The chantry chapel of Abbot Ramryge (d.1521) stands immediately to the north of the high altar and is a lavish example of Perpendicular architecture, as well as the last major addition to the Abbey prior to the Dissolution. The chantry chapel is distinguished by its ornate detail and carving, including many heads and figures of rams as puns on the Abbot's name, Ramryge.

 

St Albans claims to be the earliest site of Christian pilgrimage in England, being named after our first martyr, who was executed at some point in the 3rd century AD (when the city was still known by its Roman name, Verulanium) having sheltered a persecuted Christian priest, St Amphibalus, and been impressed by his faith, offering himself for arrest in his place. Both men were buried here and Alban's tomb was venerated and marked in some form long before the present cathedral was built.

 

The cathedral is nonetheless one of the most ancient of our major churches, though its cathedral status dates only to 1877 when the new diocese of St Albans was formed. The church was originally founded as St Alban's Abbey, and built close to the presumed site of Alban's martyrdom. Founded in 793 by King Offa, the abbey was rebuilt several times with the earliest parts of the present cathedral dating back to the late 11th century. Much use was made of recycled material from the abandoned Roman city of Verulanium, and the handsome Romanesque tower appears to be entirely constructed of reused Roman bricks. The Abbey was built on an impressive scale, and must have once been a very wealthy institution owing to pilgrimages to the shrine of St Alban behind the high altar. However its fortunes had begun to decline even before the Reformation swept medieval monastic life away.

 

The abbey church miraculously survived the Dissolution in its entirety and was sold to the town for use as their parish church. The monastic buildings however were completely erased aside from the splendid Abbey Gatehouse near the west end, and only the weathered remains of arcading on the south side of the nave remains of the former cloisters. Upkeep thereafter seems to have been a serious challenge and the huge church spent much of the following centuries in poor repair, thus much work was done by a succession of architects in the Victorian period prior to the abbey church being raised to the status of cathedral. The most obvious interventions are those made by Edmund Beckett / Lord Grimthorpe, an amateur architect who paid for much of the work in the 1870s in return for a free hand in redesigning parts of the building. His are the strange turrets on ends of the transepts, along with their facade windows below and the west front, which is clearly a Victorian confection, though the medieval facade it replaced had been left in a rather bare, unfinished state.

 

The cathedral we see today is thus a rather surprising mixture of styles and materials, everything from Roman brick, flint and rubble to fine white limestone., which gives it a rather patchy appearance. Its great length however is remarkable, being the second longest medieval church in the country (only Winchester is longer, but St Albans has a longer nave). The oldest parts are the towers and transepts from the end of the 11th century, along with much of the north side of the nave, all fine examples of early Romanesque architecture. Most of the rest was rebuilt in the Gothic style in various phases throughout the 14th century, including the greater part of the nave and all of the choir and Lady Chapel (though the east end was heavily renewed externally in the Victorian restoration).

 

Entering the cathedral one cannot fail to be impressed by the enormous length of the nave,, mostly of late 13th and early 14th century date aside from the strikingly austere north arcade in the more easterly section, where the raw unadorned early Norman architecture contrasts dramatically with the more ornate Gothic arcade opposite. The Norman columns have the added appeal of retaining substantial remains of medieval mural decoration, with a succession of Crucifixion scenes that may have originally served as reredos to long vanished side altars. The medieval pulpitum screen remains and separates the eastern bays for use as the choir beyond it. This area also retains its flat late medieval wooden ceiling complete with painted panels of angels holding shields.

 

The transepts and crossing beneath the tower form an especially memorable interior space, again the architecture is of the more raw, auster Norman variety, but the tower arches are enlivened with painted decoration simulating brickwork and much Roman and Saxon material is incorporated in to the transepts. Beyond is the fully Gothic eastern limb with the presbytery covered by a handsome medieval wooden vault, again replete it medieval painted decoration, and the striking altar reredos, a towering late medieval screen populated with elaborate niches and statuary (the latter being Victorian replacements for originals long lost). Behind this is the re-assembled shrine of St Alban (along with that of St Amphibalus in the south choir aisle nearby). The Lady Chapel beyond is a handsome example of 14th century Decorated Gothic, though much restored following centuries of use as a schoolroom separated from the rest of the church.

 

There is much of interest to see in the cathedral, though most of the furnishings are Victorian (the originals having long vanished) and there are few monuments of note aside from the two late medieval chantry chapels of Abbot Ramryge and Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, the latter overlooking the shrine of St Alban and balanced by a 15th century wooden watching loft on the opposite side (a rare survival). There is a mixture of glass, the most notable pieces being the most recent additions in the south aisle and north transept rose window. The best features are the unusually extensive remnants of medieval mural painting in various parts of the church, a quite remarkable survival, making a thorough exploration of this cathedral all the more rewarding.

 

This was my third visit, and longest one, though my attempt at a fuller photographic record was severely compromised by accidents with my camera, which at one point fell from my tripod onto the stone floor in one of the chantry chapels. I was lucky it survived at all given the dreadful crash it made, but it was seriously affected and my photos were very hit and miss from that point onwards. My day however ended on a happier note, returning in the evening to attend a lovely performance of Mozart's Requiem, and the acoustics in there are indeed impressive.

 

For more about the cathedral see below.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Albans_Cathedral

newest addition to the fold. it was at this point that i realized i have become a collector of sorts - but my excitement is in actually shooting them. this one was bequeathed to me by my friend taj, and looked in great condition aside from the 35mm 2.8 lens attatched to it that would not focus. after some research i found that the electronics in this make of the SL35 series tends to fail more often than not, so i was a bit nervous - but, popped a battery in and the camera appears to be metering fine. ordered a 50mm 1.8 from overseas (which took forever to get here) and we're finally set. the 35mm has been sent out for repair. excited to see what this system can do. beautiful camera.

 

Another donation from a friend

This customer wanted a single story family room added to their ranch home. Vaulted ceilings and large windows make this space large and full of light.

701 19th Street

Sacramento, California

 

More from a series of photos I took a couple weekends ago to document commercial additions added to houses in Sacramento.

High Street Street in Cardiff.

 

On the way we were here, the Queen was in Cardiff to unveil a new Welsh Regiment at the Millennium Stadium, and a parade went from there to Cardiff Castle.

  

A look ahead to Cardiff Castle. Decided not to go there, but instead we went to the National Museum Cardiff instead.

  

Welsh flags to the end of the High Street.

 

The Goat Major pub on the left.

  

The castle is Grade I listed.

 

Cardiff Castle, Castle

 

Location

On large site on corner of Duke Street and Kingsway, Bute Park to N and W.

 

History

For full details of history see References. A Roman timber fort stood on the site from circa AD55-60, successively rebuilt, until around 280 a large stone fort was built, whose foundations define the present castle enclosure. Around 1081, William I built a motte within the Roman enclosure, upon which the present polygonal stone keep was built about 50 years later. This was modified c1300 with addition of S tower; an inner bailey wall was constructed, and probably the Black Tower. Around 1429-39, Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick built a polygonal tower and new domestic range against W wall The range was enlarged in the late C16 by Henry Herbert, Second Earl of Pembroke. The castle was inherited by Lord Mountstuart, later the first Marquess of Bute in 1776 who had the western apartments modified by Henry Holland, and the grounds landscaped by Lancelot Brown. Further work 1817. Some work to Black Tower by John Prichard, 1850. From 1868, the Third Marquess of Bute employed William Burges (1827-1881), amongst the most important Gothic revival architects and designers of the period, to transform the castle into a High Victorian medieval fantasy with particularly exotic interiors, executed by a team of leading artists and craftsmen. The castle also retains important fittings and furnishings from this period. Burges' sources range across much of European Gothic art; the Arab Room introduces an Islamic influence. Burges' schemes were continued after his death by William Frame, although Burges' elaborate Grand Staircase, partially completed, was removed in early C20. The S gate and barbican Tower by J P Grant, 1920s; West gate 1921. The Roman walls were exposed and rebuilt to more than their original height between 1891and 1923. The Castle was given to the City in 1947 by the 5th Marquess of Bute.

 

Interior

The interior has 17 rooms to the designs of Burges, and others show his guidance. Many of the rooms are of unrivalled sumptuousness and fantasy. CLOCK TOWER has rib-vaulted Winter Smoking room with decoration on the theme of Time. Above this, the Bachelor bedroom with theme of mineral wealth, bathroom with Penarth alabaster.The elaborate Summer smoking room with gallery, ribbed and painted dome, tiled floor, painted wall tiles. GUEST TOWER has Nursery with painted tiles of fables and nursery rhymes, overmantle with figures of Fame and Aesop's fox fables. Walnut Room with overmantle of Jack and the Beanstalk. ARAB ROOM with Islamic vault, trellis work, multi-coloured marble floor; marble walls, Arabic stained glass. BANQUETING HALL has open timber roof with fan vaulting and angels. Wooden screen to S. Chimneypiece in form of castle with equestrian figure of Robert, Earl of Gloucester. Wall-paintings of his exploits. OCTAGON STAIR in Beauchamp Tower; stone newell and Mouchette balustrade, paintings of Aesop's fables. Small vaulted ORATORY in French Gothic style. LIBRARY has paired Gothic doorways with relief monkeys; Gothic bookcases; chimneypiece with 5 seated figures representing alphabets and Third Marquess. ENTRANCE HALL (1930). LORD BUTE'S STUDY has lierne vault with foliage bosses and painted birds; panelled walls. Nearby, Office and NOAH ROOM. DRAWING ROOM in simple classical style. DINING ROOM uses scenes from life of Abraham to illustrate hospitality. Heavy painted ceiling with cylindrical beams. Overmantel with sculpted figures of Abraham and Sarah flanking 3 angels over Greek inscription. Stained glass with scenes from life of Abraham; carved and inlaid shutters. LADY BUTE'S APPARTMENT include panelled bedroom, and bathroom with stained glass roundels. CHAUCER ROOM decorated with scenes from Chaucer; octagonal plan top lit from fleche of Beauchamp Tower. Lantern has 2 levels of stained glass with figures from Canterbury Tales, and scenes from Tales, and Chaucerian subjects in tracery glass.Stencilled timbers to lantern. Crocketed arches with murals of Legend of Good Women (corbels of female figures). Walnut panelling inlaid with mother of pearl. Marble chimneypiece with female figures hanging heraldic shield on tree.Tiled floor with vine-leaf maze. Above dining room, LORD BUTE'S SITTING ROOM decorated with scenes of life of St Blane (Patron Saint of Isle of Bute); on door, painting of Seven Deadly Sins overcome by Virtue. Brass overmantel with sculpted beavers on lintel. LORD BUTE'S BEDROOM has ceiling with heavy beams on stone corbels supported by green marble shafts; 3 arches to each wall; beyond bedroom, bathroom. The ROOF GARDEN has marble-faced court with bronze columns supporting tiled roof; mosaic floor. Combination of Medieval and Pompeian styles; wall tiles, and Hebrew inscriptions; bronze fountain and statue of Virgin and Child.

 

Exterior

Castle entered from S at Black tower (polygonal turret to rear) and S gate (rebuilt 1920s) with towers to R. South walls to W of Black Tower reconstructed in Medieval style by Burges with battlements with flaps between merlons, and slate roof. Curtain walls to SE, E and N reconstructed in Roman Style with crenellations, polygonal turrets, and enclosed wall-walk with arched openings. North wall has central gate with turret to each side; course of pink stone separates Roman Work from reconstruction. To N of N gate, wooden bridge on concrete piers in Roman style. On W side of enclosure, stretch of medieval curtain wall with C20 turret. West front of apartments has, from N, Bute Tower (raised 2 storeys by Burges) statues in arcading, tall square turret to L. Polygonal Beauchamp tower with machicolations and wooden (C19) fleche. Below, reconstructed West Gate (1920s). Square Herbert Tower (raised 2 storeys by Burges) with steep slate roof. Guest tower: gable end of tank tower. At SW corner, Clock tower, machicolated, with heraldic shields, polychrome statues, gilt clock faces, pyramidal lead roof of 2 stages with clerestorey windows of Smoking Room; stair turret to N.

In bailey, Motte surrounded by moat re-excavated in C19. Stone keep dodecagonal in plan; lias w freestone angles; S tower with turret (C20); stairs with base of turret enclosing well. Former curtain wall marked with modern masonry. Rear of S curtain with wooden walkway and lead? gargoyles; walkway continues round Clock Tower. E front of Western appartments has then tank tower with steeply-pitched slate roof to gallery. Then tall guest tower with tall polygonal turret to R. Steps up to Entrance to L of Beauchamp range with 5 polygonal turrets (but S turret to R of doorway 1927). North block (Holland) of 3 windows plus one set back Gothic fenestration (C20).

 

Reason for Listing

Listed Grade I as an exceptional building with outstanding architectural features from many historical periods. The High Victorian interiors are of the highest architectural and historic interest, and include important original fittings and furnishings, designed and executed by leading designers and craftsmen.

Scheduled Ancient Monument. Cadw Ref No 5/0938/GM171(CDF)

 

References

RCAHMW;

J Newman, Glamorgan (Buildings of Wales Series), 1995, pp 194-211;

J M Crook, William Burges and the High Victorian Dream, 1981.

  

This text is a legacy record and has not been updated since the building was originally listed. Details of the building may have changed in the intervening time. You should not rely on this listing as an accurate description of the building.

Notes:

 

On large site on corner of Duke Street and Kingsway, Bute Park to N and W.

  

Source: Cadw

 

Listed building text is © Crown Copyright. Reproduced under licence.

Newest addition to my room - swearing doesn't count when it's in French right?

Earth Designs Garden Design and Build were asked to created a landscape and propose garden design in Acton, London*. Here are the details of the project

 

Brief: The plot for this design was a mid-size family garden, which had recently benefited from the addition of a large sunroom on the back of the property. It was a fairly blank canvas, with nothing of note to be retained in the re-design. The garden had side access and worn boundary fences which required replacing. There was no clear brief other than that the design include a seating area and some lawn, and that the transition from sunroom to garden be fairly seamless.

 

Solution: The focus of this design was to create an exterior space that serves as an extension to the interior, featuring several distinct and versatile areas that can be adapted to a variety of uses.

 

The garden's boundaries were replaced with new fencing to provide a uniform and attractive backdrop to the transformation within, while the long sideway down the right of the house was renovated with the addition of attractive 'bamboo' slate tile flooring in a random lay pattern.

 

The first section of the space comprises a large area of Western Red Cedar decking adjoining the house, and offers ample room for entertaining, with a long L-shaped fixed-bench seat stretching width-ways across the space from the left-hand side to the centre. This was backed with a rendered block raised bed, planted with fragrant lavender and capped with 'bamboo' slate tile, to provide a sense of enclosure and separation from the rest of the garden.

 

A decked walkway running down the right hand side of the space provides access to a 'spa' area, featuring a large square hot tub housed upon a reinforced paved hard-standing and nestled between existing and additional trees, shrubs and foliage to provide a secluded and intimate area for bathing throughout the seasons. Hidden behind mature and new planting in the bottom left corner, a large shed provides ample storage for the client's garden accessories. The middle of the space has been given over to a large lawn edges with slate.

 

A purple and yellow planting scheme of soft, cottage-style evergreen shrubs and flowering perennials will help to bring year round lightness and subtle colouring to the space.

 

After-dark hot tub bathing is enhanced by several strings of pea-lights woven through the existing shrubbery. Deck lights demark the main area of decking and guide one's journey along the decked walkway. Finally, spot lights in the beds highlight certain area while providing a gentle wash throughout the space.

 

Testimonial: "After months of planning and a full year of having builders everywhere, we had finally got the house into good shape but the garden was a nightmare. It had been somewhat overgrown before the builders moved in, but after a year of being used as a builders yard, it needed shock treatment.

 

We needed help fast so we searched the web. We were looking for garden designers with creative ideas for smaller London gardens. We didn't want anything too traditional but at the same time, nothing too extreme.

 

Earth Designs fitted the bill and after a design session with Katrina, we engaged them for the project. They had offered us a design service only, but as we only had a 4 week window in which to complete the job, we gave them the whole project.

 

We had built a new extension with wide glass doors that opened out into the garden, so the brief to Earth Designs was to "bring the outside, inside" and create a strong link between the new room and the garden beyond. The actual garden space was not large so we wanted to use the space as an extension of the living space - to be an "outside room".

 

Monday 18th April and three very charming men arrived on our doorstep at 8.0am sharp. Arlo was the project manager, ably aided and abetted by Paul and Phillip. They worked brilliantly as a team and always hit all the deadlines. In particular they did a great job in working with our neighbours to ensure the whole project ran smoothly.

 

The first week involved clearing the site - no mean feat with 30-year-old ivy stems that looked more like tree trunks.

 

The second week involved levelling the garden, putting up new fencing, building the corner seating base and planters, plus marking out the garden shape. It was good to be able to make minor changes to the design on the ground at this stage. The hot tub arrived too and was winched into place for connection later.

 

Week 3 saw the decking and seating built.

 

Then in week four the turf arrived, the lawn went down and on the last day, Katrina arrived with a truckload of wonderful specimens (and Matt) and we had a wonderful time planting. Ground Force Mk II - a complete garden from start to finish in just 4 weeks!

 

There were a few things that needed to be sorted out after the main work was complete. Earth Designs were great about coming back until all was complete and finished.

 

Our thanks to Katrina, Matt, Arlo, Paul and Phillip for a great job, completed on time and on budget with a great looking result."

 

If you dig this and would like to find out more about this or any of other of our designs, please stop by our web-site and have a look at our work.

 

Earth Designs is a bespoke London Garden Design and build company specialising in classic, funky and urban contemporary garden design.

 

Our Landscape and Garden build teams cover London, Essex and parts of South East England, while garden designs are available nationwide.

Please visit www.earthdesigns.co.uk to see our full portfolio. If you would like a garden designer in London or have an idea of what you want and are looking for a landscaper London to come and visit your garden, please get in touch.

 

Follow our Bespoke Garden Design and Build and Blog to see what we get up to week by week, our free design clinic as well as tips and products we recommend for your garden projects www.earthdesigns.co.uk/blog/.

 

Earth Designs is located in East London, but has built gardens in Essex , gardens in Hertfordshire Hertfordshire and all over the South East. Earth Designs was formed by Katrina Wells in Spring 2003 and has since gone from strength to strength to develop a considerable portfolio of garden projects. Katrina, who is our Senior Garden Designer, has travelled all over the UK designing gardens. However we can design worldwide either through our postal garden design service or by consultation with our senior garden designer. Recent worldwide projects have included garden designs in Romania. Katrina’s husband. Matt, heads up the build side of the company, creating a unique service for all our clients.

 

If you a not a UK resident, but would like an Earth Designs garden, Earth Designs has a worldwide design service through our Garden Design Postal Design Vouchers. If you are looking for an unique birthday present or original anniversary present and would like to buy one of our Garden Design Gift Vouchers for yourself or as a present please our sister site www.gardenpresents.co.uk. We do also design outside of the UK, please contact us for details.

 

