Culminating a week of symbolic ringing of the opening bell at stock exchanges around the world, on 9 March at 9.30 a.m. the opening bell is rung at the NASDAQ exchange in New York, by UN Women Deputy Executive Director Lakshmi Puri, incoming Deloitte CEO Catherine Engelbert and Chair of the Women's Empowerment Principles' Leadership Group Elizabeth Broderick.

 

In celebration of the 20th Beijing Declaration anniversary and the commemoration of International Women’s Day, UN Women, the UN Global Compact and the Sustainable Stock Exchange (SSE) arranged similar events at stock exchanges in in seven countries (India, Nigeria, Turkey, Egypt, Sweden, Poland and the United States). The aim of these events is to raise the awareness of the importance of greater gender equality in the business sector.

  

Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

 

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush and his top aides publicly made 935 false statements about the security risk posed by Iraq in the two years following September 11, 2001, according to a study released Tuesday by two nonprofit journalism groups.

 

"In short, the Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of erroneous information that it methodically propagated and that culminated in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003," reads an overview of the examination, conducted by the Center for Public Integrity and its affiliated group, the Fund for Independence in Journalism.

 

According to the study, Bush and seven top officials -- including Vice President Dick Cheney, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice -- made 935 false statements about Iraq during those two years.

 

The study was based on a searchable database compiled of primary sources, such as official government transcripts and speeches, and secondary sources -- mainly quotes from major media organizations. See CNN viewers' reactions to the study »

 

The study says Bush made 232 false statements about Iraq and former leader Saddam Hussein's possessing weapons of mass destruction, and 28 false statements about Iraq's links to al Qaeda.

 

Bush has consistently asserted that at the time he and other officials made the statements, the intelligence community of the U.S. and several other nations, including Britain, believed Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

 

He has repeatedly said that despite the intelligence flaws, removing Hussein from power was the right thing to do.

 

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Press Secretary Ari Fleischer each made 109 false statements, it says. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz made 85, Rice made 56, Cheney made 48 and Scott McLellan, also a press secretary, made 14, the study says.

 

"It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction or have meaningful ties to al Qaeda," the report reads, citing multiple government reports, including those by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the 9/11 Commission and the multinational Iraq Survey Group, which reported that Hussein had suspended Iraq's nuclear program in 1991 and made little effort to revive it.

 

The overview of the study also calls the media to task, saying most media outlets didn't do enough to investigate the claims.

 

"Some journalists -- indeed, even some entire news organizations -- have since acknowledged that their coverage during those prewar months was far too deferential and uncritical," the report reads. "These mea culpas notwithstanding, much of the wall-to-wall media coverage provided additional, 'independent' validation of the Bush administration's false statements about Iraq."

  

The quotes in the study include an August 26, 2002, statement by Cheney to the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

 

"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction," Cheney said. "There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us."

www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/23/bush.iraq/index.html

Cadet Field Training culminates with a ruck march from Camp Buckner to Quarters 100 on June 28, 2023. (U.S. Army photo by Christopher Hennen, USMA)

Orange County Fashion Week 2015

 

Orange County, CA – The California Riviera is no stranger to luxury or style and this year’s OCFashion Week (OCFW) will exude both those traits during its full week of events, beginning with World of Fashion Photography Exhibit and gala at Newport Lexus on Friday, February 27th and culminating in the Couture Designer event at Dawson Fine Art on Thursday, March 5th.

   

Each night holds something magical and fashionable, beginning at 6 pm with cocktails. Showtime on the runway begins at 7 pm, with after-parties at 10 pm. Each night is presented by Newport Lexus with signature sponsors by Toni & Guy Academy Manna Kadar Cosmetics, runway styling by Betinnis in Brea and will spot light a different charity each night. Orange County Fashion Week is produced by Hauteoc Inc. Discover the World You've Been Missing. Discover the World of Orange County.

  

NEWPORT BEACH, FEBRUARY 28th, 2015 – OC Fashion Week is proud to announce that this season’s 2015 presenting sponsor, Newport Lexus of Newport Beach, will be the site for this year’s SUGAR RUSH. The event will be held on Saturday, February 28, 2015 from 6:00pm – 9:00pm and will showcase makeovers, a celebrity runway show and the Fashionably Responsible Awards Reception. The night will also feature models from popular television show America's Next Top Models.

   

Beginning at 7 pm, Brit B of BeachCandy Swimwear will open the presentation showcase of Orange County Sugar Rush designers with a preview of her latest collection of swimwear, followed by the Fabulous Life of Claire Farewell’s London designer wear. As the night continues, designers Victoria by Elizabeth, According to Kimberly and Men’s Undercover Underwear debuts an exciting runway tribute to OC Fashion Week’s to retailers and fashion designers that embrace both cause and commerce in their business practices. Jewelry, handbag and accessories designers will showcase their goods, alongside pop-up shops with a portion of the proceeds donating to Working Wardrobes, which has helped more than 70,000 victims of abuse and addiction regain control of their lives by helping them dress for success.

   

Additionally, guests will have the opportunity to receive makeovers throughout the evening by Manna Kadar Cosmetics founder and CEO Manna Kadar. A noted industry expert, beauty editor and makeup artist to an impressive roster of celebrity clients, Manna has made her mark as a true trendsetter in the world of beauty.

   

Other evening highlights include a runway show featuring past contestants from America’s Next Top Model and up-and-coming designers that give back to this fashion-studded evening.

     

Meet the Designers:

   

Brit B. of BeachCandy Swimwear: A native of Orange County, with her signature store in Corona del Mar, Brit B. creates custom swimsuits for clients with the goal of making every woman feel beautiful and comfortable.

   

Claire Farwell of Claire Farwell London: A former model and survivor of cancer, Farwell has not only succeeded in one of the toughest industries she has also been a tireless supporter of women fighting cancer.

   

Manoni Handbags and Accessories: Hand-crafted out of full-grained ostrich and crocodile, every handbag is designed for the chic, fashion-forward-thinking woman.

   

Victoria by Elizabeth: Pencil Skirt Designers innovating style bringing the elegance of women, by heart and soul.

   

Kimberly Luu of According to Kimberly: Born and raised in Orange County, the multitalented Luu is a clinician, blogger and designer whose first design won Top Five at OC Fashion Week’s 2011 Designer competition. That was just the beginning of her success story.

   

Salt Shoes SALT SHOES are uniquely designed with your comfort in mind. But having flexibility by way of look and color is what makes Salt Shoes the “IT” wedge or heel to get. Interchangeable straps allow you to create a new look with each outfit.

  

What a Betty

 

What A Betty designs have been seen everywhere from gorgeous brides, to celebrities on the red carpet and has been on hit TV Shows such as “Revenge” and "VH1", and high fashion and bridal magazines.

  

Undercover Underwear

  

Adriana Viano is the owner and founder of UnderCover MensWear Inc. Adriana always had the vision that the privilege of the right, sexy and comfortable underwear and loungewear should not only be for women. She always believed that men were in need of their own "Victoria's Secret". UnderCoverMensWear.com is an on line only boutique with unique and innovative products carefully chosen from around the world. All items sold in the on line store will not be found in any department stores.

 

NON HINDUS

ARE NOT ALLOWED INSIDE THE TEMPLE

 

Lingaraj Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Harihara, a form of Shiva and is one of the oldest temples in Bhubaneswar, the capital of the East Indian state of Odisha (formerly Orissa). The temple is the most prominent landmark of the Bhubaneswar city and one of the major tourist attractions of the state.

 

The Lingaraj temple is the largest temple in Bhubaneswar. The central tower of the temple is 55 m tall. The temple represents the quintessence of the Kalinga Architecture and culminates the medieval stages of the architectural tradition at Bhubaneswar. The temple is believed to be built by the kings from the Somavamsi dynasty, with later additions from the Ganga rulers. The temple is built in the Deula style that has four components namely, vimana (structure containing the sanctum), jagamohana (assembly hall), natamandira (festival hall) and bhoga-mandapa (hall of offerings), each increasing in the height to its predecessor. The temple complex has 50 other shrines and is enclosed by a large compound wall.

 

Bhubaneswar is called the Ekamra Kshetra as the deity of Lingaraj was originally under a mango tree (Ekamra) as noted in Ekamra Purana, a 13th-century Sanskrit treatise. The temple is active in worship practises, unlike most other temples in Bhubaneswar and Shiva is worshipped as Harihara, a combined form of Vishnu and Shiva. The temple has images of Vishnu, possibly because of the rising prominence of Jagannath cult emnating from the Ganga rulers who built the Jagannath Temple in Puri in the 12th century.

 

Lingaraj temple is maintained by the Temple Trust Board and the Archeological Survey of India (ASI). The temple has an average of 6,000 visitors per day and receives lakhs of visitors during festivals. Shivaratri festival is the major festival celebrated in the temple and event during 2012 witnessed 200,000 visitors.

 

HISTORY

Lingaraj means "The king of Lingam", the symbol of Saivism. Shiva was worshipped as Kirtivasa and later as Harihara and is commonly referred as Tribhuvaneshwara (also called Bhubaneswar), the master of three worlds, namely, heaven, earth and netherworld). His consort is called Bhuvaneshvari.

 

The temple is more than 1100 years old, dating back in its present form to the last decade of the eleventh century, though there is evidence that part of the temple was built during the sixth century CE as the temple has been emphasized in some of the seventh century Sanskrit texts. Fergusson believes the temple might have been initiated by Lelat Indra Kesari who reigned from 615 to 657 CE. The Assembly hall (jagamohana), sanctum and temple tower wer built during the eleventh century, while the Hall of offering (bhoga-mandapa) was built during the twelfth century. The natamandira was built by the wife of Salini between 1099 and 1104 CE. By the time the Lingaraj temple was completely constructed, the Jagannath (form of Vishnu) cult had been growing in the region, which historians believe is evidenced by the co-existence of Vishnu and Shiva worship at the temple. The Ganga dynasty kings were ardent followers of Vaishnavism and built the Jagannath Temple at Puri in the 12th century.

 

The temple is believed to be built by the Somavanshi king Jajati Keshari, in 11th century CE. Jajati Keshari had shifted his capital from Jajpur to Bhubaneswar which was referred to as Ekamra Kshetra in the Brahma Purana, an ancient scripture. One of the Somavamsi queens donated a village to the temple and the Brahmins attached to the temple received generous grants. An inscription from the Saka year 1094 (1172 CE) indicates gifts of gold coins to the temple by Rajaraja II. Another inscription of Narasimha I from the 11th century indicates offer of beetel leaves as tambula to the presiding deity. Other stone inscriptions in the temple indicate royal grants from Chodaganga to village people.

 

ARCHITECTURE

The Lingaraj temple is the largest temple in Bhubaneswar. James Ferugsson (1808–86), a noted critic and historian, rated the temple as "one of the finest examples of purely Hindu temple in India". It is enshrined within a spacious compound wall of laterite measuring 160 m by 142 m. The wall is 2.3 m thick and surmounted by a plain slant coping. Alongside the inner face of the boundary wall, there is a terrace to protect the compound wall against outside aggression. The tower is 55 m high and the complex has 150 smaller shrines in its spacious courtyard. Each inch of the 55 m tall tower is sculpted. The door in the gate of the entrance porch is made of sandalwood.

 

The Lingaraja temple faces east and is built of sandstone and laterite. The main entrance is located in the east, while there are small entrances in the north and south. The temple is built in the Deula style that has four components namely, vimana (structure containing the sanctum), jagamohana (assembly hall), natamandira (festival hall) and bhoga-mandapa (hall of offerings). The dance hall was associated with the raising prominence of the devadasi system that existed during the time. The various units from the Hall of offering to the tower of the sanctum increase in height.

 

The bhogamandapa (Hall of offering) measures 13 m by 13 m from the inside, 17.15 m by 17.25 m from the outside and has four doors in each of the sides. The exterior walls of the hall has decorative sculptures of men and beast. The hall has a pyramidal roof made of up several horizontal layers arranged in sets of two with intervening platform. It bears an inverted bell and a kalasa in the top. The natamandira (festival hall) measures 12 m by 12 m from the inside, 15 m by 15 m from the outside, has one main entrance and two side entrances. The side walls of the hall has decortive sculptures displaying women and couples. It has a flat roof sloping in stages. There are thick pylons inside the hall. The jagamohana (assembly hall) measures 11 m by 9.1 m from the inside, 17 m by 15 m from the outside, entrances from south and north and has a 30 metres tall roof. The hall has a pyramidal roof made of up several horizontal layers arranged in sets of two with intervening platform as in the Hall of offering. The facade to the entrances are decorated with perforated windows with lion sitting on hind legs. The inverted bell above second unit is adorned by kalasa and lions. The rekha deula has a 60 m tall pyramidal tower over the sanctum and measures 6.7 m from the inside, 16 m from the outside over the sanctum. It is covered with decorative design and seated lion projecting from the walls. The sanctum is square in shape from the inside. The tower walls are sculpted with female figures in different poses.

 

RELIGIOUS SIGNIFICANCE

Bhubaneswar is called the Ekamra Kshetra as the deity of Lingaraj was originally under a mango tree (Ekamra). Ekamra Purana, a Sanskrit treatise of the 13th century mentions that the presiding deity was not seen as lingam (an aniconic form of Shiva) during the Satya and Treta yugas and only during the Dwapara and Kali yugas, it emerged as a lingam. The lingam in the temple is a natural unshaped stone that rests on a Sakti. Such a lingam is called Krutibasa or Swayambhu and is found in 64 places in different parts of India. With the advent of the Ganga dynasty in the early 12th century, who had Vaishnavaite orientation, a new movement started resulting in the synthesis of Saivism and Vaishnavism. The Ekamra was associated with Vaishanavite gods Krishna and Balaram during the period. It is attributed the raising prominence of Jagannath cult that became predominant during the construction of the temple. The Ganges remodelled the temple and introduced certain Vaishnavite elements like images of Vaishnava Dwarapalas namely Jaya and Prachanda, Jagannatha, Lakshmi Narayan and Garuda were installed. Tulsi leaves, which are favoured by Vishnu, was used along with Bela leaves for the worship of Lingaraj. Lingaraja was thus came to be known as Harihara, a combination of Shiva and Vishnu. The flag of the temple was fixed to a Pinaka bow instead of trident usually found in Shiva temples. The temple priests also changed the mark in their forehead from horizontal to a "U" sign with a dotted middle line. The Ganges also introduced certain fairs like Swing festival, Sun worship and mock quarell between priests after chariot festival, similar to the practises in Jagannath Temple in Puri. The influence of the Ganges dynasty has led to a cosmopolitan culture, that has reduced the status of Lingaraja temple as a distinct Saivite shrine.

 

FESTIVAL & WORSHIP PRACTISES

As per Hindu legend, an underground river originating from the Lingaraj temple fills the Bindusagar Tank (meaning ocean drop) and the water is believed to heal physical and spiritual illness. The water from the tank is thus treated sacred and pilgrims take a holy dip during festive occasions. The central deity of the temple, Lingaraj, is worshipped both as Shiva and Vishnu. The harmony between the two sects of Hinduism, Saivism and Vaishanvism, is seen in this temple where the deity is worshipped as Harihara, a combined form of Vishnu and Shiva.

 

Shivaratri is the main festival celebrated annually in Phalgun month when thousands of devotees visit the temple. Apart from a full day of fasting, bel leaves are offered to Lingaraj on this auspicious day. The main celebrations take place at night when devotees pray all night long. The devout usually break their fast after the Mahadipa (a huge lamp) is lit on the spire of the temple. Every year the chariot festival (Ratha-Yatra) of Lingaraja is celebrated on Ashokashtami. The deity is taken in a chariot to Rameshwar Deula temple. Thousands of devotees follow and pull brightly decorated chariots containing the idols of Lingaraj and his sister Rukmani. This chariot procession stays for five days at the Rameshwar Temple and then will be brought back. This festival commemorates Lord Lingaraj having slayed a demon. Thousands of bol bom pilgrims carry water from river Mahanadi and walk all the way to the temple during the month of Shravana every year. Sunian day is observed from royal times in the month of Bhandra, a day when temple servants, peasants and other holders of temple lands offer loyalty and tribute to Lingaraja. Candan Yatra (Sandalwood ceremony) is a 22-day festival celebrated in the temple when servants of the temple disport themselves in a specially made barge in Bindusagar tank. The deities and servants of the temples are anointed with sandalwood paste to protect from heat. Dances, communal feasts and merrymaking are arranged by the people associated with the temple.

 

The Lingaraja temple is active in worship practises, unlike the other ancient temples of Bhubaneshwar which are not active worship centres. Non Hindus are not allowed inside the temple, but it can be viewed from the viewing platform located outside the temple. The viewing platform and the back of the temple can be reached via a lineway located to the right of the main entrance of the temple. Sanctity of the temple is maitained by disallowing dogs, unbathed visitors, menstruating women and families that encountered birth or death in the preceding 12 days. In case of a foreign tresspass, the temple follows a purification ritual and dumping of prasad (food offering) in a well.

 

RELIGIOUS PRACTICES

The image of Lingaraja is abluted with water (called mahasnana) several times a day and decorated with flowers, sandal paste and cloth. Hemlock or hemlock flowers which are generally offered in other Shiva temples is not allowed in the Lingaraja temple. Bilva leaves (Aegle marmelos) and tulasi (Ocimum sanctum) are used in daily worship. Offerings of cooked rice, curries and sweet-meats are displayed in the bhogamandapa (hall of offering) and the divinity is invoked to accept them amidst scores of chanting of Sanskrit texts. Coconut, ripe plantains and kora-khai are generally offered to Lingaraja by the pilgrims. Bhang beverage is offered to Lingaraja by some devotees especially on the day of Pana Sankranti (Oriya new year).

 

The Lingaraja temple is open from 6 a.m. to about 9 p.m. and is intermittently closed during bhoga (food offering) to the deity. During early morning, lamps in the cella are lit to awaken Lingaraja from his sleep, ablution is performed, followed by adoration and arati (waving of light). The temple is closed at about 12 p.m. until about 3.30 P.M. A ceremony known as Mahasnana (ablution) is performed once the doors are closed, followed by pouring of Panchamrita (a mixture of milk, curdled milk, clarified butter, honey and ghee) upon the deity for purification. At about 1 P.M., a ripe plantain is divided into two, one half is offered to Sun god and the other half to Dwarapala (the guarding deities in the doorway). Between 1.00 and 1.30 P.M. the food offering called Ballabha Bhoga (breakfast containing curdled milk, curd and vegetables) is offered to the deity. The consecrated food is carried to the temple of Parvati and placed before her as an offering, a practice commonly observed by the orthodox Hindu housewives. At about 2 P.M., the Sakala Dhupa (morning's offering of food) takes place. After the food is offered to Lingaraja, the offerings are carried to the temple of Parvati to serve her. An offering called Bhanda Dhupa is carried out at 3.30 P.M. at the hall of offering. This food is later offered by the inmates to the pilgrims as Mahaprasad.

 

A light refreshment known as Ballabha Dhupa is offered to the deity at around 4.30 P.M. At around 5 P.M., Dwipahar Dhupa (mid day meal) is offered. At around 7 P.M., another offering called Palia Badu is placed before the deity. Sandhya arati (waving of lights in the evening) is performed during that time. Another light meal called Sahana Dhupa is offered at around 8:30 P.M. After the meals, the ceremony of waving light (arati) is performed before the deity. At 9.30 P.M, the last service of the day, Bada Singara (the great decoration) is performed when the deity is decorated with flowers and ornaments after which a light food offering is made. A wooden palanquin is laid in the room, incense is lighted, drinking water is served and prepared betel is placed. Panchabaktra Mahadeva comes to the palanquin and returns to his own abode after the arati is performed. This is a bronze image of Mahadeva having five faces and Parvati in his lap. Each of these ceremonies is accompanied by ritual observances and recitations of mantras (Sanskrit texts) specified for each occasion.

 

TEMPLE STAFF & ADMINISTRATION

King Jajati Keshari, believed to be the founder of the Lingaraja temple, deputed Dravidian Brahmins as temple priests over the local Brahmins on account of their increased knowledge of Saivism. The focus was to enhance the temple practises from tribal rites to Sanskritic. While the exact number of castes involved in the nijogas (practises) is not known, Brahmins, tribal worshippers and inmates from Untouchable castes are believed to be part of the setup. Bose (1958) identified 41 services with the involvement of 22 separate castes and Mahaptra (1978) identified 30 services. It is understood from the records that kings and temple managers of different times introduced or discontinued certain services, fairs, offerings and caste-centred core services during their regime. As of 2012, the temple practised 36 different services (nijogas).

 

In modern times, the Lingaraja temple priests are from two communities, namely Brahman Nijog and Badu Nijog. The Badu are non-Brahmin servant groups, whose origin is not ascertained due to unavailability of authentic records, while they are described as Vadu in chapter 62 of the Ekamrapurana. The caste group of Badu is called Niyoga, which elects the officers every year during the Sandalwood festival. Every Badu undergoes three distinct rites, namely, ear-piercing, marriage and god-touching. Historically, the Badus performed five different temple duties - Paliabadu and Pharaka, which were considered important and Pochha, Pahada and Khataseja, which were considered inferior. From 1962, only Paliabadu and Pharaka practises are followed and the others are discontinued. The Badus also carry out ablution and dressing of the images of Siddhaganesh and Gopalini. The temple is maintained by the Temple Trust Board and the Archeological Survey of India (ASI). The temple is guarded by security personnel deputed by the Police Commissioner of Bhubaneswar and security guards appointed by the temple administration. The temple has an average of 6,000 visitors every day and receives lakhs of visitors during festivals. The Shivaratri festival during 2012 witnessed 200,000 visitors. As of 2011, the annual income of Lingaraja temple from hundis (donation boxes) is around INR1.2 million per annum. Another INR4 million is collected annually from other sources like rents from shops, cycle stands and agriculture lands. Starting 2011, the temple charges an amount for six types of religious worship (special pujas) carried out by the devotees.

 

WIKIPEDIA

 

NON HINDUS

ARE NOT ALLOWED INSIDE THE TEMPLE

 

Lingaraj Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Harihara, a form of Shiva and is one of the oldest temples in Bhubaneswar, the capital of the East Indian state of Odisha (formerly Orissa). The temple is the most prominent landmark of the Bhubaneswar city and one of the major tourist attractions of the state.

 

The Lingaraj temple is the largest temple in Bhubaneswar. The central tower of the temple is 55 m tall. The temple represents the quintessence of the Kalinga Architecture and culminates the medieval stages of the architectural tradition at Bhubaneswar. The temple is believed to be built by the kings from the Somavamsi dynasty, with later additions from the Ganga rulers. The temple is built in the Deula style that has four components namely, vimana (structure containing the sanctum), jagamohana (assembly hall), natamandira (festival hall) and bhoga-mandapa (hall of offerings), each increasing in the height to its predecessor. The temple complex has 50 other shrines and is enclosed by a large compound wall.

