The cross-legged statues are seated in a lotus position and distributed on the five square platforms (the Rupadhatu level) as well as on the top platform (the Arupadhatu level).
The Buddha statues are in niches at the Rupadhatu level, arranged in rows on the outer sides of the balustrades, the number of statues decreasing as platforms progressively diminish to the upper level. The first balustrades have 104 niches, the second 104, the third 88, the fourth 72 and the fifth 64. In total, there are 432 Buddha statues at the Rupadhatu level. At the Arupadhatu level (or the three circular platforms), Buddha statues are placed inside perforated stupas. The first circular platform has 32 stupas, the second 24 and the third 16, that add up to 72 stupas. Of the original 504 Buddha statues, over 300 are damaged (mostly headless) and 43 are missing (since the monument's discovery, heads have been stolen as collector's items, mostly by Western museums).
At first glance, all the Buddha statues appear similar, but there is a subtle difference between them in the mudras or the position of the hands. There are five groups of mudra: North, East, South, West and Zenith, which represent the five cardinal compass points according to Mahayana. The first four balustrades have the first four mudras: North, East, South and West, of which the Buddha statues that face one compass direction have the corresponding mudra. Buddha statues at the fifth balustrades and inside the 72 stupas on the top platform have the same mudra: Zenith. Each mudra represents one of the Five Dhyani Buddhas; each has its own symbolism.
Keep your command center operators happy, healthy and productive with Ascend Sit/Stand consoles. Ascend furniture features electric-lift legs with three programmable height settings, allowing operators to alternate between sitting and standing with the push of a button.
By changing positions throughout the day, your operators will help minimize physical stress and fatigue in their technical environment.