Midtown, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United StatesSummaryBuilt in three stages between 1912 and 1932, the New York Times Building reflects both the development of the Times Square neighborhood and the history of one of the most highly-respected newspapers in the United States. Founded on Nassau Street in 1851, the Times moved to West 42nd Street in 1905, constructing a skyscraper headquarters at the crossing of Broadway and Seventh Avenue, which had been named Times Square the previous year. The newspaper quickly outgrew the so-called Times Tower and in 1912-13 the eleven-story Times Annex was constructed about two hundred feet away on the north side of West 43rd Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. Architect Mortimer J. Fox, of the firm Buchman & Fox, closely patterned the tripartite neo-Gothic elevations on the 1905 building, designing a limestone base and brick shaft, crowned by a richly embellished terra-cotta cornice and parapet.The Annex became the newspaper's headquarters, accommodating editorial and executive departments, as well as new printing presses and mechanical equipment. The editors christened their new headquarters the "monarch of Times Square" and claimed it was the largest newspaper plant in the world.In 1922, the Times filed plans to double the plant's capacity. Ludlow & Peabody designed the one hundred-foot long addition, which consisted of an expanded staff entrance, five identical bays to the west, and a five-story setback attic level in the style of the French Renaissance. At the center of the hipped roof attic, which extended across both buildings, was a seven-story tower, capped by a pyramidal roof and slender lantern. This Chateauesque feature gave the expanded Annex a dignified and conspicuous presence in an increasingly incandescent Times Square, making the building visible from all comers of the entertainment district.The west wing was constructed in 1930-32. Albert Kahn, the noted Detroit-based architect, designed the plan and maintained the building's primarily neo-Gothic vocabulary, adding three additional bays, a second lobby, and roof-top studio. In recognition of its importance to the newspaper, the Annex was renamed the New York Times Building in 1942.The New York Times Building is one of Times Square's oldest and best preserved non-theatrical structures. Extending 318 feet along the north side of West 43rd Street, the extenor survives largely intact, and the building continues to serve as the newspaper's editorial and business offices.DESCRIPTIONThe New York TimesFor one hundred and fifty years, The New York Times has been one of the world's best-known and highly respected newspapers. Established by Henry Jarvis Raymond, George Jones and Edward B. Welsey in 1851, the newspaper flourished in a series of increasingly prominent Manhattan structures, including sites in the financial district, along Park Row, and since 1905, in Times Square. The Times initially leased space at 113 Nassau Street, but it soon moved to a larger structure at the southeast corner of Nassau and Beekman Streets. In 1856, the owners acquired the Old Brick Presbyterian Church and graveyard "at the northern apex of the triangle formed by Park Row and Nassau and Beekman Streets," which they replaced with a five-story, eighty-foot tall, building designed in the Italianate style by the architect Thomas R. Jackson (1826-1901). The floor plan provided a model for future Times structures: the heavy presses and printing equipment were housed in the basement, while staff offices were located above, on the first, fourth, and fifth stories. To provide space for future expansion, the second and third stories were temporarily leased to outside tenants.The early 1880s were a prosperous period for the Times and in 1886 George Jones proposed to build "the largest and handsomest newspaper office in the world."3 With few sites available in the immediate area, he decided to construct an entirely new building at the same location while retaining as much of the existing structure as possible. Credit for this technological feat went to the architect-engineer George B. Post (1837-1913) who planned and supervised construction of a twelve-story building without interfering with daily operations. Completed in 1889, the granite and limestone Romanesque Revival headquarters (a designated New York City Landmark) was described in King's Handbook of New York (1892) as "the Times expressed in stone."4The Times struggled financially during the early 1890s due to competition from "penny" papers, such as the Journal and World, as well as the financial panic of 1893. Despite hopes that rental income from vacant floors would supplement circulation revenue, in 1893 the newspaper was sold to the New York Times Publishing Company, a corporation headed by Times editor Charles R. Miller. Three years later, in August 1896, Adolph S. Ochs (1858-1935) became publisher, and by August 1900, the company's major shareholder.Soon after taking full control of the Times, he added the familiar slogan "All the News that's Fit to Print" to the masthead, signaling his intention to maintain the newspaper's traditional high standards.Times SquareNew York City's population experienced a dramatic rise in the last decades of the nineteenth century, inspiring fierce competition among daily newspapers. While some lowered prices and ran sensational headlines to attract readers, others, like the Tribune, built lofty skyscrapers to provide office space and rental revenue, as well as to serve as highly visible symbols of each company's success.In the late 1890s, Ochs developed plans to build a new headquarters. As publisher of the Chattanooga Times, Ochs undertook a similar, though far more modestly-sized project in 1891, constructing the city's tallest structure. Crowned by a domed corner pavilion, the six-story Romanesque Revival building attracted considerable attention in Chattanooga and ten thousand people attended the dedication.5 Ochs recognized that a new Manhattan headquarters would offer numerous benefits. In addition to providing additional office space, an impressive structure would generate invaluable publicity for the Times.Several sites were considered, including a large plot on lower Broadway, between Barclay and Murray Streets, but escalating real estate prices in the City Hall area convinced him to choose a less costly location. The Herald was the first major newspaper to abandon Printing House Square, acquiring a full-block site bounded by Broadway and Sixth Avenue, West 35th and 36th Streets. Constructed in 1892-95, the two-stoiy Renaissance Revival structure (McKim, Mead & White, demolished) was notable for its height and handsome glazed loggia, which permitted views into the pressroom.In July 1901, Ochs assembled a similarly prominent trapezoidal site at the center of Longacre Square. Real estate developers were the first group to recognize the area's potential. During the 1850s, brownstone rowhouses and churches began to dominate the blocks west of Broadway, attracting a "superior class of residents."6 Modest hotels and multiple dwellings followed, as well as a large concentration of stables, harness shops, and carriage manufacturers. Because of these establishments the neighborhood became known as Longacre Square, recalling a similar commercial district in London. In 1882, the Metropolitan Opera House (J. C. Cady, demolished) opened on Broadway, between West 39th and 40th Streets. The presence of this elite institution, filling an entire city block and accommodating more than three thousand listeners, would help Longacre Square become the city's primary entertainment district.In subsequent years, a significant group of theaters were built close-by, including the Casino (Francis H. Kimball & Thomas Wisedell, 1882, demolished), the Broadway (J. B. McElfatrick, 1887-88, demolished) Hammerstein's Olympia (J. B. McElfatrick, 1895, demolished), and the New Amsterdam (Herts & Tallent 1903, a designated New York City Landmark and Interior), as well as such luxury hotels as the Astor (Clinton & Russell, 1904-9, demolished) and the Knickerbocker (Marvin & Davis with Bruce Price, 1901-6, a designated New York City Landmark).These new buildings, along with construction of the IRT subway, between 1901 and 1904, convinced Ochs that his new headquarters would stand at the center of a major urban crossroads.7 Measuring 58 feet at the southern end, 20 feet at the northern end, and 138 and 143 feet on the sides, the wedge-shaped building would be located at the intersection of Broadway and Seventh Avenue, between West 42nd and 43rd Streets. The architects Eidlitz & McKenzie (C. L. W. Eidlitz and Andrew C. McKenzie) were responsible for the design, and it was, for a brief period, the city's second tallest structure. Consisting of a twenty-five story shaft set on a sixteen-story base, the so-called Times Tower was constructed by the George A. Fuller Company, with Purdy & Henderson as structural engineers,8 Inspired by "Giotto's Tower" (begun 1334) in Florence, Italy, the limestone, brick and terra-cotta elevations originally featured neo-Gothic and Renaissance Revival details, produced by the Perth Amboy Terra Cotta Co.9The tower's upper stories housed editorial offices, while the lower stories were divided between various departments and outside tenants. Due to the building's slender profile and small footprint, there were few interior rooms and most offices had two windows. The Times claimed that "There is probably not another building in New York City, probably in the world, so saturated with fresh air and sunlight."10 In the basement were various presses as well as the platforms of the recently completed IRT subway. On April 8,1904 the New York City Board of Alderman named the station and the "previously nameless" intersection Times Square, forever linking the newspaper with the neighborhood."The Times AnnexThe Times quickly outgrew the 42nd Street tower, with no possibility of expansion onto an adjoining site. Despite escalating real estate prices in the immediate neighborhood "it did not occur to anyone to suggest that the [newspaperj should desert Times Square."12 The owners viewed the midtown location as "strategic" — at the center of the entertainment district and at the intersection of various existing and proposed transit routes.In 1912, the New York Times Company acquired two lots on the north side of West 43rd Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, including a one hundred by one hundred-foot lot purchased from Lee Shubert for $300,000 -- a "record price for property west of Broadway in the Times Square District" — and a forty-three by one hundred-foot lot leased from the Astor estate.13The Times Annex would be the newspaper's sixth building. It was designed by Mortimer J. Fox (1874-1948) of the architectural firm Buchman & Fox.14 Albert C. Buchman (1859-1936) and Fox founded their partnership in 1899. A native New Yorker, Fox studied at the College of the City of New York (now City College) and at the Columbia School of Mines (later the Columbia School of Architecture). The firm was responsible for many private residences and commercial buildings, including Saks & Company (1901-2, altered, now Herald Center), the Leonori Apartments (1901, part of the Upper East Side Historic District), and the terra-cotta clad World's Tower B uilding (1914) on West 40th Street.15 In 1917, Fox left the firm to become a director and vice president of the Columbia Bank (later part of Manufacturer's Trust). After ten years, he retired to pursue a successful career as a landscape painter. Buchman, a graduate of Cornell University, was associated with Ely Jacques Kahn after 1919.16Fox designed the Annex in the neo-Gothic style, patterning the general configuration and decorative vocabulary on that of the Times Tower. In September 1911, an unidentified Times writer declared:No one will be able to doubt after the most cursory glance that the Times Building and its Annex are related, and that, separated though they be by Seventh Avenue, they yet house branches of the same institution.17Rising to a height of 170 feet, the building consisted of an eleven-story tower set beside a four-story extension.18 This "mounted" tower configuration, like that of the Times Tower, not only gave the Annex the appearance of greater height, but it ensured employees that their new offices would "enjoy as much light and air" as their previous ones. The elevations that were most visible from Broadway - the south and east facades - were treated identically, clad in Indiana limestone, light-colored Kittanning-faced brick and mat-faced terra cotta. The crown, marked by a multistory arcade, projecting cornice and parapet, was the building's most prominent feature, closely resembling that of the former headquarters. To accentuate the relationship between the Times Tower and the Annex, the upper stories were encrusted with identical terracotta tablet flowers, composite capitals, shells, and scroll-like reliefs. The fenestration was also similar, juxtaposing groups of triple one-over-one double-hung windows with deep reveals to single one-over-one double-hung windows with label moldings.Construction began in March 1912 and was completed in August 1913.19 The George A. Fuller Company, the contractor for the Times Tower, again served as builder. Established in Chicago in 1882, the firm specialized in steel-frame construction, erecting such distinguished commercial structures in New York City as the Fuller (aka Flatiron) Building (1901-3), Pennsylvania Station (demolished), the Plaza Hotel (1905-07, 1921) and the Seagram Building (1955-58). At the time of construction, the Fuller Company was among the most successful builders in the United States, with offices in seven cities.The Annex had a considerably larger footprint than its predecessor, with a total of 170,000 square feet of space. Staff and visitors passed through a neo-Gothic portico with revolving doors into a marble-clad lobby. Immediately east of this entrance were three loading bays, two storefronts, and a twenty-five foot wide arcade leading to Weber & Field's Music Hall (William Albert Swasey, 1911-12, demolished) on West 44th Street.20 To alleviate street congestion, the three bays opened onto a fifty-eight by thirty-eight-foot brick paved freight hall where wagons could be loaded and unloaded from raised platforms. The name of the newspaper was found in four locations, carved into the cornice between the second and third stories, on an illuminated sign above the main entrance, on globe-shaped lighting fixtures between each of the loading bays, and on the roof where one-story-tall letters, facing east, spelled "TIMES ANNEX."The first issue was printed in the Annex on March 3, 1913. Once the new plant was fully operational, the newspaper's link to the Times Tower became primarily symbolic. With nearly all floors leased to outside tenants, only the publication and subscription offices remained in the former headquarters, which were connected to the Annex by means of a four hundred-foot long concrete conduit beneath Seventh Avenue, housing steam and electric cables, as well as a pneumatic tube.22 The Times, nonetheless, chose to retain ownership of the Times Tower until 1961, using it as a highly visible venue for such special events as the annual New Year's celebration, as well as to display various illuminated signs and the world-famous electronic news zipper.23A staff of six hundred persons worked in the Annex, making the Times one of the largest employers in the area. As in the Times Tower, the executive and editorial offices were located in the crown. At the eleventh story was Ochs' private office and an assembly hall for lectures and large meetings. On the tenth story was the main library and subject "morgue." The fifth story was devoted to recreation, with showers and dining rooms, and the sixth, seventh, and eighth stories were "reserved for growth." Of particular significance was the steel frame, which was engineered at "above code standards" to support additional floors should they be required.24Ludlow & Peabody and the 1922-24 AdditionCirculation continued to grow throughout the late 1910s, reaching 331,000 copies a day in 1921. While rival newspapers built large printing plants in areas where property values were significantly lower, such as the New York American and Evening Journal (Charles E. Birge, 1927) at 210 South Street, the Evening Graphic (1927) at 346 Hudson Street, the New York Evening Post (Horace Trumbauer, 1926) at 75 West Street, and the Daily News (Raymond M. Hood, 1929-30, a designated New York City Landmark) at 220 East 42nd Street (near Second Avenue), the Times remained committed to publishing in the heart of Times Square and the Annex would become a significant expression of the newspaper's presence and influence.25 In January 1922, the Times filed plans with the Department of Buildings to double the plant's printing capacity. Six years earlier, the newspaper had acquired five five-story flats on 43rd Street, immediately west of the recently completed Annex. These structures were subsequently demolished, providing a one hundred by one hundred foot lot for a " 14 story fireproof storage + workroom + office" structure. The architectural firm Ludlow & Peabody was hired to design the addition. William Orr Ludlow (c. 1871-1954) was trained at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. After graduating in 1892, he joined the firm of Carerre & Hastings where he worked as a draftsman until 1895. From about 1895 to 1908 he was associated with Charles A. Valentine and Lawrence Valk. In 1909, he formed a partnership with Charles S. Peabody (1880-1935). A native of Brooklyn, Peabody studied architecture at Columbia University and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. Their partnership lasted for more than twenty years, with the firm designing numerous residential, corporate and institutional buildings throughout the United States.27 In New York City the firm was responsible for the Prospect branch of the People's Trust Company in Brooklyn (1919-20), the Johns-Manville Building at 292 Madison Avenue (1924), forty-eight-story 10 East 40th Street (1928), and thirty-eight-story Chase National Bank Headquarters (1928) at 20 Pine Street.The scale and density of Times Square increased dramatically following construction of the Annex. Grand movie palaces like the Capitol (1914, demolished) and Loew's State (1920, demolished) lined both sides of Seventh Avenue and Broadway, seating as many as five thousand persons. Many prominent skyscrapers were also built in the area during this period, such as the neo-Gothic World's Tower and the Spanish Renaissance-style Candler Building (Willauer, Shape & Bready, 1914-20) on West 42nd Street. Notable for their height and sumptuous use of terracotta ornament, these light-colored towers may have provided inspiration for the upper stories of Ludlow & Peabody's addition.Construction began in January 1922 and was completed in October 1924.28 The addition featured an eleven-story base and a four-story attic level surmounted by a seven-story tower. Clad in limestone, brick and terra cotta, the one hundred foot-long addition was designed to give the impression that the two structures had been built at the same time. To accomplish this effect, Ludlow & Peabody obtained permission to build a five-bay structure that would match the height of the Annex and to extend the projecting cornice onto the new facade.29 The terra cotta used to clad the base and the lower floors was closely modeled on the Annex,30 which explicitly referred back to the Times Tower. For reasons that are unknown, the facade's consistency and reference to the original Times Tower and Annex was diminished by the fenestration, in which steel three-over-three double-hung windows were installed instead of the one-over-one double-hung windows used in the Times Tower and Annex. This choice of windows somewhat undermined the intended coherence of the 43rd Street elevations.Above the base was the four-story attic level extending across both structures. This part of the 1922-24 addition, which is largely hidden from view on 43rd Street because of the deep setback and parapet, was designed in the style of the French Renaissance. At the center of the hipped roof is a seven-story tower with balconies, capped by a pyramidal roof and slender lantern. The Chateauesque feature gave the expanded Annex a dignified and conspicuous presence in an increasingly incandescent Times Square, making it visible to the thousands who congregated in the entertainment district each night. On the four sides of the seventeenth story were one-story tall neon letters that spelled out "TIMES" and at the top of the lantern was a flagpole that flew the newspaper's logo.The expanded Annex enclosed nearly 318,000 square feet of floor space.32 Inside, the general floor arrangement was retained. Most of the lower floors continued to function as offices and the new fourteenth story became the executive wing, with spacious mahogany-paneled offices for Ochs and various vice presidents, as well as a library and private dining room.33Albert Kahn and the West WingTimes Square reached its zenith in the late 1920s. The district became nationally famous, celebrated in both Hollywood films and live musical revues. The Times prospered and circulation increased, reaching 431,000 daily copies in 1929. Many editorial improvements were made to the newspaper during these years, including expanded coverage of financial news, as well as the introduction of a Sunday magazine supplement and book review section.Despite a modest decline in readership following the stock market crash of October 1929, and a significant drop in advertising lines, Ochs continued to develop plans for a $2 million plant on Third Avenue, between Pacific and Dean Streets, in downtown Brooklyn, as well as a seventy-five foot long addition to the Annex.35 Both buildings were designed by Albeit Kahn, Inc., Architects and Engineers. Founded by Albert Kahn (1869-1942) in 1902, the Detroit-based firm specialized in industrial buildings, producing such important works as the Ford River Rouge Plant (1917-1939) and the Chrysler Corporation Half-Ton Truck Plant (1938). The firm also designed several newspaper plants, including the Detroit News (1915), Detroit Free Press (1925) and Detroit Times (1930).36 In March 1930, Moritz Kahn, a member of the firm, published an essay on the design of newspaper buildings. While much of the discussion focused on interior planning, considerable attention was also paid to decoration and construction materials. He advised:The newspaper publisher... is under a certain obligation to the public so far as the appearance of his plant is concerned. There is, to a certain degree, a bond between architecture and newspaper publication in that both are chroniclers of current events. Both are of importance in moulding the character and developing the culture of the public. Consequently, while the planning of the interior of a newspaper building must be done with a keen eye for efficiency, the exterior of the building should possess architectural merit.By the late 1920s, West 43rd Street had changed considerably. The Annex was flanked by two large structures, the fifteen-story Times Square Hotel to the west, and the south elevation of the thirty-three-story Paramount Building (Rapp & Rapp, a designated New York City Landmark) to the east. Crowned by a two-story tall clock with faces on four sides and an illuminated glass sphere that flashed to indicate the hour, the Paramount Building became one of the most visible structures in Times Square, overshadowing the Annex, the recently completed addition, and even the Times Tower.In August 1930, the newspaper filed plans to alter and expand the Annex. The west wing was built on the former site of the Yandis Court Apartments, located between Ludlow & Peabody's 1922-24 addition and the Ascension Memorial Church and rectory (both demolished). Directly across the street, the site faced the Lyric (Victor Hugo Koehler, 1903), Apollo (Eugene DeRosa, 1920), and Selwyn (George Keister, 1918, demolished) theaters, as well as the Hotel Dixie (later Carter Hotel).Construction commenced November 16,1930 and was officially completed January 7, 1932.40 The fifteen-story west wing, which cost more than $1 million, exclusive of equipment, was designed to "permit the expansion of practically all departments... without rearrangement of space in the present structure."41 While Kahn used a modern classical vocabulary in the award-winning Brooklyn plant, on 43rd Street his firm adopted a more contextual approach, duplicating the neo-Gothic crown, shaft, and base of the earlier Annex and addition.In contrast to many recent office towers, his design emphasized the building's horizontal character, directing the eye rhythmically west along the projecting cornice, rather than toward the sky. Perhaps in anticipation of future construction, the building's west facade was treated sparely, with unadorned fenestration and simple two-tone brickwork. Only minor changes were made to the elevations', above the two entrances, between the third and fourth floors, a neo-Gothic clock was installed in 1931, as well as a series of glass globe lighting fixtures beside each delivery bay.With opening of the west wing in August 1931, the Annex stretched 318 feet along West 43rd Street. Times' historian Meyer Berger described the building as "a spreading white monument."43 Eighteen stories tall, 221 feet high, it was valued at $3.05 million. In recognition of the building's importance to the newspaper, the Annex was renamed the New York Times Building in 1942.44Subsequent HistoryUnder Ochs' successor, Arthur Hays Sulzberger (1891-1961), the east section of the building was expanded to the north, occupying the former site of the 44th Street Theater, which the Times acquired in 1943.45 Designed by the architects Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, the 1947 addition (not part of this designation) obscured much of the north elevation which was mostly dismantled to link the structures. At this time, fifteen new presses were installed in the basement increasing the plant's capacity by fifty percent, and bedrooms were built on the fourteenth floor to provide overnight accommodations for executives during emergencies.46 The main entrance was redesigned by the architects Shreve, Lamb & Harmon in 1946. In addition to stripping the west and center porticos of various neo-Gothic arches and other details, a third public entrance (with expanded lobby) was added to the east, replacing a single delivery bay. The new entrance had a revolving door and a grid of windows, surmounted by an Art Deco relief. Removed from the facade of the Brooklyn plant, which closed in the mid-1930s and was sold to the Brooklyn Eagle in 1945, the bronze sculpture depicts two muscular figures flanking an image of the earth with the motto "ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT" below.In December 1946, a simple ceremony marked the opening of the redesigned entrance. It was reported at the time that no key could be found to lock the original 1913 entrance and that an "old-timer" recalled that when the Annex opened "it was decided to throw the key away on the theory that the Times would never close its doors."47 The radio station WQXR, which was purchased by the Times in 1944, moved to new studios on the ninth and tenth stories in 1950. A new auditorium was also constructed on the ninth story, designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon.48After World War 13, Times Square entered an significant period of decline. Hurt by the middle-class exodus to the suburbs and the growing popularity of television, the entertainment district began to lose its luster. Despite such changes and plans for construction of a new three-block long printing plant on the Upper West Side (Egger & Higgins, 1957-59), the Times continued to publish the daily paper on West 43rd Street.49 A pamphlet, issued by the newspaper, dramatically described each evening's activity:... on the ground floor of its building in Forty-third Street, is a fleet of trucks, waiting to speed the paper to readers in all parts of the world ... So when the presses start and the papers start coming up the carriers in a swift stream . . . becomes a maelstrom of activity . . . . Out of the doors on the street roll the trucks no matter what the weather... some to catch planes, some to catch trains, some to meet other trucks and divide up their burdens for runs into the country, some for local delivery - all of them hastening on schedule, loaded with news of the world.50To better manage the growing number of delivery trucks, in 1951 the roadbed on West 43rd Street was re-paved and widened by two feet, and in 1962 the seven delivery bays to the west were also widened (Egger & Higgins). Large quartz floodlights were installed over each bay in 1967. The stone facing on the rusticated columns was removed, and east of the entrances the arches were squared-off and the columns replaced by steel pillars.In 1963, a fire destroyed the original clock which was replaced with a seven by seven-foot tall digital "jump" clock. Two years later, in 1965, the building was recognized by Sigma Delta Chi, a society devoted to professional journalism, as an "Historic Site in Journalism." As the twenty-first site identified by the society, the members placed a rectangular bronze plaque dedicated to Ochs between the west and center entrances.During the 1980s, the west end of the attic level was altered to enclose an audio visual center and auditorium. At this time, a large window wall was cut into the attic's north face. In 1997, the presses came to a halt and the balance of printing operations were moved to a new printing plant (Polshek Partnership, 1994-97) at 26-50 Whitestone Expressway in College Point, Queens. The Times is currently planning to build a new skyscraper headquarters on the east side of Eighth Avenue, between West 40th and 41st Streets, designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano. DescriptionThe New York Times Building occupies a 318 by 100 foot site on West 43rd Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. Based on French Gothic, and French and Italian Renaissance sources, the eighteen-story structure is faced in Indiana limestone, tan brick, and cream-colored terra cotta. The building is divided into three major parts: a four-story east section, an eleven-story main section (1912-13, 1922-24, 1930-32), a five-story set-back attic level and seven-story tower (1922-24). The fenestration in the 1912-13 portion of the building consists of one-over-one double-hung, steel stash. The 1924 and 1931 additions have a combination of mostly three-over-three and six-over-six double-hung, steel windows. Replacement windows are either steel or aluminum.The south elevation faces West 43rd Street and consists of a two-story limestone base, a brick shaft, and richly-embellished terra-cotta crown. The first story is divided into sixteen bays, of which twelve are used as delivery bays. These twelve bays have been stripped, widened, and framed by non-historic steel columns (c. 1962). To the west of the entrances, the arches above each bay have been retained, while to the east, they have been squared. Attached to each column is a globe-shaped lighting fixture (c. 1962) modeled on those installed before 1922. The non-historic delivery bay doors are painted blue. Most of the second-story windows, except for one at the west end and four at the east end, are arranged in pairs and share a common sill. These windows are surmounted by a continuous shell frieze and cornice. Non-historic lighting fixtures are attached above the cornice and directed toward each delivery bay.Three entrance porticoes are located at the center of the first story. Whereas the two unused entrances at the west are framed by the original porticoes and pilasters (1930-32), the east or main staff and visitors entrance (1946) consists of two revolving doors surmounted by a grid of six windows and a rectangular bronze relief. The west entrance is flanked by globe-shaped lighting fixtures, while to either side of the main entrance are non-historic slender bronze-and-glass lighting fixtures (1985) attached to the wall. A bronze plaque dedicated to Adolph S. Ochs is attached to the facade between the main and center entrance. The west and center entrances have bronze doors surmounted by windows. Above the left door of the west entrance is an air conditioner. Above each entrance, at the second story, are three recessed triple-hung windows, surmounted by a frieze with relief panels, each with a pair of griffins grasping a shield. Two flagpoles extend from each sill above the center and main entrance. A single gargoyle projects between the west and center entrance. Between the third and fourth stories, aligned between the west and main entrance is a digital "Times" clock (1967) projecting over the sidewalk.The four-story east section (1912-13) is clad in brick above the second story. It has three single-hung windows on each floor. The fourth story windows are crowned by ogee moldings with finials. Above the fourth story is a richly embellished terra-cotta cornice supported by four decorative corbels. A terra-cotta parapet extends across roof.Floors 3 through 9 are clad in brick. From east to west, the fenestration is arranged as follows: a single window with ogee molding, three pairs of recessed windows, a single window with ogee molding (1911), a single window with ogee molding, three pairs of recessed windows, a single window with ogee molding (1922-24), three recessed windows, and a single window with ogee molding (1930-32). Between the ninth and tenth story extends a continuous entablature interrupted by decorative terra-cotta capitals with small cartouches crowning brick pilasters that rise from the base of the third story.The tenth and eleventh stories are treated as a single composition in terra cotta, with three groups of three triple windows framed by arches springing from decorative capitals and flanked by pilasters faced with tablet flowers. To accentuate the southeast comer, these pilasters repeat near the end of the south and east facades. The triple windows are divided by thin metal columns resting on squat pedestals. At the eleventh story, the windows rest on decorative metal spandrels. Each group of windows is flanked by a single window at the tenth story and a single window with balcony crowned by an ogee molding with finial at the eleventh story. Crowned by a continuous bracketed terra-cotta cornice, the eleventh story is surmounted by a decorative shell frieze, which extends onto the east facade. A decorative parapet, alternating three-dimensional decorative relief panels and pedestals, extends across the roof.Set back from the street is the five-story attic level (1920-22) with a hipped roof and dormer windows. The fourteenth story is faced with fleur-de-lys reliefs within raised interlaced diagonal bands. Directly above is a bracketed terra-cotta cornice, a decorative frieze, and parapet. Atop each of the parapet's pedestals is a small obelisk. Towards the west end of the fourteenth story, a section of the parapet has been removed and a small addition has been made into the roof (1985). The hipped roof is covered to give the appearance of standing seam teme metal.The tower is divided into the three bays. At the seventeenth story, each window has a small balcony and is crowned by a ogee molding. In the central bay, a single (sealed) window rises from the fourteenth to the fifteenth story. The fifteenth and sixteenth story is faced with low fleur-de-lys reliefs set within raised interlaced diagonal bands. The tower sets backs at the eighteenth story and is enclosed by a terra-cotta parapet with three-dimensional relief panels. Behind the parapet, each facade has three arched windows between pilasters. The eighteenth story has a pedimented dormer on each facade, flanked by scrolls and finials. The pyramidal roof, covered to give the appearance of standing seam teme metal, rises to a slender lantern, enclosed by an arched railing resting on shell-like objects. Directly below the lantern, on all sides, aligned with the pedimented dormer, is a round-arched dormer.The brick east elevation (1912) is visible above the four-story extension. From east to west, the fenestration is arranged as follows: a single window with ogee molding, three pairs of recessed windows, and a single window with ogee molding. The tenth and eleventh stories are faced in terra cotta and treated as a single composition, with three groups of triple windows framed by arches springing from decorative capitals and flanked by pilasters faced with tablet flowers. The triple windows are divided by thin metal columns resting on squat pedestals. At the eleventh story, the windows rest on decorative metal spandrels. Each group of windows is flanked by a single window at the tenth story and a single window with balcony crowned by an ogee arch with finial. The eleventh story is crowned by a continuous bracketed cornice, surmounted by a decorative shell frieze. Extending across the roof is a decorative parapet, alternating squat pedestals with sets of five three-dimensional decorative panels.The attic level sets back at the twelfth story. At center, a section of the parapet has been replaced by a pair of non-historic windows. The thirteenth and fourteenth stories have paired central windows with ogee moldings flanked by a single window with sills. The fourteenth story is faced with fleur-del-lys reliefs set within raised interlaced diagonal bands. The east facade is crowned by a bracketed terra-cotta cornice, a decorative frieze, and parapet. Obelisks rise from each of the pedestals. At the north end of the parapet rises a terra-cotta-clad chimney with chimney cap.The west elevation (1930-32) is visible above the adjacent garage and from Eighth Avenue. Brown and beige brickwork frames the double and triple hung windows, as well as the blind windows, on the fifth through eleventh stories. At the top of the eleventh story is a terra-cotta parapet and decorative reliefs. The attic level sets back at the twelfth story. The thirteenth and fourteenth stories each have a single two-over-two window at either end. At the fourteenth story, the windows and a wide central panel are decorated with fleur-de-lys reliefs set within raised interlaced diagonal panels. Decorative parapets mark the base of the fifteenth and sixteenth stories. Above the fifteenth story is a small tower capped by a hipped roof treated to give the appearance of standing seam terne metal with a metal dormer containing three round-arched double-hung windows. Below each window are decorative chevrons. Small finials mark the top of the dormer and roof.The north facade visible above the ninth story. Up to the eleventh story, the facade is clad in light-colored brick or terra cotta. The windows are arranged in groups of three, with delicate sills and lintels on the eleventh story. The eleventh story is crowned by a simple comice with a decorative shell frieze. The attic level sets back at the twelfth story. Across the thirteenth and fourteenth story, from west to east, the fenestration is arranged as follows: a single window with ogee molding, three groups of triple windows with shared sills, a single window with ogee molding, three pairs of windows with sills, a single window with sill, and two slender windows (the windows to the east are not visible). The fourteenth story is faced with fleur-de-lys reliefs set within raised interlaced diagonal bands, and crowned by a bracketed terra-cotta cornice, a decorative frieze, and parapet. Atop each of the pedestals is a small obelisk. Near the east end rises the central tower (see previous description). The upper stories of the tower only are visible from the north end of Shubert Alley, at 45th Street. Toward the west end of the facade, several sections of the parapet have been removed and replaced by glass walls (1985). The small tower has a single window, squat chimney, and hipped roof rising from the parapet at the sixteenth story.- From the 2001 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report

Museum Tower, at 560 feet tall and 42 stories costing $200 million dollars, is under construction with completion expected in late 2012. The rendering of Museum Tower in this photo shows what an incredible addition the tower will make on the Downtown Dallas cityscape. Museum Tower has been described as a "shaft of light".

 

Museum Tower, from this particular view, is visually located to the north of the Sacred Heart Catholic Cathedral, JP Morgan Chase Tower, 2100 Ross Avenue Tower, and the Trammell Crow Center with One Arts Plaza to the east. The explosive growth of dozens of skyscrapers and highrises in Downtown Dallas' Uptown District are immediately to the north of Museum Tower and are not seen in this image.

 

As seen in the rendering, Museum Tower is literally surrounded by the 68-acre, 19 contiguous block world class Dallas Arts District with its numerous cultural facilities in the heart of Downtown Dallas. The Dallas Arts District is now perceived as the finest in the country, surpassing the Kennedy and Lincoln Centers in New York City: www.flickr.com/photos/52949402@N03/5128988435/in/set-7215...

 

The 5.2 acre Woodall Rodgers Urban Park is under construction and a rendering for The Park is seen in the foreground of the image. The Woodall Rodgers Urban park is creating a "Central Park" like setting amidst the skyscrapers of Downtown Dallas and will be the "front lawn" to Museum Tower.

 

The Woodall Rodgers Urban Park is costing $110 million dollars and completion is expected in 2012. The Park will seamlessly connect the traditional Downtown Dallas Financial District to the skyscrapers and highrises in its Uptown District just immediately to the north into one continuous whole.

 

Woodall Rodgers Freeway is becoming the new 21st century "Main Street" of Downtown Dallas with the intense development that has occurred fronting Woodall Rodgers Freeway from both the south (the traditional Dallas Financial District) and the north (Downtown Dallas' Uptown District) sides of the freeway.

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Here is a fantastic video of Downtown Dallas from 07-24-10 driving along I-35 on the west side of Downtown that shows the wonderful density that has developed in the Downtown core with its Uptown District from 2006 to 2010. Select 720p HD and full screen. If you pause at 13 seconds into the video, right in the middle of the image between Hunt Oil and One Arts Plaza Towers, will be where the under construction $200 million dollar Museum Tower in the traditional Downtown Financial District will make its presence known. The construction crane seen center left at a 13 second pause is for the 17 story $185 million dollar Perot Museum of Nature and Science that is also currently under construction on the north side of Woodall Rodgers, a couple blocks away from Museum Tower's location on the side side of Woodall. Woodall Rodgers is the new 21st century "Main Street" of Downtown Dallas. Museum Tower's almost 600 foot tall 42 story presence once completed in late 2012 is going to make a huge impact on the Downtown Dallas cityscape as it will stretch the Financial District so far north that it will completely meld into Uptown and vice versa:

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao4gZRTDMyM&NR=1

 

This is another fantastic video shot from a helicopter circling Downtown Dallas on 07-09-10. Select 720p HD and full screen. The video generally focuses on the traditional Downtown Dallas Financial District, but if you look on the left hand side middle screen while the video is playing you will again see the incredible dense development that has literally sprung up almost overnight in Downtown's Uptown District (between 2006 and 2010). From between 5 and 13 seconds at the beginning of the video you can see how impressive the Uptown skyscrapers are from just seeing the edge of Uptown that is directly facing the Financial District across Woodall Rodgers. Also from around 35 to 40 seconds into the video is when you can see the dense Uptown development from a bit broader perspective. Woodall Rodgers is the new 21st century "Main Street" of Downtown Dallas. Also, Museum Tower's almost 600 foot tall 42 story presence once completed in late 2012 is going to make a huge impact on the Downtown Dallas cityscape as it will stretch the Financial District so far north that it will completely meld into Uptown and vice versa:

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIks-YVYlj8

 

This is another great aerial video that literally offers a birdseye, multi-thousand foot view of Downtown Dallas shot on 10-24-10, in a jet flying over Downtown on its landing approach to DFW International Airport. Select 720p HD and full screen. For purposes of this discussion, freeze the video anywhere from 1 second to 10 seconds. The large mass of buildings in the very center of the video is Downtown Dallas, which includes all of the skyscrapers and highrises in Uptown as well as those in the more traditional Financial District which today forms the largest urban core in the nation outside of NYC, LA and Chicago with over 50,300,000 square feet of office space. The explosive growth of dense urban development in Uptown has vigorously extended Downtown Dallas northward. Downtown Dallas is now a long rectangle, anchored on its northern border by the CityPlace East (42 story) and Azure (31 story) skyscrapers with the mass of buildings stretching from the northern border southward through the traditional Financial District to just past I-30 to include the dense cluster of new developments in The Cedars District (the new City of Dallas Police Headquarters, the new Beat Condominium Tower, South Side on Lamar, and the just announced coup for Downtown Dallas of the NYLO Hotel South Side, etc.) . The W Hotel (31 stories) and The House Condominiums (29 stories) along with the Hyatt Regency Hotel (30 stories), Reunion Tower (50 stories) and the new half billion dollar Omni Convention Hotel (27 stories) clearly anchor the western side of Downtown running along Stemmons Freeway. One Arts Plaza (24 stories) and the dense Downtown Dallas Arts District along with the Sheraton Hotel's twin towers (42 stories and 31 stories) and the Comerica Bank Headquarters Tower (60 stories) run along Central Expressway anchoring the eastern side of Downtown, and which then extends just a little further eastward to include the massive Baylor Medical District complex (seen in the video as the large mass of white highrises farthest east of the Financial District). Like a beautiful necklace extending just immediately north of Uptown/Downtown in the video, one can see the long chain of highrise apartment and condominium towers in the Turtle Creek area of Dallas tracking the large swath of greenbelt just immediately north of the CityPlace East and Azure skyscrapers. As a pre-cursor for continued vibrant Downtown Dallas growth, a major keystone development that heralds future massive and dense urban development for Downtown can be seen in the video in the form of the instantly iconic new Calatrava Bridge spanning the Trinity River, which will bring billions in new development by extending Downtown Dallas' golden corridor, Woodall Rodgers Expressway, to the west side of the Trinity River. Woodall Rodgers has become the new 21st century "Main Street" for Downtown Dallas as it sets right in the middle of the bustling skyscrapers located on both the north and south sides of it. In the next ten to twenty years Turtle Creek, Uptown, Victory, Baylor, Deep Ellum, the Design District, the Financial District, The Cedars, and the newest urban frontier of West Dallas will seamlessly meld together to form a super dense core of the most dynamic and largest urban center in the nation outside of New York City and Los Angeles, and rivaling Chicago.

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQPosFieMg8&feature=related

 

This cool video from 08-30-10 further reinforces the explosive growth of around 13,000,000 square feet in new Class A and Class AA office space that Downtown Dallas has seen in the last few years in its Uptown and Victory Districts from 2006 to 2010. Select 1080p HD and full screen. The video is shot from the same exact spot throughout but shifts its main focal point from the Financial District to Uptown at 14 seconds. From 0 to 13 seconds the focus of the video is the northern edge of the traditional Financial District with the bustling heavy traffic of Woodall Rodgers Freeway. During this segment one can imagine the imposing and impressive addition to the cityscape that the almost 600 foot tall 42 story Museum Tower will make as it will literally be positioned right behind Hunt Oil Tower, which is unmistakably dressed in its state-of-the-art LED lighting (blue at the time of the video). Still filmed from the exact same spot, from 14 seconds to the end, the focus of the video shifts slightly north looking across Woodall Rodgers Freeway to reveal just a small slice of the significant density of skyscrapers and highrises erected in Uptown mostly since around 2006. Woodall Rodgers is the new 21st century "Main Street" of Downtown Dallas. The construction crane that is clearly visible in this portion of the video is for the 17 story $185 million dollar Perot Museum of Nature and Science that is currently under construction:

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP47TYaB7nQ&feature=related

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Downtown Dallas is experiencing a renaissance from more than $14 billion in new development that is currently underway in and near the Downtown core. As a result, Downtown Dallas is on the verge of a renewed greatness because of the billions in investment it has made in its Downtown core in general but also in its newest premier district, the Downtown Dallas Arts District.