 

Bhubaneswar is called the Ekamra Kshetra as the deity of Lingaraj was originally under a mango tree (Ekamra) as noted in Ekamra Purana, a 13th-century Sanskrit treatise. The temple is active in worship practises, unlike most other temples in Bhubaneswar and Shiva is worshipped as Harihara, a combined form of Vishnu and Shiva. The temple has images of Vishnu, possibly because of the rising prominence of Jagannath cult emnating from the Ganga rulers who built the Jagannath Temple in Puri in the 12th century.

 

Lingaraj temple is maintained by the Temple Trust Board and the Archeological Survey of India (ASI). The temple has an average of 6,000 visitors per day and receives lakhs of visitors during festivals. Shivaratri festival is the major festival celebrated in the temple and event during 2012 witnessed 200,000 visitors.

 

HISTORY

Lingaraj means "The king of Lingam", the symbol of Saivism. Shiva was worshipped as Kirtivasa and later as Harihara and is commonly referred as Tribhuvaneshwara (also called Bhubaneswar), the master of three worlds, namely, heaven, earth and netherworld). His consort is called Bhuvaneshvari.

 

The temple is more than 1100 years old, dating back in its present form to the last decade of the eleventh century, though there is evidence that part of the temple was built during the sixth century CE as the temple has been emphasized in some of the seventh century Sanskrit texts. Fergusson believes the temple might have been initiated by Lelat Indra Kesari who reigned from 615 to 657 CE. The Assembly hall (jagamohana), sanctum and temple tower wer built during the eleventh century, while the Hall of offering (bhoga-mandapa) was built during the twelfth century. The natamandira was built by the wife of Salini between 1099 and 1104 CE. By the time the Lingaraj temple was completely constructed, the Jagannath (form of Vishnu) cult had been growing in the region, which historians believe is evidenced by the co-existence of Vishnu and Shiva worship at the temple. The Ganga dynasty kings were ardent followers of Vaishnavism and built the Jagannath Temple at Puri in the 12th century.

 

The temple is believed to be built by the Somavanshi king Jajati Keshari, in 11th century CE. Jajati Keshari had shifted his capital from Jajpur to Bhubaneswar which was referred to as Ekamra Kshetra in the Brahma Purana, an ancient scripture. One of the Somavamsi queens donated a village to the temple and the Brahmins attached to the temple received generous grants. An inscription from the Saka year 1094 (1172 CE) indicates gifts of gold coins to the temple by Rajaraja II. Another inscription of Narasimha I from the 11th century indicates offer of beetel leaves as tambula to the presiding deity. Other stone inscriptions in the temple indicate royal grants from Chodaganga to village people.

 

ARCHITECTURE

The Lingaraj temple is the largest temple in Bhubaneswar. James Ferugsson (1808–86), a noted critic and historian, rated the temple as "one of the finest examples of purely Hindu temple in India". It is enshrined within a spacious compound wall of laterite measuring 160 m by 142 m. The wall is 2.3 m thick and surmounted by a plain slant coping. Alongside the inner face of the boundary wall, there is a terrace to protect the compound wall against outside aggression. The tower is 55 m high and the complex has 150 smaller shrines in its spacious courtyard. Each inch of the 55 m tall tower is sculpted. The door in the gate of the entrance porch is made of sandalwood.

 

The Lingaraja temple faces east and is built of sandstone and laterite. The main entrance is located in the east, while there are small entrances in the north and south. The temple is built in the Deula style that has four components namely, vimana (structure containing the sanctum), jagamohana (assembly hall), natamandira (festival hall) and bhoga-mandapa (hall of offerings). The dance hall was associated with the raising prominence of the devadasi system that existed during the time. The various units from the Hall of offering to the tower of the sanctum increase in height.

 

The bhogamandapa (Hall of offering) measures 13 m by 13 m from the inside, 17.15 m by 17.25 m from the outside and has four doors in each of the sides. The exterior walls of the hall has decorative sculptures of men and beast. The hall has a pyramidal roof made of up several horizontal layers arranged in sets of two with intervening platform. It bears an inverted bell and a kalasa in the top. The natamandira (festival hall) measures 12 m by 12 m from the inside, 15 m by 15 m from the outside, has one main entrance and two side entrances. The side walls of the hall has decortive sculptures displaying women and couples. It has a flat roof sloping in stages. There are thick pylons inside the hall. The jagamohana (assembly hall) measures 11 m by 9.1 m from the inside, 17 m by 15 m from the outside, entrances from south and north and has a 30 metres tall roof. The hall has a pyramidal roof made of up several horizontal layers arranged in sets of two with intervening platform as in the Hall of offering. The facade to the entrances are decorated with perforated windows with lion sitting on hind legs. The inverted bell above second unit is adorned by kalasa and lions. The rekha deula has a 60 m tall pyramidal tower over the sanctum and measures 6.7 m from the inside, 16 m from the outside over the sanctum. It is covered with decorative design and seated lion projecting from the walls. The sanctum is square in shape from the inside. The tower walls are sculpted with female figures in different poses.

 

RELIGIOUS SIGNIFICANCE

Bhubaneswar is called the Ekamra Kshetra as the deity of Lingaraj was originally under a mango tree (Ekamra). Ekamra Purana, a Sanskrit treatise of the 13th century mentions that the presiding deity was not seen as lingam (an aniconic form of Shiva) during the Satya and Treta yugas and only during the Dwapara and Kali yugas, it emerged as a lingam. The lingam in the temple is a natural unshaped stone that rests on a Sakti. Such a lingam is called Krutibasa or Swayambhu and is found in 64 places in different parts of India. With the advent of the Ganga dynasty in the early 12th century, who had Vaishnavaite orientation, a new movement started resulting in the synthesis of Saivism and Vaishnavism. The Ekamra was associated with Vaishanavite gods Krishna and Balaram during the period. It is attributed the raising prominence of Jagannath cult that became predominant during the construction of the temple. The Ganges remodelled the temple and introduced certain Vaishnavite elements like images of Vaishnava Dwarapalas namely Jaya and Prachanda, Jagannatha, Lakshmi Narayan and Garuda were installed. Tulsi leaves, which are favoured by Vishnu, was used along with Bela leaves for the worship of Lingaraj. Lingaraja was thus came to be known as Harihara, a combination of Shiva and Vishnu. The flag of the temple was fixed to a Pinaka bow instead of trident usually found in Shiva temples. The temple priests also changed the mark in their forehead from horizontal to a "U" sign with a dotted middle line. The Ganges also introduced certain fairs like Swing festival, Sun worship and mock quarell between priests after chariot festival, similar to the practises in Jagannath Temple in Puri. The influence of the Ganges dynasty has led to a cosmopolitan culture, that has reduced the status of Lingaraja temple as a distinct Saivite shrine.

 

FESTIVAL & WORSHIP PRACTISES

As per Hindu legend, an underground river originating from the Lingaraj temple fills the Bindusagar Tank (meaning ocean drop) and the water is believed to heal physical and spiritual illness. The water from the tank is thus treated sacred and pilgrims take a holy dip during festive occasions. The central deity of the temple, Lingaraj, is worshipped both as Shiva and Vishnu. The harmony between the two sects of Hinduism, Saivism and Vaishanvism, is seen in this temple where the deity is worshipped as Harihara, a combined form of Vishnu and Shiva.

 

Shivaratri is the main festival celebrated annually in Phalgun month when thousands of devotees visit the temple. Apart from a full day of fasting, bel leaves are offered to Lingaraj on this auspicious day. The main celebrations take place at night when devotees pray all night long. The devout usually break their fast after the Mahadipa (a huge lamp) is lit on the spire of the temple. Every year the chariot festival (Ratha-Yatra) of Lingaraja is celebrated on Ashokashtami. The deity is taken in a chariot to Rameshwar Deula temple. Thousands of devotees follow and pull brightly decorated chariots containing the idols of Lingaraj and his sister Rukmani. This chariot procession stays for five days at the Rameshwar Temple and then will be brought back. This festival commemorates Lord Lingaraj having slayed a demon. Thousands of bol bom pilgrims carry water from river Mahanadi and walk all the way to the temple during the month of Shravana every year. Sunian day is observed from royal times in the month of Bhandra, a day when temple servants, peasants and other holders of temple lands offer loyalty and tribute to Lingaraja. Candan Yatra (Sandalwood ceremony) is a 22-day festival celebrated in the temple when servants of the temple disport themselves in a specially made barge in Bindusagar tank. The deities and servants of the temples are anointed with sandalwood paste to protect from heat. Dances, communal feasts and merrymaking are arranged by the people associated with the temple.

 

The Lingaraja temple is active in worship practises, unlike the other ancient temples of Bhubaneshwar which are not active worship centres. Non Hindus are not allowed inside the temple, but it can be viewed from the viewing platform located outside the temple. The viewing platform and the back of the temple can be reached via a lineway located to the right of the main entrance of the temple. Sanctity of the temple is maitained by disallowing dogs, unbathed visitors, menstruating women and families that encountered birth or death in the preceding 12 days. In case of a foreign tresspass, the temple follows a purification ritual and dumping of prasad (food offering) in a well.

 

RELIGIOUS PRACTICES

The image of Lingaraja is abluted with water (called mahasnana) several times a day and decorated with flowers, sandal paste and cloth. Hemlock or hemlock flowers which are generally offered in other Shiva temples is not allowed in the Lingaraja temple. Bilva leaves (Aegle marmelos) and tulasi (Ocimum sanctum) are used in daily worship. Offerings of cooked rice, curries and sweet-meats are displayed in the bhogamandapa (hall of offering) and the divinity is invoked to accept them amidst scores of chanting of Sanskrit texts. Coconut, ripe plantains and kora-khai are generally offered to Lingaraja by the pilgrims. Bhang beverage is offered to Lingaraja by some devotees especially on the day of Pana Sankranti (Oriya new year).

 

The Lingaraja temple is open from 6 a.m. to about 9 p.m. and is intermittently closed during bhoga (food offering) to the deity. During early morning, lamps in the cella are lit to awaken Lingaraja from his sleep, ablution is performed, followed by adoration and arati (waving of light). The temple is closed at about 12 p.m. until about 3.30 P.M. A ceremony known as Mahasnana (ablution) is performed once the doors are closed, followed by pouring of Panchamrita (a mixture of milk, curdled milk, clarified butter, honey and ghee) upon the deity for purification. At about 1 P.M., a ripe plantain is divided into two, one half is offered to Sun god and the other half to Dwarapala (the guarding deities in the doorway). Between 1.00 and 1.30 P.M. the food offering called Ballabha Bhoga (breakfast containing curdled milk, curd and vegetables) is offered to the deity. The consecrated food is carried to the temple of Parvati and placed before her as an offering, a practice commonly observed by the orthodox Hindu housewives. At about 2 P.M., the Sakala Dhupa (morning's offering of food) takes place. After the food is offered to Lingaraja, the offerings are carried to the temple of Parvati to serve her. An offering called Bhanda Dhupa is carried out at 3.30 P.M. at the hall of offering. This food is later offered by the inmates to the pilgrims as Mahaprasad.

 

A light refreshment known as Ballabha Dhupa is offered to the deity at around 4.30 P.M. At around 5 P.M., Dwipahar Dhupa (mid day meal) is offered. At around 7 P.M., another offering called Palia Badu is placed before the deity. Sandhya arati (waving of lights in the evening) is performed during that time. Another light meal called Sahana Dhupa is offered at around 8:30 P.M. After the meals, the ceremony of waving light (arati) is performed before the deity. At 9.30 P.M, the last service of the day, Bada Singara (the great decoration) is performed when the deity is decorated with flowers and ornaments after which a light food offering is made. A wooden palanquin is laid in the room, incense is lighted, drinking water is served and prepared betel is placed. Panchabaktra Mahadeva comes to the palanquin and returns to his own abode after the arati is performed. This is a bronze image of Mahadeva having five faces and Parvati in his lap. Each of these ceremonies is accompanied by ritual observances and recitations of mantras (Sanskrit texts) specified for each occasion.

 

TEMPLE STAFF & ADMINISTRATION

King Jajati Keshari, believed to be the founder of the Lingaraja temple, deputed Dravidian Brahmins as temple priests over the local Brahmins on account of their increased knowledge of Saivism. The focus was to enhance the temple practises from tribal rites to Sanskritic. While the exact number of castes involved in the nijogas (practises) is not known, Brahmins, tribal worshippers and inmates from Untouchable castes are believed to be part of the setup. Bose (1958) identified 41 services with the involvement of 22 separate castes and Mahaptra (1978) identified 30 services. It is understood from the records that kings and temple managers of different times introduced or discontinued certain services, fairs, offerings and caste-centred core services during their regime. As of 2012, the temple practised 36 different services (nijogas).

 

In modern times, the Lingaraja temple priests are from two communities, namely Brahman Nijog and Badu Nijog. The Badu are non-Brahmin servant groups, whose origin is not ascertained due to unavailability of authentic records, while they are described as Vadu in chapter 62 of the Ekamrapurana. The caste group of Badu is called Niyoga, which elects the officers every year during the Sandalwood festival. Every Badu undergoes three distinct rites, namely, ear-piercing, marriage and god-touching. Historically, the Badus performed five different temple duties - Paliabadu and Pharaka, which were considered important and Pochha, Pahada and Khataseja, which were considered inferior. From 1962, only Paliabadu and Pharaka practises are followed and the others are discontinued. The Badus also carry out ablution and dressing of the images of Siddhaganesh and Gopalini. The temple is maintained by the Temple Trust Board and the Archeological Survey of India (ASI). The temple is guarded by security personnel deputed by the Police Commissioner of Bhubaneswar and security guards appointed by the temple administration. The temple has an average of 6,000 visitors every day and receives lakhs of visitors during festivals. The Shivaratri festival during 2012 witnessed 200,000 visitors. As of 2011, the annual income of Lingaraja temple from hundis (donation boxes) is around INR1.2 million per annum. Another INR4 million is collected annually from other sources like rents from shops, cycle stands and agriculture lands. Starting 2011, the temple charges an amount for six types of religious worship (special pujas) carried out by the devotees.

 

WIKIPEDIA

 

English

 

Maritime Museum

 

The Maritime Museum (Portuguese: Museu de Marinha) of Lisbon is dedicated to all aspects of the History of navigation in Portugal. The museum is administered by the Portuguese Navy and is located in the touristic district of Belém. It occupies a part of the neo-Manueline Western wing of the Jerónimos Monastery (together with the National Museum of Archaeology) as well as a modern annex built to the North of the monastery.

The history of the museum is deeply related to King Luís I (1838-1889), who was a lover of oceanographic studies and an accomplished navigator himself. He created in 1863 a collection of items related to the preservation of maritime history of Portugal, a collection that was enlarged in the following decades, culminating in the inauguration of the Maritime Museum in 1963 in its present location.

The exhibits include historical paintings, archaeological items and many scale models of ships used in Portugal since the 15th century. It is one of the most visited Portuguese museums.

Jerónimos Monastery

The Hieronymites Monastery, is located in the Belém district of Lisbon, Portugal. This magnificent monastery can be considered one of the most prominent monuments in Lisbon and is certainly one of the most successful achievements of the Manueline style (Portuguese late-Gothic). In 1983, it was classified by the UNESCO, with nearby Belém Tower, as a World Heritage Site.

History

The house for the Hieronymite monks was built on the same site of the Ermida do Restelo, a hermitage that was founded by Henry the Navigator at about 1450. It was at this hermitage, that was already in disrepair, that Vasco da Gama and his men spent the night in prayer before departing for India in 1497

The existing structure was started on the orders of Manuel I (1515–1521) to commemorate Vasco da Gama's successful return from India. It was originally meant as a church for the burial of the House of Aviz, but it also became a house of prayer for seamen leaving or entering port.

Construction of the monastery began in 1502 and took 50 years to complete. He used pedra lioz, a local gold-coloured limestone, for its construction. The building of the monastery was funded by a 5% tax on eastern spices, with the exceptions of pepper, cinnamon, and cloves, revenue from which went straight to the Crown. By this influx of riches, the architects had enough financial margin to think big. The enormous amount of funds needed for this monastery meant abandoning the construction of the Aviz pantheon in the Monastery of Batalha.

The monastery was designed in the Manueline style by Diogo de Boitaca (who was probably one of the originators of this style with the Monastery of Jesus of Setúbal in Setúbal). He built the church, the monastery, the sacristy, and the refectory. He was succeeded by the Spaniard João de Castilho, who took charge of construction in around 1517. Castilho gradually moved from the Manueline style to the Plateresco style, a style with lavish decorations that remind of silver ware (plata). There were several sculptors who made their mark on this building. Nicolau Chanterene added depth with his Renaissance themes. The construction came to a halt when the king Manuel I died in 1521.

The architect Diogo de Torralva resumed the construction of the monastery in 1550, adding the main chapel, the choir, and completing the two stories of the monastery, using only Renaissance motifs. His work was continued in 1571 by Jérôme de Rouen (also called Jerónimo de Ruão) who added some Classical elements. The construction stopped in 1580 with the union of Spain and Portugal, because the building of the Escorial in Spain was now draining away all the funds.

The monastery withstood the Great Earthquake of 1755 without too much damage. But when the building became vacant in 1833 by the abolition of the religious orders in Portugal, it began to deteriorate to the point of almost collapsing. A cupola was later added to the southwestern tower.

On December 13, 2007, the Treaty of Lisbon was signed at the monastery, laying down the basis for the reform of the European Union.

South portal

The ornate main entrance to the monastery was designed by João de Castilho and is considered as one of the most magnificent of his time. This shrine-like portal is large, 32 m high and 12 m wide, extending up for two stories. It features, surrounded by an abundance of gables, pinnacles, many carved figures standing under a baldachin in exquisitely carved niches, around a statue of Henry the Navigator, standing on a pedestal between the two doors.

The tympanum, above the double door, displays in half-relief two scenes from the life of Saint Jerome. On the left, the removal of a thorn by St. Jerome from a lion's paw, after which the lion became his best friend. The right scene depicts the saint in the desert. The spandrel between these scenes shows the coat-of-arms of king Manuel I. The statue with the sword in the niche of the pier probably represents Henry the Navigator. Wherever one looks in the archivolt and tympanum, one sees all the elements of the Manueline style.

The Madonna of Belém stands on a pedestal on top of the archivolt, above it stands a statue of the Archangel Michael and on top of the portal stands the cross of the Order of Christ. The portal is harmoniously flanked on each side by a large window with richly decorated mouldings.

Western portal

This western portal is a good example of the transition from the Gothic style to Renaissance. It was built by Nicolau Chanterene in 1517. This was probably his first commission in Portugal. It is now spanned by a vestibule, added in the 19th century, that forms a transition between the church and the ambulatory.

The tympanum depicts the Annunciation, the Nativity, and the Epiphany. Two angels, holdings the arms of Portugal, close the archivolt. The splays on each side of the portal are filled with statues, among them king Manuel I and his second wife Maria of Aragón, kneeling in a niche under a lavishly decorated baldachin. They are flanked by their patron saints St. Jeronimos and John the Baptist.

The supporting corbels are decorated with little angels holding the coat-of-arms and, at the side of the king, an armillary sphere and, at the side of the queen, three blooming twigs

Interior

Diogo Boitac laid the foundations for this three-aisled church with five bays under a single vault, a clearly marked but only slightly projecting transept and a raised choir. The aisles and the nave are of about equal height in the manner of a hall church. Boitac built the walls of the church as far as the cornices and then started with the construction of the adjoining monastery.

João de Castilho, a Spanish architect and sculptor, continued the construction in 1517. He completed the retaining walls and the unique single-span ribbed vault, a combination of stellar vaulting and tracery vaults spanning the 19 m-wide church. Each set of ribs in the vaulting is secured by bosses. The bold design (1522) of the transversal vault of the transept lacks any piers or columns, while Boitac had originally planned three bays in the transept. The unsupported vault of the transept gives the viewer the impression as if it floats in the air.

He also ornamented the six 25m-high, slender, articulated, octagonal columns with refined grotesque or floral motives announcing the Renaissance style. The northern column closest to the transept shows a medallion that probably is a portrait of Boitac or João de Castilho.

The end result of the construction of this Late Gothic hall church is aesthetically and architecturally a masterwork. It augments the spatial effect of this vast building.

At the end of the side aisles and on both sides of the choir stand Manueline altars dating from the 16th and the 17th centuries. They are decorated with carved work in golden and green colours. One of them has a statue of St. Jerome in multi-coloured enamelled terracotta.

This chancel was ordered by Queen Catherine of Habsburg as the final resting place for the royal family. It is the work of Jerónimo de Ruão (Jean de Rouen) in Classical style. The royal tombs rest on marble elephants and are set between Ionic pillars, topped by Corinthian pillars. The tombs on the left side of the choir belong to king Manuel I and his wife Maria of Aragon, while the tombs on the right side belong to King João III and his wife Queen Catherine of Habsburg.

Within the church, close to the western portal, are the stone tombs of Vasco da Gama (1468-1523), and of the great poet and recorder of the discoveries, Luís de Camões (1527-1570). Both tombs were sculpted by the nineteenth century sculptor Costa Mota in a harmonious neo-Manueline style. The mortal remains of both were transferred to these tombs in 1880.

Monastery

Work on the vast square cloister (55 x 55 m) of the monastery was begun by Boitac. He built the groin vaults with wide arches and windows with tracery resting on delicate mullions. João de Castilho finished the construction by giving the lower storey a classical overlay and building a more recessed upper storey. The construction of such a two-storey cloister was a novelty at the time. Castilho changed the original round columns of Boitac into rectangular ones. He put Plateresque-style ornaments on it.

Each wing consists of six bays with tracery vaults. The four inner bays rest on massive buttresses, forming broad arcades. The corner bays are linked by a diagonal arched construction and show the richly decorated corner pillars.

The inside walls of the cloister have a wealth of Manueline motives with nautical ornaments, and European, Moorish ans eastern elements. The decorations on the outer walls of the inner courtyard were made in Plateresco style by Castilho. This ornamentation on the walls and the traceried arches of the arcades give the construction a filigree aspect.

The round arches and the horizontal structure are clearly in line with the Renaissance style, while at the same time there is also a relationship with Spanish architecture.

One of the arcades contains the sober tomb of the poet Fernando Pessoa. There are several tombs in the chapter house : poet and playwright Almeida Garrett (1799-1854), writer-historian Alexandre Herculano (1810-1877), president Teófilo Braga (1843-1924) and president Óscar Carmona (1869-1951). The refectory across the chapter house has several azulejos tiles from the 17th century.

The cloister had a religious function as well as a representative function by its decorative ornamentation and the dynastic symbolic motives, such as the armillarium, coat-of-arms, and the cross from the Order of Christ, showing the growing world power of Portugal.

In an extension, added to the monastery during the restoration 1850, is located the Museu Nacional de Arqueologia (National Archaeological Museum). The Museu da Marinha (Maritime Museum) is located in the west wing.