 

An article published in the October 2010 "D Magazine" discusses how the relocation of corporate headquarters and businesses into Downtown Dallas is at an all time high. The level of interest in doing so (from out of state, in state and in town corporations) has also reached the highest level ever:

 

www.dmagazine.com/Home/D_CEO/2010/October/The_Rejuvenatio...

 

Dallas will surpass Chicago as the 3rd largest metro in the nation by 2030 or sooner, published 03-15-10 in The Dallas Morning News:

 

www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/columnists/chall...

 

And another significant recognition and accolade from Forbes Magazine, published 09-02-09, naming Dallas as a "World Capital of the Future" that highlights Dallas' worldwide reach and influence and its growing significance on the world stage:

 

www.forbes.com/2009/09/02/world-capitals-cities-century-o...

Building concept

When originally was planned to construct a building each for both the House of Representatives as well as the House of Lords of the Imperial Council, so it was, for reasons of cost, ultimatively decided for a single construction. The contract for the planning went to the Danish architect Theophil Hansen in the year 1869.

Construction concept

"Because just as the Greeks have realized the largest deployment and highest perfection of art in their temples, the Romans in the forum, the later Christian period in the churches, so in our time a new monument has been added where the attention of the peoples is being concentrated, that is the Parliament." With these words, Hansen honored the institution "Parliament".

The architect also explained that he had for the parliament building chosen the style of Classical Greek because the Greeks were the first people that loved liberty and legality above all. In addition, also important constitutional terms such as "politics" or "democracy" originate from ancient Greek civilization.

Symbolic significance has also the use of materials from nearly all crown lands of the monarchy, which is to represent the interaction of all forces in the Imperial Council.

Autarky in the providing facilites, the latest technology, a well thought out down to the smallest detail magnificent building in which the architecture, fine arts, painting and crafts form a harmonious whole, this is the achievement of the architect of the parliament building.

The parliament building - a Gesamtkunstwerk

The architect put much care to synchronise the exterior and the interior of the Parliament in the sense of a Gesamtkunstwerk with each other. Therefore, he also designed the picturesque and plastic equipment himself and exercised a great influence on the implementation.

Allegories and architectural details

When one looks at the building outside and inside thoroughly it becomes clear how much the idea of ​​a humanistic state in details is echoed.

The sculptural decorations at the facade and inside illustrate the interplay of powers and the basic ideas of democracy.

The Pallas Athena fountain in front of the Parliament refers to the separation of powers as a fundamental principle of the modern constitutional state.

Pallas Athene in the middle of the fountain is to embody the political wisdom. Next to her sit two figures that represent the "legislative" and the "enforcement of laws". The legislation is illustrated by a legislative panel in the hands of the right figure, the enforcement of laws by executioner's sword and scales in the hands of the left figure.

Above the main entrance a glass mosaic frieze can be found which addresses the subject of separation of powers again. Left a female figure is recognizable holding the book of written laws in her hands and right Justitia is depicted. In the center of this frieze Austria is recognizable to whom the Crown Lands and Estates (trade, transport, agriculture and animal husbandry) pay homage.

Another painting frieze by Eduard Lebiedzki can be admired in the portico. It is now only preserved in fragments because of irreparable damage caused by the war. The allegorical representations point to the "most superb ideals and economic tasks of the Parliament".

On the gables of the building edges the administration and the judiciary are indicated.

At the beginning of the ramp leading to the Parliament one finds the "Horse Tamers". The men who tame the horses make an appeal to the MPs. They should curb their political passion.

The Greek and Roman historians claim responsibility of every political action before history.

 

Bauidee

War ursprünglich geplant, sowohl für das Abgeordnetenhaus als auch für das Herrenhaus des Reichsrates jeweils ein Gebäude zu errichten, so entschied man sich letztendlich aus Kostengründen für ein einziges Bauwerk. Den Auftrag für dessen Planung erhielt der dänische Architekt Theophil Hansen im Jahre 1869.

Schmerlingplatzsseite, Rampe © Gedruckte Ansicht von 1874, Darstellung des Parlaments von der Ringstraßenseite ©

Das Baukonzept

"Denn so wie die Griechen die größte Entfaltung und höchste Vollendung der Kunst in ihren Tempeln verwirklicht haben, die Römer in dem Forum, die spätere christliche Zeit in den Kirchen, so ist in unserer Zeit ein neues Monument hinzu gekommen, wo sich die Aufmerksamkeit der Völker concentrirt, das ist das Parlament." Mit diesen Worten würdigte Hansen die Institution "Parlament".

Der Architekt erklärte weiters, er habe für das Parlamentsgebäude den Stil der griechischen Klassik gewählt, weil die Hellenen das erste Volk waren, welches die Freiheit und die Gesetzmäßigkeit über alles liebte. Zudem stammen auch wichtige staatsrechtliche Begriffe wie z. B. "Politik" oder "Demokratie" aus der griechischen Antike.

Symbolhafte Bedeutung hat auch die Verwendung von Materialien aus fast allen Kronländern der Monarchie, die das Zusammenwirken aller Kräfte im Reichsrat versinnbildlichen soll.

Autarkie in den Versorgungseinrichtungen, modernste Technik, ein bis ins kleinste Detail durchdachtes monumentales Bauwerk, bei dem Architektur, Bildende Kunst, Malerei und Handwerk ein harmonisches Ganzes bilden, darin besteht die Leistung des Architekten des Reichsratsgebäudes.

Das Parlamentsgebäude – ein Gesamtkunstwerk

Der Architekt legte viel Wert darauf, das Äußere und das Innere des Parlaments im Sinne eines Gesamtkunstwerkes aufeinander abzustimmen. Deshalb entwarf er auch die malerischen und plastischen Ausstattungen selbst und nahm auf die Umsetzung großen Einfluss.

Allegorien und architektonische Details

Wenn man das Gebäude außen und innen genau betrachtet wird deutlich, wie sehr sich die Idee eines humanistischen Staates in Details wiederfindet.

Mosaik auf Goldgrund von Eduard Lebiedzky, 1902 fertig gestellt: Huldigung der Austria durch die im Reichsrat vertretenen Kronländer. ©

Der plastische Schmuck an der Fassade und im Inneren verdeutlicht das Zusammenspiel der Gewalten und die Grundideen der Demokratie.

Der Athenebrunnen vor dem Parlamentsgebäude verweist auf die Gewaltentrennung als ein Grundprinzip des modernen Rechtsstaates.

Pallas Athene in der Mitte des Brunnens soll die Staatsweisheit verkörpern. Neben ihr sitzen zwei Figuren, die die "Gesetzgebung" und den "Vollzug der Gesetze" darstellen. Die Gesetzgebung wird durch eine Gesetzestafel in der Hand der rechten Figur verdeutlicht, der Vollzug der Gesetze durch Richtschwert und Waage in den Händen der linken Figur.

Über dem Haupteingang ist ein Glasmosaikfries zu finden, das das Motiv der Gewaltentrennung erneut aufgreift. Links ist eine Frauengestalt zu erkennen, die das Buch der geschriebenen Gesetze in ihren Händen hält und rechts ist Justitia abgebildet. Im Zentrum dieses Frieses ist Austria zu erkennen, der die Kronländer und die Stände (Handel, Verkehr, Ackerbau und Viehzucht) huldigen.

Ein weiteres Gemäldefries von Eduard Lebiedzki ist in der Säulenhalle zu bewundern. Es ist wegen irreparabler Schäden durch den Krieg heute nur noch in Fragmenten erhalten. Die allegorischen Darstellungen weisen auf die "vorzüglichsten Ideale und volkswirtschaftlichen Aufgaben des Parlaments" hin.

Auf den Giebeln der Gebäudeflanken wird auf die Verwaltung und die Justiz hingewiesen.

Am Beginn der Rampe, die zum Parlament führt, findet man die "Rossebändiger". Die Männer, die die Pferde zähmen, stellen einen Appell an die ParlamentarierInnen dar. Sie sollen ihre politische Leidenschaft zügeln.

Die griechischen und römischen Geschichtsschreiber mahnen Verantwortung jedes politischen Handelns vor der Geschichte ein.

www.parlament.gv.at/GEBF/ARGE/Baugeschichte/Bauidee/index...

Western Addition district, Japantown, San Francisco

Modernization of Japantown SF cost our city this fine old Victorian era building as many similar structures were lost during the Redevelopment era. In this photograph, the Cleveland Wrecking Co. was attempting to salvage the 'witches hat' from the top of the building.

Pentax H3v with Kodak Plus-x film,

photograph taken 1980

Interchangeable arms, crossbow, painted face, angel wings on biker vest

Cape May Music Festival celebrates 28 years of music by the seaside with classical, brass band, Celtic, jazz and world music May 28-June 15

 

CAPE MAY — Come to Cape May and experience sweet sounds by the seaside during the 28th annual Cape May Music Festival, presented by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC), from Sunday, May 28 through Thursday, June 15.

The award-winning Cape May Music Festival offers something for a variety of musical tastes. In addition to Celtic, world music and brass band music, classical music lovers will delight in the return of the Bay Atlantic Symphony, the New York Chamber Ensemble, and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Chamber Players. Enjoy the thrill of live jazz during the moving 6th annual George Mesterhazy Tribute concert and an exciting eclectic concert by singer/songwriter Avi Wisnia, along with the ever-popular Bach’s Lunches and a Champagne Jazz Brunch with The Herb Moore Duo.

Opening the 28th Annual Cape May Music Festival on Sunday, May 28 at 7 p.m. is a long time Cape May favorite, the 35-piece Atlantic Brass Band, fresh from winning the North American Brass Band Association Championship in March. The Atlantic Brass Band returns as National Champions to the beautifully renovated Rotary Bandstand under the baton of Salvatore Scarpa, to present a rousing concert of American music, perfect for a Memorial Day weekend celebration. Admission to this concert is free. Co-sponsored by MAC and the City of Cape May.

On Tuesday, May 30 at 8 p.m., New Jersey’s premier chamber ensemble, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Chamber Players, returns for another program from the classical repertoire for string quartets, performing Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 44 No. 1 (1838) and Brahms’ String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 51 No. 2 (1873). Episcopal Church of the Advent, Washington and Franklin streets. General admission $20, Seniors $15, Students $5.

On Thursday, June 1 at 8 p.m., The New York Chamber Ensemble presents “What’s This?” with special guest Paul Woodiel, a chamber performance featuring rarely heard instruments in the classical repertoire. Woodiel plays hardanger fiddle, hurdy-gurdy and other fascinating instruments in performances of Hersant’s Héliades for Flute and strings in three movements; Kvandal’s Quintet for Hardanger Fiddle and String Quartet op. 50 in two movements; Vivaldi’s Le Printemps (Spring); and Mendelssohn’s String Quintet No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 87. At the Episcopal Church of the Advent, Washington and Franklin Streets. General admission $20, Seniors $15, Students $5.

On Sunday, June 4 at 10 a.m., join fellow jazz lovers at the Inn of Cape May, 7 Ocean St., for a Champagne Jazz Brunch at Aleathea’s. Enjoy live jazz from The Great American Songbook, featuring The Herb Moore Duo. Admission is $35.

On Sunday, June 4 at 8 p.m., hear award-winning singer/songwriter Avi Wisnia present an eclectic mix of refreshingly original songs and inventive covers, finding inspiration in Brazilian bossa nova, acoustic American folk, 1950s West Coast jazz, and contemporary pop. Avi’s clever lyrics give a knowing nod to his contemporaries, while his smooth vocals and deft piano skills assure you that this is truly something new. At the First Presbyterian Church of Cape May, 500 Hughes St., Adults $25; Seniors $20; Students: $10.

On Tuesday, June 6 at 8 p.m., The New York Chamber Ensemble presents “All American Chamber Music” with the return of Alan R. Kay, clarinet, in performances of Bolcom’s Rags for Clarinet, Violin and Piano; Foss’s Three American Pieces for flute and piano; Muscyinski’s Fantasy Trio, Op. 26, for Clarinet, Cello and Piano; Reynolds’ “Share” for alto flute and piano; Copland’s Four Blues for Piano solo; Gershwin’s Preludes for Violin and Piano; and Beach’s Piano Trio Op. 150. At the Episcopal Church of the Advent, Washington and Franklin Streets. General admission $20, Seniors $15, Students $5.

On Thursday, June 8 at 8 p.m., the Bay Atlantic Symphony led by Conductor Jed Gaylin presents The Royal Wave, with soloist Felix Hell, organ. The organ is often known as the royal instrument. This splendid program of Baroque and retro-Baroque features Felix Hell, one of the most internationally sought-after organists today. Come catch the Royal Wave in performances of Handel’s Overture to Theodora, HWV 68; Handel’s Organ Concerto HWV 306 in B flat major ; Handel’s Organ Concerto HWV 295 in F major (“Cuckoo & the Nightingale”) 12’; and Respighi’s Suite for Strings, P. 41. At the First Presbyterian Church of Cape May, 500 Hughes St., General admission is $25, seniors $20, and students $10.

On Sunday, June 11 at 8 p.m., come to Cape May Convention Hall to celebrate with friends and fans for the ever-popular 6th Annual George Mesterhazy Tribute concert “Jammin For George” under the direction of Barry Miles. George's musical collaborators join in on a joyous and spontaneous "grooveable” feast! General admission is $25, Seniors $20, Students $10. At Cape May Convention Hall, Beach Avenue at Stockton Place.

On Tuesday, June 13 at 8 p.m. hear The New York Chamber Ensemble perform “Mostly Italia,” with soloist Eddie Barbash, saxophone, featuring Italian favorites and more. Formerly of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Barbash is a true virtuoso on saxophone and will be accompanied by string quartet, guitar, bass and drums in performances of Casta Diva; Carnival of Venice; Violino Tzigano; That's Amore; La Vie En Rose; The Mariachi Song; Boccherini’s Quintet; and Verdi’s String Quartet. At the Episcopal Church of the Advent, Washington and Franklin Streets. General admission $20, Seniors $15, Students $5.

On Thursday, June 15, at 8 p.m., at Cape May Convention Hall, Beach Avenue at Stockton Place, hear Charlie Zahm & Friends, in a free Celtic music concert. Zahm is one of the most popular soloists at Celtic music festivals anywhere east of the Mississippi. With a baritone voice some have described as “coming along once in a generation,” he weaves magical moments of Scottish and Irish history with passion for the performance and a repertoire pleasing to all members of the family. At Cape May Convention Hall, Beach Avenue at Stockton Place. This concert is co-sponsored by MAC and the City of Cape May. Admission is free.

In addition to these evening concerts, music lovers are invited to the Carriage House Café & Tearoom, on the beautiful grounds of the Emlen Physick Estate, 1048 Washington St. for Bach’s Lunches, mini-concerts by members of the Bay Atlantic Symphony that accompany a delicious Tea Luncheon. Bach’s Lunches offer an intimate, al fresco musical experience, under the tent. Admission is $30 per person. Bach’s Lunches are Wednesdays, May 31, June 7 and 14 at 12:30 p.m.

The Cape May Music Festival is presented by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC) with funding by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. For further information or to purchase tickets, call 609-884-5404 or order online at www.capemaymac.org.

The Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC) is a multifaceted not-for-profit organization committed to promoting the preservation, interpretation, and cultural enrichment of the Cape May region for its residents and visitors. MAC membership is open to all. For information about MAC’s year-round schedule of tours, festivals, and special events, call 609-884-5404 or 800-275-4278, or visit MAC’s Web site at www.capemaymac.org. For information about restaurants, accommodations and shopping, call the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cape May at 609-884-5508. For information about historic accommodations, contact Cape May Historic Accommodations at www.capemaylodging.com. # # #

 

Thillai Natarajah Temple, Chidambaram or Chidambaram temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located in the town of Chidambaram, East-Central Tamil Nadu, South India. The temple is known as the foremost of all temples (Kovil) to Saivites and has influenced worship, architecture, sculpture and performance art for over two millennium. The Sangam classics list chief architect Viduvelvidugu Perumthachchan as directing an early renovation of the shrine.

 

A major shrine of Lord Shiva worship since the classical period, there have been several renovations and offerings to Chidambaram by the Pallava, Chola, Pandya, Vijayanagara and Chera royals in the ancient and pre-medieval periods. The temple as it stands now is mainly of the 12th and 13th centuries, with later additions in similar style. Its bronze statues and stone sculptures depicting various deities and the famous Thillai trees (Excoecaria agallocha) of the surrounding forest reflect the highpoints of early Chola and Pallava art while its famed gold plated gopuram towers are medieval structural additions by the royals Aditya I, Parantaka Chola I, Kopperunchinga I, Krishnadevaraya and Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan. King Kocengannan Chola was born following prayers his parents offered at the temple and later in his life he refined its structure. The shrine gave the town its name.

 

The deity that presides here is கூத்தன் - Thillai Koothan (Thillai Nataraja - Shiva, The Lord of Dance). Chidambaram is the birthplace of the sculpture and bronze image representation of Lord Shiva as the cosmic dancer, a Tamilian concept and motif in Chola art that has since become notable as a symbol of Hinduism. The shrine is the only Shiva temple to have its main deity represented in this anthropomorphic form, as the supreme being who performs all cosmic activities. The consort deity here is Sivakami Amman (form of Amman - mother goddess and female energy). Two other forms of Lord Shiva are represented close to this in the vimana (inner sanctum) of the temple - as a crystallised lingam - the most common representation of Lord Shiva in temples, and as the aether space classical element, represented with empty space and a garland of fifty one hanging golden bilvam leaves (Aegle marmelos). Lord Shiva is captured in pose as Nataraja performing the Ananda Tandava ("Dance of Delight") in the golden hall of the shrine Pon Ambalam (பொன் அம்பலம்). The sculptures of Chidambaram inspired the postures of Bharatha Natyam. The Chidambaram complex is admired for its five famous halls (ambalam or sabhai), several grand smaller shrines to the Hindu deities Ganesh, Murugan, Vishnu and Sivakami Amman which contain Pandyan and Nayak architectural styles, and for its endowment from many water tanks, one of which links it to the Thillai Kali temple.

 

Chidambaram is one of the five Pancha Bootha Sthalams, the holiest Shiva temples each representing one of the five classical elements; Chidambaram represents akasha (aether). Chidambaram is glorified in Tirumular's Tirumandhiram and was visited by Patañjali and VyagjrapadharPulikaal Munivar. It is the primary shrine of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams - Shiva Sthalams glorified in the early medieval Tevaram poems by Tamil Saivite Nayanar saints Tirunavukkarasar, Thirugnana Sambandar and Sundarar. Hailed in the Tiruvacakam series by Manikkavacakar, these very volumes of the Tirumurai literature canon were themselves found in secret chambers of the temple. The Periya Puranam, a biography of these Nayanar saints by Sekkizhar commissioned by emperor Kulothunga Chola II, was written in the shrine's Thousand Pillared Hall. In Kanda Puranam, the epic authored by Kachiyappa Sivachariar of Kanchipuram, the Chidambaram shrine is venerated as one of the three foremost Shiva abodes in the world, alongside Koneswaram temple of Trincomalee and Mount Kailash.

 

ETYMOLOGY

The traditional name of the temple complex, Chidambaram Tillai Nataraja-koothan Kovil, alludes to the environment of its location and its origins and significance in Saivite worship. The mangrove of ancient Tillai (தில்லை) trees (Exocoeria agallocha) of the forest surrounding the shrine when it was first built inspired the shrine's name and early artistic inspiration; the Tillai trees of the nearby Pichavaram wetlands, the second largest mangrove in the world, extends to the temple area. The shrine is venerated as Tillai ambalam (தில்லை அம்பலம் ), literally meaning Tillai Open Stage, the open space surrounded by Tillai Vanam (தில்லை வனம்) (the Tillai forest) - the original name of this area.[9] The name of the town of this shrine, Chidambaram comes from the Tamil word Chitrambalam (சிற்றம்பலம்) - "small hall/stage"; also spelled Chithambalam (சிட்டம்பலம்), from citt/chitthu and ambalam - meaning "wisdom of this open stage/atmosphere". The shrine is where some devotees believe they will attain liberation, or chitaakasam - "wisdom/consciousness of the sky". "Nataraja" or "Koothan" mean "Lord of Dance".

 

LEGEND

The story of Chidambaram begins with Lord Shiva strolling into the Thillai Vanam (vanam meaning forest and thillai trees - botanical name Exocoeria agallocha, a species of mangrove trees - which currently grows in the Pichavaram wetlands near Chidambaram). In the Thillai forests resided a group of sages or 'rishis' who believed in the supremacy of magic and that God can be controlled by rituals and mantras or magical words. Lord Shiva strolled in the forest with resplendent beauty and brilliance, assuming the form of Bhikshatana, a simple mendicant seeking alms. He was followed by His consort, Vishnu as Mohini. The sages and their wives were enchanted by the brilliance and the beauty of The handsome mendicant and His consort. On seeing their womenfolk enchanted, the rishis got enraged and invoked scores of serpents (nāgas) by performing magical rituals. Lord Shiva lifted the serpents and donned them as ornaments on His matted locks, neck and waist. Further enraged, the sages invoked a fierce tiger, whose skins and dons were used by Lord Shiva as a shawl around His waist and then followed by a fierce elephant, which was devoured and ripped to death by Lord Shiva (Gajasamharamurthy).

 

The rishis gathered all their spiritual strength and invoked a powerful demon Muyalakan - a symbol of complete arrogance and ignorance. Lord Shiva wore a gentle smile, stepped on the demon's back, immobilized him and performed the Ánanda Tandava (the dance of eternal bliss) and disclosed his true form. The sages surrender, realizing that Lord Shiva is the truth and He is beyond magic and rituals.

 

PATRONAGE

To Saivites, primarily in Tamil Nadu, the very word koil refers primarily to Chidambaram Tillai Natarajar.

 

Chidambaram is a temple complex spread over 160,000 m2 in the heart of the city. The main complex to Lord Shiva Nataraja also contains shrines to deities such as Shivakami Amman, Ganesh, Murugan and Vishnu in the form Govindaraja Perumal. Chidambaram's earliest structures were designed and erected by ancient craftsmen called Perumtaccan. The golden tiled roof for the Chit Ambalam (the vimanam) was laid by the Chola King Parantaka I (907-950 CE) following which he was given the title - Thillaiyambalathhukku pon koorai veiyntha thevan (Tamil:தில்லையாம்பலதுக்கு பொன் கூரை வேய்ந்த தேவன், meaning the one who constructed the golden roof). In its floruit, kings Rajaraja Chola I (reign 985-1014 AD) and Kulothunga Chola I (1070-1120 AD) made significant donations to the temple. Gold and riches to the temple were donated by Rajaraja Chola's daughter Kundavai II while Chola king Vikrama Chola (1118-1135 AD) made donations for the conduct of the daily rituals.

 

Donations of gold and jewels have been made by various kings, rulers and patrons to the temple from 9th to 16th century - including the Maharaja of Pudukottai, Sethupathy (the emerald jewel still adorns the deity) and the British.

 

Naralokaviran, the general of king Kulothunga Chola I was responsible for building a shrine for child saint Thirugnana Sambanthar and installed a metal image inside it. He constructed a hall for recitation of Tevaram hymns and engraved the hymns in copper plates.

 

TEMPLE STRUCTURE

The temple is the only great temple complex to date mainly from the later Chola period, and contains the earliest examples of a number of features that are found in many later temples, including "the earliest known Devī or Amman shrine, nritta (dance) maṇḍapa, Sūrya shrine with chariot wheels, hundred-and-thousand pillared maṇḍapas, even the first giant Śiva Gangā tank".A classical Shiva temple as per Agama rules will have five prakarams (closed precincts of a temple) or circuits each separated by walls one within the other. The outer prakaram will be open to the sky except the innermost one. The innermost one will house the main deity as well as other deities. There will be a massive wooden or stone flag post exactly in line with the main deity. The innermost prakaram houses the sanctum sanctorum (தமிழ் = கருவரை).

 

Chidambaram is also referred to in various works such as Thillai (after the Thillai forest of yore in which the temple is now located), Perumpatrapuliyur or Vyagrapuram (in honour of Saint Vyagrapathar, Sanskrit: Vyaghrapada - "Tiger-Footed").

 

The temple is supposed to be located at the lotus heart of the Universe: Virat hridaya padma sthalam.

 

This gold-roofed stage is the sanctum sanctorum of the Chidambaram temple and houses the Lord in three forms:

 

- the "form" - the anthropomorphic form as an appearance of Nataraja, called the Sakala-thirumeni.

- the "semi-form" – the semi-anthropomorphic form as the Crystal linga of Chandramaulishvara, the Sakala-nishkala-thirumeni.

- the "formless" – as the space in Chidambara-rahasyam, an empty space within the sanctum sanctorum, the Nishkala-thirumeni.

 

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TEMPLE DESIGN

The layout and architecture of the temple is replete with philosophical meanings.

 

Three of the five Panchaboothasthala temples, those at Kalahasti, Kanchipuram and Chidambaram all stand on a straight line exactly at 79 degree 41 minutes East longitude - truly an engineering, astrological and geographical wonder. Of the other two temples, Tiruvanaikkaval is located at around 3 degrees to the south and exactly 1 degree to the west of the northern tip of this divine axis, while Tiruvannamalai is around midway (1.5 degree to the south and 0.5 degree to the west).

 

The 9 gateways signify the 9 orifices in the human body.

The Chitsabai or Ponnambalam, the sanctum sanctorum represents the heart which is reached by a flight of 5 stairs called the Panchaatchara padi - pancha meaning 5, achhara – indestructible syllables – "SI VA YA NA MA", from a raised anterior dias - the Kanakasabai. The access to the Sabhai is through the sides of the stage (and not from the front as in most temples). The Chit sabha roof is supported by four pillars symbolic of the four Vedas.

 

The Ponnambalam or the Sanctum sanctorum is held by 28 pillars – representing the 28 agamas or set methodologies for the worship of Lord Shiva. The roof is held by a set of 64 beams representing the 64 forms of art and is held by several cross-beams representing the innumerable blood vessels. The roof has been laid by 21,600 golden tiles with the word SIVAYANAMA inscribed on them representing 21600 breaths. The golden tiles are fixed using 72,000 golden nails which represents the no. of nadis exists in human body. The roof is topped by a set of 9 sacred pots or kalasas, representing the 9 forms of energy. The artha mandapa(sanctum) has six pillars denoting the six shastras (holy texts).

 

The hall next to the artha mantapa has eighteen pillars symbolizing the eighteen Puranas.

 

TOWERS

The temple has nine gateways, and four of these have gateway towers or gopurams each with 7 storeys facing the East, South, West and North. The South gopuram called the Sokkaseeyan Thirunilai Ezhugopuram was constructed by a Pandya king identified from the presence of the dynasty's fish emblem sculpted on the ceiling. The Pandyas sculpted two fishes facing each other when they completed gopurams (and left it with one fish, in case it was incomplete). The earliest and smallest of the four is West gopuram constructed around 1150 and there are no reliable evidence on the construction. The sculptures shows goddess fighting the buffalo-demon and warlike Skanda astride his peacock. The North Gopuram was initiated around 1300 AD with the brick portion constructed by the Vijayanagara king Krishnadevaraya (1509-1530 AD) in the 16th century. The East Gopuram, was claimed to have been constructed by the Pallava King Koperunsingan II (1243-1279 AD) as per epigrahical records and was repaired by Subbammal, the mother-in-law of the famous philanthropist Pachaiyappa Mudaliar (1754-1794 AD). The idols of Pachaiappa Mudaliar and his wife Iyalammal have been sculpted on the eastern gopuram. The Pachaiappa Trust to date has been responsible for various functions in the temple and also maintain the temple car. The eastern gopuram is renowned for its complete enumeration of 108 poses of Indian classical dance – Bharathanatyam, detailed in small rectangular panels along the passage that leads to the gateway. Each gopuram has around fifty stone sculptures, with each repeating some portions from the other.

 

HALLS

There are 5 ambalams or sabhas (halls) inside the temple.

 

- Chit Ambalam or Chit Sabhai, which is the sanctum sanctorum housing Lord Nataraja and his consort Sivakami Sundari, and gave the temple town its name.

- Pon Ambalam or Kanaka Sabhai – the golden hall in front of the Chit Ambalam, from where the daily rituals are conducted.

- Nrithya sabhai or Natya sabhai, a 56-pillared hall lies to the south of the temple's flag mast (kodi maram or dwaja sthambam) where Nataraja outdanced Kali and established his supremacy

- Raja sabhai or the 1000-pillared hall which symbolizes the yogic chakra of thousand pillared lotus or Sahasraram (which in yoga is a chakra) at the crown of the head and is a seat where the soul unites with God. This chakra is represented as a 1000-petalled lotus. Meditating by concentrating at the Sahasrara Chakra is said to lead to a state of union with The Divine Force and is the pinnacle of yogic practice. The hall is open only on festive days.

- Deva Sabhai, which houses the Pancha moorthis (pancha - five, moorthis - deities, namely the deities of Ganesh, Somaskanda (seated posture of Lord Shiva with Pavarthi and Skanda), Sivananda Nayaki, Muruga and the image of Chandikeswarar.

 

SHRINES

- The shrines for the original Shivalingam worshipped by the saints Patanjali and Vyagrapathar – called the Thiru Aadhimoolanathar and his consort Umaiyammai

- The shrine of the 63 nayanars of Lord Shiva – called the Arubaththu moovar.

- Shrine of Sivagami.

- Ganesha shrine

- Shrine of Muruga or Pandiya nayakan

 

There are also several smaller shrines in the temple complex.

 

GOVINDARAJA SWAMY SHRINE

The Govindaraja shrine is dedicated to Vishnu and is one of the 108 holy temples of Lord Vishnu called divyadesam, revered by the 7th-9th-century saint poets of vaishnava (those worshipping Lord Vishnu) tradition, alwars. Kulashekara alwar mentions this temple as Tillai Chitrakutam and equates Chitrakuta of Ramayana fame with this shrine. King Kulothunga Chola II is believed to have uprooted the presiding Govindraja image from the shrine. The shrine has close connections with the Govindaraja temple in Tirupati dating back to saint Ramanuja of the 11-12th century. Ramanujar fled to Tirupati with the utsava (festival image) of the temple to escape punishment. Down the centuries, king Krishnappa Nayak (1564-1572 AD) was instrumental in installing the image of Govindaraja back in the temple. There was lot of resistance from the shaivites (those worshipping Shiva) against placing the Vishnu image in a revered Shiva temple, but the king was unmoved and the image was installed in the present form. There is no satisfactory evidence of co-existence of the Shiva and Vishnu shrines within the same temple built during the same time - there was a dispute even in last century during 1849 AD regarding the rights on the Govindaraja idol and Alwar Sannidhi(sanctum of azhwars) between Vaishnavas and Dikshitars and the position of Vaishnavas was upheld by the district court.

 

TEMPLE TANKS

The Chidambaram temple is well endowed with several water bodies within and around the temple complex.

 

- Sivaganga (சிவகங்கை) tank is in the third corridor of the temple opposite to the shrine of Shivagami. It is accessed by flights of stone steps leading from the shrine.

- Paramanandha koobham is the well on the eastern side of the Chitsabhai hall from which water is drawn for sacred purposes.

- Kuyya theertham is situated to the north-east of Chidambaram in Killai near the Bay of Bengal and has the shore called Pasamaruthanthurai.

- Pulimadu is situated around a kilometer and a half to the south of Chidambaram.

- Vyagrapatha Theertham is situated on to the west of the temple opposite to the temple of Ilamai Akkinaar.

- Anantha Theertham is situated to the west of the temple in front of the Anantheswarar temple.

- Nagaseri tank is situated to the west of the Anantha thirtham.

- Brahma Theertham is situated to the north-west of the temple at Thirukalaanjeri.

- Underground channels at the shrine drain excess water in a northeasterly direction to the Shivapiyai temple tank (சிவப்பியை குளம்) of the Thillai Kali Temple, Chidambaram. Due to poor maintenance, it has not been in use.

- Thiruparkadal is the tank to the south-east of the Shivapiyai tank.

 

TEMPLE CAR

The Chidambaram temple car is, perhaps, the most beautiful example of a temple car in all of Tamil Nadu. This car, on which Lord Nataraja descends twice a year, is drawn by several thousand devotees during the festivals.

 

ANANDA TANDAVA

The legend of the temple is same as the legend of Ānanda-tāṇḍava. Adhisesha, the serpent who serves as a bed of Lord Vishnu, hears about the Änanda thaandava and yearns to see and enjoy it. Lord Shiva beckons him to assume the saintly form of sage Patanjali and sends him to the Thillai forest, informing him that he will display the dance in due course. Patanjali who meditated in the Himalayas during krita age joins another saint, Vyaghrapada or Pulikaalmuni (Vyagra / Puli meaning "Tiger" and patha / kaal meaning "feet" – referring to the story of how he sought and got the feet and eyesight of a tiger to help climb trees well before dawn to pick flowers for The Lord before the bees visit them). The story of sage Patanjali as well as his great student sage Upamanyu is narrated in both Vishnu Purana as well as Shiva Purana. They move into the Thillai forest and worship Lord Shiva in the form of lingam, a deity worshipped today as Thirumoolataneswarar (Thiru - sri, Moolatanam - primordial or in the nature of a foundation, Eswarar- the Lord). Legends say that Lord Shiva displayed his dance of bliss (the Aananda Thaandavam) - as Nataraja to these two saints on the day of the poosam star in the Tamil month of Thai (January-February).

 

THE ANANDA TANDAVA POSTURE

The Ānanda-tāṇḍava posture of Nataraja represents pancikritya functions of the godhead believed to have created the dynamic force to create the world.

 

- The demon under Lord Nataraja's feet signifies that ignorance is under His feet.

- The fire in His hand (power of destruction) means He is the destroyer of evil.

- The raised hand (Abhaya or Pataka mudra) signifies that He is the savior of all life forms.

- The arc of fire called Thiruvashi or Prabhavati signifies the cosmos and the perpetual motion of the earth.

- The drum in His hand signifies the origin of life forms.

- The lotus pedestal signifies Om, the sound of the universe.

- His right eye, left eye and third eye signify the sun, moon and fire/knowledge, respectively.

- His right earring (makara kundalam) and left earring (sthri kundalam) signify the union of man and woman (right is man, left is woman).

- The crescent moon in His hair signifies benevolence and beauty.

- The flowing of river Ganges through His matted hair signifies eternity of life.

- The dreading of His hair and drape signify the force of His dance.

 

Another notable point of this posture is that it is based on the six point star. Nataraja's head forms the topmost point of the star, while His spreading hair and right hand form the upper side points. His drape and raised left leg form the lower points, and His right leg that rests on the demon Myalagga forms the lowest point. Surrounding this is the arc of fire.

 

RELIGIOUS SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TEMPLE

Pancha Bhoota Stalam (Sanskrit: पन्च भूत स्थल) refers to the five Shiva temples, each representing the manifestation of the five prime elements of nature - land, water, air, sky, fire. Pancha indicates five, Bhoota means elements and Stala means place. All these temples are located in South India with four of these temples at Tamil Nadu and one at Andhra Pradesh. The five elements are believed to be enshrined in the five lingams and each of the lingams representing Lord Shiva in the temple have five different names based on the elements they represent. In the temple, Shiva is said to have manifested himself in the form of sky. The other four manifestations are Prithivi Lingam (representing land) at Ekambareswarar Temple, Appu Lingam (representing Water) at Thiruvanaikaval, Agni Lingam (representing fire) at Annamalaiyar Temple and Vayu Lingam (representing air) at Srikalahasti Temple.

 

Aathara Stala indicates the Shiva temples which are considered to be divine impersonification of Tantric chakras associated with human anatomy. Nataraja temple is called the Anthaga stalam associated with Anthagam - the third eye.

 

Pancha Sabhai refers to the five places where Lord Shiva is said to have displayed His cosmic dance and all these places have stages or ambalams, also known as Sabhai. Apart from Chidambaram which has the Ponna Ambalam - the Golden Hall, the others are the I-Ratthina Ambalam - the Jeweled Hall at Thiruvaalangadu (rathinam – ruby / red jewelled), the Chitra Ambalam - the Painted Hall at Thirukutralam (chitra – painting), the Velli Ambalam - the Silver Hall at Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple (velli – silver) and the Thaamira Ambalam - the Copper Hall at Nellaiappar Temple, Tirunelveli (Thaamiram – copper).

 

RELIGIOUS WORK AND SAINTS

There is no reference to the temple in Sangam literature of the 1st to 5th centuries and the earliest mention is found in 6th century Tamil literature. The temple and the deity were immortalized in Tamil poetry in the works of Thevaram by three poet saints belonging to the 7th century - Thirugnana Sambanthar, Thirunavukkarasar and Sundaramoorthy Nayanar. Thirugnana Sambanthar has composed 2 songs in praise of the temple, Thirunavukkarasar aka Appar 8 Tevarams in praise of Nataraja and Sundarar 1 song in praise of Nataraja. Sundarar commences his Thiruthondar thogai (the sacred list of Lord Shiva's 63 devotees) paying his respects to the priests of the Thillai temple - "To the devotees of the priests at Thillai, I am a devotee". The works of the first three saints, Thirumurai were stored in palm leaf manuscripts in the temple and were recovered by the Chola King Rajaraja Chola under the guidance of Nambiandarnambi. Manikkavasagar, the 10th century saivite poet has written two works, the first called Tiruvasakam (The sacred utterances) which largely has been sung in Chidambaram and the Thiruchitrambalakkovaiyar (aka Thirukovaiyar), which has been sung entirely in the temple. Manikkavasagar is said to have attained spiritual bliss at Chidambaram. The Chidambaram Mahatmiyam composed during the 12th century explain the subsequent evolution and de-sanskritization.

 

THE CHIDAMBARA RAHASIYAM

During the daily rituals, the Chief priest, of the day, himself in a state of Godliness - Shivohambhava (Shiva - the Lord, in His Sandhi form - Shivo-, aham – me / us, bhava - state of mind), parts the curtain, indicating the withdrawal of ignorance and reveals the space, and The Lord’s presence.

 

The Chidambara Rahasya, is hence representative of that time when one, in total surrender, allows God to intervene and remove our ignorance, even as we get to 'see and experience' His presence and hence - bliss.

Temple administration and daily rituals

 

WORSHIP FORMS

A unique feature of this temple is the bejeweled image of Lord Nataraja as the main deity. It depicts Lord Shiva as the master of Koothu-Bharata Natyam and is one of the few temples where Lord Shiva is represented by an anthropomorphic murthi rather than the classic, anionic Lingam.

 

At Chidambaram, the dancer dominates, not the linga as in other Shiva shrines. The Chitsabha houses a small sphatika(crystal) linga (Chandramoulisvara), believed to be a piece that fell from the crescent adorning Lord Shiva's head and installed by Adi Shankara. The linga is associated with the intangible fifth element, akasha (ether or space), the eternal infinite expanse where the dance of Lord Shiva takes place daily puja is offered to the linga and also to a small gem-carved figure of Ratnasabhapati.

 

Chidambaram offers a combination of the three apects of Shaiva worship - of the form Lord(Nataraja), of the form and the formlessness (linga) and of the formless omnipresence. The last is suggested by a "Chidambara rahasya", a chakra inscribed on a wall and blackened by applying "punugu" (civet) and over which hangs a string of golden bilva (bael) leaves. This can be viewed through the square chinks when the priest draws aside the dark "curtain of ignorance".

 

WORSHIP

The temple is managed and administered hereditarily by the Chidambaram Dikshitar – a class of Vaidika Brahmins whom, legends say, were brought here from Mt. Kailas, by Patanjali, specifically for the performance of the daily rituals and maintenance of the Chidambaram temple.

 

DIKSHITARS

The Dikshithars were supposed to be 3000 were called Tillai Muvayiram. Today they number around 360. These Dikshithars follow the Vedic rituals, unlike the Sivachariyars or Adhisaivars who follow the agamic rituals for the worship of Shiva and they sport a specific lopsided-to-the-left half shaved head. The rituals for the temple were collated from the Vedas and set by Patanjali, who is said to have inducted the Dikshithars into the worship of Lord Shiva as Nataraja. Every married male member of the Dikshithar family gets a turn to perform the rituals at the temple and can serve as the chief priest for the day. Married Dikshithars are also entitled a share of the temple's revenue. Though the temple is said to have been given endowments of almost 20 km2 of fertile land – having been patronized by various rulers for several centuries, it is managed almost entirely by privately run endowments.

 

DAILY RITUALS

The day begins with the chief priest of the day, performing required rituals to purify himself and assume the Shivoham bhava (Shiva-hood), after which he enters the temple to do the daily rituals. The day begins with Lord Shiva's footwear (padukas) brought at 7:00 am from the palliyarai (bedroom) to the sanctum sanctorum in a palanquin accompanied by devotees with cymbals, chimes and drums. The priest then performs the daily rituals with a yajna and a 'Gopujai' (worship of a cow and her calf). Worship (Puja) is done 6 times in a day. Before each puja, the spadika linga (crystal linga) or the semi form state of Lord Shiva is anointed with ghee, milk, curds, rice, sandal paste and holy ash. This is followed by presenting the naivedhyam or offering of freshly prepared food and sweets to the deity and the diparaadhana, a ritual of showing varied and decoratively set lamps, the reciting of Vedas in Sanskrit and the Panchapuranam (a set of 5 poems from a set of 12 works in Tamil – called the panniru thirumurai). The puja ends with the priest parting the curtains of the sanctum sanctorum to reveal the Chidambara Rahasyam (sanctum).

 

Before the 2nd puja, apart from the regular anointing of the crystal linga, a ruby Nataraja deity (the Rathinasabhapathy) is also anointed. The 3rd puja is at around 12.00 noon, after which the temple closes until around 4:30 pm. The 4th puja is performed at 6.00 pm, the 5th at 8:00 pm and the last puja of the day is performed at 10:00 pm, after which Lord Shiva’s footwear is taken in a procession for Him to ‘retire’ for the night. Before the 5th puja at night, the priest performs special rituals at the Chidambara Rahasya, where he anointed the yantra with aromatic substances and offers naivedyam. The last puja, called the arthajaama puja is performed with special fervor. It is believed that the entire divine force of the universe retires into the deity, when he retires for the night.

 

TEMPLE ADMINISTRATION

The Diskshithars one and fully responsible for the administration and pooja. Simply they mentioned their surname as the Sri Natarajar Temple Trustee and Pooja forever. Dikshithars life and temple tied as the nail and flesh relationship.

 

FESTIVALS

A whole year for men is said to be a single day for the gods. Just as six poojas are performed in a day at the sanctum sanctorum, six anointing ceremonies are performed for the principal deity - Nataraja in a year. They are the Marghazhi Thiruvaadhirai (in December-January) indicating the first puja, the fourteenth day after the new moon (chaturdasi) of the month of Masi (February-March) indicating the second pooja, the Chittirai Thiruvonam (in April-May), indicating the third pooja or uchikalam, the Uthiram of Aani (June-July) also called the Aani Thirumanjanam indicating the evening or the fourth puja, the chaturdasi of Aavani (August-September) indicating the fifth puja and the chaturdasi of the month of Puratasi (October-November) indicating the sixth pooja or Arthajama. Of these the Marghazhi Thiruvaadhirai (in December-January) and the Aani Thirumanjanam (in June-July ) are the most important. These are conducted as the key festivals with the main deity being brought outside the sanctum sanctorum in a procession that included a temple car procession followed by a long anointing ceremony. Several hundreds of thousands of people flock the temple to see the anointing ceremony and the ritualistic dance of Shiva when he is taken back to the sanctum sanctorum. Lord Shiva, in his incarnation of Nataraja, is believed to have born on full moon day in the constellation of Ardra, the sixth lunar mansion. Lord Shiva is bathed only 6 times a year, and on the previous night of Ardra, the bath rituals are performed on a grand scale. Pots full of milk, pomegranate juices, coconut water, ghee, oil, sandal paste, curds, holy ashes, and other liquids and solids, considered as sacred offering to the deity are used for the sacred ablution.

 

There are references in Umapathy Sivam's

Kunchithaangristhavam that the Maasi festival also had the Lord being carried out in procession, however this is not in vogue these days.

 

Natyanjali is a prominent festival celebrated during February every year when Bharatnatyam dancers from all over the country converge to present dance offering to Nataraja.

 

HISTORY

Constructed to signify where Tamil Shaivites identify the centre loci of the universe to be, the shrine, dedicated to Lord Shiva, has witnessed several significant events in the history of Tamil Nadu. A powerful legacy of Dravidian art, its structures and sculptures have attracted pilgrims to Chidambaram for over two millennium. The birthplace of Nataraja when Shaivite worship was highly popular during the Sangam period, Chidambaram had gained a reputation for holiness across the continent by the third century CE and the admiration of the Tamilakkam royals of the early Cholas, Chera dynasty and the early Pandyan Kingdom. Built by the early Cholas to one of their family deities - Nataraja-Koothan - it served as the king and queen's state temple and seat of their monarchs' coronations. The Chola royals underlined their non-partisan approach to religious iconography and faith by also patronizing the Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple dedicated to Vishnu - their other Kuladheivam or "abode of family deity". Chola King Kocengannan who reigned in the first half of the 2nd century CE was born after his parents King Subhadevan and Kamaladevi worshipped in the Thillai Golden Hall (Pon Ambalam). He expanded the shrine in his later life and added to unfinished decorations. Saints Patañjali Tirumular and Vyaghrapada famously worshipped Nataraja at the shrine. The travelling Pallava-Chola king Simhavarman (II or III) who reigned in the 5th-6th century CE was cured of leprosy by bathing in the Shivagangai tank and in gratitude made extensive repairs and additions to the temple. He changed his name to Hiranyavarman or "golden bodied."

 

The Puranas, Sangam literature and the Tirumurai canon join several epigraphs and murals in highlighting the brilliance of the temple site and the devotion of Patañjali, Vyaghrapada-Pulikaalmunivar and patanjali to Nataraja at Thillai. The sthala puranam as well as umapathi sivacharya's koyil puranam give an account of how an ancient chola prince of kritayugam or first of epochal ages. Worshipped The Lord's feet at Chidambaram and being blessed with a vision of His was further helped by saint Vyaghrapada to consecrate a place of worship therewith. The temple murals and some cholan and pandyan literature refer to this sthala puranam. The chidambaram mahatyam as well as koyil puranam by the same author discuss as to how this prince who was presented with dhataki or atti garland and tiger flag in which Lord Indra would take abode to make him ever victorious was blessed with vision of lord and further attained mukti at this spot. This is very credible because all ancient literature and documents report that tiger flag and atti or dhataki (grislea tomentosa) garland as being emblematic with cholas. Some sangam period works also passingly refer to the krita age king's war with demons and his victory against them. The king also went by name Vyaghraketu after being gifted with the tiger flag.

 

Later during the 4th or 5th century CE, a pallava king called Simha Varman who was also a nayanmar saint by name Aiyatikal Kaadavarkon made some compositions and bathed in the tank and attained mukthi at tiru-perum-ppatra-puliyur or chidambaram. Aragalur Udaya Iraratevan Ponparappinan had refurbished most of the parts and rebuilt some parts of the temple around 1213 AD.

 

At periodical intervals (12 years in general), major repairs and renovation works are carried out, new facilities added and consecrated. Most old temples have also 'grown' over periods of time with additional facilities, more outer corridors and new gopurams (pagodas) were added by the rulers who patronized the temple. While this process has helped to keep the temples 'alive' as places of worship, from a purely archeological or historical perspective these renovations have unintentionally lead to destruction of the original works - which were not in sync with the latter and usually grander temple plans.

 

To this general trend, Chidambaram temple is no exception. The origins and developments of the temple are hence largely deduced from allied references in works of literature and poetry, the verbal information passed over generations by the Dikshithar community and from what little, of inscriptions and manuscripts that are available today.

The temple site is very ancient one is known to have been crafted time and again by the ancient craftsmen guild known as Perumthachchans. The reference to the same is available in sangam literature as well as other documents. The tevaram trio in particular have held this site to be of great sanctity with some like Tirugnanasambandar and Sundarar out of devotion being reluctant to set their foot in the place "because it would be an insult to the lord to put one's foot on his abode". The sangam works refer to the temple being favoured by all the three ancient crowns of south, the Neriyan (cholas), chezhiyan (pandyas) and uthiyan (cheras), even if the temple was in what was traditionally chola country.

 

INSCRIPTIONS

There are several inscriptions available in the temple and referring to the Chidambaram temple in neighbouring areas. Most inscriptions available pertain to the periods of Cholas - Rajaraja Chola I (985-1014 CE), Rajendra Chola I (1012-1044 CE), Kulothunga Chola I (1070-1120 CE), Vikrama Chola (1118-1135 CE), Rajadhiraja Chola II (1163 -1178 CE), Kulothunga Chola III (1178-1218 CE) and Rajaraja Chola III (1216-1256 CE). Pandya inscriptions date from Thribhuvana Chakravarthi Veerapandiyan, Jataavarman Thribhuvana Chakravarthi Sundarapaandiyan (1251-1268 CE) and Maaravarman Thribhuvana Chakravarthi Veerakeralanaagiya Kulashekara Pandiyan (1268-1308 CE). Pallava inscriptions are available for king Avani Aala Pirandhaan Ko-pperum-Singha (1216-1242 CE). Vijayanagara Kings mentioned in inscriptions are Veeraprathaapa Kiruttina Theva Mahaaraayar (1509-1529 CE), Veeraprathaapa Venkata Deva Mahaaraayar, Sri Ranga Theva Mahaaraayar, Atchyutha Deva Mahaaraayar (1529-1542 CE) and Veera Bhooopathiraayar. One of the inscriptions from the descendant of Cheramaan Perumal nayanar, Ramavarma Maharaja has been found.

 

KUMBHABISHEKAM 2015

The sacred Chidambaram Sri Sabanayagar Temple, which is also described as Boologa Kailaasam and Chithakasam

 

Sri Sivagamasundari Samaedha Sriman Anandha Nataraja Moorthy's Chitsabha Samprokshana Chithvilasa Maha Kumbhabishekam is about to happen in a great way On the auspicious day of Manmadha (Tamil) year Chithirai month 18th day (01-May-2015) Friday morning between 7:00 am and 8:30 am Hastha Nakshthra, Thrayodhasi Thithi, Amirtha yoga, Rishabha Lagna.

 

INVASIONS

The temple was severely vandalised during Malik Kafur's invasions of South India between 1311 and 1325. A garrison was set up within the temple precincts and the walls were fortified during the Carnatic Wars between the East India Company and the French and the Anglo-Mysore Wars that the British fought with Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Thillai Natarajah Temple, Chidambaram or Chidambaram temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located in the town of Chidambaram, East-Central Tamil Nadu, South India. The temple is known as the foremost of all temples (Kovil) to Saivites and has influenced worship, architecture, sculpture and performance art for over two millennium. The Sangam classics list chief architect Viduvelvidugu Perumthachchan as directing an early renovation of the shrine.

 

A major shrine of Lord Shiva worship since the classical period, there have been several renovations and offerings to Chidambaram by the Pallava, Chola, Pandya, Vijayanagara and Chera royals in the ancient and pre-medieval periods. The temple as it stands now is mainly of the 12th and 13th centuries, with later additions in similar style. Its bronze statues and stone sculptures depicting various deities and the famous Thillai trees (Excoecaria agallocha) of the surrounding forest reflect the highpoints of early Chola and Pallava art while its famed gold plated gopuram towers are medieval structural additions by the royals Aditya I, Parantaka Chola I, Kopperunchinga I, Krishnadevaraya and Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan. King Kocengannan Chola was born following prayers his parents offered at the temple and later in his life he refined its structure. The shrine gave the town its name.

 

The deity that presides here is கூத்தன் - Thillai Koothan (Thillai Nataraja - Shiva, The Lord of Dance). Chidambaram is the birthplace of the sculpture and bronze image representation of Lord Shiva as the cosmic dancer, a Tamilian concept and motif in Chola art that has since become notable as a symbol of Hinduism. The shrine is the only Shiva temple to have its main deity represented in this anthropomorphic form, as the supreme being who performs all cosmic activities. The consort deity here is Sivakami Amman (form of Amman - mother goddess and female energy). Two other forms of Lord Shiva are represented close to this in the vimana (inner sanctum) of the temple - as a crystallised lingam - the most common representation of Lord Shiva in temples, and as the aether space classical element, represented with empty space and a garland of fifty one hanging golden bilvam leaves (Aegle marmelos). Lord Shiva is captured in pose as Nataraja performing the Ananda Tandava ("Dance of Delight") in the golden hall of the shrine Pon Ambalam (பொன் அம்பலம்). The sculptures of Chidambaram inspired the postures of Bharatha Natyam. The Chidambaram complex is admired for its five famous halls (ambalam or sabhai), several grand smaller shrines to the Hindu deities Ganesh, Murugan, Vishnu and Sivakami Amman which contain Pandyan and Nayak architectural styles, and for its endowment from many water tanks, one of which links it to the Thillai Kali temple.

 

Chidambaram is one of the five Pancha Bootha Sthalams, the holiest Shiva temples each representing one of the five classical elements; Chidambaram represents akasha (aether). Chidambaram is glorified in Tirumular's Tirumandhiram and was visited by Patañjali and VyagjrapadharPulikaal Munivar. It is the primary shrine of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams - Shiva Sthalams glorified in the early medieval Tevaram poems by Tamil Saivite Nayanar saints Tirunavukkarasar, Thirugnana Sambandar and Sundarar. Hailed in the Tiruvacakam series by Manikkavacakar, these very volumes of the Tirumurai literature canon were themselves found in secret chambers of the temple. The Periya Puranam, a biography of these Nayanar saints by Sekkizhar commissioned by emperor Kulothunga Chola II, was written in the shrine's Thousand Pillared Hall. In Kanda Puranam, the epic authored by Kachiyappa Sivachariar of Kanchipuram, the Chidambaram shrine is venerated as one of the three foremost Shiva abodes in the world, alongside Koneswaram temple of Trincomalee and Mount Kailash.

 

ETYMOLOGY

The traditional name of the temple complex, Chidambaram Tillai Nataraja-koothan Kovil, alludes to the environment of its location and its origins and significance in Saivite worship. The mangrove of ancient Tillai (தில்லை) trees (Exocoeria agallocha) of the forest surrounding the shrine when it was first built inspired the shrine's name and early artistic inspiration; the Tillai trees of the nearby Pichavaram wetlands, the second largest mangrove in the world, extends to the temple area. The shrine is venerated as Tillai ambalam (தில்லை அம்பலம் ), literally meaning Tillai Open Stage, the open space surrounded by Tillai Vanam (தில்லை வனம்) (the Tillai forest) - the original name of this area.[9] The name of the town of this shrine, Chidambaram comes from the Tamil word Chitrambalam (சிற்றம்பலம்) - "small hall/stage"; also spelled Chithambalam (சிட்டம்பலம்), from citt/chitthu and ambalam - meaning "wisdom of this open stage/atmosphere". The shrine is where some devotees believe they will attain liberation, or chitaakasam - "wisdom/consciousness of the sky". "Nataraja" or "Koothan" mean "Lord of Dance".

 

LEGEND

The story of Chidambaram begins with Lord Shiva strolling into the Thillai Vanam (vanam meaning forest and thillai trees - botanical name Exocoeria agallocha, a species of mangrove trees - which currently grows in the Pichavaram wetlands near Chidambaram). In the Thillai forests resided a group of sages or 'rishis' who believed in the supremacy of magic and that God can be controlled by rituals and mantras or magical words. Lord Shiva strolled in the forest with resplendent beauty and brilliance, assuming the form of Bhikshatana, a simple mendicant seeking alms. He was followed by His consort, Vishnu as Mohini. The sages and their wives were enchanted by the brilliance and the beauty of The handsome mendicant and His consort. On seeing their womenfolk enchanted, the rishis got enraged and invoked scores of serpents (nāgas) by performing magical rituals. Lord Shiva lifted the serpents and donned them as ornaments on His matted locks, neck and waist. Further enraged, the sages invoked a fierce tiger, whose skins and dons were used by Lord Shiva as a shawl around His waist and then followed by a fierce elephant, which was devoured and ripped to death by Lord Shiva (Gajasamharamurthy).

 

The rishis gathered all their spiritual strength and invoked a powerful demon Muyalakan - a symbol of complete arrogance and ignorance. Lord Shiva wore a gentle smile, stepped on the demon's back, immobilized him and performed the Ánanda Tandava (the dance of eternal bliss) and disclosed his true form. The sages surrender, realizing that Lord Shiva is the truth and He is beyond magic and rituals.

 

PATRONAGE

To Saivites, primarily in Tamil Nadu, the very word koil refers primarily to Chidambaram Tillai Natarajar.

 

Chidambaram is a temple complex spread over 160,000 m2 in the heart of the city. The main complex to Lord Shiva Nataraja also contains shrines to deities such as Shivakami Amman, Ganesh, Murugan and Vishnu in the form Govindaraja Perumal. Chidambaram's earliest structures were designed and erected by ancient craftsmen called Perumtaccan. The golden tiled roof for the Chit Ambalam (the vimanam) was laid by the Chola King Parantaka I (907-950 CE) following which he was given the title - Thillaiyambalathhukku pon koorai veiyntha thevan (Tamil:தில்லையாம்பலதுக்கு பொன் கூரை வேய்ந்த தேவன், meaning the one who constructed the golden roof). In its floruit, kings Rajaraja Chola I (reign 985-1014 AD) and Kulothunga Chola I (1070-1120 AD) made significant donations to the temple. Gold and riches to the temple were donated by Rajaraja Chola's daughter Kundavai II while Chola king Vikrama Chola (1118-1135 AD) made donations for the conduct of the daily rituals.

 

Donations of gold and jewels have been made by various kings, rulers and patrons to the temple from 9th to 16th century - including the Maharaja of Pudukottai, Sethupathy (the emerald jewel still adorns the deity) and the British.

 

Naralokaviran, the general of king Kulothunga Chola I was responsible for building a shrine for child saint Thirugnana Sambanthar and installed a metal image inside it. He constructed a hall for recitation of Tevaram hymns and engraved the hymns in copper plates.