The church and the monastery, like the nearby Torre de Belém and Padrão dos Descobrimentos, symbolises the Portuguese Age of Discovery and is among the main tourist attractions of Lisbon.

 

Português

  

Museu da Marinha

pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museu_da_marinha

   

O Museu remonta a 1863, quando D. Luís decretou a constituição de uma colecção de testemunhos relacionados com a actividade marítima portuguesa.

 

Depois de passar por vários espaços, nomeadamente o palácio dos Condes de Farrobo nas Laranjeiras, em Lisboa, onde esteve de 1949 até 1962, ano em que se instalou nas alas Norte e Poente do Mosteiro dos Jerónimos. Considerado Organismo Cultural da Marinha de Guerra Portuguesa, a sua missão, mais do que relevar exclusivamente os assuntos militares navais, é salvaguardar e divulgar o passado marítimo português e tudo o que se relaciona com os mais diversos aspectos e actividades humanas no mar.

A Marine with Individual Training Course, Marine Special Operations School, Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command, patrols through a forest during a fire and maneuver exercise Sept. 24, 2010 aboard Camp Lejeune, NC. The exercise was the culminating event of a weapons and tactics package the course conducted that week. (Official U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Thomas W. Provost/Released)

Our end of 2022 Summer Arts for Learning Academy performances and art exhibit at Dorothy I Height Elementary Middle School included dance, visual arts, a drumming, filmmaking, theatre, and FUN!

UnionDocs presents the first screening of the Optical Boundaries tour. This program features three filmmakers whose respective works explore a variety of environments as well as the formal properties of the film medium. Though working independently, their films culminate in an examination of the film material as a true document of past and present. Each artist calls attention to the process of separation and recombination through the use of discarded View-master cells, appropriated 16mm nature footage, and a kaleidoscopic amalgam of the new and old world.

Program runtime approximately 60 minutes.

 

HHOOWWLLby Steve Cossman

USA, 2010, 7 minutes, 16mm

Shot on a Kodak Cine II special effects camera, a collection of recognizable masks are captured and layered on film. The screaming colors fuse together in a choir of haunting forms, slipping and melting on the screens surface.

 

CRUSHERby Steve Cossman

USA, 2010 video transferred to 16mm

An unabridged photograph translated from its still print. Read left to right, pixel by pixel, CRUSHER mechanically sequences single color as single frame creating organic waves of color.

 

TUSSLEMUSCLE by Steve Cossman

USA, 2007-9, 5 minutes, 16mm

The work presented is a reflection on humanity’s ecological relationship and the ritual of restoration. The violent pulse speaks with a sense of urgency and chaotic struggle while the hypnotic arrangement keeps us in blinding awe us to its condition. TUSSLEMUSCLE is composed of 7,000 single frames, which were appropriated from view-master reel cells. Each frame was hand-spliced to create a linear film-strip.

 

tonal tideby Ross Nugent

USA, 2009,9 minutes, 16mm

This camera-less film was conceived as a darkroom performance to expose the potential and vulnerability of the color film stock at hand. Both the image and sound were created by flashing raw stock; a peculiar pattern emerged in the soundtrack area as light was scattered by the edge of the film base.

 

Spillway Study/ Carpe Diezby Ross Nugent

USA, 2010, 8 minutes, 16mm

This three-projector piece was created as a color separation project using 16mm Kodachrome nature photography footage from the late ‘70s as its source. The original was optically printed onto three strands and arranged to simultaneously abstract and call attention to the forces at hand. Using a primary color filter on each projector (R-G-B) and some precise hand-jiving, I combine the images and tease out a range colors.

 

Sahara Mosaic by Fern Silva

USA, 2009, 10 minutes, 16mm

An orientalist kaleidoscope that constitutes a geographically complex yet cinematic whole. From Egypt to Las Vegas: the old and the new world are reflected and doubled in this experimental travelogue.

 

Steve Cossman received his BFA in Sculpture from Albright College and went on to study Animation in the Czech Republic at FAMU. After returning to the United States, he worked as artist assistant to John Chamberlain from 2006-2009 during which his focus turned primarily to film and video work. Currently he lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. There he is founder/director of Mono No Aware, an ‘annual exhibition of expanded cinema’ showcasing contemporary artists who incorporate live projections as part of their work. Cossman believes that ‘time is constantly moving within a framework of units and that this irrepressible motion is the nexus of human experience’. Working to create a resonating interval, he often re-structures a familiar sequence within a patterned visual language causing the viewer to give thought to established perceptional relationships. Recent film screenings of his work include Ann Arbor Film Festival, Chicago Underground Film Festival, Milwaukee Underground Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, and VideoEx in Zurich. His work can be found in the collections of the University of Seattle, WA, University of Hartford Art School, and The Len Lye Foundation, New Zealand. A solo show of his video works will be held in March 2011 at Trinity College, CT.

 

Ross Nugent hails from wilds of Western Pennsylvania. He earned a BA in Film Studies at the University of Pittsburgh and studied film and video production at Pittsburgh Filmmakers, where he began working in media exhibition in 2003. Ross served as the Exhibition Coordinator from 2005-2008, and matriculated to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to pursue an MFA in Film. He is also the Program Manager of the UWM Union Theatre, the Faculty Advisor for the Milwaukee Underground Film Festival, and an instructor in the Film Dept.

His film, video, installation, and sculptural work is rooted in using process-oriented techniques of film production, including contact and optical printing, and examines nostalgia and decay as mediated through cinema. Poetic gestures emerge through hand-manipulation of film material, which serves as the impetus for many of his artistic endeavors. His current work includes live cinema projects. Exhibitions of these multi-projector performances include The Museum of Modern Art (NYC) as part of a group show utilizing Analyst projectors, Mono No Aware (NYC), and recently at the Onion City Experimental Film and Video Festival (Chicago).

 

Since 2005, Fern Silva has been an active filmmaker whose personal journeys and impulsery disposition give rise to his visionary process. He has created a body of film, video, and projection work that conveys a congruent existence through the aesthetics of reflections and detriments within controlled microcosms. His work has been screened and performed at various festivals, galleries, and cinematheques including International Film Festival Rotterdam, New York Film Festival, Anthology Film Archive, Images Festival, IndieLisboa International Film Festival, Bangkok Experimental Film Festival, Biennale Bandits-Mages Festival, Roulette Gallery, Millennium Film Workshop, White Box Gallery, 119 Gallery, and P.S.1. Fern Silva is from central Connecticut, he received a BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and his MFA from Bard College. Fern will be screening two works as part of this years Views from the Avant-Garde.

 

UnionDocs presents the first screening of the Optical Boundaries tour. This program features three filmmakers whose respective works explore a variety of environments as well as the formal properties of the film medium. Though working independently, their films culminate in an examination of the film material as a true document of past and present. Each artist calls attention to the process of separation and recombination through the use of discarded View-master cells, appropriated 16mm nature footage, and a kaleidoscopic amalgam of the new and old world.

Program runtime approximately 60 minutes.

 

HHOOWWLLby Steve Cossman

USA, 2010, 7 minutes, 16mm

Shot on a Kodak Cine II special effects camera, a collection of recognizable masks are captured and layered on film. The screaming colors fuse together in a choir of haunting forms, slipping and melting on the screens surface.

 

CRUSHERby Steve Cossman

USA, 2010 video transferred to 16mm

An unabridged photograph translated from its still print. Read left to right, pixel by pixel, CRUSHER mechanically sequences single color as single frame creating organic waves of color.

 

TUSSLEMUSCLE by Steve Cossman

USA, 2007-9, 5 minutes, 16mm

The work presented is a reflection on humanity’s ecological relationship and the ritual of restoration. The violent pulse speaks with a sense of urgency and chaotic struggle while the hypnotic arrangement keeps us in blinding awe us to its condition. TUSSLEMUSCLE is composed of 7,000 single frames, which were appropriated from view-master reel cells. Each frame was hand-spliced to create a linear film-strip.

 

tonal tide by Ross Nugent

USA, 2009,9 minutes, 16mm

This camera-less film was conceived as a darkroom performance to expose the potential and vulnerability of the color film stock at hand. Both the image and sound were created by flashing raw stock; a peculiar pattern emerged in the soundtrack area as light was scattered by the edge of the film base.

 

Spillway Study/ Carpe Diez by Ross Nugent

USA, 2010, 8 minutes, 16mm

This three-projector piece was created as a color separation project using 16mm Kodachrome nature photography footage from the late ‘70s as its source. The original was optically printed onto three strands and arranged to simultaneously abstract and call attention to the forces at hand. Using a primary color filter on each projector (R-G-B) and some precise hand-jiving, I combine the images and tease out a range colors.

 

Sahara Mosaic by Fern Silva

USA, 2009, 10 minutes, 16mm

An orientalist kaleidoscope that constitutes a geographically complex yet cinematic whole. From Egypt to Las Vegas: the old and the new world are reflected and doubled in this experimental travelogue.

 

Steve Cossman received his BFA in Sculpture from Albright College and went on to study Animation in the Czech Republic at FAMU. After returning to the United States, he worked as artist assistant to John Chamberlain from 2006-2009 during which his focus turned primarily to film and video work. Currently he lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. There he is founder/director of Mono No Aware, an ‘annual exhibition of expanded cinema’ showcasing contemporary artists who incorporate live projections as part of their work. Cossman believes that ‘time is constantly moving within a framework of units and that this irrepressible motion is the nexus of human experience’. Working to create a resonating interval, he often re-structures a familiar sequence within a patterned visual language causing the viewer to give thought to established perceptional relationships. Recent film screenings of his work include Ann Arbor Film Festival, Chicago Underground Film Festival, Milwaukee Underground Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, and VideoEx in Zurich. His work can be found in the collections of the University of Seattle, WA, University of Hartford Art School, and The Len Lye Foundation, New Zealand. A solo show of his video works will be held in March 2011 at Trinity College, CT.

 

Ross Nugent hails from wilds of Western Pennsylvania. He earned a BA in Film Studies at the University of Pittsburgh and studied film and video production at Pittsburgh Filmmakers, where he began working in media exhibition in 2003. Ross served as the Exhibition Coordinator from 2005-2008, and matriculated to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to pursue an MFA in Film. He is also the Program Manager of the UWM Union Theatre, the Faculty Advisor for the Milwaukee Underground Film Festival, and an instructor in the Film Dept.

His film, video, installation, and sculptural work is rooted in using process-oriented techniques of film production, including contact and optical printing, and examines nostalgia and decay as mediated through cinema. Poetic gestures emerge through hand-manipulation of film material, which serves as the impetus for many of his artistic endeavors. His current work includes live cinema projects. Exhibitions of these multi-projector performances include The Museum of Modern Art (NYC) as part of a group show utilizing Analyst projectors, Mono No Aware (NYC), and recently at the Onion City Experimental Film and Video Festival (Chicago).

 

Since 2005, Fern Silva has been an active filmmaker whose personal journeys and impulsery disposition give rise to his visionary process. He has created a body of film, video, and projection work that conveys a congruent existence through the aesthetics of reflections and detriments within controlled microcosms. His work has been screened and performed at various festivals, galleries, and cinematheques including International Film Festival Rotterdam, New York Film Festival, Anthology Film Archive, Images Festival, IndieLisboa International Film Festival, Bangkok Experimental Film Festival, Biennale Bandits-Mages Festival, Roulette Gallery, Millennium Film Workshop, White Box Gallery, 119 Gallery, and P.S.1. Fern Silva is from central Connecticut, he received a BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and his MFA from Bard College. Fern will be screening two works as part of this years Views from the Avant-Garde.

Spc. Chelsea Brooks, a human intelligence collector assigned to Company B, 109th Military Intelligence Battalion, 201st Expeditionary Military Intelligence Brigade, watches a restrained simulated villager after entering a training site portraying a town during the first military intelligence culminating training exercise at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, October 20. The exercise is used to certify military intelligence units before deploying.

The three-day motorcycling event, which culminates in the Brighton Burn Up, celebrates the history, culture and style of Ace Cafe London and always proves to be a hugely-popular event.

Motorcyclists from across the UK and as far afield as Europe converge on Madeira Drive to celebrate one of the biggest motor bike events.

Riders from different age groups and clubs came to mark this special anniversary event, with the late autumn sunshine bringing even more people to the seafront to witness the spectacle.

Ace Cafe is the famous bikers’ cafe off London’s North Circular Road.

It was built in the 1930s for hauliers but was later used as a gathering place for motorcyclists in the post-war rock ‘n’ roll culture.

It closed in 1969, but made a comeback in 1993.

 

"A one-story house with a richly designed late Baroque facade culminating in a gable. To the left of the main facade, a single-axis late classicist facade (wall of the alley) with an entrance and a triangular pediment. Gothic cellars and partly masonry. Facade from around 1740, late rect." - info from the National Monument Institute.

 

"Kutná Hora (Czech pronunciation: [ˈkutnaː ˈɦora]; medieval Czech: Hory Kutné; German: Kuttenberg) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 21,000 inhabitants. The centre of Kutná Hora, including the Sedlec Abbey and its ossuary, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995 because of its outstanding architecture and its influence on subsequent architectural developments in other Central European city centres. Since 1961, the town centre is also protected by law as an urban monument reservation, the fourth largest in the country.

 

Kutná Hora is located about 52 kilometres (32 mi) east of Prague. The eastern part of the municipal territory lies in a flat agricultural landscape of the Central Elbe Table lowland. The western part lies in the Upper Sázava Hills and includes the highest point of Kutná Hora, the hill Malý Kuklík at 359 m (1,178 ft) above sea level. The Vrchlice Stream flows through the town.

 

Bohemia (Latin Bohemia, German Böhmen, Polish Czechy) is a region in the west of the Czech Republic. Previously, as a kingdom, they were the center of the Czech Crown. The root of the word Czech probably corresponds to the meaning of man. The Latin equivalent of Bohemia, originally Boiohaemum (literally "land of Battles"), which over time also influenced the names in other languages, is derived from the Celtic tribe of the Boios, who lived in this area from the 4th to the 1st century BC Bohemia on it borders Germany in the west, Austria in the south, Moravia in the east and Poland in the north. Geographically, they are bounded from the north, west and south by a chain of mountains, the highest of which are the Krkonoše Mountains, in which the highest mountain of Bohemia, Sněžka, is also located. The most important rivers are the Elbe and the Vltava, with the fertile Polabean Plain extending around the Elbe. The capital and largest city of Bohemia is Prague, other important cities include, for example, Pilsen, Karlovy Vary, Kladno, Ústí nad Labem, Liberec, Hradec Králové, Pardubice and České Budějovice, Jihlava also lies partly on the historical territory of Bohemia." - info from Wikipedia.

 

Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.

 

Now on Instagram.

 

Become a patron to my photography on Patreon or donate.

Carissa Moore Wins Billabong Rio Pro, Gilmore Knocked Out of ASP World Title Race

 

BARRA DA TIJUCA, Rio de Janeiro/Brazil (Sunday, May 15, 2011) – Carissa Moore (HAW), 18, has claimed the Billabong Rio Pro, stop No. 5 of 7 on the 2011 ASP Women’s World Title Season, over Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), 20, in punchy two-to-four foot (1 metre) waves in a hard-fought Final at Barra Da Tijuca.

 

The electrifying action of the final day of women’s competition at Barra da Tijuca culminated in dramatic fashion with the world’s best female surfers going toe-to-toe with the highly-coveted 2011 ASP Women’s World Title on the line.

 

Moore and Fitzgibbons nearly matched scores on their opening accounts, but the young Hawaiian notched a solid 8.10 midway through the heat with polished backhand surfing on a lefthander that proved to be enough to solidify Moore’s third elite event victory of the 2011 season.

 

“I just went out there and had fun and to me there was no pressure in the Final,” Moore said. “I was just stoked to be in the Final regardless of how I finished. Obviously I’m happy that I won. The girls really didn’t go on those lefts, but they worked out for me today.”

 

Moore, who marched past local favorite Silvana Lima (BRA), 26, to earn her final berth, appeared in her fifth consecutive final out of the five events held this year and her victory at the Billabong Rio Pro extends her lead on the 2011 ASP Women’s World Title Season over current ASP Women’s World No. 2 Sally Fitzgibbons.

 

“I was really nervous that I wouldn’t make the Final because I was up against Silvana (Lima) and she’s the local favorite,” Moore said. ““I’m excited. We have two events left and it’d be nice to just finish really strong.”

 

Fitzgibbons built momentum throughout the Billabong Rio Pro, winning her non-elimination Round 3 heat before topping ASP Women’s World Tour Rookie Pauline Ado (FRA), 20, and Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 22, but was unable to find the score needed to surpass Moore in the final and continues to trail the Oahu prodigy for the 2011 ASP Women’s World Title.

 

“It’s a long year and there are a couple of events to go and it has been great here competing in Rio for the first time,” Fitzgibbons said. “Looking into the next few events it’s really going to be about stepping it up and having fun and focusing on my surfing. Hopefully I can get a few more results.”

 

Moore and Fitzgibbons remain the only two surfers in contention for the 2011 ASP Women’s World Title.

 

Stephanie Gilmore, reigning four-time ASP World Champion, was lethal in her Quarterfinals heat against Laura Enever (AUS), 19, but was unable to find the score needed to surpass Fitzgibbons in their Semifinals matchup, finishing Equal 3rd overall.

 

“It was tough work out there,” Gilmore said. “Sally (Fitzgibbons) got a couple and I had some opportunities. I only needed a six and was too deep on that wave that came in at the end. Sally’s in the zone right now.”

 

Gilmore, who made surfing history by winning four ASP Women’s World Titles in four consecutive attempts, was knocked out of the 2011 ASP Women’s World Title race today, with her failure to advance past Fitzgibbons and into the Final. This historic moment in women’s sport proved emotional for the Australian icon.

 

“I’m going through so many emotions right now, it’s hard,” Gilmore said. “It’s been a pretty good year and Sally and Carissa (Moore) have been on fire. It’s good for the sport and good for me. I really don’t know what to say.”

 

Silvana Lima (BRA), 26, put on an impressive performance in front of her hometown crowd to match her best result of 2011. The talented Brazilian finished behind Carissa Moore in their Semifinals matchup and was happy to tie her best result of the season at her home event.

 

“I’m so excited to have matched my best result in front of my home crowd,” Lima said. “Of course I wanted to make the Final, but I’m so happy with my result and thanks to everyone for all of the support.”

 

When men’s competition begins, 2010 ASP Rookie of the year Owen Wright (AUS), 21, will surf against Heitor Alves (BRA), 29, and Bobby Martinez (USA), 28, in Heat 1.

 

A call will be made at 7am local time tomorrow morning for a possible start to men’s Billabong Rio Pro competition.

 

The Billabong Rio Pro men’s waiting period runs from May 11 through 22 and is webcast LIVE via www.billabongpro.com

 

For additional ASP information log on to www.aspworldtour.com.

 

Billabong Rio Pro Final Results:

1 – Carissa Moore (HAW) 14.87

2 – Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 13.80

 

Billabong Rio Pro Semifinals Results:

SF 1: Carissa Moore (HAW) 13.67 def. Silvana Lima (BRA) 10.33

SF 2: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 13.16 def. Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 9.23

 

Billabong Rio Pro Quarterfinals Results:

QF 1: Silvana Lima (BRA) 13.63 def. Tyler Wright (AUS) 12.27

QF 2: Carissa Moore (HAW) 11.50 def. Courtney Conlogue (USA) 9.93

QF 3: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 12.44 def. Pauline Ado (FRA) 10.97

QF 4: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 15.10 def. Laura Enever (AUS) 9.57

 

Billabong Rio Pro Women’s Round 4 Results:

Heat 1: Silvana Lima (BRA) 14.33 def. Paige Hareb (NZL) 9.30

Heat 2: Courtney Conlogue (USA) 15.63 def. Alana Blanchard (HAW) 10.14

Heat 3: Pauline Ado (FRA) 12.40 def. Coco Ho (HAW) 11.03

Heat 4: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 13.84 def. Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 9.24

 

Billabong Rio Pro Women’s Round 3 Results:

Heat 1: Tyler Wright (AUS) 12.50, Silvana Lima (BRA) 7.14, Alana Blanchard (HAW) 1.97

Heat 2: Carissa Moore (HAW) 11.83, Courtney Conlogue (USA) 11.26, Paige Hareb (NZL) 4.66

Heat 3: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 13.17, Pauline Ado (FRA) 10.73, Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 8.00

Heat 4: Laura Enever (AUS) 11.66, Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 9.00, Coco Ho (HAW) 9.00

 

ASP Women’s World Title Top 5 (After Billabong Rio Pro):

1. Carissa Moore (HAW) 47,000 pts

2. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 41,650 pts

3. Tyler Wright (AUS) 30,620 pts

4. Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 29,350 pts

5. Silvana Lima (BRA) 27,920 pts

 

Billabong Rio Pro Men's Round 1 Match Ups:

Heat 1: Owen Wright (AUS), Heitor Alves (BRA), Bobby Martinez (USA)

Heat 2: Adrian Buchan (AUS), Adam Melling (AUS), Kai Otton (AUS)

Heat 3: Taj Burrow (AUS), Alejo Muniz (BRA), TBA

Heat 4: Mick Fanning (AUS), Dusty Payne (HAW), TBA

Heat 5: Jordy Smith (ZAF), Patrick Gudauskas (USA), TBA

Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA), Julian Wilson (AUS), TBA

Heat 7: Bede Durbidge (AUS), Jadson Andre (BRA), Gabe Kling (USA)

Heat 8: Jeremy Flores (FRA), C.J. Hobgood (USA), Josh Kerr (AUS)

Heat 9: Damien Hobgood (USA), Tiago Pires (PRT), Raoni Monteiro (BRA)

Heat 10: Michel Bourez (PYF), Chris Davidson (AUS), Cory Lopez (USA)

Heat 11: Adriano de Souza (BRA), Kieren Perrow (AUS), Daniel Ross (AUS)

Heat 12: Joel Parkinson (AUS), Matt Wilkinson (AUS), Taylor Knox (USA)

 

Photo © ASP / CESTARI

Palaikythro (Greek: Παλαίκυθρο, Turkish: Balıkesir) is a village in the Nicosia District of Cyprus, located 6 km south of Kythrea, on the main Nicosia-Famagusta highway. The village is under de facto control of Northern Cyprus.

 

Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all other states to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.

 

Northern Cyprus extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula in the northeast to Morphou Bay, Cape Kormakitis and its westernmost point, the Kokkina exclave in the west. Its southernmost point is the village of Louroujina. A buffer zone under the control of the United Nations stretches between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the island and divides Nicosia, the island's largest city and capital of both sides.

 

A coup d'état in 1974, performed as part of an attempt to annex the island to Greece, prompted the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This resulted in the eviction of much of the north's Greek Cypriot population, the flight of Turkish Cypriots from the south, and the partitioning of the island, leading to a unilateral declaration of independence by the north in 1983. Due to its lack of recognition, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic, political and military support.

 

Attempts to reach a solution to the Cyprus dispute have been unsuccessful. The Turkish Army maintains a large force in Northern Cyprus with the support and approval of the TRNC government, while the Republic of Cyprus, the European Union as a whole, and the international community regard it as an occupation force. This military presence has been denounced in several United Nations Security Council resolutions.

 

Northern Cyprus is a semi-presidential, democratic republic with a cultural heritage incorporating various influences and an economy that is dominated by the services sector. The economy has seen growth through the 2000s and 2010s, with the GNP per capita more than tripling in the 2000s, but is held back by an international embargo due to the official closure of the ports in Northern Cyprus by the Republic of Cyprus. The official language is Turkish, with a distinct local dialect being spoken. The vast majority of the population consists of Sunni Muslims, while religious attitudes are mostly moderate and secular. Northern Cyprus is an observer state of ECO and OIC under the name "Turkish Cypriot State", PACE under the name "Turkish Cypriot Community", and Organization of Turkic States with its own name.

 

Several distinct periods of Cypriot intercommunal violence involving the two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, marked mid-20th century Cyprus. These included the Cyprus Emergency of 1955–59 during British rule, the post-independence Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, and the Cyprus crisis of 1967. Hostilities culminated in the 1974 de facto division of the island along the Green Line following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The region has been relatively peaceful since then, but the Cyprus dispute has continued, with various attempts to solve it diplomatically having been generally unsuccessful.

 

Cyprus, an island lying in the eastern Mediterranean, hosted a population of Greeks and Turks (four-fifths and one-fifth, respectively), who lived under British rule in the late nineteenth-century and the first half of the twentieth-century. Christian Orthodox Church of Cyprus played a prominent political role among the Greek Cypriot community, a privilege that it acquired during the Ottoman Empire with the employment of the millet system, which gave the archbishop an unofficial ethnarch status.

 

The repeated rejections by the British of Greek Cypriot demands for enosis, union with Greece, led to armed resistance, organised by the National Organization of Cypriot Struggle, or EOKA. EOKA, led by the Greek-Cypriot commander George Grivas, systematically targeted British colonial authorities. One of the effects of EOKA's campaign was to alter the Turkish position from demanding full reincorporation into Turkey to a demand for taksim (partition). EOKA's mission and activities caused a "Cretan syndrome" (see Turkish Resistance Organisation) within the Turkish Cypriot community, as its members feared that they would be forced to leave the island in such a case as had been the case with Cretan Turks. As such, they preferred the continuation of British colonial rule and then taksim, the division of the island. Due to the Turkish Cypriots' support for the British, EOKA's leader, Georgios Grivas, declared them to be enemies. The fact that the Turks were a minority was, according to Nihat Erim, to be addressed by the transfer of thousands of Turks from mainland Turkey so that Greek Cypriots would cease to be the majority. When Erim visited Cyprus as the Turkish representative, he was advised by Field Marshal Sir John Harding, the then Governor of Cyprus, that Turkey should send educated Turks to settle in Cyprus.

 

Turkey actively promoted the idea that on the island of Cyprus two distinctive communities existed, and sidestepped its former claim that "the people of Cyprus were all Turkish subjects". In doing so, Turkey's aim to have self-determination of two to-be equal communities in effect led to de jure partition of the island.[citation needed] This could be justified to the international community against the will of the majority Greek population of the island. Dr. Fazil Küçük in 1954 had already proposed Cyprus be divided in two at the 35° parallel.

 

Lindley Dan, from Notre Dame University, spotted the roots of intercommunal violence to different visions among the two communities of Cyprus (enosis for Greek Cypriots, taksim for Turkish Cypriots). Also, Lindlay wrote that "the merging of church, schools/education, and politics in divisive and nationalistic ways" had played a crucial role in creation of havoc in Cyprus' history. Attalides Michael also pointed to the opposing nationalisms as the cause of the Cyprus problem.

 

By the mid-1950's, the "Cyprus is Turkish" party, movement, and slogan gained force in both Cyprus and Turkey. In a 1954 editorial, Turkish Cypriot leader Dr. Fazil Kuchuk expressed the sentiment that the Turkish youth had grown up with the idea that "as soon as Great Britain leaves the island, it will be taken over by the Turks", and that "Turkey cannot tolerate otherwise". This perspective contributed to the willingness of Turkish Cypriots to align themselves with the British, who started recruiting Turkish Cypriots into the police force that patrolled Cyprus to fight EOKA, a Greek Cypriot nationalist organisation that sought to rid the island of British rule.

 

EOKA targeted colonial authorities, including police, but Georgios Grivas, the leader of EOKA, did not initially wish to open up a new front by fighting Turkish Cypriots and reassured them that EOKA would not harm their people. In 1956, some Turkish Cypriot policemen were killed by EOKA members and this provoked some intercommunal violence in the spring and summer, but these attacks on policemen were not motivated by the fact that they were Turkish Cypriots.

 

However, in January 1957, Grivas changed his policy as his forces in the mountains became increasingly pressured by the British Crown forces. In order to divert the attention of the Crown forces, EOKA members started to target Turkish Cypriot policemen intentionally in the towns, so that Turkish Cypriots would riot against the Greek Cypriots and the security forces would have to be diverted to the towns to restore order. The killing of a Turkish Cypriot policeman on 19 January, when a power station was bombed, and the injury of three others, provoked three days of intercommunal violence in Nicosia. The two communities targeted each other in reprisals, at least one Greek Cypriot was killed and the British Army was deployed in the streets. Greek Cypriot stores were burned and their neighbourhoods attacked. Following the events, the Greek Cypriot leadership spread the propaganda that the riots had merely been an act of Turkish Cypriot aggression. Such events created chaos and drove the communities apart both in Cyprus and in Turkey.

 

On 22 October 1957 Sir Hugh Mackintosh Foot replaced Sir John Harding as the British Governor of Cyprus. Foot suggested five to seven years of self-government before any final decision. His plan rejected both enosis and taksim. The Turkish Cypriot response to this plan was a series of anti-British demonstrations in Nicosia on 27 and 28 January 1958 rejecting the proposed plan because the plan did not include partition. The British then withdrew the plan.

 

In 1957, Black Gang, a Turkish Cypriot pro-taksim paramilitary organisation, was formed to patrol a Turkish Cypriot enclave, the Tahtakale district of Nicosia, against activities of EOKA. The organisation later attempted to grow into a national scale, but failed to gain public support.

 

By 1958, signs of dissatisfaction with the British increased on both sides, with a group of Turkish Cypriots forming Volkan (later renamed to the Turkish Resistance Organisation) paramilitary group to promote partition and the annexation of Cyprus to Turkey as dictated by the Menderes plan. Volkan initially consisted of roughly 100 members, with the stated aim of raising awareness in Turkey of the Cyprus issue and courting military training and support for Turkish Cypriot fighters from the Turkish government.

 

In June 1958, the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, was expected to propose a plan to resolve the Cyprus issue. In light of the new development, the Turks rioted in Nicosia to promote the idea that Greek and Turkish Cypriots could not live together and therefore any plan that did not include partition would not be viable. This violence was soon followed by bombing, Greek Cypriot deaths and looting of Greek Cypriot-owned shops and houses. Greek and Turkish Cypriots started to flee mixed population villages where they were a minority in search of safety. This was effectively the beginning of the segregation of the two communities. On 7 June 1958, a bomb exploded at the entrance of the Turkish Embassy in Cyprus. Following the bombing, Turkish Cypriots looted Greek Cypriot properties. On 26 June 1984, the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, admitted on British channel ITV that the bomb was placed by the Turks themselves in order to create tension. On 9 January 1995, Rauf Denktaş repeated his claim to the famous Turkish newspaper Milliyet in Turkey.

 

The crisis reached a climax on 12 June 1958, when eight Greeks, out of an armed group of thirty five arrested by soldiers of the Royal Horse Guards on suspicion of preparing an attack on the Turkish quarter of Skylloura, were killed in a suspected attack by Turkish Cypriot locals, near the village of Geunyeli, having been ordered to walk back to their village of Kondemenos.

 

After the EOKA campaign had begun, the British government successfully began to turn the Cyprus issue from a British colonial problem into a Greek-Turkish issue. British diplomacy exerted backstage influence on the Adnan Menderes government, with the aim of making Turkey active in Cyprus. For the British, the attempt had a twofold objective. The EOKA campaign would be silenced as quickly as possible, and Turkish Cypriots would not side with Greek Cypriots against the British colonial claims over the island, which would thus remain under the British. The Turkish Cypriot leadership visited Menderes to discuss the Cyprus issue. When asked how the Turkish Cypriots should respond to the Greek Cypriot claim of enosis, Menderes replied: "You should go to the British foreign minister and request the status quo be prolonged, Cyprus to remain as a British colony". When the Turkish Cypriots visited the British Foreign Secretary and requested for Cyprus to remain a colony, he replied: "You should not be asking for colonialism at this day and age, you should be asking for Cyprus be returned to Turkey, its former owner".

 

As Turkish Cypriots began to look to Turkey for protection, Greek Cypriots soon understood that enosis was extremely unlikely. The Greek Cypriot leader, Archbishop Makarios III, now set independence for the island as his objective.

 

Britain resolved to solve the dispute by creating an independent Cyprus. In 1959, all involved parties signed the Zurich Agreements: Britain, Turkey, Greece, and the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Makarios and Dr. Fazil Kucuk, respectively. The new constitution drew heavily on the ethnic composition of the island. The President would be a Greek Cypriot, and the Vice-President a Turkish Cypriot with an equal veto. The contribution to the public service would be set at a ratio of 70:30, and the Supreme Court would consist of an equal number of judges from both communities as well as an independent judge who was not Greek, Turkish or British. The Zurich Agreements were supplemented by a number of treaties. The Treaty of Guarantee stated that secession or union with any state was forbidden, and that Greece, Turkey and Britain would be given guarantor status to intervene if that was violated. The Treaty of Alliance allowed for two small Greek and Turkish military contingents to be stationed on the island, and the Treaty of Establishment gave Britain sovereignty over two bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

 

On 15 August 1960, the Colony of Cyprus became fully independent as the Republic of Cyprus. The new republic remained within the Commonwealth of Nations.

 

The new constitution brought dissatisfaction to Greek Cypriots, who felt it to be highly unjust for them for historical, demographic and contributional reasons. Although 80% of the island's population were Greek Cypriots and these indigenous people had lived on the island for thousands of years and paid 94% of taxes, the new constitution was giving the 17% of the population that was Turkish Cypriots, who paid 6% of taxes, around 30% of government jobs and 40% of national security jobs.

 

Within three years tensions between the two communities in administrative affairs began to show. In particular disputes over separate municipalities and taxation created a deadlock in government. A constitutional court ruled in 1963 Makarios had failed to uphold article 173 of the constitution which called for the establishment of separate municipalities for Turkish Cypriots. Makarios subsequently declared his intention to ignore the judgement, resulting in the West German judge resigning from his position. Makarios proposed thirteen amendments to the constitution, which would have had the effect of resolving most of the issues in the Greek Cypriot favour. Under the proposals, the President and Vice-President would lose their veto, the separate municipalities as sought after by the Turkish Cypriots would be abandoned, the need for separate majorities by both communities in passing legislation would be discarded and the civil service contribution would be set at actual population ratios (82:18) instead of the slightly higher figure for Turkish Cypriots.

 

The intention behind the amendments has long been called into question. The Akritas plan, written in the height of the constitutional dispute by the Greek Cypriot interior minister Polycarpos Georkadjis, called for the removal of undesirable elements of the constitution so as to allow power-sharing to work. The plan envisaged a swift retaliatory attack on Turkish Cypriot strongholds should Turkish Cypriots resort to violence to resist the measures, stating "In the event of a planned or staged Turkish attack, it is imperative to overcome it by force in the shortest possible time, because if we succeed in gaining command of the situation (in one or two days), no outside, intervention would be either justified or possible." Whether Makarios's proposals were part of the Akritas plan is unclear, however it remains that sentiment towards enosis had not completely disappeared with independence. Makarios described independence as "a step on the road to enosis".[31] Preparations for conflict were not entirely absent from Turkish Cypriots either, with right wing elements still believing taksim (partition) the best safeguard against enosis.

 

Greek Cypriots however believe the amendments were a necessity stemming from a perceived attempt by Turkish Cypriots to frustrate the working of government. Turkish Cypriots saw it as a means to reduce their status within the state from one of co-founder to that of minority, seeing it as a first step towards enosis. The security situation deteriorated rapidly.

 

Main articles: Bloody Christmas (1963) and Battle of Tillyria

An armed conflict was triggered after December 21, 1963, a period remembered by Turkish Cypriots as Bloody Christmas, when a Greek Cypriot policemen that had been called to help deal with a taxi driver refusing officers already on the scene access to check the identification documents of his customers, took out his gun upon arrival and shot and killed the taxi driver and his partner. Eric Solsten summarised the events as follows: "a Greek Cypriot police patrol, ostensibly checking identification documents, stopped a Turkish Cypriot couple on the edge of the Turkish quarter. A hostile crowd gathered, shots were fired, and two Turkish Cypriots were killed."

 

In the morning after the shooting, crowds gathered in protest in Northern Nicosia, likely encouraged by the TMT, without incident. On the evening of the 22nd, gunfire broke out, communication lines to the Turkish neighbourhoods were cut, and the Greek Cypriot police occupied the nearby airport. On the 23rd, a ceasefire was negotiated, but did not hold. Fighting, including automatic weapons fire, between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and militias increased in Nicosia and Larnaca. A force of Greek Cypriot irregulars led by Nikos Sampson entered the Nicosia suburb of Omorphita and engaged in heavy firing on armed, as well as by some accounts unarmed, Turkish Cypriots. The Omorphita clash has been described by Turkish Cypriots as a massacre, while this view has generally not been acknowledged by Greek Cypriots.

 

Further ceasefires were arranged between the two sides, but also failed. By Christmas Eve, the 24th, Britain, Greece, and Turkey had joined talks, with all sides calling for a truce. On Christmas day, Turkish fighter jets overflew Nicosia in a show of support. Finally it was agreed to allow a force of 2,700 British soldiers to help enforce a ceasefire. In the next days, a "buffer zone" was created in Nicosia, and a British officer marked a line on a map with green ink, separating the two sides of the city, which was the beginning of the "Green Line". Fighting continued across the island for the next several weeks.

 

In total 364 Turkish Cypriots and 174 Greek Cypriots were killed during the violence. 25,000 Turkish Cypriots from 103-109 villages fled and were displaced into enclaves and thousands of Turkish Cypriot houses were ransacked or completely destroyed.

 

Contemporary newspapers also reported on the forceful exodus of the Turkish Cypriots from their homes. According to The Times in 1964, threats, shootings and attempts of arson were committed against the Turkish Cypriots to force them out of their homes. The Daily Express wrote that "25,000 Turks have already been forced to leave their homes". The Guardian reported a massacre of Turks at Limassol on 16 February 1964.

 

Turkey had by now readied its fleet and its fighter jets appeared over Nicosia. Turkey was dissuaded from direct involvement by the creation of a United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in 1964. Despite the negotiated ceasefire in Nicosia, attacks on the Turkish Cypriot persisted, particularly in Limassol. Concerned about the possibility of a Turkish invasion, Makarios undertook the creation of a Greek Cypriot conscript-based army called the "National Guard". A general from Greece took charge of the army, whilst a further 20,000 well-equipped officers and men were smuggled from Greece into Cyprus. Turkey threatened to intervene once more, but was prevented by a strongly worded letter from the American President Lyndon B. Johnson, anxious to avoid a conflict between NATO allies Greece and Turkey at the height of the Cold War.

 

Turkish Cypriots had by now established an important bridgehead at Kokkina, provided with arms, volunteers and materials from Turkey and abroad. Seeing this incursion of foreign weapons and troops as a major threat, the Cypriot government invited George Grivas to return from Greece as commander of the Greek troops on the island and launch a major attack on the bridgehead. Turkey retaliated by dispatching its fighter jets to bomb Greek positions, causing Makarios to threaten an attack on every Turkish Cypriot village on the island if the bombings did not cease. The conflict had now drawn in Greece and Turkey, with both countries amassing troops on their Thracian borders. Efforts at mediation by Dean Acheson, a former U.S. Secretary of State, and UN-appointed mediator Galo Plaza had failed, all the while the division of the two communities becoming more apparent. Greek Cypriot forces were estimated at some 30,000, including the National Guard and the large contingent from Greece. Defending the Turkish Cypriot enclaves was a force of approximately 5,000 irregulars, led by a Turkish colonel, but lacking the equipment and organisation of the Greek forces.

 

The Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1964, U Thant, reported the damage during the conflicts:

 

UNFICYP carried out a detailed survey of all damage to properties throughout the island during the disturbances; it shows that in 109 villages, most of them Turkish-Cypriot or mixed villages, 527 houses have been destroyed while 2,000 others have suffered damage from looting.

 

The situation worsened in 1967, when a military junta overthrew the democratically elected government of Greece, and began applying pressure on Makarios to achieve enosis. Makarios, not wishing to become part of a military dictatorship or trigger a Turkish invasion, began to distance himself from the goal of enosis. This caused tensions with the junta in Greece as well as George Grivas in Cyprus. Grivas's control over the National Guard and Greek contingent was seen as a threat to Makarios's position, who now feared a possible coup.[citation needed] The National Guard and Cyprus Police began patrolling the Turkish Cypriot enclaves of Ayios Theodoros and Kophinou, and on November 15 engaged in heavy fighting with the Turkish Cypriots.

 

By the time of his withdrawal 26 Turkish Cypriots had been killed. Turkey replied with an ultimatum demanding that Grivas be removed from the island, that the troops smuggled from Greece in excess of the limits of the Treaty of Alliance be removed, and that the economic blockades on the Turkish Cypriot enclaves be lifted. Grivas was recalled by the Athens Junta and the 12,000 Greek troops were withdrawn. Makarios now attempted to consolidate his position by reducing the number of National Guard troops, and by creating a paramilitary force loyal to Cypriot independence. In 1968, acknowledging that enosis was now all but impossible, Makarios stated, "A solution by necessity must be sought within the limits of what is feasible which does not always coincide with the limits of what is desirable."

 

After 1967 tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots subsided. Instead, the main source of tension on the island came from factions within the Greek Cypriot community. Although Makarios had effectively abandoned enosis in favour of an 'attainable solution', many others continued to believe that the only legitimate political aspiration for Greek Cypriots was union with Greece.

 

On his arrival, Grivas began by establishing a nationalist paramilitary group known as the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston B or EOKA-B), drawing comparisons with the EOKA struggle for enosis under the British colonial administration of the 1950s.

 

The military junta in Athens saw Makarios as an obstacle. Makarios's failure to disband the National Guard, whose officer class was dominated by mainland Greeks, had meant the junta had practical control over the Cypriot military establishment, leaving Makarios isolated and a vulnerable target.

 

During the first Turkish invasion, Turkish troops invaded Cyprus territory on 20 July 1974, invoking its rights under the Treaty of Guarantee. This expansion of Turkish-occupied zone violated International Law as well as the Charter of the United Nations. Turkish troops managed to capture 3% of the island which was accompanied by the burning of the Turkish Cypriot quarter, as well as the raping and killing of women and children. A temporary cease-fire followed which was mitigated by the UN Security Council. Subsequently, the Greek military Junta collapsed on July 23, 1974, and peace talks commenced in which a democratic government was installed. The Resolution 353 was broken after Turkey attacked a second time and managed to get a hold of 37% of Cyprus territory. The Island of Cyprus was appointed a Buffer Zone by the United Nations, which divided the island into two zones through the 'Green Line' and put an end to the Turkish invasion. Although Turkey announced that the occupied areas of Cyprus to be called the Federated Turkish State in 1975, it is not legitimised on a worldwide political scale. The United Nations called for the international recognition of independence for the Republic of Cyprus in the Security Council Resolution 367.

 

In the years after the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus one can observe a history of failed talks between the two parties. The 1983 declaration of the independent Turkish Republic of Cyprus resulted in a rise of inter-communal tensions and made it increasingly hard to find mutual understanding. With Cyprus' interest of a possible EU membership and a new UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1997 new hopes arose for a fresh start. International involvement from sides of the US and UK, wanting a solution to the Cyprus dispute prior to the EU accession led to political pressures for new talks. The believe that an accession without a solution would threaten Greek-Turkish relations and acknowledge the partition of the island would direct the coming negotiations.

 

Over the course of two years a concrete plan, the Annan plan was formulated. In 2004 the fifth version agreed upon from both sides and with the endorsement of Turkey, US, UK and EU then was presented to the public and was given a referendum in both Cypriot communities to assure the legitimisation of the resolution. The Turkish Cypriots voted with 65% for the plan, however the Greek Cypriots voted with a 76% majority against. The Annan plan contained multiple important topics. Firstly it established a confederation of two separate states called the United Cyprus Republic. Both communities would have autonomous states combined under one unified government. The members of parliament would be chosen according to the percentage in population numbers to ensure a just involvement from both communities. The paper proposed a demilitarisation of the island over the next years. Furthermore it agreed upon a number of 45000 Turkish settlers that could remain on the island. These settlers became a very important issue concerning peace talks. Originally the Turkish government encouraged Turks to settle in Cyprus providing transfer and property, to establish a counterpart to the Greek Cypriot population due to their 1 to 5 minority. With the economic situation many Turkish-Cypriot decided to leave the island, however their departure is made up by incoming Turkish settlers leaving the population ratio between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots stable. However all these points where criticised and as seen in the vote rejected mainly by the Greek Cypriots. These name the dissolution of the „Republic of Cyprus", economic consequences of a reunion and the remaining Turkish settlers as reason. Many claim that the plan was indeed drawing more from Turkish-Cypriot demands then Greek-Cypriot interests. Taking in consideration that the US wanted to keep Turkey as a strategic partner in future Middle Eastern conflicts.

 

A week after the failed referendum the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU. In multiple instances the EU tried to promote trade with Northern Cyprus but without internationally recognised ports this spiked a grand debate. Both side endure their intention of negotiations, however without the prospect of any new compromises or agreements the UN is unwilling to start the process again. Since 2004 negotiations took place in numbers but without any results, both sides are strongly holding on to their position without an agreeable solution in sight that would suit both parties.

Cadets from 2nd Regiment tackle their culminating Field Training Exercise (FTX) during Cadet Summer Training at Fort Knox, Ky., June 24, 2022. The FTX was Cadre assisted and had Cadets conduct various essential tasks, such as reconnaissance, ambushes, or assaults, against opposing forces. After 2nd Regiment finished with Panther, they will go on to point Grizzly, where the FTX will be completely lead by Cadets. | Photo by Nathan Abbott, CST Public Affairs Office.

Spc. Chelsea Brooks, a human intelligence collector assigned to Company B, 109th Military Intelligence Battalion, 201st Expeditionary Military Intelligence Brigade, watches a restrained simulated villager after entering a training site portraying a town during the first military intelligence culminating training exercise at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, October 20. The exercise is used to certify military intelligence units before deploying.