 

TEMPLE STRUCTURE

The temple is the only great temple complex to date mainly from the later Chola period, and contains the earliest examples of a number of features that are found in many later temples, including "the earliest known Devī or Amman shrine, nritta (dance) maṇḍapa, Sūrya shrine with chariot wheels, hundred-and-thousand pillared maṇḍapas, even the first giant Śiva Gangā tank".A classical Shiva temple as per Agama rules will have five prakarams (closed precincts of a temple) or circuits each separated by walls one within the other. The outer prakaram will be open to the sky except the innermost one. The innermost one will house the main deity as well as other deities. There will be a massive wooden or stone flag post exactly in line with the main deity. The innermost prakaram houses the sanctum sanctorum (தமிழ் = கருவரை).

 

Chidambaram is also referred to in various works such as Thillai (after the Thillai forest of yore in which the temple is now located), Perumpatrapuliyur or Vyagrapuram (in honour of Saint Vyagrapathar, Sanskrit: Vyaghrapada - "Tiger-Footed").

 

The temple is supposed to be located at the lotus heart of the Universe: Virat hridaya padma sthalam.

 

This gold-roofed stage is the sanctum sanctorum of the Chidambaram temple and houses the Lord in three forms:

 

- the "form" - the anthropomorphic form as an appearance of Nataraja, called the Sakala-thirumeni.

- the "semi-form" – the semi-anthropomorphic form as the Crystal linga of Chandramaulishvara, the Sakala-nishkala-thirumeni.

- the "formless" – as the space in Chidambara-rahasyam, an empty space within the sanctum sanctorum, the Nishkala-thirumeni.

 

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TEMPLE DESIGN

The layout and architecture of the temple is replete with philosophical meanings.

 

Three of the five Panchaboothasthala temples, those at Kalahasti, Kanchipuram and Chidambaram all stand on a straight line exactly at 79 degree 41 minutes East longitude - truly an engineering, astrological and geographical wonder. Of the other two temples, Tiruvanaikkaval is located at around 3 degrees to the south and exactly 1 degree to the west of the northern tip of this divine axis, while Tiruvannamalai is around midway (1.5 degree to the south and 0.5 degree to the west).

 

The 9 gateways signify the 9 orifices in the human body.

The Chitsabai or Ponnambalam, the sanctum sanctorum represents the heart which is reached by a flight of 5 stairs called the Panchaatchara padi - pancha meaning 5, achhara – indestructible syllables – "SI VA YA NA MA", from a raised anterior dias - the Kanakasabai. The access to the Sabhai is through the sides of the stage (and not from the front as in most temples). The Chit sabha roof is supported by four pillars symbolic of the four Vedas.

 

The Ponnambalam or the Sanctum sanctorum is held by 28 pillars – representing the 28 agamas or set methodologies for the worship of Lord Shiva. The roof is held by a set of 64 beams representing the 64 forms of art and is held by several cross-beams representing the innumerable blood vessels. The roof has been laid by 21,600 golden tiles with the word SIVAYANAMA inscribed on them representing 21600 breaths. The golden tiles are fixed using 72,000 golden nails which represents the no. of nadis exists in human body. The roof is topped by a set of 9 sacred pots or kalasas, representing the 9 forms of energy. The artha mandapa(sanctum) has six pillars denoting the six shastras (holy texts).

 

The hall next to the artha mantapa has eighteen pillars symbolizing the eighteen Puranas.

 

TOWERS

The temple has nine gateways, and four of these have gateway towers or gopurams each with 7 storeys facing the East, South, West and North. The South gopuram called the Sokkaseeyan Thirunilai Ezhugopuram was constructed by a Pandya king identified from the presence of the dynasty's fish emblem sculpted on the ceiling. The Pandyas sculpted two fishes facing each other when they completed gopurams (and left it with one fish, in case it was incomplete). The earliest and smallest of the four is West gopuram constructed around 1150 and there are no reliable evidence on the construction. The sculptures shows goddess fighting the buffalo-demon and warlike Skanda astride his peacock. The North Gopuram was initiated around 1300 AD with the brick portion constructed by the Vijayanagara king Krishnadevaraya (1509-1530 AD) in the 16th century. The East Gopuram, was claimed to have been constructed by the Pallava King Koperunsingan II (1243-1279 AD) as per epigrahical records and was repaired by Subbammal, the mother-in-law of the famous philanthropist Pachaiyappa Mudaliar (1754-1794 AD). The idols of Pachaiappa Mudaliar and his wife Iyalammal have been sculpted on the eastern gopuram. The Pachaiappa Trust to date has been responsible for various functions in the temple and also maintain the temple car. The eastern gopuram is renowned for its complete enumeration of 108 poses of Indian classical dance – Bharathanatyam, detailed in small rectangular panels along the passage that leads to the gateway. Each gopuram has around fifty stone sculptures, with each repeating some portions from the other.

 

HALLS

There are 5 ambalams or sabhas (halls) inside the temple.

 

- Chit Ambalam or Chit Sabhai, which is the sanctum sanctorum housing Lord Nataraja and his consort Sivakami Sundari, and gave the temple town its name.

- Pon Ambalam or Kanaka Sabhai – the golden hall in front of the Chit Ambalam, from where the daily rituals are conducted.

- Nrithya sabhai or Natya sabhai, a 56-pillared hall lies to the south of the temple's flag mast (kodi maram or dwaja sthambam) where Nataraja outdanced Kali and established his supremacy

- Raja sabhai or the 1000-pillared hall which symbolizes the yogic chakra of thousand pillared lotus or Sahasraram (which in yoga is a chakra) at the crown of the head and is a seat where the soul unites with God. This chakra is represented as a 1000-petalled lotus. Meditating by concentrating at the Sahasrara Chakra is said to lead to a state of union with The Divine Force and is the pinnacle of yogic practice. The hall is open only on festive days.

- Deva Sabhai, which houses the Pancha moorthis (pancha - five, moorthis - deities, namely the deities of Ganesh, Somaskanda (seated posture of Lord Shiva with Pavarthi and Skanda), Sivananda Nayaki, Muruga and the image of Chandikeswarar.

 

SHRINES

- The shrines for the original Shivalingam worshipped by the saints Patanjali and Vyagrapathar – called the Thiru Aadhimoolanathar and his consort Umaiyammai

- The shrine of the 63 nayanars of Lord Shiva – called the Arubaththu moovar.

- Shrine of Sivagami.

- Ganesha shrine

- Shrine of Muruga or Pandiya nayakan

 

There are also several smaller shrines in the temple complex.

 

GOVINDARAJA SWAMY SHRINE

The Govindaraja shrine is dedicated to Vishnu and is one of the 108 holy temples of Lord Vishnu called divyadesam, revered by the 7th-9th-century saint poets of vaishnava (those worshipping Lord Vishnu) tradition, alwars. Kulashekara alwar mentions this temple as Tillai Chitrakutam and equates Chitrakuta of Ramayana fame with this shrine. King Kulothunga Chola II is believed to have uprooted the presiding Govindraja image from the shrine. The shrine has close connections with the Govindaraja temple in Tirupati dating back to saint Ramanuja of the 11-12th century. Ramanujar fled to Tirupati with the utsava (festival image) of the temple to escape punishment. Down the centuries, king Krishnappa Nayak (1564-1572 AD) was instrumental in installing the image of Govindaraja back in the temple. There was lot of resistance from the shaivites (those worshipping Shiva) against placing the Vishnu image in a revered Shiva temple, but the king was unmoved and the image was installed in the present form. There is no satisfactory evidence of co-existence of the Shiva and Vishnu shrines within the same temple built during the same time - there was a dispute even in last century during 1849 AD regarding the rights on the Govindaraja idol and Alwar Sannidhi(sanctum of azhwars) between Vaishnavas and Dikshitars and the position of Vaishnavas was upheld by the district court.

 

TEMPLE TANKS

The Chidambaram temple is well endowed with several water bodies within and around the temple complex.

 

- Sivaganga (சிவகங்கை) tank is in the third corridor of the temple opposite to the shrine of Shivagami. It is accessed by flights of stone steps leading from the shrine.

- Paramanandha koobham is the well on the eastern side of the Chitsabhai hall from which water is drawn for sacred purposes.

- Kuyya theertham is situated to the north-east of Chidambaram in Killai near the Bay of Bengal and has the shore called Pasamaruthanthurai.

- Pulimadu is situated around a kilometer and a half to the south of Chidambaram.

- Vyagrapatha Theertham is situated on to the west of the temple opposite to the temple of Ilamai Akkinaar.

- Anantha Theertham is situated to the west of the temple in front of the Anantheswarar temple.

- Nagaseri tank is situated to the west of the Anantha thirtham.

- Brahma Theertham is situated to the north-west of the temple at Thirukalaanjeri.

- Underground channels at the shrine drain excess water in a northeasterly direction to the Shivapiyai temple tank (சிவப்பியை குளம்) of the Thillai Kali Temple, Chidambaram. Due to poor maintenance, it has not been in use.

- Thiruparkadal is the tank to the south-east of the Shivapiyai tank.

 

TEMPLE CAR

The Chidambaram temple car is, perhaps, the most beautiful example of a temple car in all of Tamil Nadu. This car, on which Lord Nataraja descends twice a year, is drawn by several thousand devotees during the festivals.

 

ANANDA TANDAVA

The legend of the temple is same as the legend of Ānanda-tāṇḍava. Adhisesha, the serpent who serves as a bed of Lord Vishnu, hears about the Änanda thaandava and yearns to see and enjoy it. Lord Shiva beckons him to assume the saintly form of sage Patanjali and sends him to the Thillai forest, informing him that he will display the dance in due course. Patanjali who meditated in the Himalayas during krita age joins another saint, Vyaghrapada or Pulikaalmuni (Vyagra / Puli meaning "Tiger" and patha / kaal meaning "feet" – referring to the story of how he sought and got the feet and eyesight of a tiger to help climb trees well before dawn to pick flowers for The Lord before the bees visit them). The story of sage Patanjali as well as his great student sage Upamanyu is narrated in both Vishnu Purana as well as Shiva Purana. They move into the Thillai forest and worship Lord Shiva in the form of lingam, a deity worshipped today as Thirumoolataneswarar (Thiru - sri, Moolatanam - primordial or in the nature of a foundation, Eswarar- the Lord). Legends say that Lord Shiva displayed his dance of bliss (the Aananda Thaandavam) - as Nataraja to these two saints on the day of the poosam star in the Tamil month of Thai (January-February).

 

THE ANANDA TANDAVA POSTURE

The Ānanda-tāṇḍava posture of Nataraja represents pancikritya functions of the godhead believed to have created the dynamic force to create the world.

 

- The demon under Lord Nataraja's feet signifies that ignorance is under His feet.

- The fire in His hand (power of destruction) means He is the destroyer of evil.

- The raised hand (Abhaya or Pataka mudra) signifies that He is the savior of all life forms.

- The arc of fire called Thiruvashi or Prabhavati signifies the cosmos and the perpetual motion of the earth.

- The drum in His hand signifies the origin of life forms.

- The lotus pedestal signifies Om, the sound of the universe.

- His right eye, left eye and third eye signify the sun, moon and fire/knowledge, respectively.

- His right earring (makara kundalam) and left earring (sthri kundalam) signify the union of man and woman (right is man, left is woman).

- The crescent moon in His hair signifies benevolence and beauty.

- The flowing of river Ganges through His matted hair signifies eternity of life.

- The dreading of His hair and drape signify the force of His dance.

 

Another notable point of this posture is that it is based on the six point star. Nataraja's head forms the topmost point of the star, while His spreading hair and right hand form the upper side points. His drape and raised left leg form the lower points, and His right leg that rests on the demon Myalagga forms the lowest point. Surrounding this is the arc of fire.

 

RELIGIOUS SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TEMPLE

Pancha Bhoota Stalam (Sanskrit: पन्च भूत स्थल) refers to the five Shiva temples, each representing the manifestation of the five prime elements of nature - land, water, air, sky, fire. Pancha indicates five, Bhoota means elements and Stala means place. All these temples are located in South India with four of these temples at Tamil Nadu and one at Andhra Pradesh. The five elements are believed to be enshrined in the five lingams and each of the lingams representing Lord Shiva in the temple have five different names based on the elements they represent. In the temple, Shiva is said to have manifested himself in the form of sky. The other four manifestations are Prithivi Lingam (representing land) at Ekambareswarar Temple, Appu Lingam (representing Water) at Thiruvanaikaval, Agni Lingam (representing fire) at Annamalaiyar Temple and Vayu Lingam (representing air) at Srikalahasti Temple.

 

Aathara Stala indicates the Shiva temples which are considered to be divine impersonification of Tantric chakras associated with human anatomy. Nataraja temple is called the Anthaga stalam associated with Anthagam - the third eye.

 

Pancha Sabhai refers to the five places where Lord Shiva is said to have displayed His cosmic dance and all these places have stages or ambalams, also known as Sabhai. Apart from Chidambaram which has the Ponna Ambalam - the Golden Hall, the others are the I-Ratthina Ambalam - the Jeweled Hall at Thiruvaalangadu (rathinam – ruby / red jewelled), the Chitra Ambalam - the Painted Hall at Thirukutralam (chitra – painting), the Velli Ambalam - the Silver Hall at Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple (velli – silver) and the Thaamira Ambalam - the Copper Hall at Nellaiappar Temple, Tirunelveli (Thaamiram – copper).

 

RELIGIOUS WORK AND SAINTS

There is no reference to the temple in Sangam literature of the 1st to 5th centuries and the earliest mention is found in 6th century Tamil literature. The temple and the deity were immortalized in Tamil poetry in the works of Thevaram by three poet saints belonging to the 7th century - Thirugnana Sambanthar, Thirunavukkarasar and Sundaramoorthy Nayanar. Thirugnana Sambanthar has composed 2 songs in praise of the temple, Thirunavukkarasar aka Appar 8 Tevarams in praise of Nataraja and Sundarar 1 song in praise of Nataraja. Sundarar commences his Thiruthondar thogai (the sacred list of Lord Shiva's 63 devotees) paying his respects to the priests of the Thillai temple - "To the devotees of the priests at Thillai, I am a devotee". The works of the first three saints, Thirumurai were stored in palm leaf manuscripts in the temple and were recovered by the Chola King Rajaraja Chola under the guidance of Nambiandarnambi. Manikkavasagar, the 10th century saivite poet has written two works, the first called Tiruvasakam (The sacred utterances) which largely has been sung in Chidambaram and the Thiruchitrambalakkovaiyar (aka Thirukovaiyar), which has been sung entirely in the temple. Manikkavasagar is said to have attained spiritual bliss at Chidambaram. The Chidambaram Mahatmiyam composed during the 12th century explain the subsequent evolution and de-sanskritization.

 

THE CHIDAMBARA RAHASIYAM

During the daily rituals, the Chief priest, of the day, himself in a state of Godliness - Shivohambhava (Shiva - the Lord, in His Sandhi form - Shivo-, aham – me / us, bhava - state of mind), parts the curtain, indicating the withdrawal of ignorance and reveals the space, and The Lord’s presence.

 

The Chidambara Rahasya, is hence representative of that time when one, in total surrender, allows God to intervene and remove our ignorance, even as we get to 'see and experience' His presence and hence - bliss.

Temple administration and daily rituals

 

WORSHIP FORMS

A unique feature of this temple is the bejeweled image of Lord Nataraja as the main deity. It depicts Lord Shiva as the master of Koothu-Bharata Natyam and is one of the few temples where Lord Shiva is represented by an anthropomorphic murthi rather than the classic, anionic Lingam.

 

At Chidambaram, the dancer dominates, not the linga as in other Shiva shrines. The Chitsabha houses a small sphatika(crystal) linga (Chandramoulisvara), believed to be a piece that fell from the crescent adorning Lord Shiva's head and installed by Adi Shankara. The linga is associated with the intangible fifth element, akasha (ether or space), the eternal infinite expanse where the dance of Lord Shiva takes place daily puja is offered to the linga and also to a small gem-carved figure of Ratnasabhapati.

 

Chidambaram offers a combination of the three apects of Shaiva worship - of the form Lord(Nataraja), of the form and the formlessness (linga) and of the formless omnipresence. The last is suggested by a "Chidambara rahasya", a chakra inscribed on a wall and blackened by applying "punugu" (civet) and over which hangs a string of golden bilva (bael) leaves. This can be viewed through the square chinks when the priest draws aside the dark "curtain of ignorance".

 

WORSHIP

The temple is managed and administered hereditarily by the Chidambaram Dikshitar – a class of Vaidika Brahmins whom, legends say, were brought here from Mt. Kailas, by Patanjali, specifically for the performance of the daily rituals and maintenance of the Chidambaram temple.

 

DIKSHITARS

The Dikshithars were supposed to be 3000 were called Tillai Muvayiram. Today they number around 360. These Dikshithars follow the Vedic rituals, unlike the Sivachariyars or Adhisaivars who follow the agamic rituals for the worship of Shiva and they sport a specific lopsided-to-the-left half shaved head. The rituals for the temple were collated from the Vedas and set by Patanjali, who is said to have inducted the Dikshithars into the worship of Lord Shiva as Nataraja. Every married male member of the Dikshithar family gets a turn to perform the rituals at the temple and can serve as the chief priest for the day. Married Dikshithars are also entitled a share of the temple's revenue. Though the temple is said to have been given endowments of almost 20 km2 of fertile land – having been patronized by various rulers for several centuries, it is managed almost entirely by privately run endowments.

 

DAILY RITUALS

The day begins with the chief priest of the day, performing required rituals to purify himself and assume the Shivoham bhava (Shiva-hood), after which he enters the temple to do the daily rituals. The day begins with Lord Shiva's footwear (padukas) brought at 7:00 am from the palliyarai (bedroom) to the sanctum sanctorum in a palanquin accompanied by devotees with cymbals, chimes and drums. The priest then performs the daily rituals with a yajna and a 'Gopujai' (worship of a cow and her calf). Worship (Puja) is done 6 times in a day. Before each puja, the spadika linga (crystal linga) or the semi form state of Lord Shiva is anointed with ghee, milk, curds, rice, sandal paste and holy ash. This is followed by presenting the naivedhyam or offering of freshly prepared food and sweets to the deity and the diparaadhana, a ritual of showing varied and decoratively set lamps, the reciting of Vedas in Sanskrit and the Panchapuranam (a set of 5 poems from a set of 12 works in Tamil – called the panniru thirumurai). The puja ends with the priest parting the curtains of the sanctum sanctorum to reveal the Chidambara Rahasyam (sanctum).

 

Before the 2nd puja, apart from the regular anointing of the crystal linga, a ruby Nataraja deity (the Rathinasabhapathy) is also anointed. The 3rd puja is at around 12.00 noon, after which the temple closes until around 4:30 pm. The 4th puja is performed at 6.00 pm, the 5th at 8:00 pm and the last puja of the day is performed at 10:00 pm, after which Lord Shiva’s footwear is taken in a procession for Him to ‘retire’ for the night. Before the 5th puja at night, the priest performs special rituals at the Chidambara Rahasya, where he anointed the yantra with aromatic substances and offers naivedyam. The last puja, called the arthajaama puja is performed with special fervor. It is believed that the entire divine force of the universe retires into the deity, when he retires for the night.

 

TEMPLE ADMINISTRATION

The Diskshithars one and fully responsible for the administration and pooja. Simply they mentioned their surname as the Sri Natarajar Temple Trustee and Pooja forever. Dikshithars life and temple tied as the nail and flesh relationship.

 

FESTIVALS

A whole year for men is said to be a single day for the gods. Just as six poojas are performed in a day at the sanctum sanctorum, six anointing ceremonies are performed for the principal deity - Nataraja in a year. They are the Marghazhi Thiruvaadhirai (in December-January) indicating the first puja, the fourteenth day after the new moon (chaturdasi) of the month of Masi (February-March) indicating the second pooja, the Chittirai Thiruvonam (in April-May), indicating the third pooja or uchikalam, the Uthiram of Aani (June-July) also called the Aani Thirumanjanam indicating the evening or the fourth puja, the chaturdasi of Aavani (August-September) indicating the fifth puja and the chaturdasi of the month of Puratasi (October-November) indicating the sixth pooja or Arthajama. Of these the Marghazhi Thiruvaadhirai (in December-January) and the Aani Thirumanjanam (in June-July ) are the most important. These are conducted as the key festivals with the main deity being brought outside the sanctum sanctorum in a procession that included a temple car procession followed by a long anointing ceremony. Several hundreds of thousands of people flock the temple to see the anointing ceremony and the ritualistic dance of Shiva when he is taken back to the sanctum sanctorum. Lord Shiva, in his incarnation of Nataraja, is believed to have born on full moon day in the constellation of Ardra, the sixth lunar mansion. Lord Shiva is bathed only 6 times a year, and on the previous night of Ardra, the bath rituals are performed on a grand scale. Pots full of milk, pomegranate juices, coconut water, ghee, oil, sandal paste, curds, holy ashes, and other liquids and solids, considered as sacred offering to the deity are used for the sacred ablution.

 

There are references in Umapathy Sivam's

Kunchithaangristhavam that the Maasi festival also had the Lord being carried out in procession, however this is not in vogue these days.

 

Natyanjali is a prominent festival celebrated during February every year when Bharatnatyam dancers from all over the country converge to present dance offering to Nataraja.

 

HISTORY

Constructed to signify where Tamil Shaivites identify the centre loci of the universe to be, the shrine, dedicated to Lord Shiva, has witnessed several significant events in the history of Tamil Nadu. A powerful legacy of Dravidian art, its structures and sculptures have attracted pilgrims to Chidambaram for over two millennium. The birthplace of Nataraja when Shaivite worship was highly popular during the Sangam period, Chidambaram had gained a reputation for holiness across the continent by the third century CE and the admiration of the Tamilakkam royals of the early Cholas, Chera dynasty and the early Pandyan Kingdom. Built by the early Cholas to one of their family deities - Nataraja-Koothan - it served as the king and queen's state temple and seat of their monarchs' coronations. The Chola royals underlined their non-partisan approach to religious iconography and faith by also patronizing the Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple dedicated to Vishnu - their other Kuladheivam or "abode of family deity". Chola King Kocengannan who reigned in the first half of the 2nd century CE was born after his parents King Subhadevan and Kamaladevi worshipped in the Thillai Golden Hall (Pon Ambalam). He expanded the shrine in his later life and added to unfinished decorations. Saints Patañjali Tirumular and Vyaghrapada famously worshipped Nataraja at the shrine. The travelling Pallava-Chola king Simhavarman (II or III) who reigned in the 5th-6th century CE was cured of leprosy by bathing in the Shivagangai tank and in gratitude made extensive repairs and additions to the temple. He changed his name to Hiranyavarman or "golden bodied."

 

The Puranas, Sangam literature and the Tirumurai canon join several epigraphs and murals in highlighting the brilliance of the temple site and the devotion of Patañjali, Vyaghrapada-Pulikaalmunivar and patanjali to Nataraja at Thillai. The sthala puranam as well as umapathi sivacharya's koyil puranam give an account of how an ancient chola prince of kritayugam or first of epochal ages. Worshipped The Lord's feet at Chidambaram and being blessed with a vision of His was further helped by saint Vyaghrapada to consecrate a place of worship therewith. The temple murals and some cholan and pandyan literature refer to this sthala puranam. The chidambaram mahatyam as well as koyil puranam by the same author discuss as to how this prince who was presented with dhataki or atti garland and tiger flag in which Lord Indra would take abode to make him ever victorious was blessed with vision of lord and further attained mukti at this spot. This is very credible because all ancient literature and documents report that tiger flag and atti or dhataki (grislea tomentosa) garland as being emblematic with cholas. Some sangam period works also passingly refer to the krita age king's war with demons and his victory against them. The king also went by name Vyaghraketu after being gifted with the tiger flag.

 

Later during the 4th or 5th century CE, a pallava king called Simha Varman who was also a nayanmar saint by name Aiyatikal Kaadavarkon made some compositions and bathed in the tank and attained mukthi at tiru-perum-ppatra-puliyur or chidambaram. Aragalur Udaya Iraratevan Ponparappinan had refurbished most of the parts and rebuilt some parts of the temple around 1213 AD.

 

At periodical intervals (12 years in general), major repairs and renovation works are carried out, new facilities added and consecrated. Most old temples have also 'grown' over periods of time with additional facilities, more outer corridors and new gopurams (pagodas) were added by the rulers who patronized the temple. While this process has helped to keep the temples 'alive' as places of worship, from a purely archeological or historical perspective these renovations have unintentionally lead to destruction of the original works - which were not in sync with the latter and usually grander temple plans.

 

To this general trend, Chidambaram temple is no exception. The origins and developments of the temple are hence largely deduced from allied references in works of literature and poetry, the verbal information passed over generations by the Dikshithar community and from what little, of inscriptions and manuscripts that are available today.

The temple site is very ancient one is known to have been crafted time and again by the ancient craftsmen guild known as Perumthachchans. The reference to the same is available in sangam literature as well as other documents. The tevaram trio in particular have held this site to be of great sanctity with some like Tirugnanasambandar and Sundarar out of devotion being reluctant to set their foot in the place "because it would be an insult to the lord to put one's foot on his abode". The sangam works refer to the temple being favoured by all the three ancient crowns of south, the Neriyan (cholas), chezhiyan (pandyas) and uthiyan (cheras), even if the temple was in what was traditionally chola country.

 

INSCRIPTIONS

There are several inscriptions available in the temple and referring to the Chidambaram temple in neighbouring areas. Most inscriptions available pertain to the periods of Cholas - Rajaraja Chola I (985-1014 CE), Rajendra Chola I (1012-1044 CE), Kulothunga Chola I (1070-1120 CE), Vikrama Chola (1118-1135 CE), Rajadhiraja Chola II (1163 -1178 CE), Kulothunga Chola III (1178-1218 CE) and Rajaraja Chola III (1216-1256 CE). Pandya inscriptions date from Thribhuvana Chakravarthi Veerapandiyan, Jataavarman Thribhuvana Chakravarthi Sundarapaandiyan (1251-1268 CE) and Maaravarman Thribhuvana Chakravarthi Veerakeralanaagiya Kulashekara Pandiyan (1268-1308 CE). Pallava inscriptions are available for king Avani Aala Pirandhaan Ko-pperum-Singha (1216-1242 CE). Vijayanagara Kings mentioned in inscriptions are Veeraprathaapa Kiruttina Theva Mahaaraayar (1509-1529 CE), Veeraprathaapa Venkata Deva Mahaaraayar, Sri Ranga Theva Mahaaraayar, Atchyutha Deva Mahaaraayar (1529-1542 CE) and Veera Bhooopathiraayar. One of the inscriptions from the descendant of Cheramaan Perumal nayanar, Ramavarma Maharaja has been found.

 

KUMBHABISHEKAM 2015

The sacred Chidambaram Sri Sabanayagar Temple, which is also described as Boologa Kailaasam and Chithakasam

 

Sri Sivagamasundari Samaedha Sriman Anandha Nataraja Moorthy's Chitsabha Samprokshana Chithvilasa Maha Kumbhabishekam is about to happen in a great way On the auspicious day of Manmadha (Tamil) year Chithirai month 18th day (01-May-2015) Friday morning between 7:00 am and 8:30 am Hastha Nakshthra, Thrayodhasi Thithi, Amirtha yoga, Rishabha Lagna.

 

INVASIONS

The temple was severely vandalised during Malik Kafur's invasions of South India between 1311 and 1325. A garrison was set up within the temple precincts and the walls were fortified during the Carnatic Wars between the East India Company and the French and the Anglo-Mysore Wars that the British fought with Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan.

 

WIKIPEDIA

The Postcard

 

A postcard that was produced by Adrian that was posted in New York on Sunday the 31st. July 1938 to:

 

Miss F. Quaddel,

38, Ladbroke Grove,

London W. 11,

England.

 

The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:

 

"Dear Frida,

Just a word to let you

know I'm alive & kicking.

The weather has been

miserable but pretty

warm here.

We're leaving tomorrow

for Halifax on a cruise

and arrive back Friday.

We will be back on the

12th.

Love,

Bunny."

 

Grant's Tomb

 

Grant's Tomb, officially the General Grant National Memorial, is the final resting place of Ulysses S. Grant, 18th. president of the United States, and his wife, Julia Grant.

 

It is a classical domed mausoleum in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in NYC. The structure is in the middle of Riverside Drive at 122nd. Street, across from Riverside Church to the southeast and Riverside Park to the west.

 

Upon Grant's death in 1885, his widow declared that he had wished to be buried in New York, and a new committee, the Grant Monument Association, appealed for funds. Progress was slow at first, since many believed the tomb should be in Washington, D.C., and also because there was no architectural design to show.

 

Eventually they selected a proposal by John Hemenway Duncan for a tomb of "unmistakably military character," modeled after the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, with twin sarcophagi based on Napoleon’s tomb at Les Invalides.

 

The tomb was completed in 1897, and the National Park Service has managed it since 1958. After a period of neglect, it has been restored and re-dedicated.

 

The mausoleum is a prominent architectural land feature visible from the Hudson River. In addition to being a national memorial since 1958, Grant's Tomb was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, and was designated an official New York City landmark in 1975.

 

The Creation of the Grant Monument Association

 

On the 23rd. July 1985, Ulysses S. Grant died of throat cancer at the age of 63 in Wilton, New York.

 

Within hours of Grant's death, William Russell Grace, the Mayor of New York City, sent a telegram to Julia Grant offering NYC to be the burial ground for both Ulysses and Julia.