The Lambka Challenge was the culminating team-building exercise at the end of the first iteration of Cadet Basic Training for the new cadets of the Class of 2017. The challenge, July 19, was named in honor of 1st Lt. Todd Lambka, a Class of 2010 graduate and infantry officer who was killed in action while serving in Afghanistan. The Lambka Challenge was designed by the cadet cadre to test new cadets on their physical and mental development from the past three weeks of CBT on a sprawling course throughout West Point. U.S. Army photo by Mike Strasser/USMA PAO

 

Charles Joseph

Born in Alert Bay, British Columbia, in 1959

 

2014-2016

Red cedar, acrylic paint

 

Totem in the news

 

Private collection

 

Torn from their families and placed in residential schools run by various religious orders between 1820 and 1996, Canada's Indigenous peoples were victims of a cultural genocide, recognized by the Government of Canada on May 29, 2015. This totem pole pays tribute to all the children - Joseph included - all too familiar with the humiliations and suffering meted out at these institutions. The totem is a token of reconciliation and commemoration. It is the symbol of the Northwest Coast Kwakiutl people, and their strong sense of identity and pride.

 

PATRON’S FAMILY AND CEDAR RING

Faces of patron’s family, nine to twelve inches wide. Each face is different. Man’s face is bigger than his son’s, and carved differently. The placement of the patron and his family at the bottom represents the origin of this particular pole. It’s a representation of the foundation of the agreement culminating in the production of this work. This is something that Charles felt strongly about. Initially, he was planning to place the man higher on the pole, nearer the chief, but the final placement felt more appropriate and is a mark of commemoration and gratitude.

Above that is a cedar ring, which looks like a rope. It symbolizes safety and security. The Kwakiutl use cedar for everything, including rope. The cedar rings are used around the neck and wrists and also for skirts during dancing. All of the carvings that are being used on the current poles and walls comes from Charles’ great-grandfather James Wadham’s. The history line of these designs belonged to this man. Every family has significant designs that belong to their households.

 

WILD WOMAN

The next figure on the pole is the wild woman. She is nine feet four inches tall on her knees. She has children on her lap, one on each knee. They represent the children coming back from the residential school, and she is welcoming them home. She represents female tradition and culture. The women are responsible for keeping track of the family artistic and cultural traditions. They will talk about this before meals that are accompanied by leisure and family time. Sometimes they would also act out the stories, or dance them out. The high-ranking chiefs wear a wild woman mask when they retire from their chieftainship, if that is part of the tradition of their family treasure boxes. They do this to represent their respect for the tradition keeping that is characteristic of the women.

Charles tells the children who stop by his studio the story of the wild woman, who is often carved, and whose story was used to stop children from playing too carelessly in the forest when Charles was young. Frequently, in poles, the bear has the woman in between his legs, as if he is hugging her, and his arms raised, showing his claws. Inside the paws faces are carved, representing their eventual children.

On the chest of the wild woman there is a butterfly. The butterfly represents the Turner Island tribe that Charles comes from (Mumtagila Tlowitsis). The butterfly wings look like a heart, on which it says “welcome home” in English (because the children have just returned from school… and they lost their language). The butterfly, which is used in opening ceremonies, during potlatches, for example, or a feast, or when children are named, or coming of age (when they get new names and new dances), or marriages, or celebrations for life, as an alternative to grieving (or as healing for grief) is also on top of the Numas, who is the highest-ranking man, from before the great flood. It is the butterfly that shows Numa the dry land emerging from after the flood, which he envisioned. He had all the tribes make cedar ropes, hundreds of feet long, to tie all the canoes together during the flood. Some of the canoes broke away, however, drifting all around the world. Such ceremonies are often planned by whole families, and everyone plays at least some role (provisioning gifts, for example).

 

KILLER WHALE

The next figure is the killer whale: nine feet. The whale has seven faces, representing six tribes known to the government, and one whose existence is disputed or ignored. That’s Charles’ tribe. Charles also laid out the seven faces partly for artistic reasons, as it balanced the pole well.

The whale leaves where it’s from, goes all the way around the world, and comes back to where it was born. There is a famous rock near Robson Bite where whales go and scratch. This is now Robson Bight Ecological Reserve, which Charles says is part of their historical territory. The same whales always come back, although modern researchers do not know where they go after the summer. Charles’ great-grandfather said that the whales were following their food sources, traveling where it was necessary. When the big tides comes in, in their different cycles, bringing the whales the right kind of food, they often can be seen playing. This happens all along the Johnson Strait. Some are transients, who go right by – twenty to a pod. The homesteaders stay around longer, and cycle around the area: they come up and head north towards Port Hardy from the Robson Bite, then up Johnson Strait, to the top end of Queen Charlotte Strait, and then down to Georgia Pass, through Broughton Strait on the mainland side, back towards Robson Bite. This would be a full day’s ride in a good fishing boat. At night, in such a boat, you can hear them blowing, right beside you, close enough to touch. Charles’ people use to go out and feed them, and rub them at the rubbing rock.

The faces represent the children who were adopted out from the reserves – all the native reserves across Canada. This pole is not just about Charles’ people, nor only about him. He had a wife and friends who were adopted out. They feel neither welcome in white society nor in the reserve. They can’t be native or white. They’re stuck between worlds. So these children were dispersed, like the whales traveling – but they could not easily come back home.

Charles becomes aware of the the animal figures he is carving during his dreams. He feels that they are there all the time, but only evident during sleep. The figures speak Kwagiulth. As far as he is concerned, his great-grandfather and great-grandmother are speaking through the animals in his dreams. Sometimes he will take a break from carving, and have an afternoon nap. He will darken his room. If he is extremely tired, and is stuck on what he is carving, his great-grandfather, great-grandmother and father will come into his dreams in the form of the animals he is carving and suggest solutions.

They also appear into the animals that he is working on. They never appear as they were in life. Their voices, however, are constant, and the dances that the animals engage are also representative of what he saw when he was young.

 

RAVEN (NUN, PRIEST, GOVERNMENT WORKER)

The raven is in the middle of the pole, midway between the bottom and top events. The raven is a trickster figure. He’s being used to represent the collusion between church and political state in the “assimilation” process, which produced people who didn’t make it at all – who died – and who emerged seriously wounded.

There is a nun on the left side, and a priest on the right side. This is because when you faced the residential school, the women were on the left side (the women worked with the girls) and the men on the right (working with the boys). The dormitory building was half reserved for boys and half for girls. A four-story building seemed very big to Charles when he was six.

There were kids who died. We were told they went home. The girls would get pregnant. There were abortions conducted in the infirmary, above the gym and auditorium. A nun nurse would be there for children with a bleeding rear end, or a pregnancy. It was “quarantined” so that outside people couldn’t tell what was going on in there. The nun and the priest are beside the Raven to illustrate all this.

The horns on the Raven head identify his supernatural being. This emphasizes that the bird can transform. Horns on any animal demonstrate that it can transform, during a dance or on a carving. It can change into a human – the Raven, often, into someone who plays tricks. There are stories of the Raven, transforming into a human being, but losing his voice, and only being able to caw. During a dance, sometimes a Raven will drop flour on an audience member, out of the back of the dancer’s costume, to represent bird droppings. This is part of the joke. But you have to pay that person, later, for being a good sport, maybe twenty or a hundred dollars, depending on how well the joke worked.

The Raven doesn’t like to be honest about things. He likes to play games. That’s the government worker, the Indian Agent, the staff members of the residential school, the priests and the nuns. None of them were who they were supposed to be. They dressed up like good people, but they were really something else. Charles saw this connection in a dream.

 

BEAR

This is a spirit bear. The spirit bear has many faces – on the palms, shoulder blades, ears. On that bear, all the faces represent the children that did not make it out of St. Mike’s – and who came out and died later, from the damage. A powerful bear story was told to Charles he was a kid. The bear patrolled our perimeter, to protect our territory. In Charles’ dream, the bear was very gentle when it was picking up the kids. Charles was climbing all over him, playing with this bear, with ten other kids.

 

ARCTIC FOX

Arctic Fox is an observer and an animal that careful measures its engagement with its surroundings. In the Inuit story telling, to whom the patron has connections with, the fox serves as a witness to what happened around us. Both Charles and the patron thought that one of the most important outcomes in this creative process is bearing witness to our past.

 

KULUS

On top of the fox, the Kulus figure stands. The wings will be out there, like a cross. The double-headed sea-serpent, the sisiutl, will be carved across there. The Kulus represents Charles chief. The cross is there, because many of Charles family members are Christian. His family members use the church for service and for death and believe it’s good for them. That’s how Charles is representing the good aspect of church-going.

Culminating a week of symbolic ringing of the opening bell at stock exchanges around the world, on 9 March at 9.30 a.m. the opening bell is rung at the NASDAQ exchange in New York, by UN Women Deputy Executive Director Lakshmi Puri, incoming Deloitte CEO Catherine Engelbert and Chair of the Women's Empowerment Principles' Leadership Group Elizabeth Broderick.

 

In celebration of the 20th Beijing Declaration anniversary and the commemoration of International Women’s Day, UN Women, the UN Global Compact and the Sustainable Stock Exchange (SSE) arranged similar events at stock exchanges in in seven countries (India, Nigeria, Turkey, Egypt, Sweden, Poland and the United States). The aim of these events is to raise the awareness of the importance of greater gender equality in the business sector.

  

Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

 

97,578 items / 593,348 views

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramlila

 

Ramlila (Hindi: रामलीला) (literally 'Rama’s lila or play') is a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Lord Ram, ending up in ten day battle between Lord Ram and Ravan, as described in the Hindu religious epic, the Ramayana.[1] A tradition that originates from the Indian subcontinent, the play is staged annually often over ten or more successive nights, during the auspicious period of 'Sharad Navratras', which marks the commencement of the Autumn festive period, starting with the Dussehra festival. Usually the performances are timed to culminate on the festival of Vijayadashami day, that commemorates the victory of Lord Ram over demon king Ravana, when the actors are taken out in a procession through the city, leading up to a mela ground or town square, where the enactment of the final battle takes place, before giant effigies of Ravana, his brother Kumbhakaran and son Meghanath are set fire, and coronation or abhisheka of Rama at Ayodhya takes place, marking the culmination of festivities and restoration of the divine order.[2]

 

Rama is the 7th incarnation of Vishnu and central figure of the Ramayana. The Ramayana is based on the life, times and values of Lord Rama. Lord Rama is called the Maryada Purushottam or the 'The best among the dignified'. The story of Lord Rama and his comrades is so popular in India that it has actually amalgamated the psyche of the Indian mainstream irrespective of their religion. The very story of Ramayana injects ethics to the Indian mainstream.

 

Most Ramlilas in North India are based on the 16th century Avadhi version of Ramayana, Ramacharitamanas, written by Gosvami Tulsidas entirely in verse, thus used as dialogues in most traditional versions, where open-air productions are staged by local Ramlila committees, 'Samitis', and funded entirely by the local population, the audience.[3] It is close to the similar form of folk theatre, Rasa lila, which depicts the life of Krishna, popular in Uttar Pradesh, especially Braja regions of Mathura, Vrindavan, and amongst followers of Gaudiya Vaishnavism and Vaishnavism in Manipur, with some similarity with Pandavlila of Garhwal, based on life of Pandavas of Mahabharat and Yakshagana of Karnataka, based on various epic and puranas.[4]

 

Ramlila has received considerable global attention, especially due to its diverse representation throughout the globe, especially amongst the Indian diaspora community, and regions where Hinduism has spread over the centuries, like Africa and several South East Asian countries. UNESCO proclaimed the tradition of Ramlila a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2005.[5] Subsequently, Govt. of India and IGNCA produced a two hour documentary, titled "Ramlila - The traditional performance of Ramayana" for UNESCO, on 'Ramnagar Ramlila', and Ramlila traditions of Avadh, Braj and Madhubani, and that of Ayodhya, which assimilates elements of all three.[6] Another unique Ramlila, is being staged since 1972, at Bakshi Ka Talab, about 20 km from Lucknow, where lead characters like Rama, Lakshman and Hanuman are played by Muslim youths, a clear departure in a region known for communal flare-ups; this four-day Ram Lila starts on the day of Dusshera day, and has also been adapted into a Radio play, 'Us Gaon ki Ram Lila', by Lucknow All India Radio, which won the Communal Harmony Award in 2000.[7

 

Historically it is believed that first Ramlila shows were staged by Megha Bhagat, one of the disciples of Tulsidas, the author of Ramacharitamanas in about 1625 AD, though there are some evidence of its existence in some form before the creation of this version as well. Some scholars believe its first appearance somewhere between 1200 and 1500 AD. Later during in the time of Mughal emperor Akbar, according to some, Akbar is said to have watched a performance. Krishna Das Kaviraj mentions in his 16th century hagiography of saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1533), Chaitanya Charitamrita, that once he got carried away while performing the character of Hanuman at a play in Puri, thus proving the existence of Ramayana plays, before the Ramcharitamanas appeared.[4] Though it would safe to conclude that its implosion into the Hindu heartland, happened only after Tulsidas created his version in people's language of the time, the Avadhi, unlike the original written by Valmiki, in Sanskrit, the language only spoken by Brahmins by then, which excluded much of masses from experiencing the inspirational saga, which is essentially the victory of good over evil.[8]

[edit] Styles of Ramlila

 

Today, several regions have developed their distinctive form of Ramlila, Uttar Pradesh itself has numerous variants of presentation styles, most prominent among them is that of Ramnagar, Varanasi, staged over multiple venue, the pantomime style is visible in jhankis or tableaux pageants as seem in Ramlila of Varanasi, where colourful Jhankis and pageants depicting scenes from the life of Lord Rama are taken out through the city.[9] According to a 2008 UNESCO report, the most representative Ramlilas are those of Ayodhya, Ramnagar and Varanasi, Vrindavan, Almora, Satna and Madhubani.[5]

An Ramlila actor the traditional attire of Ravana

 

Next is the operatic style incorporates elements of folk theatre elements generously, while the traditional style remains, where the couplets of Ramacharitmanas not only act as dialogues, but also as chorus as well, and lastly there is the Ramlila staged by professional troupes called "mandalis".[10] Many urban Ramilias now have dialogues written in Khadi Boli or in local dialects, but the treatment remains melodramatic as always to achieve maximum impact amidst an audience that knows the story by heart, but watches the enactment nevertheless for religious fervour and also for its spectacle value, making Ramlila an important event in the religious as well as social calendar of not only in small town and villages but also many big cities. Just other folk theatre form of India, like Jatra of Bengal, topic themes are often interwoven in the script to had relevance and sometimes humour is used to offer a critic or commentary over current happenings.

 

A unique staging of Ramlila, takes place at Chitrakoot, over five days every year during the last week of February, beginning from the Maha Shivratri day, here the episode of Bharat-Milap is of prime importance, and is watched by eager devotees.[11] The Ram Barat of Agra is another interesting tradition connected with Ramlila, where in during the three festivities, a marriage procession of Rama is taken through various localities of the city.

 

Delhi holds many prominent Ramlilas across the city, including the oldest one on the Ramlila Grounds, outside the historic Red Fort, it was started in times of Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar,[12] and in 2004, for the first time, Ramlila celebrations organised by Luv-Kush Ramlila Committee were telecast to over 100 countries.[13]

[edit] Ramlila at Ramnagar, Varanasi

 

The tradition of staging the Ramlila at Ramnagar, Varanasi, which lies across the Ganges river from the Hindu pilgrimage city of Varanasi, was started in ca 1830 by Maharaja Udit Narayan Singh, Kashi Naresh.[14][15] It rose in popularity during the reign of his successor Maharaj Isvari Prasad Singh, and received continued patronage from the subsequent Kings of the Royal House of Benares to create a participatory environmental theatre (Site-specific theatre) on a grand scale, where attendance ranges from few thousands to 100,000 for others.[16] The Ramlila is a cycle of plays which recounts the epic story of Lord Rama, as told in Ramcharitmanas, the version of the Ramayana penned by Tulsidas. The plays sponsored by the Maharaja, are performed in Ramnagar every evening for 31 days.[15]

 

Though several local legends exist regarding the beginning of this Ramlila, including one of which suggests that it was first staged at a near by village, Chota Mirzapur as the one at Varanasi was disrupted due to the floods in the Ganges, from where it evolved to the present Ramlila, which is by far the most traditional rendition of the Ramayana, and has been a subject of study by scholars from all over the world for many decades now.[17]

 

The Ramnagar Ramlila is held over 31 days instead of usual 10, and is known for its lavish sets, dialogues and visual spectacle. Here permanent structures have been built and several temporary structure are also added, which serve as sets, to represent locations like Ashok Vatika, Janakpuri, Panchavati, Lanka etc., during the performance. Hence the entire city turn into a giant open-air set, and audience moves along with the performers with every episode, to the next locale. Preparations begin, weeks before its commencement, even the audition process is traditionally attended to by the Maharaja, where Svarupas, literally divine embodiment, the various characters of the Ramayana, are chosen from amongst local actors. Important roles are often inherited by families, for example, the role of Ravana was held by same family from 1835 to 1990, and roles of Hanuman, Jatayu, and Janaka traditionally belong to one Vyasa family.[18] When the Dussehra festivities are inaugurated with a colourful pageant Kashi Naresh rides an elephant at the head of the procession.[15] Then, resplendent in silk and brocade, he inaugurates the month long folk theatre of Ramlila at Ramnagar.[15] During the period, hundreds of sadhus called 'Ramayanis' descend into the town to watch and recite the Ramcharitmanas text. Many a audience carry a copy of the Ramacharit Manas, simply called Manas, and follow stanza after stanza, after the characters delivering their dialogue.[19][20]

 

During the course of the performance, there is a double transformation of the space within the city, as it first transforms from a city to theatre and then to mythic geography, as the scale of the performance is gradually increased to mythic proportions, coming down only in the end, when Rama finally returns back home, this is when the Raja himself becomes part of the theatre thereby incorporating local element into the story itself. In the end, as the swarups, actors depart, they take off their garlands and offer it to Royal family members and give darshan to audience, after the performance one last time.[21] At the end of each episode, lila, an aarti is performed, chants of 'Har Har Mahadev' or 'Bolo! Raja Ramchandra ki Jai!' resound in the air, as the audience join in. Thereafter, a jhanki, literally a peep or glimpse, tableaux of frozen iconic moments from the 'Manas', is presented, which not only distill and crystallize the message of the story for the audience, but is also appreciated for its spectacular effect.[21]

 

On the last day the festivities reach a crescendo as Rama vanquishes the demon king Ravana.[15] Over a million pilgrims arrive annually for the vast processions and performances organized by Kashi Naresh.[22]

[edit] Format

Lead performers of a Ramlila troupe mandali, with the director, called vyasa

 

Traditionally organized in a makeshift open-air theatre at night, it is usually staged by amateur actors drawn from the same social grouping as the audience. There is often a singer (occasionally a priest) in the sidelines who recites relevant verses from the Ramayana during scene-changes or at moments of dramatic tension. These recitations and the narrative of the play are usually based on Ramacharitamanas, Gosvami Tulsidas' version of the Ramayana, in the Awadhi language, written in 16th century. The dialog is improvised, and often responsive to audience reactions. Dhol drummers and other musicians participate. The atmosphere is usually festive and free, with the audience whistling and commenting as the story proceeds.

 

In many rural areas, traditional venues for Ramlila have developed over the centuries, and hundreds of people will often make the trip nightly to attend the play. Surrounding areas temporarily transform into bazars to cater to the audience. Depending on the region, interspersed breaks in the play can become impromptu talent shows for local society, and a de facto competition takes place between neighbouring Ram lilas, each vying to stage a more lavish production. Though the play itself is thematically religious, this social aspect often draws in people from non-Hindu segments of the community as well. Performance costs are usually financed by fundraising in the community, often by self-organized Ramlila Committees.

[edit] Geographic spread

 

Over the centuries, Ramlila has evolved into a highly venerated art form, and has travelled to far corners of the globe, through Indian diaspora, not as acts of "cultural recovery", rather as fresh expressions of a persistent faith. Today, Ramalila is staged in most countries that with immigrant Hindu populations from the Indian subcontinent, including that from India, Nepal and Pakistan. Outside the Indian subcontinent, this includes Fiji, Mauritius, South Africa, Canada, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Great Britain, the United States, and Australia. Some Asian cultures have similar drama traditions based on the Ramayana, for instance the Phra Lak Phra Lam (Lak and Lam are the Laotian names for Lakshman and Ram, respectively) folkplay of Laos and northeastern Thailand.

Culminating a week of symbolic ringing of the opening bell at stock exchanges around the world, on 9 March at 9.30 a.m. the opening bell is rung at the NASDAQ exchange in New York, by UN Women Deputy Executive Director Lakshmi Puri, incoming Deloitte CEO Catherine Engelbert and Chair of the Women's Empowerment Principles' Leadership Group Elizabeth Broderick.

 

In celebration of the 20th Beijing Declaration anniversary and the commemoration of International Women’s Day, UN Women, the UN Global Compact and the Sustainable Stock Exchange (SSE) arranged similar events at stock exchanges in in seven countries (India, Nigeria, Turkey, Egypt, Sweden, Poland and the United States). The aim of these events is to raise the awareness of the importance of greater gender equality in the business sector.

  

Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

 

Nottingham Contemporary Opens

Caruso St John's new contemporary art gallery in Nottingham has opened to the public. The exhibition programme begins with a major David Hockney retrospective alongside an exhibition of the work of Los Angeles artist Frances Stark. Both exhibitions run until the 24th January. For more information go to www.nottinghamcontemporary.org

 

Nottingham Contemporary in the Press

Daily Telegraph

The Guardian

The Architect's Journal

Building Design Magazine

Building Design Magazine (Video)

The Culture Show (Video)

Financial Times

The Times

Art Review

El Correo (ES)

 

1 Coate Street

London E2 9AG

+44 20 7613 3161

info@carusostjohn.com

 

Nottingham has a history as a place for contemporary art, for performance and time based practice as well as for object based work. This legacy recalls the artist run spaces of downtown New York in the late 1960s, and the work of artists like Gordon Matta Clark and Trisha Brown whose work directly engaged the spaces of the city around them. We wondered if the history and urban qualities of the site in Nottingham’s Lace Market, which has parallels to the cast iron district of downtown New York, offered an opportunity to make art spaces that were unusually engaged with the cultural and topographical qualities of their site.

 

The legacy of the downtown loft lives on in places like PS 1 in New York, Palais de Tokyo in Paris, and the De Pont Foundation in Tilburg, buildings whose artistic programmes fully exploit the strong and specific character of their found interiors. Our project for Nottingham Contemporary sets out to offer a wide inventory of interiors that have the variety and specificity of found spaces, within a new building.