 

Grant's only real wish when he died was to be next to his wife when he was buried. In practice this eliminated all military cemeteries and installations (such as West Point) from consideration, as they did not permit women to be interred at the time. Grant's family agreed to have his remains interred in NYC.

 

Grace wrote a letter to prominent New Yorkers the following day in order to gather support for a national monument in Grant's honor:

 

"Dear Sir: In order that the City of New York, which

is to be the last resting place of General Grant,

should initiate a movement to provide for the

erection of a National Monument to the memory of

the great soldier, and that she should do well and

thoroughly her part, I respectfully request you as

one of a Committee to consider ways and means

for raising the quota to be subscribed by the

citizens of New York City for this object, and beg

that you will attend a meeting to be held at the

Mayor's office on Tuesday next, 28 inst., at three

o'clock."

 

The preliminary meeting was attended by 85 New Yorkers who established the Committee on Organization. Its chairman was former President Chester A. Arthur; its secretary was Richard Theodore Greener. The organization came to be known as the Grant Monument Association (GMA).

 

Funding of the Monument

 

The Grant Monument Association did not originally announce the function or structure of the monument; however, the idea of any monument in Grant's honor drew public support. Western Union donated $5,000 on the 29th. July, the day the committee announced its proposal.

 

The GMA continued to receive donations of large and small amounts. At a membership meeting, former New York State governor Alonzo Cornell proposed a fundraising goal of one million dollars.

 

Private enterprises such as insurance and iron-trading companies donated funds to the project. For every ton of coal the Consumers Coal Company sold, it gave a donation of 37½ cents to the GMA.

 

However although there was great enthusiasm for a monument to President Grant, early fundraising efforts were stifled by growing negative public opinion expressed by out-of-state press. The Clay County Enterprise in Brazil, Indiana, wrote:

 

"We have not a cent for New York in the

undertaking, and would advise that not

a dollar of help be sent to the millionaire

city from Indiana. If the billions of New York

are not sufficient to embellish the city, let

the remains be placed in Washington or

some other American city."

 

The opposition was vocal in the view that the monument should be in Washington, D.C. Mayor Grace tried to calm the controversy by publicly releasing Mrs. Grant's justification for the New York site as the resting place for her husband:

 

"Riverside was selected by myself and my family

as the burial place of my husband, General Grant.

First, because I believed New York was his preference. Second, it is near the residence that I hope to occupy

as long as I live, and where I will be able to visit his

resting place often. Third, I have believed, and am

now convinced, that the tomb will be visited by as

many of his countrymen there as it would be at any

other place. Fourth, the offer of a park in New York

was the first which observed and unreservedly

assented to the only condition imposed by General

Grant himself, namely, that I should have a place by

his side."

 

Criticism was not limited to the debate about the monument's location. According to The New York Times, there was discontent even with the internal management of the GMA.

 

Although the GMA members were among the wealthiest in New York, they were making comparatively small donations to the effort that they themselves were promoting. The New York Times characterized the members as:

 

"Sitting quietly in an office and signing

receipts for money voluntarily tendered."

 

At this early stage, the GMA did not have a model for what the monument was to be; it continued to ask for donations without explaining its purpose, which frustrated and discouraged donors. Joan Waugh captured the feelings of the average citizen in her book, 'American Hero American Myth':

 

"Why should citizens give money to

build a monument whose shape was

still a mystery?"

 

The GMA did not propose a definitive plan for the monument until five years later. During its first few years, the GMA fell short of the fundraising expectations originally set by Alonzo Cornell. In the first year, 1885, the GMA raised just over $111,000, 10% of its goal. In the two years that followed, it raised just $10,000.

 

The slow pace of fundraising caused some trustees to resign. No design for the structure yet existed, and without such a design, it was believed that fundraising efforts would continue to remain low.

 

The Design Competition

 

On the 4th. February 1888, after a year's delay, the GMA publicly announced the details of a design competition, in a newsletter entitled 'To Artists, Architects, and Sculptors'.

 

This information was made public to the entire nation; it was also published in Europe. The GMA also proposed a new estimate for the monument's cost, which ranged from $500,000 to $1 million. The deadline for all designs was rescheduled three times, and was then set for a final date of the 10th. January 1889.

 

The competition received 65 designs, 42 of which came from international entries. The GMA did not award an overall winner, and a second design competition was ordered.

 

In April 1890, the GMA selected, from only five commissioned entries, the design of John Hemenway Duncan, who estimated his design would cost between $496,000 and $900,000. In 1883, Duncan designed the Washington Monument at Newburgh, the Newburgh Monument, and the Tower of Victory.

 

Duncan built these structures to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the U.S. Revolutionary War, and he became a member of the Architectural League in 1887. Duncan cited as his design's objective:

 

"To produce a monumental structure

that should be unmistakably a tomb

of military character."

 

He claimed that he wanted to avoid "resemblance of a habitable dwelling," as the structure was meant to be the epitome of reverence and respect.

 

The tomb's granite exterior is modeled after the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus with Persian elements, and but for the Ionic columns of the exterior rotunda and the Doric columns of the porch, it resembles the Tropaeum Alpium.

 

Within the tomb, the twin sarcophagi of Grant and his wife are based on the sarcophagus of Napoleon Bonaparte at Les Invalides.

 

Construction of the Monument

 

By 1890, the GMA had a defined design and architect. Although the GMA was becoming more organized and the reality of the monument was becoming clearer, the debate over the monument's location re-opened in Congress.

 

In October 1890, U.S. Senator Hale introduced legislation to have the sarcophagi placed at a monument in Washington, DC. The legislation did not pass, but the effort re-opened the debate over the proper place for the remains of Grant.

 

A ground-breaking ceremony had already been scheduled for the 27th. April 1891, and although the parties had not agreed on a location for the monument by that date, a ground-breaking ceremony was nevertheless held.

 

In June 1891, deliberations ended; the monument was to be built in NYC, and that month, the GMA hired a contractor named John T. Brady.

 

Construction began that summer, and by August, preliminary excavation was complete. Construction was on schedule until the GMA asked Duncan to alter his design in the spring of 1892. This was because the design could not be as elaborate as originally planned, because of the Association's inability to raise sufficient funds.

 

Construction was also slowed by a stonecutters' strike in 1892. After 1894, construction proceeded at a faster pace, and by 1896, work on the outside of the tomb was nearly complete. One innovative feature of the tomb construction was the use of Guastavino tile vaulting to support the circular floor above the perimeter of the downstairs atrium.

 

On the 17th. April 1897, Grant's remains were quietly transferred to an 8.5-ton red granite sarcophagus and placed in the mausoleum. The monument was dedicated ten days later on the 27th. April 1897, on the 75th.-anniversary ceremony of Grant's birth on the 27th. April 1822.

 

Julia Grant, Grant's wife of nearly 40 years, died five years later in 1902, and was placed in a matching sarcophagus and laid to rest in the mausoleum beside her husband.

 

The sarcophagi are placed above ground, leading to a common riddle by comedian Groucho Marx, who often asked contestants on his radio and television quiz show You Bet Your Life:

 

"Who was buried in Grant's Tomb?"

 

The riddle is based on the use of the word "buried", and since neither of the Grants' tombs are underground, the correct answer is "no one".

 

However, Marx often accepted the answer "Grant" and awarded a consolation prize to those who gave it. He used the question, among several other easy ones, to ensure that everyone won a prize on the show.

 

Decay and Restoration of the Monument

 

The initial restoration project began in December 1935 (38 years after the tomb opened), when Works Progress Administration laborers installed new marble flooring in the atrium. The WPA played a large role in sustaining the monument.

 

Joan Waugh explains that:

 

"In the 1930's the tomb was barely

maintained by funds from the Works

Progress Administration."

 

Shortly after the restoration project began, the old New York City Post Office was being demolished, and donated two statues of eagles to decorate the front of the Grant Monument.

 

The laborers of the WPA worked on several projects throughout the 1930's, including roof restoration, electric lighting and heating systems, and removal of the purple stained glass windows. The Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company installed amber glass to replace the purple stained glass.

 

Toward the end of the 1930's, a project began to restore the two reliquary rooms, where battle flags were displayed in trophy cases, and murals of a map in each marked Civil War battles.

 

In 1938, the Federal Art Project selected artists William Mues and Jeno Juszko to design the busts of William T. Sherman, Phillip H. Sheridan, George H. Thomas, James B. McPherson, and Edward Ord. The WPA installed the five busts in the circular wall of the atrium surrounding the sarcophagi.

 

After the many contributions of the WPA, the Grant Monument Association held a re-dedication of the tomb on the 27th. April 1939.

 

National Park Service Control

 

In 1958, the National Park Service (NPS) was granted authority to oversee the monument. According to an NPS report, a historian admitted that when the NPS first assumed authority over the tomb, they "had no program for the site."

 

Combined with the mismanagement and devastation that NYC was going through financially in the 1960's to the 1990's, that led to great neglect of the site, particularly in the maintenance of the monument.

 

By the 1970's, the tomb was marred by vandalism and graffiti. Many places in the city, including Times Square, were in the same condition. Trash had heaped up around the monument, its exterior recesses were being used by drug users, the homeless, and criminals for hideouts. Graffiti covered the walls and pedestals, and vandals chipped away at the masonry.

 

The NPS undertook a plan to remove the trophy cases in the reliquary rooms.

 

Restoration in the 1990's

 

The abuse of the monument continued until renewed restoration efforts began in the early 1990's; in 1991, Frank Scaturro, a student at Columbia University and volunteer with the NPS, launched an effort to restore the tomb, and brought his concerns to Congress.

 

The tomb was still marred by graffiti and, at the time, there were only three maintenance workers and three rangers on daytime duty, with a yearly budget of $235,000.

 

For over two years, Scaturro battled the National Park Service, which was charged with maintaining Grant's Tomb. He sent weekly memos, including a 26-page report in the summer of 1992. After two years of unsuccessful attempts to navigate the bureaucracy of the NPS, Scaturro published a 325-page whistle-blower report, which he sent to Congress and the President.

 

Scaturro's efforts drew national media attention, and resulted in a $1.8 million grant to restore Grant's Tomb. According to Mr. Scaturro:

 

"Whistle-blowing was the last resort.

I only did what I did because I had no

other resort ... the only thing left was

abandoning the site and that was not

an alternative to me."

 

The tomb was in great need of renovation.

 

Scaturro's efforts to expose the monument's poor condition caught the attention of two Illinois state lawmakers. State Sen. Judy Baar Topinka and State Rep. Ron Lawfer sponsored a resolution to compel the NPS to meet its obligations in maintaining and restoring Grant's tomb.

 

If the NPS did not comply, then Topinka and Lawfer demanded that Grant's remains be transported to the state of Illinois. Senator Topinka said:

 

"He would be better off anywhere

than New York, but my argument

is not with New York; it's with the

National Park Service."

 

The demands for restoration did not stop at the state level. In 1994, the U.S. House of Representatives introduced legislation to:

 

"Restore, complete, and preserve in

perpetuity the Grant's Tomb National

Memorial and surrounding areas."

 

The legislation set by the House required that the restoration be completed by the 27th. April 1997, the tomb's 100th. anniversary and Grant's 175th. birthday. On the 27th. April 1997, the restoration effort sanctioned by Congress was completed and the tomb re-dedicated.

 

General Grant's descendants, who were appalled by the condition of the tomb, called Scaturro a hero for his efforts.

 

Accessibility

 

The visitor center is located about 100 yards to the west of the mausoleum and contains a bookstore, memorabilia, a movie about Grant's life, and restrooms. The visitor center is accessible to people with disabilities, but the mausoleum is not.

 

Both are open Wednesday through Sunday, year-round; the visitor center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. while the tomb is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

 

Photography is allowed in the tomb, but cellphone use, eating, drinking, smoking, and gum chewing are prohibited. Flash photography is discouraged inside the tomb.

 

Events

 

Concerts are regularly held at or right outside Grant's Tomb. Examples include Jazzmobile's annual Free Outdoor Summer Mobile Concerts at Grant's Tomb, and the annual Grant's Tomb Summer Concert, which in 2009 featured West Point's United States Military Academy Band.

 

Every year on the 27th. April, the anniversary of Grant's birth, a ceremony celebrating his life is held at the memorial.

 

Art

 

A sculpture consisting of seventeen concrete benches bearing colorful mosaics was created around the monument in the early 1970's. The sculpture, entitled The Rolling Bench, was designed by artist Pedro Silva and the architect Phillip Danzig, and was built with the help of hundreds of neighborhood children over a period of three years.

 

The sculpture underwent restoration during the summer of 2008 under the supervision of Silva. According to NYC Parks:

 

"Some popular local folk art in

Riverside Park contrasts strikingly

with the Tomb's severity".

 

The Comedian Lee Wilson

 

So what else happened on the day that Bunny posted the card?

 

Well, the 31st. July 1938 marked the birth in Wednesbury, Staffordshire, of Lee Wilson.

 

Lee was an English stand-up comedian best known for his performances on the ITV Television show The Comedians.

 

Lee attended King's Hill School, Wednesbury and served in Malaya with the Cheshire Regiment of the British Army where he was in an entertainment troupe.

 

After winning talent contests as a singer and forming a band called The Kingsford Four, he added comedy to his act. He then won New Faces in 1976.

 

Wilson later performed on cruise ships for P&O and became an after-dinner speaker.

 

Lee died of pancreatic cancer on the 3rd. June 2013, at the age of 74.

 

Final Thoughts From Ulysses S. Grant

 

"The friend in my adversity I shall always

cherish most. I can better trust those who

helped to relieve the gloom of my dark

hours than those who are so ready to enjoy

with me the sunshine of my prosperity."

 

"My failures have been errors in judgment,

not of intent."

 

"If you see the President, tell him from me

that whatever happens, there will be no

turning back."

 

"I have nothing to do with opinions. I deal

only with armed rebellion and its aiders

and abettors."

 

"I propose to fight it out on this line

if it takes all summer."

 

"If men make war in slavish obedience

to rules, they will fail."

 

"Nations, like individuals, are punished

for their transgressions."

 

"In every battle there comes a time when

both sides consider themselves beaten,

then he who continues the attack wins."

 

"The art of war is simple enough. Find out

where your enemy is. Get at him as soon

as you can. Strike him as hard as you can,

and keep moving on."

 

"Everyone has his superstitions. One of mine

has always been when I started to go anywhere,

or to do anything, never to turn back or to stop

until the thing intended was accomplished."

 

"I suffer the mortification of seeing myself

attacked right and left by people at home

professing patriotism and love of country

who never heard the whistle of a hostile

bullet.

I pity them and the nation dependent on

such for its existence. I am thankful,

however that, though such people make a

great noise, the masses are not like them."

 

"There never was a time when, in my opinion,

some way could not be found to prevent the

drawing of the sword."

 

"Leave the matter of religion to the family

altar, the church, and the private school,

supported entirely by private contributions.

Keep the church and state forever separate."

 

"I appreciate the fact, and am proud of it,

that the attentions I am receiving are

intended more for our country than for me

personally."

 

"I have never advocated war except

as a means of peace."

 

"I know only two tunes: one of them is

'Yankee Doodle', and the other isn't."

 

"I know no method to secure the repeal

of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as

their stringent execution."

 

"It was my fortune, or misfortune, to be called

to the office of Chief Executive without any

previous political training."

An unusual but interesting addition to London Central's private hire fleet in 2000 was open-top MCW Metrobus OM 420 with the vehicle painted in an attractive red & cream livery with black lining reminiscent of the LT livery found on London's original fleet of trams until July 1952. However, compared to London General's open-top OM 171 which was converted to single-door layout in 1995 OM 420 retained its dual-door layout as seen here with the vehicle operating on the Wimbledon Tennis shuttle service passing the former Wimbledon Town Hall in July 2000. Back in the 1980s and 1990s London Central never operated MCW Metrobuses as their main OPO double-deck bus fleet consisted of Leyland Titans and a small fleet of ECW bodied Leyland Olympians.

I couldn't believe to find these both here, so happy ; )

The boy's first car

They finished the job on Friday and I installed canvas curtains on the east and west sides. The sun on the west side can be just too much if there's no breeze. Still have to install a cable and rings for the bottom of the curtain on the west side - to prevent the curtain blowing and knocking things over.

In addition to the new homes constructed in Upper Arlington, this small playhouse was built facing Concord Road during the mild winter of 1918-1919. The tongue-in-cheek article that accompanied the image purports to name the contractors (Hollar Bros. and Connor), building inspector (Mr. J. B. McGaughey), plumbing and masonry sub-contractors (smaller boys), as well as the decorators (Thompson, Fenton, Royer Co.) of this humble abode.

 

This image available online at the UA Archives >>

 

Read the related "Norwester" magazine article at the UA Archives >>

 

----------------------------------------

 

Identifier: hinw16p020i01

Date (yyyy-mm-dd): c. 1919-02

Original Dimensions: 5.1 cm X 9.2 cm

Format: Black and White Halftone Photograph

Source: Norwester, February 1919, page 20

Original Publisher: Upper Arlington Community (Ohio)

Location/s: Upper Arlington (USA, Ohio, Franklin County)

Repository: Upper Arlington Historical Society

Digital Publisher: Upper Arlington Public Library, UA Archives

 

Credit: UA Archives - Upper Arlington Public Library (Repository: UA Historical Society)

The latest addition to the Dews Coaches fleet, that entered service just this morning, is Volvo B8RLE MCV Evora BU75WPO.

 

This bus will be operating the AW1, and has been branded for it, allowing BV22HDE to cascade onto other services.

 

I was privileged enough to be able to take this bus out on its first day and can confirm that it drives like a dream. Not sure how many times in the future I’ll be able to say I drove a bus on its first ever day in service - so many thanks to the Dews Office for making this happen!

 

BU75 is seen waiting in Alconbury Village while operating the AW1 service. 01/09/2025

A Delta Air Lines system route map from the fall of 1989. The Atlanta-based carrier grew - a lot - during the seven years between 1982 and this map (they also found better map designers).

 

Some of the biggest additions are the entire Delta Connection network through partnerships with Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA), Business Express (BEX), Comair and SkyWest Airlines; hubs in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City via its merger with Western Airlines in 1987; and international service to Asia.

 

Delta operated 408 aircraft - 188 more than it did at the end of 1982 - on 1 October 1989, Flightglobal’s Fleets Analyzer shows. This included 130 727-200s, 74 737-200/300s, 52 757-200s, 30 767-200/300s, 36 DC-9-30s, 46 MD-88s and 40 L-1011s.

 

Also see Delta’s domestic and international networks in 1991, and domestic, connection and international in 2000.

I mentioned the other day that I had a welcomed home an old friend to my camera bag...here it is. "No, not the kitty...the lens that took this shot". LOL! I purchased a Nikon 24-70mm F/2.8 AF-S, a lens which I had previously owned from 2007-2011 before selling it because I wasn't using much. But as soon as I sold it I was missing it, and I had bought a bunch of other glass trying to replace this lens. Well, the other glass is now on eBay to offset the purchase and then some.

 

Now about this kitty... Joey had been wanting a kitty for some time now, and by happenstance my wife and Joey ran into a lady who used to work at one of the daycare's he attended when he was 3-4. She had a kitten that she thought would be perfect for him. So we went over to her house today and the lady was right, the little 9 week old kitty was PERFECT, and then we saw this little lady. She was a rescue kitty that was found on the side of the road. She was so young when she was found that her eyes weren't even opened yet. The vet thought that she wouldn't make it through the night, but she did! I am not sure how many weeks old she is, but she fits in one of my hands. She adopted me, so both kitties came home with us.

Chopped in the Fuji GX617 kit to get this more portable, cheaper to process etc Xpan. Filter at half some of the advertised prices and the bag came with it in near new condition - photos will start coming soon

Earth Designs Garden Design and Build were asked to created a landscape and propose garden design in Acton, London*. Here are the details of the project

 

Brief: The plot for this design was a mid-size family garden, which had recently benefited from the addition of a large sunroom on the back of the property. It was a fairly blank canvas, with nothing of note to be retained in the re-design. The garden had side access and worn boundary fences which required replacing. There was no clear brief other than that the design include a seating area and some lawn, and that the transition from sunroom to garden be fairly seamless.

 

Solution: The focus of this design was to create an exterior space that serves as an extension to the interior, featuring several distinct and versatile areas that can be adapted to a variety of uses.

 

The garden's boundaries were replaced with new fencing to provide a uniform and attractive backdrop to the transformation within, while the long sideway down the right of the house was renovated with the addition of attractive 'bamboo' slate tile flooring in a random lay pattern.

 

The first section of the space comprises a large area of Western Red Cedar decking adjoining the house, and offers ample room for entertaining, with a long L-shaped fixed-bench seat stretching width-ways across the space from the left-hand side to the centre. This was backed with a rendered block raised bed, planted with fragrant lavender and capped with 'bamboo' slate tile, to provide a sense of enclosure and separation from the rest of the garden.

 

A decked walkway running down the right hand side of the space provides access to a 'spa' area, featuring a large square hot tub housed upon a reinforced paved hard-standing and nestled between existing and additional trees, shrubs and foliage to provide a secluded and intimate area for bathing throughout the seasons. Hidden behind mature and new planting in the bottom left corner, a large shed provides ample storage for the client's garden accessories. The middle of the space has been given over to a large lawn edges with slate.

 

A purple and yellow planting scheme of soft, cottage-style evergreen shrubs and flowering perennials will help to bring year round lightness and subtle colouring to the space.

 

After-dark hot tub bathing is enhanced by several strings of pea-lights woven through the existing shrubbery. Deck lights demark the main area of decking and guide one's journey along the decked walkway. Finally, spot lights in the beds highlight certain area while providing a gentle wash throughout the space.

 

Testimonial: "After months of planning and a full year of having builders everywhere, we had finally got the house into good shape but the garden was a nightmare. It had been somewhat overgrown before the builders moved in, but after a year of being used as a builders yard, it needed shock treatment.

 

We needed help fast so we searched the web. We were looking for garden designers with creative ideas for smaller London gardens. We didn't want anything too traditional but at the same time, nothing too extreme.

 

Earth Designs fitted the bill and after a design session with Katrina, we engaged them for the project. They had offered us a design service only, but as we only had a 4 week window in which to complete the job, we gave them the whole project.

 

We had built a new extension with wide glass doors that opened out into the garden, so the brief to Earth Designs was to "bring the outside, inside" and create a strong link between the new room and the garden beyond. The actual garden space was not large so we wanted to use the space as an extension of the living space - to be an "outside room".

 

Monday 18th April and three very charming men arrived on our doorstep at 8.0am sharp. Arlo was the project manager, ably aided and abetted by Paul and Phillip. They worked brilliantly as a team and always hit all the deadlines. In particular they did a great job in working with our neighbours to ensure the whole project ran smoothly.

 

The first week involved clearing the site - no mean feat with 30-year-old ivy stems that looked more like tree trunks.

 

The second week involved levelling the garden, putting up new fencing, building the corner seating base and planters, plus marking out the garden shape. It was good to be able to make minor changes to the design on the ground at this stage. The hot tub arrived too and was winched into place for connection later.

 

Week 3 saw the decking and seating built.

 

Then in week four the turf arrived, the lawn went down and on the last day, Katrina arrived with a truckload of wonderful specimens (and Matt) and we had a wonderful time planting. Ground Force Mk II - a complete garden from start to finish in just 4 weeks!

 

There were a few things that needed to be sorted out after the main work was complete. Earth Designs were great about coming back until all was complete and finished.

 

Our thanks to Katrina, Matt, Arlo, Paul and Phillip for a great job, completed on time and on budget with a great looking result."

 

If you dig this and would like to find out more about this or any of other of our designs, please stop by our web-site and have a look at our work.

 

Earth Designs is a bespoke London Garden Design and build company specialising in classic, funky and urban contemporary garden design.

 

Our Landscape and Garden build teams cover London, Essex and parts of South East England, while garden designs are available nationwide.

Please visit www.earthdesigns.co.uk to see our full portfolio. If you would like a garden designer in London or have an idea of what you want and are looking for a landscaper London to come and visit your garden, please get in touch.

 

Follow our Bespoke Garden Design and Build and Blog to see what we get up to week by week, our free design clinic as well as tips and products we recommend for your garden projects www.earthdesigns.co.uk/blog/.

 

Earth Designs is located in East London, but has built gardens in Essex , gardens in Hertfordshire Hertfordshire and all over the South East. Earth Designs was formed by Katrina Wells in Spring 2003 and has since gone from strength to strength to develop a considerable portfolio of garden projects. Katrina, who is our Senior Garden Designer, has travelled all over the UK designing gardens. However we can design worldwide either through our postal garden design service or by consultation with our senior garden designer. Recent worldwide projects have included garden designs in Romania. Katrina’s husband. Matt, heads up the build side of the company, creating a unique service for all our clients.

 

If you a not a UK resident, but would like an Earth Designs garden, Earth Designs has a worldwide design service through our Garden Design Postal Design Vouchers. If you are looking for an unique birthday present or original anniversary present and would like to buy one of our Garden Design Gift Vouchers for yourself or as a present please our sister site www.gardenpresents.co.uk. We do also design outside of the UK, please contact us for details.

 

Another addition to my #feelingcrafty series is this DIY Nendoroid bedroom! :)

 

www.lovepinkcheeks.com

The National History Museum (Malay: Muzium Sejarah Nasional) was the second national museum in Malaysia after the National Museum. It was located opposite Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur. As of November 2007 it is closed and the entire collection has been moved to the National Museum.

 

National History Museum exhibited unique historical development of the homeland of the early days until now. There are almost a thousand gathered a collection based on its importance to the history of the country, and are classified into several categories such as: weapons, manuscripts, maps, money, seals and stone tools.

______________

 

Kuala Lumpur (/ˈkwɑːləˈlʊmpʊər/ or /-pər/; Malaysian pronunciation: [ˈkwalə ˈlumpʊr]) is the national capital and most populous global city in Malaysia. The city covers an area of 243 km2 and has an estimated population of 1.6 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, covering similar area as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.5 million people as of 2012. It is among the fastest growing metropolitan regions in South-East Asia, in terms of population and economy.

 

Kuala Lumpur is the seat of the Parliament of Malaysia. The city was once home to the executive and judicial branches of the federal government, but they were moved to Putrajaya in early 1999. Some sections of the judiciary still remain in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. The official residence of the Malaysian King, the Istana Negara, is also situated in Kuala Lumpur. Rated as an alpha world city, Kuala Lumpur is the cultural, financial and economic centre of Malaysia due to its position as the capital as well as being a key city. Kuala Lumpur was ranked 48th among global cities by Foreign Policy's 2010 Global Cities Index and was ranked 67th among global cities for economic and social innovation by the 2thinknow Innovation Cities Index in 2010.

 

Kuala Lumpur is defined within the borders of the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and is one of three Malaysian Federal Territories. It is an enclave within the state of Selangor, on the central west coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

 

Since the 1990s, the city has played host to many international sporting, political and cultural events including the 1998 Commonwealth Games and the Formula One Grand Prix. In addition, Kuala Lumpur is home to the tallest twin buildings in the world, the Petronas Twin Towers, which have become an iconic symbol of Malaysia's futuristic development.

 

In May 2015, Kuala Lumpur was officially recognized as one of the New7Wonders Cities together with Vigan City, Doha, Durban, Havana, Beirut, and La Paz.

 

HISTORY

Kuala Lumpur means "muddy confluence", although it is also possible that the name is a corrupted form of an earlier but now unidentifiable forgotten name. It was originally a small settlement of just a few houses at the confluence of Sungai Gombak (previously known as Sungai Lumpur) and Sungai Klang (Klang River). The town of Kuala Lumpur was established circa 1857, when the Malay Chief of Klang, Raja Abdullah bin Raja Jaafar, aided by his brother Raja Juma'at of Lukut, raised funds to hire some Chinese miners from Lukut to open new tin mines here. The miners landed at Kuala Lumpur and continued their journey on foot to Ampang where the first mine was opened. Kuala Lumpur was the furthest point up the Klang River to which supplies could conveniently be brought by boat; it therefore became a collection and dispersal point serving the tin mines. The identity of the founder of Kuala Lumpur has however not been confirmed: Raja Abdullah bin Raja Jaafar and his role in founding the city do not appear in the earliest account of the history of Selangor. On the other hand, the Sumatrans Abdullah Hukum and Sutan Puasa, arrived in Kuala Lumpur at least in 1850. Raja Abdullah only came around 1857 and Yap Ah Loy, also regarded as the founding father of Kuala Lumpur, arrived in 1862. In addition, the Chinese men employed under Raja Abdullah worked in Ampang, 64 kilometres away from the main land. Meanwhile, efficient drainage and irrigation systems (bondar saba) were introduced in Kuala Lumpur by the technologically advanced Mandailing, improving the mining industry.

 

In the early history of Kuala Lumpur, the Minangkabaus of Sumatra were considered to be one of the most important groups of people who involved in trading. Utsman bin Abdullah and Haji Mohamed Taib were influenced tycoon in Kuala Lumpur and surrounding area. Haji Taib, one of the wealthiest figure at that time, was an important person in the early development centre of city: Kampung Baru. Beside as merchants, the Minangkabaus also overwhelmingly on socio-religious figures, such as Utsman bin Abdullah was the first kadi of Kuala Lumpur as well as Muhammad Nur bin Ismail.