  

Gallery interior

The design engages with the major levels of a very complex site. An existing north-south public route through the site has been given a renewed purpose by its adjacency to this new public building. At High Pavement, to the north of the site, a covered yard provides a generous outdoor space at the entrance to the building, and a starting point for this public route. Garner’s Hill stairs have been straightened and made more than 5 metres wide, and the route south-wards affords views and access to each of the levels of the interior. The route culminates in a second public yard at the southern end of the building, a space where the café can spill outdoors and which provides a second entrance to the building from the south. A last flight of the stair completes the route to Cliff Road where vehicular access, loading facilities, workshops and plant are located. The close relationship between the interior of the building and the topography of the land means that the character of Nottingham Contemporary has fundamentally emerged from the specific qualities of its site.

 

Before entering, one can see art within the depth of the building

 

The main entrance to the building is from Upper Yard. A large canopy, like a cinema marquee marks the point of entry, and even before entering, one can see art within the depth of the building. Passing through glazed entrance doors one enters into the first in a network of five rooms. The ground floor galleries have a 4.5 metre clear height and even top lighting that is moderated by a grid of lightweight coffers that are suspended within the steel roof structure. The galleries are defined by thin, non load bearing walls, and are connected by large glazed openings that afford views across the width and length of the floor and which lend flexibility to how this suite of rooms can be used. The northern most gallery is 10 metres high and has a single large roof light and a 9 metre wide window facing Weekday Cross and beyond towards the centre of Nottingham.

 

One can feel that this room is built deep into the sandstone cliff

 

The lower exhibition space is a large, lozenge shaped room, 7.5 metres high and formed in concrete. One can feel that this room is built deep into the sandstone cliff. The 1.5 metre depth of the concrete beams that span the space accommodate a fully flexible theatrical rig. Retractable bleacher seating enables the space to be used for cinema and performance as well as for visual art. To the south is the café and bar that can be independently entered from Lower Yard. In the middle of the building a mezzanine level accommodates education and office spaces.

  

The gallery at night

We were interested in the presence of the cliff and the way that it elevates the southern edge of the Lace Market so that several ranges of buildings are presented, almost in elevation, to the south of the city. While the line of the cliff is reinforced by the low slung body of the building, the profile of Nottingham Contemporary is distinctive and becomes a part of the spectacular view from the south, where the buildings of the Lace Market form a crown against the sky. The roof volumes build up in size towards High Pavement and have a clear relationship to the volume and scale of the existing Georgian townhouses that line the southern edge of the Lace Market.

 

The profile of Nottingham Contemporary becomes a part of the spectacular view

 

The exterior image for Nottingham Contemporary is inspired by the 19th century buildings of Nottingham and in particular by the impressive facades of the Lace Market, where hard brick forms a robust shell to the repetitive structural frames of the warehouse buildings. The toughness of these facades was originally about durability and low maintenance but the rigour of their repetitive pattern and precise material assembly also lend a dignity to the streets of the quarter. The facades of Nottingham Contemporary are developed as a continuous patterned surface of pale green pre-cast concrete elements. Terracotta facades by Louis Sullivan, in particular the Guarantee Building (1896) in Buffalo, have served as a model for our façades. Sullivan’s finely moulded surfaces with their rich and considered use of pattern speaks of their material and fabrication as well as being incredibly beautiful. Something of these qualities can be achieved with contemporary techniques of casting concrete, without the intensive use of skilled labour that was required in the production of 19th century terracotta.

  

The gallery’s facade

The cast pattern is taken from a specific example of Nottingham lace, which itself was a machine made copy of a French hand made original. The lace was scanned, and then the scale, tiling and contrast of the two dimensional image was worked. This modified image was then converted into a three dimensional description which was used to drive a milling machine that produced a full sized positive in MDF which was then used to make hard latex moulds. Four, 14 metre long latex moulds were used to cast all of the pre-cast elements on the building.

 

The two rooftop monitors, figures that give Nottingham Contemporary its silhouette within city’s skyline are clad in tall sheets of gold anodised aluminium which have been given a gently billowing profile that serves to stiffen the very thin material.

Our end of 2022 Summer Arts for Learning Academy performances and art exhibit at Dorothy I Height Elementary Middle School included dance, visual arts, a drumming, filmmaking, theatre, and FUN!

The culminating event for R-Day is the Oath Ceremony on the Plain. Despite on and off rain showers throughout the day, the skies broke for the final event. The Commandant of Cadets, Brig. General Richard Clarke gave the oath to the Class of 2017.

English

 

Maritime Museum

 

The Maritime Museum (Portuguese: Museu de Marinha) of Lisbon is dedicated to all aspects of the History of navigation in Portugal. The museum is administered by the Portuguese Navy and is located in the touristic district of Belém. It occupies a part of the neo-Manueline Western wing of the Jerónimos Monastery (together with the National Museum of Archaeology) as well as a modern annex built to the North of the monastery.

The history of the museum is deeply related to King Luís I (1838-1889), who was a lover of oceanographic studies and an accomplished navigator himself. He created in 1863 a collection of items related to the preservation of maritime history of Portugal, a collection that was enlarged in the following decades, culminating in the inauguration of the Maritime Museum in 1963 in its present location.

The exhibits include historical paintings, archaeological items and many scale models of ships used in Portugal since the 15th century. It is one of the most visited Portuguese museums.

Jerónimos Monastery

The Hieronymites Monastery, is located in the Belém district of Lisbon, Portugal. This magnificent monastery can be considered one of the most prominent monuments in Lisbon and is certainly one of the most successful achievements of the Manueline style (Portuguese late-Gothic). In 1983, it was classified by the UNESCO, with nearby Belém Tower, as a World Heritage Site.

History

The house for the Hieronymite monks was built on the same site of the Ermida do Restelo, a hermitage that was founded by Henry the Navigator at about 1450. It was at this hermitage, that was already in disrepair, that Vasco da Gama and his men spent the night in prayer before departing for India in 1497

The existing structure was started on the orders of Manuel I (1515–1521) to commemorate Vasco da Gama's successful return from India. It was originally meant as a church for the burial of the House of Aviz, but it also became a house of prayer for seamen leaving or entering port.

Construction of the monastery began in 1502 and took 50 years to complete. He used pedra lioz, a local gold-coloured limestone, for its construction. The building of the monastery was funded by a 5% tax on eastern spices, with the exceptions of pepper, cinnamon, and cloves, revenue from which went straight to the Crown. By this influx of riches, the architects had enough financial margin to think big. The enormous amount of funds needed for this monastery meant abandoning the construction of the Aviz pantheon in the Monastery of Batalha.

The monastery was designed in the Manueline style by Diogo de Boitaca (who was probably one of the originators of this style with the Monastery of Jesus of Setúbal in Setúbal). He built the church, the monastery, the sacristy, and the refectory. He was succeeded by the Spaniard João de Castilho, who took charge of construction in around 1517. Castilho gradually moved from the Manueline style to the Plateresco style, a style with lavish decorations that remind of silver ware (plata). There were several sculptors who made their mark on this building. Nicolau Chanterene added depth with his Renaissance themes. The construction came to a halt when the king Manuel I died in 1521.

The architect Diogo de Torralva resumed the construction of the monastery in 1550, adding the main chapel, the choir, and completing the two stories of the monastery, using only Renaissance motifs. His work was continued in 1571 by Jérôme de Rouen (also called Jerónimo de Ruão) who added some Classical elements. The construction stopped in 1580 with the union of Spain and Portugal, because the building of the Escorial in Spain was now draining away all the funds.

The monastery withstood the Great Earthquake of 1755 without too much damage. But when the building became vacant in 1833 by the abolition of the religious orders in Portugal, it began to deteriorate to the point of almost collapsing. A cupola was later added to the southwestern tower.

On December 13, 2007, the Treaty of Lisbon was signed at the monastery, laying down the basis for the reform of the European Union.

South portal

The ornate main entrance to the monastery was designed by João de Castilho and is considered as one of the most magnificent of his time. This shrine-like portal is large, 32 m high and 12 m wide, extending up for two stories. It features, surrounded by an abundance of gables, pinnacles, many carved figures standing under a baldachin in exquisitely carved niches, around a statue of Henry the Navigator, standing on a pedestal between the two doors.

The tympanum, above the double door, displays in half-relief two scenes from the life of Saint Jerome. On the left, the removal of a thorn by St. Jerome from a lion's paw, after which the lion became his best friend. The right scene depicts the saint in the desert. The spandrel between these scenes shows the coat-of-arms of king Manuel I. The statue with the sword in the niche of the pier probably represents Henry the Navigator. Wherever one looks in the archivolt and tympanum, one sees all the elements of the Manueline style.

The Madonna of Belém stands on a pedestal on top of the archivolt, above it stands a statue of the Archangel Michael and on top of the portal stands the cross of the Order of Christ. The portal is harmoniously flanked on each side by a large window with richly decorated mouldings.

Western portal

This western portal is a good example of the transition from the Gothic style to Renaissance. It was built by Nicolau Chanterene in 1517. This was probably his first commission in Portugal. It is now spanned by a vestibule, added in the 19th century, that forms a transition between the church and the ambulatory.

The tympanum depicts the Annunciation, the Nativity, and the Epiphany. Two angels, holdings the arms of Portugal, close the archivolt. The splays on each side of the portal are filled with statues, among them king Manuel I and his second wife Maria of Aragón, kneeling in a niche under a lavishly decorated baldachin. They are flanked by their patron saints St. Jeronimos and John the Baptist.

The supporting corbels are decorated with little angels holding the coat-of-arms and, at the side of the king, an armillary sphere and, at the side of the queen, three blooming twigs

Interior

Diogo Boitac laid the foundations for this three-aisled church with five bays under a single vault, a clearly marked but only slightly projecting transept and a raised choir. The aisles and the nave are of about equal height in the manner of a hall church. Boitac built the walls of the church as far as the cornices and then started with the construction of the adjoining monastery.

João de Castilho, a Spanish architect and sculptor, continued the construction in 1517. He completed the retaining walls and the unique single-span ribbed vault, a combination of stellar vaulting and tracery vaults spanning the 19 m-wide church. Each set of ribs in the vaulting is secured by bosses. The bold design (1522) of the transversal vault of the transept lacks any piers or columns, while Boitac had originally planned three bays in the transept. The unsupported vault of the transept gives the viewer the impression as if it floats in the air.

He also ornamented the six 25m-high, slender, articulated, octagonal columns with refined grotesque or floral motives announcing the Renaissance style. The northern column closest to the transept shows a medallion that probably is a portrait of Boitac or João de Castilho.

The end result of the construction of this Late Gothic hall church is aesthetically and architecturally a masterwork. It augments the spatial effect of this vast building.

At the end of the side aisles and on both sides of the choir stand Manueline altars dating from the 16th and the 17th centuries. They are decorated with carved work in golden and green colours. One of them has a statue of St. Jerome in multi-coloured enamelled terracotta.

This chancel was ordered by Queen Catherine of Habsburg as the final resting place for the royal family. It is the work of Jerónimo de Ruão (Jean de Rouen) in Classical style. The royal tombs rest on marble elephants and are set between Ionic pillars, topped by Corinthian pillars. The tombs on the left side of the choir belong to king Manuel I and his wife Maria of Aragon, while the tombs on the right side belong to King João III and his wife Queen Catherine of Habsburg.

Within the church, close to the western portal, are the stone tombs of Vasco da Gama (1468-1523), and of the great poet and recorder of the discoveries, Luís de Camões (1527-1570). Both tombs were sculpted by the nineteenth century sculptor Costa Mota in a harmonious neo-Manueline style. The mortal remains of both were transferred to these tombs in 1880.

Monastery

Work on the vast square cloister (55 x 55 m) of the monastery was begun by Boitac. He built the groin vaults with wide arches and windows with tracery resting on delicate mullions. João de Castilho finished the construction by giving the lower storey a classical overlay and building a more recessed upper storey. The construction of such a two-storey cloister was a novelty at the time. Castilho changed the original round columns of Boitac into rectangular ones. He put Plateresque-style ornaments on it.

Each wing consists of six bays with tracery vaults. The four inner bays rest on massive buttresses, forming broad arcades. The corner bays are linked by a diagonal arched construction and show the richly decorated corner pillars.

The inside walls of the cloister have a wealth of Manueline motives with nautical ornaments, and European, Moorish ans eastern elements. The decorations on the outer walls of the inner courtyard were made in Plateresco style by Castilho. This ornamentation on the walls and the traceried arches of the arcades give the construction a filigree aspect.

The round arches and the horizontal structure are clearly in line with the Renaissance style, while at the same time there is also a relationship with Spanish architecture.

One of the arcades contains the sober tomb of the poet Fernando Pessoa. There are several tombs in the chapter house : poet and playwright Almeida Garrett (1799-1854), writer-historian Alexandre Herculano (1810-1877), president Teófilo Braga (1843-1924) and president Óscar Carmona (1869-1951). The refectory across the chapter house has several azulejos tiles from the 17th century.

The cloister had a religious function as well as a representative function by its decorative ornamentation and the dynastic symbolic motives, such as the armillarium, coat-of-arms, and the cross from the Order of Christ, showing the growing world power of Portugal.

In an extension, added to the monastery during the restoration 1850, is located the Museu Nacional de Arqueologia (National Archaeological Museum). The Museu da Marinha (Maritime Museum) is located in the west wing.

The church and the monastery, like the nearby Torre de Belém and Padrão dos Descobrimentos, symbolises the Portuguese Age of Discovery and is among the main tourist attractions of Lisbon.

 

Português

  

Museu da Marinha

pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museu_da_marinha

   

O Museu remonta a 1863, quando D. Luís decretou a constituição de uma colecção de testemunhos relacionados com a actividade marítima portuguesa.

 

Depois de passar por vários espaços, nomeadamente o palácio dos Condes de Farrobo nas Laranjeiras, em Lisboa, onde esteve de 1949 até 1962, ano em que se instalou nas alas Norte e Poente do Mosteiro dos Jerónimos. Considerado Organismo Cultural da Marinha de Guerra Portuguesa, a sua missão, mais do que relevar exclusivamente os assuntos militares navais, é salvaguardar e divulgar o passado marítimo português e tudo o que se relaciona com os mais diversos aspectos e actividades humanas no mar.

   

The culminating event for R-Day is the Oath Ceremony on the Plain. Despite on and off rain showers throughout the day, the skies broke for the final event. The Commandant of Cadets, Brig. General Richard Clarke gave the oath to the Class of 2017.

Nostalgic dreams culminated into a memorable fall day at the fascinating Gilmore Car Museum where I experienced multiple generations of mobility beginning with the first-ever production automobile from the mind of Karl Benz, dubbed the Benz Motorwagen. Located in the rural lands of Hickory Corners, MI (two hours from Detroit), the timeless museum features specific installations from Lincoln, Cadillac, Franklin, and a Corvette Motorama to name a few.

 

Full story = AutomotiveRhythms.com

UnionDocs presents the first screening of the Optical Boundaries tour. This program features three filmmakers whose respective works explore a variety of environments as well as the formal properties of the film medium. Though working independently, their films culminate in an examination of the film material as a true document of past and present. Each artist calls attention to the process of separation and recombination through the use of discarded View-master cells, appropriated 16mm nature footage, and a kaleidoscopic amalgam of the new and old world.

Program runtime approximately 60 minutes.

 

HHOOWWLLby Steve Cossman

USA, 2010, 7 minutes, 16mm

Shot on a Kodak Cine II special effects camera, a collection of recognizable masks are captured and layered on film. The screaming colors fuse together in a choir of haunting forms, slipping and melting on the screens surface.

 

CRUSHERby Steve Cossman

USA, 2010 video transferred to 16mm

An unabridged photograph translated from its still print. Read left to right, pixel by pixel, CRUSHER mechanically sequences single color as single frame creating organic waves of color.

 

TUSSLEMUSCLE by Steve Cossman

USA, 2007-9, 5 minutes, 16mm

The work presented is a reflection on humanity’s ecological relationship and the ritual of restoration. The violent pulse speaks with a sense of urgency and chaotic struggle while the hypnotic arrangement keeps us in blinding awe us to its condition. TUSSLEMUSCLE is composed of 7,000 single frames, which were appropriated from view-master reel cells. Each frame was hand-spliced to create a linear film-strip.

 

tonal tide by Ross Nugent

USA, 2009,9 minutes, 16mm

This camera-less film was conceived as a darkroom performance to expose the potential and vulnerability of the color film stock at hand. Both the image and sound were created by flashing raw stock; a peculiar pattern emerged in the soundtrack area as light was scattered by the edge of the film base.

 

Spillway Study/ Carpe Diez by Ross Nugent

USA, 2010, 8 minutes, 16mm

This three-projector piece was created as a color separation project using 16mm Kodachrome nature photography footage from the late ‘70s as its source. The original was optically printed onto three strands and arranged to simultaneously abstract and call attention to the forces at hand. Using a primary color filter on each projector (R-G-B) and some precise hand-jiving, I combine the images and tease out a range colors.

 

Sahara Mosaic by Fern Silva

USA, 2009, 10 minutes, 16mm

An orientalist kaleidoscope that constitutes a geographically complex yet cinematic whole. From Egypt to Las Vegas: the old and the new world are reflected and doubled in this experimental travelogue.

 

Steve Cossman received his BFA in Sculpture from Albright College and went on to study Animation in the Czech Republic at FAMU. After returning to the United States, he worked as artist assistant to John Chamberlain from 2006-2009 during which his focus turned primarily to film and video work. Currently he lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. There he is founder/director of Mono No Aware, an ‘annual exhibition of expanded cinema’ showcasing contemporary artists who incorporate live projections as part of their work. Cossman believes that ‘time is constantly moving within a framework of units and that this irrepressible motion is the nexus of human experience’. Working to create a resonating interval, he often re-structures a familiar sequence within a patterned visual language causing the viewer to give thought to established perceptional relationships. Recent film screenings of his work include Ann Arbor Film Festival, Chicago Underground Film Festival, Milwaukee Underground Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, and VideoEx in Zurich. His work can be found in the collections of the University of Seattle, WA, University of Hartford Art School, and The Len Lye Foundation, New Zealand. A solo show of his video works will be held in March 2011 at Trinity College, CT.

 

Ross Nugent hails from wilds of Western Pennsylvania. He earned a BA in Film Studies at the University of Pittsburgh and studied film and video production at Pittsburgh Filmmakers, where he began working in media exhibition in 2003. Ross served as the Exhibition Coordinator from 2005-2008, and matriculated to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to pursue an MFA in Film. He is also the Program Manager of the UWM Union Theatre, the Faculty Advisor for the Milwaukee Underground Film Festival, and an instructor in the Film Dept.

His film, video, installation, and sculptural work is rooted in using process-oriented techniques of film production, including contact and optical printing, and examines nostalgia and decay as mediated through cinema. Poetic gestures emerge through hand-manipulation of film material, which serves as the impetus for many of his artistic endeavors. His current work includes live cinema projects. Exhibitions of these multi-projector performances include The Museum of Modern Art (NYC) as part of a group show utilizing Analyst projectors, Mono No Aware (NYC), and recently at the Onion City Experimental Film and Video Festival (Chicago).

 

Since 2005, Fern Silva has been an active filmmaker whose personal journeys and impulsery disposition give rise to his visionary process. He has created a body of film, video, and projection work that conveys a congruent existence through the aesthetics of reflections and detriments within controlled microcosms. His work has been screened and performed at various festivals, galleries, and cinematheques including International Film Festival Rotterdam, New York Film Festival, Anthology Film Archive, Images Festival, IndieLisboa International Film Festival, Bangkok Experimental Film Festival, Biennale Bandits-Mages Festival, Roulette Gallery, Millennium Film Workshop, White Box Gallery, 119 Gallery, and P.S.1. Fern Silva is from central Connecticut, he received a BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and his MFA from Bard College. Fern will be screening two works as part of this years Views from the Avant-Garde.

Detective Inspector Andrew Naismith with an ad van that will be touring the Cheetham Hill area to let the community know about the results of Operation Cairo.

 

One of Greater Manchester Police’s most successful ever drugs crackdowns has amassed a total of 144 years prison time for those brought to justice.

 

From the summer of 2012, police in North Manchester received a number of complaints of on-street drug dealing. Reports came in that drugs were being sold in broad daylight.

 

Acting on information from the public, officers then launched Operation Cairo, which involved enquiries including detailed intelligence gathering.

 

The operation culminated in dawn raids in October 2012 and April 2013, with almost 60 homes being searched.

 

The total sentences for Operation Cairo now come to 144 years and one month.

 

Detective Inspector Andrew Naismith, who polices the Cheetham Hill area said: “Drugs make people’s lives a misery and reduce the quality of everyday life for local residents. So when the people of Cheetham Hill came and told us about an issue with drug dealing in their area, we needed to respond.

 

“Drug dealing appeared to be on the increase in Cheetham Hill and Crumpsall, to the extent that those involved appeared not to care that they were doing this in broad daylight.

 

“We therefore carried out a detailed operation, working closely with the community to tackle the problem.

 

“The residents who helped us then accompanied us on the raids we carried out to make arrests, so they could see first-hand what we were doing. This is what we mean by policing for and with our communities.

 

“It is initiatives like Operation Cairo that have helped crime go down, as illustrated in recent statistics; the supply of drugs often leads to robberies and burglaries so addicts can fund their habits; a problem which was occurring in Cheetham Hill. We have to strike a balance between investigating crimes after they have happened and being proactive against that group of criminals who commit most crime. In Operation Cairo, we did both, making Cheetham Hill and Crumpsall better places in which to live.

 

“We are well aware however that the fight against the supply of drugs and the organised crime groups behind it is an ongoing one, initiatives such as Operation Challenger show this is a fight we are more than committed to.

 

“As for the people of Cheetham Hill, we will continue to work closely with residents, partner agencies and drugs workers who have also been on hand to support those who have suffered from drug abuse.”

 

Those seeking help for drugs abuse can speak to the drugs treatment service on 0161 253 6488.

 

Anyone with information about those involved in drug-related activity in their area should call police on 101, or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

 

To find out more about Greater Manchester Police please visit our website.

www.gmp.police.uk

 

You should call 101, the new national non-emergency number, to report crime and other concerns that do not require an emergency response.

 

Always call 999 in an emergency, such as when a crime is in progress, violence is being used or threatened or where there is danger to life.

 

You can also call anonymously with information about crime to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Crimestoppers is an independent charity who will not want your name, just your information. Your call will not be traced or recorded and you do not have to go to court or give a statement.

St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London. Its dedication in honour of Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. The present structure, which was completed in 1710, is a Grade I listed building that was designed in the English Baroque style by Sir Christopher Wren. The cathedral's reconstruction was part of a major rebuilding programme initiated in the aftermath of the Great Fire of London. The earlier Gothic cathedral (Old St Paul's Cathedral), largely destroyed in the Great Fire, was a central focus for medieval and early modern London, including Paul's walk and St Paul's Churchyard, being the site of St Paul's Cross.

 

The cathedral is one of the most famous and recognisable sights of London. Its dome, surrounded by the spires of Wren's City churches, has dominated the skyline for over 300 years. At 365 ft (111 m) high, it was the tallest building in London from 1710 to 1963. The dome is still one of the highest in the world. St Paul's is the second-largest church building in area in the United Kingdom, after Liverpool Cathedral.

 

Services held at St Paul's have included the funerals of Admiral Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher; jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria; an inauguration service for the Metropolitan Hospital Sunday Fund; peace services marking the end of the First and Second World Wars; the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer; the launch of the Festival of Britain; and the thanksgiving services for the Silver, Golden, Diamond, and Platinum Jubilees and the 80th and 90th birthdays of Queen Elizabeth II. St Paul's Cathedral is the central subject of much promotional material, as well as of images of the dome surrounded by the smoke and fire of the Blitz. The cathedral is a working church with hourly prayer and daily services. The tourist entry fee at the door is £23 for adults (January 2023, cheaper if booked online), but no charges are made to worshippers attending advertised services.

 

The nearest London Underground station is St Paul's, which is 130 yards (120 m) away from St Paul's Cathedral.

 

History

Before the cathedral

The location of Londinium's original cathedral is unknown, but legend and medieval tradition claims it was St Peter upon Cornhill. St Paul is an unusual attribution for a cathedral, and suggests there was another one in the Roman period. Legends of St Lucius link St Peter upon Cornhill as the centre of the Roman Londinium Christian community. It stands upon the highest point in the area of old Londinium, and it was given pre-eminence in medieval procession on account of the legends. There is, however, no other reliable evidence and the location of the site on the Forum makes it difficult for it to fit the legendary stories. In 1995, a large fifth-century building on Tower Hill was excavated, and has been claimed as a Roman basilica, possibly a cathedral, although this is speculative.

 

The Elizabethan antiquarian William Camden argued that a temple to the goddess Diana had stood during Roman times on the site occupied by the medieval St Paul's Cathedral. Wren reported that he had found no trace of any such temple during the works to build the new cathedral after the Great Fire, and Camden's hypothesis is no longer accepted by modern archaeologists.

 

Pre-Norman cathedral

There is evidence for Christianity in London during the Roman period, but no firm evidence for the location of churches or a cathedral. Bishop Restitutus is said to have represented London at the Council of Arles in 314 AD. A list of the 16 "archbishops" of London was recorded by Jocelyn of Furness in the 12th century, claiming London's Christian community was founded in the second century under the legendary King Lucius and his missionary saints Fagan, Deruvian, Elvanus and Medwin. None of that is considered credible by modern historians but, although the surviving text is problematic, either Bishop Restitutus or Adelphius at the 314 Council of Arles seems to have come from Londinium.

 

Bede records that in AD 604 Augustine of Canterbury consecrated Mellitus as the first bishop to the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Saxons and their king, Sæberht. Sæberht's uncle and overlord, Æthelberht, king of Kent, built a church dedicated to St Paul in London, as the seat of the new bishop. It is assumed, although not proved, that this first Anglo-Saxon cathedral stood on the same site as the later medieval and the present cathedrals.

 

On the death of Sæberht in about 616, his pagan sons expelled Mellitus from London, and the East Saxons reverted to paganism. The fate of the first cathedral building is unknown. Christianity was restored among the East Saxons in the late seventh century and it is presumed that either the Anglo-Saxon cathedral was restored or a new building erected as the seat of bishops such as Cedd, Wine and Erkenwald, the last of whom was buried in the cathedral in 693.

 

Earconwald was consecrated bishop of London in 675, and is said to have bestowed great cost on the fabric, and in later times he almost occupied the place of traditionary, founder: the veneration paid to him is second only to that which was rendered to St. Paul. Erkenwald would become a subject of the important High Medieval poem St Erkenwald.

 

King Æthelred the Unready was buried in the cathedral on his death in 1016; the tomb is now lost. The cathedral was burnt, with much of the city, in a fire in 1087, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

 

Old St Paul's

The fourth St Paul's, generally referred to as Old St Paul's, was begun by the Normans after the 1087 fire. A further fire in 1135 disrupted the work, and the new cathedral was not consecrated until 1240. During the period of construction, the style of architecture had changed from Romanesque to Gothic and this was reflected in the pointed arches and larger windows of the upper parts and East End of the building. The Gothic ribbed vault was constructed, like that of York Minster, of wood rather than stone, which affected the ultimate fate of the building.

 

An enlargement programme commenced in 1256. This "New Work" was consecrated in 1300 but not complete until 1314. During the later Medieval period St Paul's was exceeded in length only by the Abbey Church of Cluny and in the height of its spire only by Lincoln Cathedral and St. Mary's Church, Stralsund. Excavations by Francis Penrose in 1878 showed that it was 585 feet (178 m) long and 100 feet (30 m) wide (290 feet (88 m) across the transepts and crossing). The spire was about 489 feet (149 m) in height.[citation needed] By the 16th century the building was deteriorating.

 

The English Reformation under Henry VIII and Edward VI (accelerated by the Chantries Acts) led to the destruction of elements of the interior ornamentation and the chapels, shrines, and chantries.

 

The would come to include the removal of the cathedral's collection of relics, which by the sixteenth century was understood to include:

 

the body of St Erkenwald

both arms of St Mellitus

a knife thought to belong to Jesus

hair of Mary Magdalen

blood of St Paul

milk of the Virgin Mary

the head of St John

the skull of Thomas Becket

the head and jaw of King Ethelbert

part of the wood of the cross,

a stone of the Holy Sepulchre,

a stone from the spot of the Ascension, and

some bones of the eleven thousand virgins of Cologne.

 

Old St Paul's in 1656 by Wenceslaus Hollar, showing the rebuilt west facade

In October 1538, an image of St Erkenwald, probably from the shrine, was delivered to the master of the king's jewels. Other images may have survived, at least for a time. More systematic iconoclasm happened in the reign of Edward VI: the Grey Friar's Chronicle reports that the rood and other images were destroyed in November 1547.

 

In late 1549, at the height of the iconoclasm of the reformation, Sir Rowland Hill altered the route of his Lord Mayor's day procession and said a de profundis at the tomb of Erkenwald. Later in Hill's mayoralty of (1550) the high altar of St Paul's was removed overnight to be destroyed, an occurrence that provoked a fight in which a man was killed. Hill had ordered, unusually for the time, that St Barnabus's Day would not be kept as a public holiday ahead of these events.

 

Three years later, by October 1553, "Alle the alteres and chappelles in alle Powlles churche" were taken down.[19] In August, 1553, the dean and chapter were cited to appear before Queen Mary's commissioners.

 

Some of the buildings in the St Paul's churchyard were sold as shops and rental properties, especially to printers and booksellers. In 1561 the spire was destroyed by a lightning strike, an event that Roman Catholic writers claimed was a sign of God's judgment on England's Protestant rulers. Bishop James Pilkington preached a sermon in response, claiming that the lightning strike was a judgement for the irreverent use of the cathedral building. Immediate steps were taken to repair the damage, with the citizens of London and the clergy offering money to support the rebuilding. However, the cost of repairing the building properly was too great for a country and city recovering from a trade depression. Instead, the roof was repaired and a timber "roo"’ put on the steeple.

 

In the 1630s a west front was added to the building by England's first classical architect, Inigo Jones. There was much defacing and mistreatment of the building by Parliamentarian forces during the Civil War, and the old documents and charters were dispersed and destroyed. During the Commonwealth, those churchyard buildings that were razed supplied ready-dressed building material for construction projects, such as the Lord Protector's city palace, Somerset House. Crowds were drawn to the north-east corner of the churchyard, St Paul's Cross, where open-air preaching took place.

 

In the Great Fire of London of 1666, Old St Paul's was gutted. While it might have been possible to reconstruct it, a decision was taken to build a new cathedral in a modern style. This course of action had been proposed even before the fire.

 

Present St Paul's

The task of designing a replacement structure was officially assigned to Sir Christopher Wren on 30 July 1669. He had previously been put in charge of the rebuilding of churches to replace those lost in the Great Fire. More than 50 city churches are attributable to Wren. Concurrent with designing St Paul's, Wren was engaged in the production of his five Tracts on Architecture.

 

Wren had begun advising on the repair of the Old St Paul's in 1661, five years before the fire in 1666. The proposed work included renovations to interior and exterior to complement the classical facade designed by Inigo Jones in 1630. Wren planned to replace the dilapidated tower with a dome, using the existing structure as a scaffold. He produced a drawing of the proposed dome which shows his idea that it should span nave and aisles at the crossing. After the Fire, it was at first thought possible to retain a substantial part of the old cathedral, but ultimately the entire structure was demolished in the early 1670s.

 

In July 1668 Dean William Sancroft wrote to Wren that he was charged by the Archbishop of Canterbury, in agreement with the Bishops of London and Oxford, to design a new cathedral that was "Handsome and noble to all the ends of it and to the reputation of the City and the nation". The design process took several years, but a design was finally settled and attached to a royal warrant, with the proviso that Wren was permitted to make any further changes that he deemed necessary. The result was the present St Paul's Cathedral, still the second largest church in Britain, with a dome proclaimed as the finest in the world. The building was financed by a tax on coal, and was completed within its architect's lifetime with many of the major contractors engaged for the duration.

 

The "topping out" of the cathedral (when the final stone was placed on the lantern) took place on 26 October 1708, performed by Wren's son Christopher Jr and the son of one of the masons. The cathedral was declared officially complete by Parliament on 25 December 1711 (Christmas Day). In fact, construction continued for several years after that, with the statues on the roof added in the 1720s. In 1716 the total costs amounted to £1,095,556 (£174 million in 2021).

 

Consecration

On 2 December 1697, 31 years and 3 months after the Great Fire destroyed Old St Paul's, the new cathedral was consecrated for use. The Right Reverend Henry Compton, Bishop of London, preached the sermon. It was based on the text of Psalm 122, "I was glad when they said unto me: Let us go into the house of the Lord." The first regular service was held on the following Sunday.

 

Opinions of Wren's cathedral differed, with some loving it: "Without, within, below, above, the eye / Is filled with unrestrained delight", while others hated it: "There was an air of Popery about the gilded capitals, the heavy arches ... They were unfamiliar, un-English ...".

 

Since 1900

St. Paul's was the target of two suffragette bombing attacks in 1913 and 1914 respectively, which nearly caused the destruction of the cathedral. This was as part of the suffragette bombing and arson campaign between 1912 and 1914, in which suffragettes from the Women's Social and Political Union, as part of their campaign for women's suffrage, carried out a series of politically motivated bombings and arson nationwide. Churches were explicitly targeted by the suffragettes as they believed the Church of England was complicit in reinforcing opposition to women's suffrage. Between 1913 and 1914, 32 churches across Britain were attacked.

 

The first attack on St. Paul's occurred on 8 May 1913, at the start of a sermon. A bomb was heard ticking and discovered as people were entering the cathedral. It was made out of potassium nitrate. Had it exploded, the bomb likely would have destroyed the historic bishop's throne and other parts of the cathedral. The remains of the device, which was made partly out of a mustard tin, are now on display at the City of London Police Museum.

 

A second bombing of the cathedral by the suffragettes was attempted on 13 June 1914, however the bomb was again discovered before it could explode. This attempted bombing occurred two days after a bomb had exploded at Westminster Abbey, which damaged the Coronation Chair and caused a mass panic for the exits. Several other churches were bombed at this time, such as St Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square and the Metropolitan Tabernacle.

 

War damage

The cathedral survived the Blitz although struck by bombs on 10 October 1940 and 17 April 1941. The first strike destroyed the high altar, while the second strike on the north transept left a hole in the floor above the crypt. The latter bomb is believed to have detonated in the upper interior above the north transept and the force was sufficient to shift the entire dome laterally by a small amount.

 

On 12 September 1940 a time-delayed bomb that had struck the cathedral was successfully defused and removed by a bomb disposal detachment of Royal Engineers under the command of Temporary Lieutenant Robert Davies. Had this bomb detonated, it would have totally destroyed the cathedral; it left a 100-foot (30 m) crater when later remotely detonated in a secure location. As a result of this action, Davies and Sapper George Cameron Wylie were each awarded the George Cross. Davies' George Cross and other medals are on display at the Imperial War Museum, London.

 

One of the best known images of London during the war was a photograph of St Paul's taken on 29 December 1940 during the "Second Great Fire of London" by photographer Herbert Mason, from the roof of a building in Tudor Street showing the cathedral shrouded in smoke. Lisa Jardine of Queen Mary, University of London, has written:

 

Wreathed in billowing smoke, amidst the chaos and destruction of war, the pale dome stands proud and glorious—indomitable. At the height of that air-raid, Sir Winston Churchill telephoned the Guildhall to insist that all fire-fighting resources be directed at St Paul's. The cathedral must be saved, he said, damage to the fabric would sap the morale of the country.

 

Post-war

On 29 July 1981, the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer was held at the cathedral. The couple selected St Paul's over Westminster Abbey, the traditional site of royal weddings, because the cathedral offered more seating.

 

Extensive copper, lead and slate renovation work was carried out on the Dome in 1996 by John B. Chambers. A 15-year restoration project—one of the largest ever undertaken in the UK—was completed on 15 June 2011.

 

Occupy London

In October 2011 an anti-capitalism Occupy London encampment was established in front of the cathedral, after failing to gain access to the London Stock Exchange at Paternoster Square nearby. The cathedral's finances were affected by the ensuing closure. It was claimed that the cathedral was losing revenue of £20,000 per day. Canon Chancellor Giles Fraser resigned, asserting his view that "evicting the anti-capitalist activists would constitute violence in the name of the Church". The Dean of St Paul's, the Right Revd Graeme Knowles, then resigned too. The encampment was evicted at the end of February 2012, by court order and without violence, as a result of legal action by the City of London Corporation.

 

2019 terrorist plot

On 10 October 2019, Safiyya Amira Shaikh, a Muslim convert, was arrested following an MI5 and Metropolitan Police investigation. In September 2019, she had taken photos of the cathedral's interior. While trying to radicalise others using the Telegram messaging software, she planned to attack the cathedral and other targets such as a hotel and a train station using explosives. Shaikh pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

 

National events

The size and location of St Paul's has made it an ideal setting for Christian services marking great national events. The opportunity for long processions culminating in the dramatic approach up Ludgate Hill, the open area and steps at the west front, the great nave and the space under the dome are all well suited for ceremonial occasions. St Paul's can seat many more people than any other church in London, and in past centuries, the erection of temporary wooden galleries inside allowed for congregations exceeding 10,000. In 1935, the dean, Walter Matthews, wrote:

 

No description in words can convey an adequate idea of the majestic beauty of a solemn national religious ceremony in St Paul's. It is hard to believe that there is any other building in the world that is so well adapted to be the setting of such symbolical acts of communal worship.

 

National events attended by the royal family, government ministers and officers of state include national services of thanksgiving, state funerals and a royal wedding. Some of the most notable examples are:

 

Thanksgiving service for the Acts of Union 1707, 1 May 1707

State funeral of Horatio Nelson, 9 January 1806

State funeral of the Duke of Wellington, 18 November 1852

Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, 22 June 1897

Thanksgiving service for the Treaty of Versailles, 6 July 1919

Silver Jubilee of George V, 6 May 1935

Thanksgiving services for VE Day and VJ Day, 13 May and 19 August 1945

Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II, 7 June 1977

Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, 29 July 1981

Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II, 4 June 2002

Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II, 5 June 2012

Ceremonial funeral of Margaret Thatcher, 17 April 2013

Thanksgiving service for the Queen's 90th Birthday, 10 June 2016

Platinum Jubilee National Service of Thanksgiving, 3 June 2022

 

Ministry and functions

St Paul's Cathedral is a busy church with four or five services every day, including Matins, Eucharist and Evening Prayer or Choral Evensong. In addition, the cathedral has many special services associated with the City of London, its corporation, guilds and institutions. The cathedral, as the largest church in London, also has a role in many state functions such as the service celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. The cathedral is generally open daily to tourists and has a regular programme of organ recitals and other performances. The Bishop of London is Sarah Mullally, whose appointment was announced in December 2017 and whose enthronement took place in May 2018.

 

Dean and chapter

The cathedral chapter is currently composed of seven individuals: the dean, three residentiary canons (one of whom is, exceptionally, lay), one "additional member of chapter and canon non-residentiary" (ordained), and two lay canons. Each has a different responsibility in the running of the cathedral. As of October 2022:

 

Dean — Andrew Tremlett (since 25 September 2022)

Precentor — James Milne (since 9 May 2019)

Treasurer — vacant

Chancellor — Paula Gooder (since 9 May 2019; lay reader since 23 February 2019)

Steward — Neil Evans (since June 2022)

Additional member of chapter and canon non-residentiary — Sheila Watson (since January 2017).

Lay Canon — Pamela (Pim) Jane Baxter (since March 2014). Deputy Director at the National Portrait Gallery, with experience in opera, theatre and the visual arts.

Lay Canon — Sheila Nicoll (since October 2018). She is Head of Public Policy at Schroder Investment Management.

Lay Canon — Clement Hutton-Mills (since March 2021). He is also a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs.

Lay Canon — Gillian Bowen (since June 2022). She is Chief Executive Officer of YMCA London City and North and is a magistrate.

 

Director of Music

The Director of Music is Andrew Carwood. Carwood was appointed to succeed Malcolm Archer as Director of Music, taking up the post in September 2007. He is the first non-organist to hold the post since the 12th century.

 

Paul's Cathedral

Organs

An organ was commissioned from Bernard Smith in 1694.

 

In 1862 the organ from the Panopticon of Science and Art (the Panopticon Organ) was installed in a gallery over the south transept door.

 

The Grand Organ was completed in 1872, and the Panopticon Organ moved to the Victoria Rooms in Clifton in 1873.

 

The Grand Organ is the fifth-largest in Great Britain, in terms of number of pipes (7,256), with 5 manuals, 136 ranks of pipes and 137 stops, principally enclosed in an impressive case designed in Wren's workshop and decorated by Grinling Gibbons.

 

Details of the organ can be found online at the National Pipe Organ Register.

 

Choir

St Paul's Cathedral has a full professional choir, which sings regularly at services. The earliest records of the choir date from 1127. The present choir consists of up to 30 boy choristers, eight probationers and the vicars choral, 12 professional singers. In February 2017 the cathedral announced the appointment of the first female vicar choral, Carris Jones (a mezzo-soprano), to take up the role in September 2017. In 2022, it was announced that girls would be admitted to a cathedral choir in 2025.

 

During school terms the choir sings Evensong six times per week, the service on Mondays being sung by a visiting choir (or occasionally said) and that on Thursdays being sung by the vicars choral alone. On Sundays the choir also sings at Mattins and the 11:30 am Eucharist.

 

Many distinguished musicians have been organists, choir masters and choristers at St Paul's Cathedral, including the composers John Redford, Thomas Morley, John Blow, Jeremiah Clarke, Maurice Greene and John Stainer, while well-known performers have included Alfred Deller, John Shirley-Quirk and Anthony Way as well as the conductors Charles Groves and Paul Hillier and the poet Walter de la Mare.

 

Wren's cathedral

In designing St Paul's, Christopher Wren had to meet many challenges. He had to create a fitting cathedral to replace Old St Paul's, as a place of worship and as a landmark within the City of London. He had to satisfy the requirements of the church and the tastes of a royal patron, as well as respecting the essentially medieval tradition of English church building which developed to accommodate the liturgy. Wren was familiar with contemporary Renaissance and Baroque trends in Italian architecture and had visited France, where he studied the work of François Mansart.

 

Wren's design developed through five general stages. The first survives only as a single drawing and part of a model. The scheme (usually called the First Model Design) appears to have consisted of a circular domed vestibule (possibly based on the Pantheon in Rome) and a rectangular church of basilica form. The plan may have been influenced by the Temple Church. It was rejected because it was not thought "stately enough". Wren's second design was a Greek cross, which was thought by the clerics not to fulfil the requirements of Anglican liturgy.

 

Wren's third design is embodied in the "Great Model" of 1673. The model, made of oak and plaster, cost over £500 (approximately £32,000 today) and is over 13 feet (4 m) tall and 21 feet (6 m) long. This design retained the form of the Greek-Cross design but extended it with a nave. His critics, members of a committee commissioned to rebuild the church, and clergy decried the design as too dissimilar to other English churches to suggest any continuity within the Church of England. Another problem was that the entire design would have to be completed all at once because of the eight central piers that supported the dome, instead of being completed in stages and opened for use before construction finished, as was customary. The Great Model was Wren's favourite design; he thought it a reflection of Renaissance beauty. After the Great Model, Wren resolved not to make further models and not to expose his drawings publicly, which he found did nothing but "lose time, and subject [his] business many times, to incompetent judges". The Great Model survives and is housed within the cathedral itself.

 

Wren's fourth design is known as the Warrant design because it received a Royal warrant for the rebuilding. In this design Wren sought to reconcile Gothic, the predominant style of English churches, to a "better manner of architecture". It has the longitudinal Latin Cross plan of a medieval cathedral. It is of 1+1⁄2 storeys and has classical porticos at the west and transept ends, influenced by Inigo Jones's addition to Old St Paul's. It is roofed at the crossing by a wide shallow dome supporting a drum with a second cupola, from which rises a spire of seven diminishing stages. Vaughan Hart has suggested that influence in the design of the spire may have been drawn from the oriental pagoda. Not used at St Paul's, the concept was applied in the spire of St Bride's, Fleet Street. This plan was rotated slightly on its site so that it aligned, not with true east, but with sunrise on Easter of the year construction began. This small change in configuration was informed by Wren's knowledge of astronomy.

 

Final design

The final design as built differs substantially from the official Warrant design. Wren received permission from the king to make "ornamental changes" to the submitted design, and Wren took great advantage of this. Many of these changes were made over the course of the thirty years as the church was constructed, and the most significant was to the dome: "He raised another structure over the first cupola, a cone of brick, so as to support a stone lantern of an elegant figure ... And he covered and hid out of sight the brick cone with another cupola of timber and lead; and between this and the cone are easy stairs that ascend to the lantern" (Christopher Wren, son of Sir Christopher Wren). The final design was strongly rooted in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The saucer domes over the nave were inspired by François Mansart's Church of the Val-de-Grâce, which Wren had seen during a trip to Paris in 1665.

 

The date of the laying of the first stone of the cathedral is disputed. One contemporary account says it was 21 June 1675, another 25 June and a third on 28 June. There is, however, general agreement that it was laid in June 1675. Edward Strong later claimed it was laid by his elder brother, Thomas Strong, one of the two master stonemasons appointed by Wren at the beginning of the work.

 

Structural engineering

Wren's challenge was to construct a large cathedral on the relatively weak clay soil of London. St Paul's is unusual among cathedrals in that there is a crypt, the largest in Europe, under the entire building rather than just under the eastern end. The crypt serves a structural purpose. Although it is extensive, half the space of the crypt is taken up by massive piers which spread the weight of the much slimmer piers of the church above. While the towers and domes of most cathedrals are supported on four piers, Wren designed the dome of St Paul's to be supported on eight, achieving a broader distribution of weight at the level of the foundations. The foundations settled as the building progressed, and Wren made structural changes in response.