 

Although the early miners suffered a high death toll due to the malarial conditions of the jungle, the Ampang mines were successful, and the first tin was exported in 1859. The tin-mining spurred the growth of the town, and miners later also settled in Pudu and Batu. The miners formed gangs among themselves; there were the Hakka-dominated Hai San in Kuala Lumpur, and the Cantonese-dominated Ghee Hin based in Kanching in Ulu Selangor. These two gangs frequently fought to gain control of best tin mines. The leaders of the Chinese community were conferred the title of Kapitan Cina (Chinese headman) by the Malay chief, and Hiu Siew, the owner of a mine in Lukut, was chosen as the first Kapitan of Kuala Lumpur. As one of the first traders to arrive in Ampang (along with Yap Ah Sze), he sold provisions to the miners in exchange for tin.

 

In 1868, Yap Ah Loy was appointed the third Chinese Kapitan of Kuala Lumpur. Yap, together with Frank Swettenham, were the two most important figures in the development of Kuala Lumpur in the early days of Kuala Lumpur. In 1880, the state capital of Selangor was moved from Klang to the more strategically advantageous Kuala Lumpur by the colonial administration, and Swettenham was appointed the Resident in 1882. Kuala Lumpur was a small town with buildings made of wood and atap (thatching) that were prone to burn. It suffered from many problems, including the Selangor Civil War which devastated the town; it was also plagued by diseases and constant fires and floods. The war and other setbacks led to a slump which lasted until 1879, when a rise in the price of tin allowed the town to recover.

 

In 1881, a flood swept through the town, following a fire that had engulfed it earlier. As a response, Frank Swettenham, the British Resident of Selangor, required that buildings be constructed of brick and tile.[33] Hence, Kapitan Yap Ah Loy bought a sprawling piece of real estate to set up a brick industry, which spurred the rebuilding of Kuala Lumpur. This place is the eponymous Brickfields. Hence, destroyed atap buildings were replaced with brick and tiled ones. He restructured the building layout of the city. Many of the new brick buildings mirrored those of shop houses in southern China, characterised by "five foot ways" as well as skilled Chinese carpentry work. This resulted in a distinct eclectic shop house architecture typical to this region. Kapitan Yap Ah Loy expand road access in the city significantly, linking up tin mines with the city, these roads include the main arterial roads of the present Ampang Road, Pudu Road and Petaling Street. As Chinese Kapitan, he was vested with wide powers on par with Malay community leaders. He implemented law reforms and introduced new legal measures. He also presided over a small claims court. With a police force of six, he was able to uphold the rule of law. He built a prison that could accommodate 60 prisoners at any time. Kapitan Yap Ah Loy also built Kuala Lumpur's first school and a major tapioca mill in Petaling Street of which the Selangor's Sultan Abdul Samad had an interest.

 

A railway line between Kuala Lumpur and Klang, initiated by Swettenham and completed in 1886, increased accessibility which resulted in the rapid growth of the town. The population grew from 4,500 in 1884 to 20,000 in 1890. As development intensified in the 1880s, it also put pressure on sanitation, waste disposal and other health issues. A Sanitary Board was created on 14 May 1890 which was responsible for sanitation, upkeep of roads, lighting of street and other functions. This would eventually became the Kuala Lumpur Municipal Council. Kuala Lumpur was only 0.65 km2 in 1895, but it expanded to 20 km2 in 1903, and by the time it became a municipality in 1948 it had expanded to 93 km2, and then to 243 km2 in 1974 as a Federal Territory. In 1896, Kuala Lumpur was chosen as the capital of the newly formed Federated Malay States. A mixture of different communities settled in various sections of Kuala Lumpur. The Chinese mainly settled around the commercial centre of Market Square, east of the Klang River, and towards Chinatown. The Malays, Indian Chettiars, and Indian Muslims resided along Java Street (now Jalan Tun Perak). The Padang, now known as Merdeka Square, was the centre of the British administrative offices.

 

During World War II, Kuala Lumpur was captured by the Imperial Japanese Army on 11 January 1942. They occupied the city until 15 August 1945, when the commander in chief of the Japanese Seventh Area Army in Singapore and Malaysia, Seishirō Itagaki, surrendered to the British administration following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Kuala Lumpur grew through the war, the rubber and tin commodity crashes and the Malayan Emergency, during which Malaya was preoccupied with the communist insurgency. In 1957, the Federation of Malaya gained its independence from British rule. Kuala Lumpur remained the capital through the formation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963.

 

On 13 May 1969, the worst race riots on record in Malaysia took place in Kuala Lumpur. The so-called 13 May Incident refers to the occurrence of violence between members of the Malay and the Chinese communities. The violence was the result of Malaysian Malays being dissatisfied with their socio-political status. The riots resulted in the deaths of 196 people, and led to major changes in the country's economic policy to promote and prioritise Malay economic development over that of the other ethnicities.

 

Kuala Lumpur later achieved city status in 1972, becoming the first settlement in Malaysia to be granted the status after independence. Later, on 1 February 1974, Kuala Lumpur became a Federal Territory. Kuala Lumpur ceased to be the capital of Selangor in 1978 after the city of Shah Alam was declared the new state capital. On 14 May 1990, Kuala Lumpur celebrated 100 years of local council. The new federal territory Kuala Lumpur flag and anthem were introduced. On 1 February 2001, Putrajaya was declared a Federal Territory, as well as the seat of the federal government. The administrative and judicial functions of the government were shifted from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya. Kuala Lumpur however still retained its legislative function, and remained the home of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (Constitutional King).

 

GEOGRAPHY

The geography of Kuala Lumpur is characterised by the huge Klang Valley. The valley is bordered by the Titiwangsa Mountains in the east, several minor ranges in the north and the south and the Strait of Malacca in the west. Kuala Lumpur is a Malay term that translates to "muddy confluence" as it is located at the confluence of the Klang and Gombak rivers.

 

Located in the centre of Selangor state, Kuala Lumpur was previously under the rule of Selangor State Government. In 1974, Kuala Lumpur was separated from Selangor to form the first Federal Territory governed directly by the Malaysian Federal Government. Its location on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia, which has wider flat land than the east coast, has contributed to its faster development relative to other cities in Malaysia. The municipality of the city covers an area of 243 km2, with an average elevation of 21.95 m.

 

CLOMATE AND WEATHER

Protected by the Titiwangsa Mountains in the east and Indonesia's Sumatra Island in the west, Kuala Lumpur has a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen climate classification Af), which is warm and sunny, along with abundant rainfall, especially during the northeast monsoon season from October to March. Temperatures tend to remain constant. Maximums hover between 32 and 33 °C and have never exceeded 38.5 °C, while minimums hover between 23.4 and 24.6 °C and have never fallen below 14.4 °C. Kuala Lumpur typically receives minimum 2,600 mm of rain annually; June and July are relatively dry, but even then rainfall typically exceeds 131 millimetres per month.

 

Flooding is a frequent occurrence in Kuala Lumpur whenever there is a heavy downpour, especially in the city centre and downstream areas. Smoke from forest fires of nearby Sumatra sometimes cast a haze over the region. It is a major source of pollution in the city together with open burning, emission from motor vehicles and construction work.

 

POLITICS

Kuala Lumpur is home to the Parliament of Malaysia. The hierarchy of authority in Malaysia, in accordance with the Federal Constitution, has stipulated the three branches, of the Malaysian government as consisting of the Executive, Judiciary and Legislative branches. The Parliament consists of the Dewan Negara (Upper House / House of Senate) and Dewan Rakyat (Lower House / House of Representatives).

 

ECONOMY

Kuala Lumpur and its surrounding urban areas form the most industrialised and economically, the fastest growing region in Malaysia. Despite the relocation of federal government administration to Putrajaya, certain government institutions such as Bank Negara Malaysia (National Bank of Malaysia), Companies Commission of Malaysia and Securities Commission as well as most embassies and diplomatic missions have remained in the city.

 

The city remains as the economic and business centre of the country. Kuala Lumpur is a centre for finance, insurance, real estate, media and the arts of Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur is rated as an alpha world city, and is the only global city in Malaysia, according to the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network (GaWC). The infrastructure development in the surrounding areas such as the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at Sepang, the creation of the Multimedia Super Corridor and the expansion of Port Klang further reinforce the economic significance of the city.

 

Bursa Malaysia or the Malaysia Exchange is based in the city and forms one of its core economic activities. As of 5 July 2013, the market capitalisation stood at US$505.67 billion.

 

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Kuala Lumpur is estimated at RM73,536 million in 2008 with an average annual growth rate of 5.9 percent.[66] The per capita GDP for Kuala Lumpur in 2013 is RM79,752 with an average annual growth rate of 5.6 percent. The total employment in Kuala Lumpur is estimated at around 838,400. The service sector comprising finance, insurance, real estate, business services, wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels, transport, storage and communication, utilities, personal services and government services form the largest component of employment representing about 83.0 percent of the total. The remaining 17 percent comes from manufacturing and construction.

 

The average monthly household income for Kuala Lumpur was RM4,105 (USD 1,324) in 1999, up from RM3,371 (USD 1,087) four years prior, making it 66% higher than the national average. In terms of household income distribution, 23.5% of households in the city earned more than RM5,000 (USD 1,613) per month compared to 9.8% for the entire country, while 8.1% earned less than RM1,000 (USD 323) a month.

 

The large service sector is evident in the number of local and foreign banks and insurance companies operating in the city. Kuala Lumpur is poised to become the global Islamic Financing hub with an increasing number of financial institutions providing Islamic Financing and the strong presence of Gulf's financial institutions such as the world's largest Islamic bank, Al-Rajhi Bank and Kuwait Finance House. Apart from that, the Dow Jones & Company is keen to work with Bursa Malaysia to set up Islamic Exchange Trade Funds (ETFs), which would help raise Malaysia's profile in the Gulf. The city has a large number of foreign corporations and is also host to many multi national companies' regional offices or support centres, particularly for finance and accounting, and information technology functions. Most of the countries' largest companies have their headquarters based here and as of December 2007 and excluding Petronas, there are 14 companies that are listed in Forbes 2000 based in Kuala Lumpur.

 

Other important economic activities in the city are education and health services. Kuala Lumpur also has advantages stemming from the high concentration of educational institutions that provide a wide-ranging of courses. Numerous public and private medical specialist centres and hospitals in the city offer general health services, and a wide range of specialist surgery and treatment that caters to locals and tourists.

 

There has been growing emphasis to expand the economic scope of the city into other service activities, such as research and development, which supports the rest of the economy of Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur has been home for years to important research centres such as the Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia, the Forest Research Institute Malaysia and the Institute of Medical Research and more research centres are expected to be established in the coming years.

 

DEMOGRAPHICS

Kuala Lumpur is the most populous city in Malaysia, with a population of 1.6 million in the city proper as of 2010. It has a population density of 6,696 inhabitants per square kilometre , and is the most densely populated administrative district in Malaysia. Residents of the city are colloquially known as KLites. Kuala Lumpur is also the centre of the wider Klang Valley conurbation (covering Petaling Jaya, Klang, Subang Jaya, Shah Alam, Gombak and others) which has an estimated metropolitan population of 7.2–7.5 million as of 2012.

 

Kuala Lumpur's heterogeneous populace includes the country's three major ethnic groups: the Malays, the Chinese and the Indians, although the city also has a mix of different cultures including Eurasians, as well as Kadazans, Ibans and other indigenous races from East Malaysia and Peninsula Malaysia.

 

Historically Kuala Lumpur was a predominantly Chinese, but recently the Bumiputra component of the city has increased substantially and they are now the dominant group. Most of Malays who considered as Bumiputra came from Sumatra and other parts of Indonesia archipelago. The majority of them Javanese, Minangkabaus and Buginese began arriving in Kuala Lumpur in the mid 19th century, in addition to Acehnese who arrived in the late 20th century. The population of Kuala Lumpur was estimated to be around three thousand in 1880 when it was made the capital of Selangor. In the following decade which saw the rebuilding of the town it showed considerable increase, due in large part to the construction of a railway line in 1886 connecting Kuala Lumpur and Klang.

 

A census in 1891 of uncertain accuracy gave a figure of 43,796 inhabitants, 79% of whom were Chinese (71% of the Chinese were Hakka), 14% Malay, and 6% Indian. Another estimate put the population of Kuala Lumpur in 1890 at 20,000. In 1931, 61% of Kuala Lumpur's 111,418 inhabitants were Chinese, and in 1947 63.5%. The Malays however began to settle in the Kuala Lumpur in significant numbers, in part due to government employment, as well as the expansion of the city that absorbed the surrounding rural areas where many Malays lived. between 1947 and 1957 the population of Bumiputras in Kuala Lumpur doubled, increasing from 12.5 to 15%, while the proportion of Chinese dropped. The process continued after Malayan independence with the growth of a largely Malay civil service, and later the implementation of the New Economic Policy which encouraged Malay participation in urban industries and business. In 1980 the population of Kuala Lumpur had reached over a million, with 52% Chinese, 33% Malay, and 15% Indian. From 1980 to 2000 the number of Bumiputras increased by 77%, but the Chinese still outnumbered the Bumiputras in Kuala Lumpur in the 2000 census at 43% compared to Bumiputras at 38%. By the 2010 census, according to the Department of Statistics and excluding non-citizens, the percentage of the Bumiputera population in Kuala Lumpur has reached around 45.9%, with the Chinese population at 43.2% and Indians 10.3%.A notable phenomenon in recent times has been the increase of foreign residents in Kuala Lumpur, which rose from 1% of the city's population in 1980 to about 8% in the 2000 census, and 9.4% in the 2010 census. These figures also do not include a significant number of illegal immigrants. Kuala Lumpur's rapid development has triggered a huge influx of low-skilled foreign workers from Indonesia, Nepal, Burma, Thailand, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, and Vietnam into Malaysia, many of whom enter the country illegally or without proper permits.Birth rates in Kuala Lumpur have declined and resulted in the lower proportion of young people falling below 15 years old category from 33% in 1980 to slightly less than 27% in 2000.[69] On the other hand, the working age group of 15–59 increased from 63% in 1980 to 67% in 2000. The elderly age group, 60 years old and above has increased from 4% in 1980 and 1991 to 6% in 2000.

 

Kuala Lumpur is pluralistic and religiously diverse. The city has many places of worship catering to the multi-religious population. Islam is practised primarily by the Malays and the Indian Muslim communities. Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism are practised mainly among the Chinese. Indians traditionally adhere to Hinduism. Some Chinese and Indians also subscribe to Christianity.

 

As of 2010 Census the population of Kuala Lumpur is 46.4% Muslim, 35.7% Buddhist, 8.5% Hindu, 5.8% Christian, 1.1% Taoist or Chinese religion adherent, 2.0% follower of other religions, and 0.5% non-religious.

 

Bahasa Malaysia is the principal language in Kuala Lumpur. Kuala Lumpur residents are generally literate in English, with a large proportion adopting it as their first language. It has a strong presence, especially in business and is a compulsory language taught in schools. Cantonese and Mandarin are prominent as they are spoken by the local majority Chinese population. Another major dialect spoken is Hakka. While Tamil is dominant amongst the local Indian population, other Indian languages spoken include Telugu, Malayalam, Punjabi and Hindi. Beside the Malay language, there are a variety of languages spoken by Indonesian descent, such as Minangkabau and Javanese.

 

EDUCATION

According to government statistics, Kuala Lumpur has a literacy rate of 97.5% in 2000, the highest rate in any state or territory in Malaysia. In Malaysia, Malay is the language of instruction for most subjects while English is a compulsory subject, but as of 2012, English is still the language of instruction for mathematics and the natural sciences for certain schools. Some schools provide Mandarin and Tamil as languages of instruction for certain subjects. Each level of education demands different skills of teaching and learning ability.Kuala Lumpur contains 13 tertiary education institutions, 79 high schools, 155 elementary schools and 136 kindergartens.

 

WIKIPEDIA

This impressively tall but temporary addition, rising high into the skies of Port Talbot (Tata) steel works belongs to (SARENS) was clearly visible for quite some distance whilst traveling along the M4 motoway in south Wales. The long established family firm of international heavy lift specialists have been brought in to carry out the lift operations and whose company HQ is located in Belgium, with a UK base in Middlesbrough north Yorkshire. They began work on dismantling blast furnace No4 with the use of this mobile crane; model (T-REX DEMAG CC8800) which has a maximum lifting capacity on MAIN BOOM of 1250/1350tons. The crane can be configured in many different ways and is capable of going much higher than that shown in this picture, however for the purpose of this location the crane stand’s at 72mts/236ft high, with 50mtr outriggers for stability.

Now if you think this is big, just take a look at the newest (2011) and largest addition to their fleet of heavy lift cranes, the (SGC-120). Capable of an incredible 3200 ton lift on MAIN BOOM. This takes a team of workers 20 days to unpack and assemble, and requires 36 shipping containers full of ballast, just as a counter weight!

Company motto “Nothing too heavy, nothing too high”

Here you can see a close up of a puppy! They have their eyes open now but still sleep a lot.

A couple of weeks back, we met a couple in a pub in Canterbury, and they had been out exploring the city and said they were disappointed by the cathedral.

 

Not enough labels they said.

 

That not withstanding, I thought it had been some time since I last had been, so decided to revisit, see the pillars of Reculver church in the crypt and take the big lens for some detail shots.

 

We arrived just after ten, so the cathedral was pretty free of other guests, just a few guides waiting for groups and couples to guide.

 

I went round with the 50mm first, before concentrating on the medieval glass which is mostly on the south side.

 

But as you will see, the lens picked up so much more.

 

Thing is, there is always someone interesting to talk to, or wants to talk to you. As I went around, I spoke with about three guides about the project and things I have seen in the churches of the county, and the wonderful people I have met. And that continued in the cathedral.

 

I have time to look at the tombs in the Trinity Chapel, and see that Henry IV and his wife are in a tomb there, rather than ay Westminster Abbey. So I photograph them, and the Black Prince on the southern side of the chapel, along with the Bishops and Archbishops between.

 

Round to the transept and a chance to change lenses, and put on the 140-400mm for some detailed shots.

 

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St Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, arrived on the coast of Kent as a missionary to England in 597AD. He came from Rome, sent by Pope Gregory the Great. It is said that Gregory had been struck by the beauty of Angle slaves he saw for sale in the city market and despatched Augustine and some monks to convert them to Christianity. Augustine was given a church at Canterbury (St Martin’s, after St Martin of Tours, still standing today) by the local King, Ethelbert whose Queen, Bertha, a French Princess, was already a Christian.This building had been a place of worship during the Roman occupation of Britain and is the oldest church in England still in use. Augustine had been consecrated a bishop in France and was later made an archbishop by the Pope. He established his seat within the Roman city walls (the word cathedral is derived from the the Latin word for a chair ‘cathedra’, which is itself taken from the Greek ‘kathedra’ meaning seat.) and built the first cathedral there, becoming the first Archbishop of Canterbury. Since that time, there has been a community around the Cathedral offering daily prayer to God; this community is arguably the oldest organisation in the English speaking world. The present Archbishop, The Most Revd Justin Welby, is 105th in the line of succession from Augustine. Until the 10th century, the Cathedral community lived as the household of the Archbishop. During the 10th century, it became a formal community of Benedictine monks, which continued until the monastery was dissolved by King Henry VIII in 1540. Augustine’s original building lies beneath the floor of the Nave – it was extensively rebuilt and enlarged by the Saxons, and the Cathedral was rebuilt completely by the Normans in 1070 following a major fire. There have been many additions to the building over the last nine hundred years, but parts of the Quire and some of the windows and their stained glass date from the 12th century. By 1077, Archbishop Lanfranc had rebuilt it as a Norman church, described as “nearly perfect”. A staircase and parts of the North Wall – in the area of the North West transept also called the Martyrdom – remain from that building.

 

Canterbury’s role as one of the world’s most important pilgrimage centres in Europe is inextricably linked to the murder of its most famous Archbishop, Thomas Becket, in 1170. When, after a long lasting dispute, King Henry II is said to have exclaimed “Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?”, four knights set off for Canterbury and murdered Thomas in his own cathedral. A sword stroke was so violent that it sliced the crown off his skull and shattered the blade’s tip on the pavement. The murder took place in what is now known as The Martyrdom. When shortly afterwards, miracles were said to take place, Canterbury became one of Europe’s most important pilgrimage centres.

 

The work of the Cathedral as a monastery came to an end in 1540, when the monastery was closed on the orders of King Henry VIII. Its role as a place of prayer continued – as it does to this day. Once the monastery had been suppressed, responsibility for the services and upkeep was given to a group of clergy known as the Chapter of Canterbury. Today, the Cathedral is still governed by the Dean and four Canons, together (in recent years) with four lay people and the Archdeacon of Ashford. During the Civil War of the 1640s, the Cathedral suffered damage at the hands of the Puritans; much of the medieval stained glass was smashed and horses were stabled in the Nave. After the Restoration in 1660, several years were spent in repairing the building. In the early 19th Century, the North West tower was found to be dangerous, and, although it dated from Lanfranc’s time, it was demolished in the early 1830s and replaced by a copy of the South West tower, thus giving a symmetrical appearance to the west end of the Cathedral. During the Second World War, the Precincts were heavily damaged by enemy action and the Cathedral’s Library was destroyed. Thankfully, the Cathedral itself was not seriously harmed, due to the bravery of the team of fire watchers, who patrolled the roofs and dealt with the incendiary bombs dropped by enemy bombers. Today, the Cathedral stands as a place where prayer to God has been offered daily for over 1,400 years; nearly 2,000 Services are held each year, as well as countless private prayers from individuals. The Cathedral offers a warm welcome to all visitors – its aim is to show people Jesus, which we do through the splendour of the building as well as the beauty of the worship.

 

www.canterbury-cathedral.org/heritage/history/cathedral-h...

 

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History of the cathedral

THE ORIGIN of a Christian church on the scite of the present cathedral, is supposed to have taken place as early as the Roman empire in Britain, for the use of the antient faithful and believing soldiers of their garrison here; and that Augustine found such a one standing here, adjoining to king Ethelbert's palace, which was included in the king's gift to him.

 

This supposition is founded on the records of the priory of Christ-church, (fn. 1) concurring with the common opinion of almost all our historians, who tell us of a church in Canterbury, which Augustine found standing in the east part of the city, which he had of king Ethelbert's gift, which after his consecration at Arles, in France, he commended by special dedication to the patronage of our blessed Saviour. (fn. 2)

 

According to others, the foundations only of an old church formerly built by the believing Romans, were left here, on which Augustine erected that, which he afterwards dedicated to out Saviour; (fn. 3) and indeed it is not probable that king Ethelbert should have suffered the unsightly ruins of a Christian church, which, being a Pagan, must have been very obnoxious to him, so close to his palace, and supposing these ruins had been here, would he not have suffered them to be repaired, rather than have obliged his Christian queen to travel daily to such a distance as St. Martin's church, or St. Pancrace's chapel, for the performance of her devotions.

 

Some indeed have conjectured that the church found by St. Augustine, in the east part of the city, was that of St.Martin, truly so situated; and urge in favor of it, that there have not been at any time any remains of British or Roman bricks discovered scattered in or about this church of our Saviour, those infallible, as Mr. Somner stiles them, signs of antiquity, and so generally found in buildings, which have been erected on, or close to the spot where more antient ones have stood. But to proceed, king Ethelbert's donation to Augustine was made in the year 596, who immediately afterwards went over to France, and was consecrated a bishop at Arles, and after his return, as soon as he had sufficiently finished a church here, whether built out of ruins or anew, it matters not, he exercised his episcopal function in the dedication of it, says the register of Christ-church, to the honor of Christ our Saviour; whence it afterwards obtained the name of Christ-church. (fn. 4)

 

From the time of Augustine for the space of upwards of three hundred years, there is not found in any printed or manuscript chronicle, the least mention of the fabric of this church, so that it is probable nothing befell it worthy of being recorded; however it should be mentioned, that during that period the revenues of it were much increased, for in the leiger books of it there are registered more than fifty donations of manors, lands, &c. so large and bountiful, as became the munificence of kings and nobles to confer. (fn. 5)

 

It is supposed, especially as we find no mention made of any thing to the contrary, that the fabric of this church for two hundred years after Augustine's time, met with no considerable molestations; but afterwards, the frequent invasions of the Danes involved both the civil and ecclesiastical state of this country in continual troubles and dangers; in the confusion of which, this church appears to have run into a state of decay; for when Odo was promoted to the archbishopric, in the year 938, the roof of it was in a ruinous condition; age had impaired it, and neglect had made it extremely dangerous; the walls of it were of an uneven height, according as it had been more or less decayed, and the roof of the church seemed ready to fall down on the heads of those underneath. All this the archbishop undertook to repair, and then covered the whole church with lead; to finish which, it took three years, as Osbern tells us, in the life of Odo; (fn. 6) and further, that there was not to be found a church of so large a size, capable of containing so great a multitude of people, and thus, perhaps, it continued without any material change happening to it, till the year 1011; a dismal and fatal year to this church and city; a time of unspeakable confusion and calamities; for in the month of September that year, the Danes, after a siege of twenty days, entered this city by force, burnt the houses, made a lamentable slaughter of the inhabitants, rifled this church, and then set it on fire, insomuch, that the lead with which archbishop Odo had covered it, being melted, ran down on those who were underneath. The sull story of this calamity is given by Osbern, in the life of archbishop Odo, an abridgement of which the reader will find below. (fn. 7)

 

The church now lay in ruins, without a roof, the bare walls only standing, and in this desolate condition it remained as long as the fury of the Danes prevailed, who after they had burnt the church, carried away archbishop Alphage with them, kept him in prison seven months, and then put him to death, in the year 1012, the year after which Living, or Livingus, succeeded him as archbishop, though it was rather in his calamities than in his seat of dignity, for he too was chained up by the Danes in a loathsome dungeon for seven months, before he was set free, but he so sensibly felt the deplorable state of this country, which he foresaw was every day growing worse and worse, that by a voluntary exile, he withdrew himself out of the nation, to find some solitary retirement, where he might bewail those desolations of his country, to which he was not able to bring any relief, but by his continual prayers. (fn. 8) He just outlived this storm, returned into England, and before he died saw peace and quientness restored to this land by king Canute, who gaining to himself the sole sovereignty over the nation, made it his first business to repair the injuries which had been done to the churches and monasteries in this kingdom, by his father's and his own wars. (fn. 9)

 

As for this church, archbishop Ægelnoth, who presided over it from the year 1020 to the year 1038, began and finished the repair, or rather the rebuilding of it, assisted in it by the royal munificence of the king, (fn. 10) who in 1023 presented his crown of gold to this church, and restored to it the port of Sandwich, with its liberties. (fn. 11) Notwithstanding this, in less than forty years afterwards, when Lanfranc soon after the Norman conquest came to the see, he found this church reduced almost to nothing by fire, and dilapidations; for Eadmer says, it had been consumed by a third conflagration, prior to the year of his advancement to it, in which fire almost all the antient records of the privileges of it had perished. (fn. 12)

 

The same writer has given us a description of this old church, as it was before Lanfranc came to the see; by which we learn, that at the east end there was an altar adjoining to the wall of the church, of rough unhewn stone, cemented with mortar, erected by archbishop Odo, for a repository of the body of Wilfrid, archbishop of York, which Odo had translated from Rippon hither, giving it here the highest place; at a convenient distance from this, westward, there was another altar, dedicated to Christ our Saviour, at which divine service was daily celebrated. In this altar was inclosed the head of St. Swithin, with many other relics, which archbishop Alphage brought with him from Winchester. Passing from this altar westward, many steps led down to the choir and nave, which were both even, or upon the same level. At the bottom of the steps, there was a passage into the undercroft, under all the east part of the church. (fn. 13) At the east end of which, was an altar, in which was inclosed, according to old tradition, the head of St. Furseus. From hence by a winding passage, at the west end of it, was the tomb of St. Dunstan, (fn. 14) but separated from the undercroft by a strong stone wall; over the tomb was erected a monument, pyramid wife, and at the head of it an altar, (fn. 15) for the mattin service. Between these steps, or passage into the undercroft and the nave, was the choir, (fn. 16) which was separated from the nave by a fair and decent partition, to keep off the crowds of people that usually were in the body of the church, so that the singing of the chanters in the choir might not be disturbed. About the middle of the length of the nave, were two towers or steeples, built without the walls; one on the south, and the other on the north side. In the former was the altar of St. Gregory, where was an entrance into the church by the south door, and where law controversies and pleas concerning secular matters were exercised. (fn. 17) In the latter, or north tower, was a passage for the monks into the church, from the monastery; here were the cloysters, where the novices were instructed in their religious rules and offices, and where the monks conversed together. In this tower was the altar of St. Martin. At the west end of the church was a chapel, dedicated to the blessed Virgin Mary, to which there was an ascent by steps, and at the east end of it an altar, dedicated to her, in which was inclosed the head of St. Astroburta the Virgin; and at the western part of it was the archbishop's pontifical chair, made of large stones, compacted together with mortar; a fair piece of work, and placed at a convenient distance from the altar, close to the wall of the church. (fn. 18)

 

To return now to archbishop Lanfranc, who was sent for from Normandy in 1073, being the fourth year of the Conqueror's reign, to fill this see, a time, when a man of a noble spirit, equal to the laborious task he was to undertake, was wanting especially for this church; and that he was such, the several great works which were performed by him, were incontestable proofs, as well as of his great and generous mind. At the first sight of the ruinous condition of this church, says the historian, the archbishop was struck with astonishment, and almost despaired of seeing that and the monastery re edified; but his care and perseverance raised both in all its parts anew, and that in a novel and more magnificent kind and form of structure, than had been hardly in any place before made use of in this kingdom, which made it a precedent and pattern to succeeding structures of this kind; (fn. 19) and new monasteries and churches were built after the example of it; for it should be observed, that before the coming of the Normans most of the churches and monasteries in this kingdom were of wood; (all the monasteries in my realm, says king Edgar, in his charter to the abbey of Malmesbury, dated anno 974, to the outward sight are nothing but worm-eaten and rotten timber and boards) but after the Norman conquest, such timber fabrics grew out of use, and gave place to stone buildings raised upon arches; a form of structure introduced into general use by that nation, and in these parts surnished with stone from Caen, in Normandy. (fn. 20) After this fashion archbishop Lanfranc rebuilt the whole church from the foundation, with the palace and monastery, the wall which encompassed the court, and all the offices belonging to the monastery within the wall, finishing the whole nearly within the compass of seven years; (fn. 21) besides which, he furnished the church with ornaments and rich vestments; after which, the whole being perfected, he altered the name of it, by a dedication of it to the Holy Trinity; whereas, before it was called the church of our Saviour, or Christ-church, and from the above time it bore (as by Domesday book appears) the name of the church of the Holy Trinity; this new church being built on the same spot on which the antient one stood, though on a far different model.

 

After Lanfranc's death, archbishop Anselm succeeded in the year 1093, to the see of Canterbury, and must be esteemed a principal benefactor to this church; for though his time was perplexed with a continued series of troubles, of which both banishment and poverty made no small part, which in a great measure prevented him from bestowing that cost on his church, which he would otherwise have done, yet it was through his patronage and protection, and through his care and persuasions, that the fabric of it, begun and perfected by his predecessor, became enlarged and rose to still greater splendor. (fn. 22)

 

In order to carry this forward, upon the vacancy of the priory, he constituted Ernulph and Conrad, the first in 1104, the latter in 1108, priors of this church; to whose care, being men of generous and noble minds, and of singular skill in these matters, he, during his troubles, not only committed the management of this work, but of all his other concerns during his absence.

 

Probably archbishop Anselm, on being recalled from banishment on king Henry's accession to the throne, had pulled down that part of the church built by Lanfranc, from the great tower in the middle of it to the east end, intending to rebuild it upon a still larger and more magnificent plan; when being borne down by the king's displeasure, he intrusted prior Ernulph with the work, who raised up the building with such splendor, says Malmesbury, that the like was not to be seen in all England; (fn. 23) but the short time Ernulph continued in this office did not permit him to see his undertaking finished. (fn. 24) This was left to his successor Conrad, who, as the obituary of Christ church informs us, by his great industry, magnificently perfected the choir, which his predecessor had left unfinished, (fn. 25) adorning it with curious pictures, and enriching it with many precious ornaments. (fn. 26)

 

This great undertaking was not entirely compleated at the death of archbishop Anselm, which happened in 1109, anno 9 Henry I. nor indeed for the space of five years afterwards, during which the see of Canterbury continued vacant; when being finished, in honour of its builder, and on account of its more than ordinary beauty, it gained the name of the glorious choir of Conrad. (fn. 27)

 

After the see of Canterbury had continued thus vacant for five years, Ralph, or as some call him, Rodulph, bishop of Rochester, was translated to it in the year 1114, at whose coming to it, the church was dedicated anew to the Holy Trinity, the name which had been before given to it by Lanfranc. (fn. 28) The only particular description we have of this church when thus finished, is from Gervas, the monk of this monastery, and that proves imperfect, as to the choir of Lanfranc, which had been taken down soon after his death; (fn. 29) the following is his account of the nave, or western part of it below the choir, being that which had been erected by archbishop Lanfranc, as has been before mentioned. From him we learn, that the west end, where the chapel of the Virgin Mary stood before, was now adorned with two stately towers, on the top of which were gilded pinnacles. The nave or body was supported by eight pair of pillars. At the east end of the nave, on the north side, was an oratory, dedicated in honor to the blessed Virgin, in lieu, I suppose, of the chapel, that had in the former church been dedicated to her at the west end. Between the nave and the choir there was built a great tower or steeple, as it were in the centre of the whole fabric; (fn. 30) under this tower was erected the altar of the Holy Cross; over a partition, which separated this tower from the nave, a beam was laid across from one side to the other of the church; upon the middle of this beam was fixed a great cross, between the images of the Virgin Mary and St. John, and between two cherubims. The pinnacle on the top of this tower, was a gilded cherub, and hence it was called the angel steeple; a name it is frequently called by at this day. (fn. 31)

 

This great tower had on each side a cross isle, called the north and south wings, which were uniform, of the same model and dimensions; each of them had a strong pillar in the middle for a support to the roof, and each of them had two doors or passages, by which an entrance was open to the east parts of the church. At one of these doors there was a descent by a few steps into the undercroft; at the other, there was an ascent by many steps into the upper parts of the church, that is, the choir, and the isles on each side of it. Near every one of these doors or passages, an altar was erected; at the upper door in the south wing, there was an altar in honour of All Saints; and at the lower door there was one of St. Michael; and before this altar on the south side was buried archbishop Fleologild; and on the north side, the holy Virgin Siburgis, whom St. Dunstan highly admired for her sanctity. In the north isle, by the upper door, was the altar of St. Blaze; and by the lower door, that of St. Benedict. In this wing had been interred four archbishops, Adelm and Ceolnoth, behind the altar, and Egelnoth and Wlfelm before it. At the entrance into this wing, Rodulph and his successor William Corboil, both archbishops, were buried. (fn. 32)

 

Hence, he continues, we go up by some steps into the great tower, and before us there is a door and steps leading down into the south wing, and on the right hand a pair of folding doors, with stairs going down into the nave of the church; but without turning to any of these, let us ascend eastward, till by several more steps we come to the west end of Conrad's choir; being now at the entrance of the choir, Gervas tells us, that he neither saw the choir built by Lanfranc, nor found it described by any one; that Eadmer had made mention of it, without giving any account of it, as he had done of the old church, the reason of which appears to be, that Lanfranc's choir did not long survive its founder, being pulled down as before-mentioned, by archbishop Anselm; so that it could not stand more than twenty years; therefore the want of a particular description of it will appear no great defect in the history of this church, especially as the deficiency is here supplied by Gervas's full relation of the new choir of Conrad, built instead of it; of which, whoever desires to know the whole architecture and model observed in the fabric, the order, number, height and form of the pillars and windows, may know the whole of it from him. The roof of it, he tells us, (fn. 33) was beautified with curious paintings representing heaven; (fn. 34) in several respects it was agreeable to the present choir, the stalls were large and framed of carved wood. In the middle of it, there hung a gilded crown, on which were placed four and twenty tapers of wax. From the choir an ascent of three steps led to the presbiterium, or place for the presbiters; here, he says, it would be proper to stop a little and take notice of the high altar, which was dedicated to the name of CHRIST. It was placed between two other altars, the one of St. Dunstan, the other of St. Alphage; at the east corners of the high altar were fixed two pillars of wood, beautified with silver and gold; upon these pillars was placed a beam, adorned with gold, which reached across the church, upon it there were placed the glory, (fn. 35) the images of St. Dunstan and St. Alphage, and seven chests or coffers overlaid with gold, full of the relics of many saints. Between those pillars was a cross gilded all over, and upon the upper beam of the cross were set sixty bright crystals.

 

Beyond this, by an ascent of eight steps towards the east, behind the altar, was the archiepiscopal throne, which Gervas calls the patriarchal chair, made of one stone; in this chair, according to the custom of the church, the archbishop used to sit, upon principal festivals, in his pontifical ornaments, whilst the solemn offices of religion were celebrated, until the consecration of the host, when he came down to the high altar, and there performed the solemnity of consecration. Still further, eastward, behind the patriarchal chair, (fn. 36) was a chapel in the front of the whole church, in which was an altar, dedicated to the Holy Trinity; behind which were laid the bones of two archbishops, Odo of Canterbury, and Wilfrid of York; by this chapel on the south side near the wall of the church, was laid the body of archbishop Lanfranc, and on the north side, the body of archbishop Theobald. Here it is to be observed, that under the whole east part of the church, from the angel steeple, there was an undercrost or crypt, (fn. 37) in which were several altars, chapels and sepulchres; under the chapel of the Trinity before-mentioned, were two altars, on the south side, the altar of St. Augustine, the apostle of the English nation, by which archbishop Athelred was interred. On the north side was the altar of St. John Baptist, by which was laid the body of archbishop Eadsin; under the high altar was the chapel and altar of the blessed Virgin Mary, to whom the whole undercroft was dedicated.

 

To return now, he continues, to the place where the bresbyterium and choir meet, where on each side there was a cross isle (as was to be seen in his time) which might be called the upper south and north wings; on the east side of each of these wings were two half circular recesses or nooks in the wall, arched over after the form of porticoes. Each of them had an altar, and there was the like number of altars under them in the crost. In the north wing, the north portico had the altar of St. Martin, by which were interred the bodies of two archbishops, Wlfred on the right, and Living on the left hand; under it in the croft, was the altar of St. Mary Magdalen. The other portico in this wing, had the altar of St. Stephen, and by it were buried two archbishops, Athelard on the left hand, and Cuthbert on the right; in the croft under it, was the altar of St. Nicholas. In the south wing, the north portico had the altar of St. John the Evangelist, and by it the bodies of Æthelgar and Aluric, archbishops, were laid. In the croft under it was the altar of St. Paulinus, by which the body of archbishop Siricius was interred. In the south portico was the altar of St. Gregory, by which were laid the corps of the two archbishops Bregwin and Plegmund. In the croft under it was the altar of St. Owen, archbishop of Roan, and underneath in the croft, not far from it the altar of St. Catherine.

 

Passing from these cross isles eastward there were two towers, one on the north, the other on the south side of the church. In the tower on the north side was the altar of St. Andrew, which gave name to the tower; under it, in the croft, was the altar of the Holy Innocents; the tower on the south side had the altar of St. Peter and St. Paul, behind which the body of St. Anselm was interred, which afterwards gave name both to the altar and tower (fn. 38) (now called St. Anselm's). The wings or isles on each side of the choir had nothing in particular to be taken notice of.— Thus far Gervas, from whose description we in particular learn, where several of the bodies of the old archbishops were deposited, and probably the ashes of some of them remain in the same places to this day.

 

As this building, deservedly called the glorious choir of Conrad, was a magnificent work, so the undertaking of it at that time will appear almost beyond example, especially when the several circumstances of it are considered; but that it was carried forward at the archbishop's cost, exceeds all belief. It was in the discouraging reign of king William Rufus, a prince notorious in the records of history, for all manner of sacrilegious rapine, that archbishop Anselm was promoted to this see; when he found the lands and revenues of this church so miserably wasted and spoiled, that there was hardly enough left for his bare subsistence; who, in the first years that he sat in the archiepiscopal chair, struggled with poverty, wants and continual vexations through the king's displeasure, (fn. 39) and whose three next years were spent in banishment, during all which time he borrowed money for his present maintenance; who being called home by king Henry I. at his coming to the crown, laboured to pay the debts he had contracted during the time of his banishment, and instead of enjoying that tranquility and ease he hoped for, was, within two years afterwards, again sent into banishment upon a fresh displeasure conceived against him by the king, who then seized upon all the revenues of the archbishopric, (fn. 40) which he retained in his own hands for no less than four years.

 

Under these hard circumstances, it would have been surprizing indeed, that the archbishop should have been able to carry on so great a work, and yet we are told it, as a truth, by the testimonies of history; but this must surely be understood with the interpretation of his having been the patron, protector and encourager, rather than the builder of this work, which he entrusted to the care and management of the priors Ernulph and Conrad, and sanctioned their employing, as Lanfranc had done before, the revenues and stock of the church to this use. (fn. 41)

 

In this state as above-mentioned, without any thing material happening to it, this church continued till about the year 1130, anno 30 Henry I. when it seems to have suffered some damage by a fire; (fn. 42) but how much, there is no record left to inform us; however it could not be of any great account, for it was sufficiently repaired, and that mostly at the cost of archbishop Corboil, who then sat in the chair of this see, (fn. 43) before the 4th of May that year, on which day, being Rogation Sunday, the bishops performed the dedication of it with great splendor and magnificence, such, says Gervas, col. 1664, as had not been heard of since the dedication of the temple of Solomon; the king, the queen, David, king of Scots, all the archbishops, and the nobility of both kingdoms being present at it, when this church's former name was restored again, being henceforward commonly called Christ-church. (fn. 44)

 

Among the manuscripts of Trinity college library, in Cambridge, in a very curious triple psalter of St. Jerome, in Latin, written by the monk Eadwyn, whose picture is at the beginning of it, is a plan or drawing made by him, being an attempt towards a representation of this church and monastery, as they stood between the years 1130 and 1174; which makes it probable, that he was one of the monks of it, and the more so, as the drawing has not any kind of relation to the plalter or sacred hymns contained in the manuscript.

 

His plan, if so it may be called, for it is neither such, nor an upright, nor a prospect, and yet something of all together; but notwithstanding this rudeness of the draftsman, it shews very plain that it was intended for this church and priory, and gives us a very clear knowledge, more than we have been able to learn from any description we have besides, of what both were at the above period of time. (fn. 45)

 

Forty-four years after this dedication, on the 5th of September, anno 1174, being the 20th year of king Henry II.'s reign, a fire happened, which consumed great part of this stately edifice, namely, the whole choir, from the angel steeple to the east end of the church, together with the prior's lodgings, the chapel of the Virgin Mary, the infirmary, and some other offices belonging to the monastery; but the angel steeple, the lower cross isles, and the nave appear to have received no material injury from the flames. (fn. 46) The narrative of this accident is told by Gervas, the monk of Canterbury, so often quoted before, who was an eye witness of this calamity, as follows:

 

Three small houses in the city near the old gate of the monastery took fire by accident, a strong south wind carried the flakes of fire to the top of the church, and lodged them between the joints of the lead, driving them to the timbers under it; this kindled a fire there, which was not discerned till the melted lead gave a free passage for the flames to appear above the church, and the wind gaining by this means a further power of increasing them, drove them inwardly, insomuch that the danger became immediately past all possibility of relief. The timber of the roof being all of it on fire, fell down into the choir, where the stalls of the manks, made of large pieces of carved wood, afforded plenty of fuel to the flames, and great part of the stone work, through the vehement heat of the fire, was so weakened, as to be brought to irreparable ruin, and besides the fabric itself, the many rich ornaments in the church were devoured by the flames.

 

The choir being thus laid in ashes, the monks removed from amidst the ruins, the bodies of the two saints, whom they called patrons of the church, the archbishops Dunstan and Alphage, and deposited them by the altar of the great cross, in the nave of the church; (fn. 47) and from this time they celebrated the daily religious offices in the oratory of the blessed Virgin Mary in the nave, and continued to do so for more than five years, when the choir being re edified, they returned to it again. (fn. 48)

 

Upon this destruction of the church, the prior and convent, without any delay, consulted on the most speedy and effectual method of rebuilding it, resolving to finish it in such a manner, as should surpass all the former choirs of it, as well in beauty as size and magnificence. To effect this, they sent for the most skilful architects that could be found either in France or England. These surveyed the walls and pillars, which remained standing, but they found great part of them so weakened by the fire, that they could no ways be built upon with any safety; and it was accordingly resolved, that such of them should be taken down; a whole year was spent in doing this, and in providing materials for the new building, for which they sent abroad for the best stone that could be procured; Gervas has given a large account, (fn. 49) how far this work advanced year by year; what methods and rules of architecture were observed, and other particulars relating to the rebuilding of this church; all which the curious reader may consult at his leisure; it will be sufficient to observe here, that the new building was larger in height and length, and more beautiful in every respect, than the choir of Conrad; for the roof was considerably advanced above what it was before, and was arched over with stone; whereas before it was composed of timber and boards. The capitals of the pillars were now beautified with different sculptures of carvework; whereas, they were before plain, and six pillars more were added than there were before. The former choir had but one triforium, or inner gallery, but now there were two made round it, and one in each side isle and three in the cross isles; before, there were no marble pillars, but such were now added to it in abundance. In forwarding this great work, the monks had spent eight years, when they could proceed no further for want of money; but a fresh supply coming in from the offerings at St. Thomas's tomb, so much more than was necessary for perfecting the repair they were engaged in, as encouraged them to set about a more grand design, which was to pull down the eastern extremity of the church, with the small chapel of the Holy Trinity adjoining to it, and to erect upon a stately undercroft, a most magnificent one instead of it, equally lofty with the roof of the church, and making a part of it, which the former one did not, except by a door into it; but this new chapel, which was dedicated likewise to the Holy Trinity, was not finished till some time after the rest of the church; at the east end of this chapel another handsome one, though small, was afterwards erected at the extremity of the whole building, since called Becket's crown, on purpose for an altar and the reception of some part of his relics; (fn. 50) further mention of which will be made hereafter.

 

The eastern parts of this church, as Mr. Gostling observes, have the appearance of much greater antiquity than what is generally allowed to them; and indeed if we examine the outside walls and the cross wings on each side of the choir, it will appear, that the whole of them was not rebuilt at the time the choir was, and that great part of them was suffered to remain, though altered, added to, and adapted as far as could be, to the new building erected at that time; the traces of several circular windows and other openings, which were then stopped up, removed, or altered, still appearing on the walls both of the isles and the cross wings, through the white-wash with which they are covered; and on the south side of the south isle, the vaulting of the roof as well as the triforium, which could not be contrived so as to be adjusted to the places of the upper windows, plainly shew it. To which may be added, that the base or foot of one of the westernmost large pillars of the choir on the north side, is strengthened with a strong iron band round it, by which it should seem to have been one of those pillars which had been weakened by the fire, but was judged of sufficient firmness, with this precaution, to remain for the use of the new fabric.

 

The outside of this part of the church is a corroborating proof of what has been mentioned above, as well in the method, as in the ornaments of the building.— The outside of it towards the south, from St. Michael's chapel eastward, is adorned with a range of small pillars, about six inches diameter, and about three feet high, some with santastic shasts and capitals, others with plain ones; these support little arches, which intersect each other; and this chain or girdle of pillars is continued round the small tower, the eastern cross isle and the chapel of St. Anselm, to the buildings added in honour of the Holy Trinity, and St. Thomas Becket, where they leave off. The casing of St. Michael's chapel has none of them, but the chapel of the Virgin Mary, answering to it on the north side of the church, not being fitted to the wall, shews some of them behind it; which seems as if they had been continued before, quite round the eastern parts of the church.

 

These pillars, which rise from about the level of the pavement, within the walls above them, are remarkably plain and bare of ornaments; but the tower above mentioned and its opposite, as soon as they rise clear of the building, are enriched with stories of this colonade, one above another, up to the platform from whence their spires rise; and the remains of the two larger towers eastward, called St. Anselm's, and that answering to it on the north side of the church, called St. Andrew's are decorated much after the same manner, as high as they remain at present.

 

At the time of the before-mentioned fire, which so fatally destroyed the upper part of this church, the undercrost, with the vaulting over it, seems to have remained entire, and unhurt by it.

 

The vaulting of the undercrost, on which the floor of the choir and eastern parts of the church is raised, is supported by pillars, whose capitals are as various and fantastical as those of the smaller ones described before, and so are their shafts, some being round, others canted, twisted, or carved, so that hardly any two of them are alike, except such as are quite plain.

 

These, I suppose, may be concluded to be of the same age, and if buildings in the same stile may be conjectured to be so from thence, the antiquity of this part of the church may be judged, though historians have left us in the dark in relation to it.

 

In Leland's Collectanea, there is an account and description of a vault under the chancel of the antient church of St. Peter, in Oxford, called Grymbald's crypt, being allowed by all, to have been built by him; (fn. 51) Grymbald was one of those great and accomplished men, whom king Alfred invited into England about the year 885, to assist him in restoring Christianity, learning and the liberal arts. (fn. 52) Those who compare the vaults or undercrost of the church of Canterbury, with the description and prints given of Grymbald's crypt, (fn. 53) will easily perceive, that two buildings could hardly have been erected more strongly resembling each other, except that this at Canterbury is larger, and more pro fusely decorated with variety of fancied ornaments, the shafts of several of the pillars here being twisted, or otherwise varied, and many of the captials exactly in the same grotesque taste as those in Grymbald's crypt. (fn. 54) Hence it may be supposed, that those whom archbishop Lanfranc employed as architects and designers of his building at Canterbury, took their model of it, at least of this part of it, from that crypt, and this undercrost now remaining is the same, as was originally built by him, as far eastward, as to that part which begins under the chapel of the Holy Trinity, where it appears to be of a later date, erected at the same time as the chapel. The part built by Lanfranc continues at this time as firm and entire, as it was at the very building of it, though upwards of seven hundred years old. (fn. 55)

 

But to return to the new building; though the church was not compleatly finished till the end of the year 1184, yet it was so far advanced towards it, that, in 1180, on April 19, being Easter eve, (fn. 56) the archbishop, prior and monks entered the new choir, with a solemn procession, singing Te Deum, for their happy return to it. Three days before which they had privately, by night, carried the bodies of St. Dunstan and St. Alphage to the places prepared for them near the high altar. The body likewise of queen Edive (which after the fire had been removed from the north cross isle, where it lay before, under a stately gilded shrine) to the altar of the great cross, was taken up, carried into the vestry, and thence to the altar of St. Martin, where it was placed under the coffin of archbishop Livinge. In the month of July following the altar of the Holy Trinity was demolished, and the bodies of those archbishops, which had been laid in that part of the church, were removed to other places. Odo's body was laid under St. Dunstan's and Wilfrid's under St. Alphage's; Lanfranc's was deposited nigh the altar of St. Martin, and Theobald's at that of the blessed Virgin, in the nave of the church, (fn. 57) under a marble tomb; and soon afterwards the two archbishops, on the right and left hand of archbishop Becket in the undercrost, were taken up and placed under the altar of St. Mary there. (fn. 58)

 

After a warning so terrible, as had lately been given, it seemed most necessary to provide against the danger of fire for the time to come; the flames, which had so lately destroyed a considerable part of the church and monastery, were caused by some small houses, which had taken fire at a small distance from the church.— There still remained some other houses near it, which belonged to the abbot and convent of St. Augustine; for these the monks of Christ-church created, by an exchange, which could not be effected till the king interposed, and by his royal authority, in a manner, compelled the abbot and convent to a composition for this purpose, which was dated in the year 1177, that was three years after the late fire of this church. (fn. 59)

 

These houses were immediately pulled down, and it proved a providential and an effectual means of preserving the church from the like calamity; for in the year 1180, on May 22, this new choir, being not then compleated, though it had been used the month be fore, as has been already mentioned, there happened a fire in the city, which burnt down many houses, and the flames bent their course towards the church, which was again in great danger; but the houses near it being taken away, the fire was stopped, and the church escaped being burnt again. (fn. 60)

 

Although there is no mention of a new dedication of the church at this time, yet the change made in the name of it has been thought by some to imply a formal solemnity of this kind, as it appears to have been from henceforth usually called the church of St. Thomas the Martyr, and to have continued so for above 350 years afterwards.

 

New names to churches, it is true. have been usually attended by formal consecrations of them; and had there been any such solemnity here, undoubtedly the same would not have passed by unnoticed by every historian, the circumstance of it must have been notorious, and the magnificence equal at least to the other dedications of this church, which have been constantly mentioned by them; but here was no need of any such ceremony, for although the general voice then burst forth to honour this church with the name of St. Thomas, the universal object of praise and adoration, then stiled the glorious martyr, yet it reached no further, for the name it had received at the former dedication, notwithstanding this common appellation of it, still remained in reality, and it still retained invariably in all records and writings, the name of Christ church only, as appears by many such remaining among the archives of the dean and chapter; and though on the seal of this church, which was changed about this time; the counter side of it had a representation of Becket's martyrdom, yet on the front of it was continued that of the church, and round it an inscription with the former name of Christ church; which seal remained in force till the dissolution of the priory.

 

It may not be improper to mention here some transactions, worthy of observation, relating to this favorite saint, which passed from the time of his being murdered, to that of his translation to the splendid shrine prepared for his relics.

 

Archbishop Thomas Becket was barbarously murdered in this church on Dec. 29, 1170, being the 16th year of king Henry II. and his body was privately buried towards the east end of the undercrost. The monks tell us, that about the Easter following, miracles began to be wrought by him, first at his tomb, then in the undercrost, and in every part of the whole fabric of the church; afterwards throughout England, and lastly, throughout the rest of the world. (fn. 61) The same of these miracles procured him the honour of a formal canonization from pope Alexander III. whose bull for that purpose is dated March 13, in the year 1172. (fn. 62) This declaration of the pope was soon known in all places, and the reports of his miracles were every where sounded abroad. (fn. 63)

 

Hereupon crowds of zealots, led on by a phrenzy of devotion, hastened to kneel at his tomb. In 1177, Philip, earl of Flanders, came hither for that purpose, when king Henry met and had a conference with him at Canterbury. (fn. 64) In June 1178, king Henry returning from Normandy, visited the sepulchre of this new saint; and in July following, William, archbishop of Rhemes, came from France, with a large retinue, to perform his vows to St. Thomas of Canterbury, where the king met him and received him honourably. In the year 1179, Lewis, king of France, came into England; before which neither he nor any of his predecessors had ever set foot in this kingdom. (fn. 65) He landed at Dover, where king Henry waited his arrival, and on August 23, the two kings came to Canterbury, with a great train of nobility of both nations, and were received with due honour and great joy, by the archbishop, with his com-provincial bishops, and the prior and the whole convent. (fn. 66)

 

King Lewis came in the manner and habit of a pilgrim, and was conducted to the tomb of St. Thomas by a solemn procession; he there offered his cup of gold and a royal precious stone, (fn. 67) and gave the convent a yearly rent for ever, of a hundred muids of wine, to be paid by himself and his successors; which grant was confirmed by his royal charter, under his seal, and delivered next day to the convent; (fn. 68) after he had staid here two, (fn. 69) or as others say, three days, (fn. 70) during which the oblations of gold and silver made were so great, that the relation of them almost exceeded credibility. (fn. 71) In 1181, king Henry, in his return from Normandy, again paid his devotions at this tomb. These visits were the early fruits of the adoration of the new sainted martyr, and these royal examples of kings and great persons were followed by multitudes, who crowded to present with full hands their oblations at his tomb.— Hence the convent was enabled to carry forward the building of the new choir, and they applied all this vast income to the fabric of the church, as the present case instantly required, for which they had the leave and consent of the archbishop, confirmed by the bulls of several succeeding popes. (fn. 72)

 

¶From the liberal oblations of these royal and noble personages at the tomb of St. Thomas, the expences of rebuilding the choir appear to have been in a great measure supplied, nor did their devotion and offerings to the new saint, after it was compleated, any ways abate, but, on the contrary, they daily increased; for in the year 1184, Philip, archbishop of Cologne, and Philip, earl of Flanders, came together to pay their vows at this tomb, and were met here by king Henry, who gave them an invitation to London. (fn. 73) In 1194, John, archbishop of Lions; in the year afterwards, John, archbishop of York; and in the year 1199, king John, performed their devotions at the foot of this tomb. (fn. 74) King Richard I. likewise, on his release from captivity in Germany, landing on the 30th of March at Sandwich, proceeded from thence, as an humble stranger on foot, towards Canterbury, to return his grateful thanks to God and St. Thomas for his release. (fn. 75) All these by name, with many nobles and multitudes of others, of all sorts and descriptions, visited the saint with humble adoration and rich oblations, whilst his body lay in the undercrost. In the mean time the chapel and altar at the upper part of the east end of the church, which had been formerly consecrated to the Holy Trinity, were demolished, and again prepared with great splendor, for the reception of this saint, who being now placed there, implanted his name not only on the chapel and altar, but on the whole church, which was from thenceforth known only by that of the church of St. Thomas the martyr.

  

On July 7, anno 1220, the remains of St. Thomas were translated from his tomb to his new shrine, with the greatest solemnity and rejoicings. Pandulph, the pope's legate, the archbishops of Canterbury and Rheims, and many bishops and abbots, carried the coffin on their shoulders, and placed it on the new shrine, and the king graced these solemnities with his royal presence. (fn. 76) The archbishop of Canterbury provided forage along all the road, between London and Canterbury, for the horses of all such as should come to them, and he caused several pipes and conduits to run with wine in different parts of the city. This, with the other expences arising during the time, was so great, that he left a debt on the see, which archbishop Boniface, his fourth successor in it, was hardly enabled to discharge.

 

¶The saint being now placed in his new repository, became the vain object of adoration to the deluded people, and afterwards numbers of licences were granted to strangers by the king, to visit this shrine. (fn. 77) The titles of glorious, of saint and martyr, were among those given to him; (fn. 78) such veneration had all people for his relics, that the religious of several cathedral churches and monasteries, used all their endeavours to obtain some of them, and thought themselves happy and rich in the possession of the smallest portion of them. (fn. 79) Besides this, there were erected and dedicated to his honour, many churches, chapels, altars and hospitals in different places, both in this kingdom and abroad. (fn. 80) Thus this saint, even whilst he lay in his obscure tomb in the undercroft, brought such large and constant supplies of money, as enabled the monks to finish this beautiful choir, and the eastern parts of the church; and when he was translated to the most exalted and honourable place in it, a still larger abundance of gain filled their coffers, which continued as a plentiful supply to them, from year to year, to the time of the reformation, and the final abolition of the priory itself.

 

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