 

One of the design problems that confronted Wren was to create a landmark dome, tall enough to visually replace the lost tower of St Paul's, while at the same time appearing visually satisfying when viewed from inside the building. Wren planned a double-shelled dome, as at St Peter's Basilica. His solution to the visual problem was to separate the heights of the inner and outer dome to a much greater extent than had been done by Michelangelo at St Peter's, drafting both as catenary curves, rather than as hemispheres. Between the inner and outer domes, Wren inserted a brick cone which supports both the timbers of the outer, lead-covered dome and the weight of the ornate stone lantern that rises above it. Both the cone and the inner dome are 18 inches thick and are supported by wrought iron chains at intervals in the brick cone and around the cornice of the peristyle of the inner dome to prevent spreading and cracking.

 

The Warrant Design showed external buttresses on the ground floor level. These were not a classical feature and were one of the first elements Wren changed. Instead he made the walls of the cathedral particularly thick to avoid the need for external buttresses altogether. The clerestory and vault are reinforced with flying buttresses, which were added at a relatively late stage in the design to give extra strength. These are concealed behind the screen wall of the upper story, which was added to keep the building's classical style intact, to add sufficient visual mass to balance the appearance of the dome and which, by its weight, counters the thrust of the buttresses on the lower walls.

 

Designers, builders and craftsmen

During the extensive period of design and rationalisation, Wren employed from 1684 Nicholas Hawksmoor as his principal assistant. Between 1696 and 1711 William Dickinson was measuring clerk. Joshua Marshall (until his early death in 1678) and Thomas and his brother Edward Strong were master masons, the latter two working on the construction for its entirety. John Langland was the master carpenter for over thirty years. Grinling Gibbons was the chief sculptor, working in both stone on the building itself, including the pediment of the north portal, and wood on the internal fittings. The sculptor Caius Gabriel Cibber created the pediment of the south transept while Francis Bird was responsible for the relief in the west pediment depicting the Conversion of St Paul, as well as the seven large statues on the west front. The floor was paved by William Dickinson in black and white marble in 1709–10 Jean Tijou was responsible for the decorative wrought ironwork of gates and balustrades. The ball and cross on the dome were provided by an armorer, Andrew Niblett. Following the war damage mentioned above, many craftsmen were employed to restore the wood carvings and stone work that had been destroyed by the bomb impact. One of particular note is Master Carver, Gino Masero who was commissioned to carve the replacement figure of Christ, an eight-foot sculpture in lime which currently stands on the High Altar.

 

Description

St Paul's Cathedral is built in a restrained Baroque style which represents Wren's rationalisation of the traditions of English medieval cathedrals with the inspiration of Palladio, the classical style of Inigo Jones, the baroque style of 17th century Rome, and the buildings by Mansart and others that he had seen in France. It is particularly in its plan that St Paul's reveals medieval influences. Like the great medieval cathedrals of York and Winchester, St Paul's is comparatively long for its width, and has strongly projecting transepts. It has much emphasis on its facade, which has been designed to define rather than conceal the form of the building behind it. In plan, the towers jut beyond the width of the aisles as they do at Wells Cathedral. Wren's uncle Matthew Wren was the Bishop of Ely, and, having worked for his uncle, Wren was familiar with the unique octagonal lantern tower over the crossing of Ely Cathedral, which spans the aisles as well as the central nave, unlike the central towers and domes of most churches. Wren adapted this characteristic in designing the dome of St Paul's.[91] In section St Paul's also maintains a medieval form, having the aisles much lower than the nave, and a defined clerestory.

 

Exterior

The most renowned exterior feature is the dome, which rises 365 feet (111 m) to the cross at its summit, and dominates views of the city. The height of 365 feet is explained by Wren's interest in astronomy. Until the late 20th century St Paul's was the tallest building on the City skyline, designed to be seen surrounded by the delicate spires of Wren's other city churches. The dome is described by Sir Banister Fletcher as "probably the finest in Europe", by Helen Gardner as "majestic", and by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as "one of the most perfect in the world". Sir John Summerson said that Englishmen and "even some foreigners" consider it to be without equal.

 

Dome

Wren drew inspiration from Michelangelo's dome of St Peter's Basilica, and that of Mansart's Church of the Val-de-Grâce, which he had visited. Unlike those of St Peter's and Val-de-Grâce, the dome of St Paul's rises in two clearly defined storeys of masonry, which, together with a lower unadorned footing, equal a height of about 95 feet. From the time of the Greek Cross Design it is clear that Wren favoured a continuous colonnade (peristyle) around the drum of the dome, rather than the arrangement of alternating windows and projecting columns that Michelangelo had used and which had also been employed by Mansart. Summerson suggests that he was influenced by Bramante's "Tempietto" in the courtyard of San Pietro in Montorio. In the finished structure, Wren creates a diversity and appearance of strength by placing niches between the columns in every fourth opening. The peristyle serves to buttress both the inner dome and the brick cone which rises internally to support the lantern.

 

Above the peristyle rises the second stage surrounded by a balustraded balcony called the "Stone Gallery". This attic stage is ornamented with alternating pilasters and rectangular windows which are set just below the cornice, creating a sense of lightness. Above this attic rises the dome, covered with lead, and ribbed in accordance with the spacing of the pilasters. It is pierced by eight light wells just below the lantern, but these are barely visible. They allow light to penetrate through openings in the brick cone, which illuminates the interior apex of this shell, partly visible from within the cathedral through the ocular opening of the lower dome.

 

The lantern, like the visible masonry of the dome, rises in stages. The most unusual characteristic of this structure is that it is of square plan, rather than circular or octagonal. The tallest stage takes the form of a tempietto with four columned porticos facing the cardinal points. Its lowest level is surrounded by the "Golden Gallery" and its upper level supports a small dome from which rises a cross on a golden ball. The total weight of the lantern is about 850 tons.

 

West front

For the Renaissance architect designing the west front of a large church or cathedral, the universal problem was how to use a facade to unite the high central nave with the lower aisles in a visually harmonious whole. Since Alberti's additions to Santa Maria Novella in Florence, this was usually achieved by the simple expedient of linking the sides to the centre with large brackets. This is the solution that Wren saw employed by Mansart at Val-de-Grâce. Another feature employed by Mansart was a boldly projecting Classical portico with paired columns. Wren faced the additional challenge of incorporating towers into the design, as had been planned at St Peter's Basilica. At St Peter's, Carlo Maderno had solved this problem by constructing a narthex and stretching a huge screen facade across it, differentiated at the centre by a pediment. The towers at St Peter's were not built above the parapet.

 

Wren's solution was to employ a Classical portico, as at Val-de-Grâce, but rising through two storeys, and supported on paired columns. The remarkable feature here is that the lower story of this portico extends to the full width of the aisles, while the upper section defines the nave that lies behind it. The gaps between the upper stage of the portico and the towers on either side are bridged by a narrow section of wall with an arch-topped window.

 

The towers stand outside the width of the aisles, but screen two chapels located immediately behind them. The lower parts of the towers continue the theme of the outer walls, but are differentiated from them in order to create an appearance of strength. The windows of the lower story are smaller than those of the side walls and are deeply recessed, a visual indication of the thickness of the wall. The paired pilasters at each corner project boldly.

 

Above the main cornice, which unites the towers with the portico and the outer walls, the details are boldly scaled, in order to read well from the street below and from a distance. The towers rise above the cornice from a square block plinth which is plain apart from large oculi, that on the south being filled by the clock, while that on the north is void. The towers are composed of two complementary elements, a central cylinder rising through the tiers in a series of stacked drums, and paired Corinthian columns at the corners, with buttresses above them, which serve to unify the drum shape with the square plinth on which it stands. The entablature above the columns breaks forward over them to express both elements, tying them together in a single horizontal band. The cap, an ogee-shaped dome, supports a gilded finial in the form of a pineapple.

 

The transepts each have a semi-circular entrance portico. Wren was inspired in the design by studying engravings of Pietro da Cortona's Baroque facade of Santa Maria della Pace in Rome. These projecting arcs echo the shape of the apse at the eastern end of the building.

 

Walls

The building is of two storeys of ashlar masonry, above a basement, and surrounded by a balustrade above the upper cornice. The balustrade was added, against Wren's wishes, in 1718. The internal bays are marked externally by paired pilasters with Corinthian capitals at the lower level and Composite at the upper level. Where the building behind is of only one story (at the aisles of both nave and choir) the upper story of the exterior wall is sham. It serves a dual purpose of supporting the buttresses of the vault, and providing a satisfying appearance when viewed rising above buildings of the height of the 17th-century city. This appearance may still be seen from across the River Thames.

 

Between the pilasters on both levels are windows. Those of the lower storey have semi-circular heads and are surrounded by continuous mouldings of a Roman style, rising to decorative keystones. Beneath each window is a floral swag by Grinling Gibbons, constituting the finest stone carving on the building and some of the greatest architectural sculpture in England. A frieze with similar swags runs in a band below the cornice, tying the arches of the windows and the capitals. The upper windows are of a restrained Classical form, with pediments set on columns, but are blind and contain niches. Beneath these niches, and in the basement level, are small windows with segmental tops, the glazing of which catches the light and visually links them to the large windows of the aisles. The height from ground level to the top of the parapet is approximately 110 feet.

 

Fencing

The original fencing, designed by Wren, was dismantled in the 1870s. The surveyor for the government of Toronto had it shipped to Toronto, where it has since adorned High Park.

 

Interior

Internally, St Paul's has a nave and choir in each of its three bays. The entrance from the west portico is through a square domed narthex, flanked by chapels: the Chapel of St Dunstan to the north and the Chapel of the Order of St Michael and St George to the south. The nave is 91 feet (28 m) in height and is separated from the aisles by an arcade of piers with attached Corinthian pilasters rising to an entablature. The bays, and therefore the vault compartments, are rectangular, but Wren roofed these spaces with saucer-shaped domes and surrounded the clerestory windows with lunettes. The vaults of the choir are decorated with mosaics by Sir William Blake Richmond. The dome and the apse of the choir are all approached through wide arches with coffered vaults which contrast with the smooth surface of the domes and punctuate the division between the main spaces. The transepts extend to the north and south of the dome and are called (in this instance) the North Choir and the South Choir.

 

The choir holds the stalls for the clergy, cathedral officers and the choir, and the organ. These wooden fittings, including the pulpit and Bishop's throne, were designed in Wren's office and built by joiners. The carvings are the work of Grinling Gibbons whom Summerson describes as having "astonishing facility", suggesting that Gibbons aim was to reproduce popular Dutch flower painting in wood. Jean Tijou, a French metalworker, provided various wrought iron and gilt grilles, gates and balustrades of elaborate design, of which many pieces have now been combined into the gates near the sanctuary.

 

The cathedral is some 574 feet (175 m) in length (including the portico of the Great West Door), of which 223 feet (68 m) is the nave and 167 feet (51 m) is the choir. The width of the nave is 121 feet (37 m) and across the transepts is 246 feet (75 m). The cathedral is slightly shorter but somewhat wider than Old St Paul's.

 

Dome

The main internal space of the cathedral is that under the central dome which extends the full width of the nave and aisles. The dome is supported on pendentives rising between eight arches spanning the nave, choir, transepts, and aisles. The eight piers that carry them are not evenly spaced. Wren has maintained an appearance of eight equal spans by inserting segmental arches to carry galleries across the ends of the aisles, and has extended the mouldings of the upper arch to appear equal to the wider arches.

 

Above the keystones of the arches, at 99 feet (30 m) above the floor and 112 feet (34 m) wide, runs a cornice which supports the Whispering Gallery so called because of its acoustic properties: a whisper or low murmur against its wall at any point is audible to a listener with an ear held to the wall at any other point around the gallery. It is reached by 259 steps from ground level.

 

The dome is raised on a tall drum surrounded by pilasters and pierced with windows in groups of three, separated by eight gilded niches containing statues, and repeating the pattern of the peristyle on the exterior. The dome rises above a gilded cornice at 173 feet (53 m) to a height of 214 feet (65 m). Its painted decoration by Sir James Thornhill shows eight scenes from the life of St Paul set in illusionistic architecture which continues the forms of the eight niches of the drum. At the apex of the dome is an oculus inspired by that of the Pantheon in Rome. Through this hole can be seen the decorated inner surface of the cone which supports the lantern. This upper space is lit by the light wells in the outer dome and openings in the brick cone. Engravings of Thornhill's paintings were published in 1720.

 

Apse

The eastern apse extends the width of the choir and is the full height of the main arches across choir and nave. It is decorated with mosaics, in keeping with the choir vaults. The original reredos and high altar were destroyed by bombing in 1940. The present high altar and baldacchino are the work of W. Godfrey Allen and Stephen Dykes Bower. The apse was dedicated in 1958 as the American Memorial Chapel. It was paid for entirely by donations from British people. The Roll of Honour contains the names of more than 28,000 Americans who gave their lives while on their way to, or stationed in, the United Kingdom during the Second World War. It is in front of the chapel's altar. The three windows of the apse date from 1960 and depict themes of service and sacrifice, while the insignia around the edges represent the American states and the US armed forces. The limewood panelling incorporates a rocket—a tribute to America's achievements in space.

 

Artworks, tombs and memorials

St Paul's at the time of its completion, was adorned by sculpture in stone and wood, most notably that of Grinling Gibbons, by the paintings in the dome by Thornhill, and by Jean Tijou's elaborate metalwork. It has been further enhanced by Sir William Richmond's mosaics and the fittings by Dykes Bower and Godfrey Allen. Other artworks in the cathedral include, in the south aisle, William Holman Hunt's copy of his painting The Light of the World, the original of which hangs in Keble College, Oxford. The St. Paul's version was completed with a significant input from Edward Robert Hughes as Hunt was now suffering from glaucoma. In the north choir aisle is a limestone sculpture of the Madonna and Child by Henry Moore, carved in 1943. The crypt contains over 200 memorials and numerous burials. Christopher Wren was the first person to be interred, in 1723. On the wall above his tomb in the crypt is written in Latin: Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice ("Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you").

 

The largest monument in the cathedral is that to the Duke of Wellington by Alfred Stevens. It stands on the north side of the nave and has on top a statue of Wellington astride his horse "Copenhagen". Although the equestrian figure was planned at the outset, objections to the notion of having a horse in the church prevented its installation until 1912. The horse and rider are by John Tweed. The Duke is buried in the crypt. The tomb of Horatio, Lord Nelson is located in the crypt, next to that of Wellington. The marble sarcophagus which holds his remains was made for Cardinal Wolsey but not used as the cardinal had fallen from favour. At the eastern end of the crypt is the Chapel of the Order of the British Empire, instigated in 1917, and designed by John Seely, Lord Mottistone. There are many other memorials commemorating the British military, including several lists of servicemen who died in action, the most recent being the Gulf War.

 

Also remembered are Florence Nightingale, J. M. W. Turner, Arthur Sullivan, Hubert Parry, Samuel Johnson, Lawrence of Arabia, William Blake, William Jones and Sir Alexander Fleming as well as clergy and residents of the local parish. There are lists of the Bishops and cathedral Deans for the last thousand years. One of the most remarkable sculptures is that of the Dean and poet, John Donne. Before his death, Donne posed for his own memorial statue and was depicted by Nicholas Stone as wrapped in a burial shroud, and standing on a funeral urn. The sculpture, carved around 1630, is the only one to have survived the conflagration of 1666 intact. The treasury is also in the crypt but the cathedral has very few treasures as many have been lost, and on 22 December 1810 a major robbery took almost all of the remaining precious artefacts.

 

The funerals of many notable figures have been held in the cathedral, including those of Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Winston Churchill, George Mallory and Margaret Thatcher.

 

Clock and bells

A clock was installed in the south-west tower by Langley Bradley in 1709 but was worn out by the end of the 19th century. The present mechanism was built in 1893 by Smith of Derby incorporating a design of escapement by Edmund Denison Beckett similar to that used by Edward Dent on Big Ben's mechanism in 1895. The clock mechanism is 19 feet (5.8 m) long and is the most recent of the clocks introduced to St Paul's Cathedral over the centuries. Since 1969 the clock has been electrically wound with equipment designed and installed by Smith of Derby, relieving the clock custodian from the work of cranking up the heavy drive weights.

 

The south-west tower also contains four bells, of which Great Paul, cast in 1881 by J. W. Taylor of Taylor's bell foundry of Loughborough, at 16+1⁄2 long tons (16,800 kg) was the largest bell in the British Isles until the casting of the Olympic Bell for the 2012 London Olympics. Although the bell is traditionally sounded at 1 pm each day, Great Paul had not been rung for several years because of a broken chiming mechanism. In the 1970s the fastening mechanism that secured the clapper had fractured, sending both through the clock mechanism below and causing damage which cost £30,000 to repair. In about 1989 the clapper fractured completely, although less damage was sustained. On 31 July 2021, during the London Festival of the Bells, Great Paul rang for the first time in two decades, being hand swung by the bell ringers. The clock bells included Great Tom, which was moved from St Stephen's Chapel at the Palace of Westminster and has been recast several times, the last time by Richard Phelps. It chimes the hour and is traditionally tolled on occasions of a death in the royal family, the Bishop of London, or the Lord Mayor of London, although an exception was made at the death of the US president James Garfield. It was last tolled for the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, ringing once every minute along with other bells across the country in honor of the 96 years of her life. In 1717, Richard Phelps cast two more bells that were added as "quarter jacks" that ring on the quarter hour. Still in use today, the first weighs 13 long cwt (1,500 lb; 660 kg), is 41 inches (100 cm) in diameter and is tuned to A♭; the second weighs 35 long cwt (3,900 lb; 1,800 kg), is 58 inches (150 cm) in diameter and is tuned to E♭.

 

The north-west tower contains a ring of 12 bells by John Taylor & Co of Loughborough hung for change ringing. In January 2018 the bells were removed for refurbishment and were rehung in September that year, being rung again for the first time on All Saints' Day. The original service or "Communion" bell dating from 1700 and known as "the Banger" is rung before 8 am services.

Over 1200 new cadet candidates reported to the United States Military Academy at West Point for Reception Day (Rday). Rday marks the beginning of their 47-month experience at West Point which culminates with graduation and commissioning into the United States Army.

 

Photos by: Staff Sgt. Vito T. Bryant

As the culminating event for their measuring unit, more than 200 sixth graders designed and raced go-karts outside on the parking lot at Merrill Middle School on September 30th. The go-karts had to have two axels, at least three wheels, and had to mainly consist of a vegetable or fruit. The annual race started five years ago and was designed by the Merrill's science teachers, Christine Ryerson and Blake Hammond, as a way to promote science and curiousity.

Culminating project

Double exposure

Executive Director of GHI Visits Uganda to Review

Progress in Maternal and Neonatal Programs

 

Lois Quam, the Executive Director of the Global Health Initiative (GHI), visited Uganda February 21-25, 2012, to review the progress of maternal and neonatal programs in two districts in Western Uganda. President Obama created the GHI to help countries save lives today, and to strengthen health systems to save more lives and build stronger nations tomorrow. The U.S. Government, under GHI, is supporting the Government of Uganda's efforts to significantly strengthen its maternal and neonatal health services.

 

Ms. Quam visited several health facilities in Kyenjojo and Kabarole districts and observed service delivery programs at all levels of the health sector. Ms. Quam met with District Administration and Health Management officials, as well as Village Health Teams and community members. During these visits, Ms. Quam heard from Ugandans about the challenges surrounding maternal and neonatal health, as well as Ugandans' plans and hopes for the future.

 

The trip culminated in a public ceremony to commemorate the signing of a Letter of Intent between the Government of Uganda and the U.S. Government. The letter affirms the two governments' mutual commitment to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality in Uganda. Presiding officials included the U.S. Ambassador to Uganda, the Speaker of Uganda's Parliament and the Ugandan Minister of Health. Ms. Quam reminded all present that, “When a woman bleeds to death in childbirth, her nation bleeds, too,” and emphasized the importance of the Government of Uganda's commitment to the maternal and neonatal health programs.

 

The U.S. Government and Government of Uganda look forward to a fruitful partnership that will dramatically reduce maternal mortality in Uganda. Lois Quam's visit and the Letter of Intent are important first steps toward great strides in maternal health to ensure that, one day, no mother will die giving life.

   

St Margaret's Church Durham is an active parish Church situated on Crossgate in the city of Durham in the North-East of England. The building is Grade I listed and substantial parts date from the 12th century; the compact yet spacious interior has a pleasing asymmetry, which reveals different stages in the building's development.

 

St Margaret's was established in the 12th century as a Chapel of Ease in the Parish of St Oswald, to serve inhabitants of the Borough of Crossgate. Like St Oswald's, St Margaret's was under the jurisdiction of the Prior of Durham (whose successors, the Dean and Chapter, are to this day Patrons of the Living). There is evidence that, following the establishment of their own Chapelry, the people of Crossgate resented still having to attend the Parish Church at certain times, and still having to pay certain dues. One dispute in 1343 culminated in the Prior having the font removed from St Margaret's; only for it to be returned at the command of the Bishop (albeit with a warning which made it clear that the parishioners had no right to use it). It was not long afterwards, however, that residents of the Chapelry were granted the right to be married, churched and baptized in St Margaret's; and in 1431 the surrounding Church Garth was consecrated to allow the dead to be buried there.

 

The earliest extant parts of the building are estimated to date from around AD 1150. At this time, the church probably consisted of the Nave, South Aisle and Chancel. A North Aisle was added towards the end of the twelfth century; the North Nave arcade is taller and more elaborate than its South Nave counterpart (though both are in the Norman style). The aforementioned font is also still in place, and it too is believed to date from the twelfth century. Two Norman windows survive from this period: one in the Chancel, one in the South Nave clerestory. In the time of the fourteenth-century Bishop de Bury, the South Aisle was remodelled, and new clerestory windows were inserted above the Nave. Further expansion took place in the fifteenth century, including the addition of a Lady Chapel to the south of the Chancel, and the building of the tower. Two of the church's three bells date from this period (the other is sixteenth-century). In the second half of the nineteenth century, the Church was restored internally and externally; the North Aisle (as visible from the street) was largely rebuilt, and a full set of stained glass windows (judged to be of good quality for their time) were added.

 

The Church contains a large number of memorials, mostly marble plaques dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. Prominent on the floor of the Nave is a large memorial ledger slab which marks the burial place of Sir John Duck, Bt, a seventeenth-century mayor of Durham known as 'Durham's Dick Whittington' because of his poor origins.

 

The fine organ dates from 1917 and is by Harrison & Harrison (whose factory was, until recently, within the Parish). Arthur Harrison, who was churchwarden of St Margaret's at the time, donated the Choir division. The eagle lectern dates from 1909, and was given in memory of members of the Shafto family killed in the Boer War. Of more recent provenance is a much-admired statue of the Madonna and Child 'on the theme of Universal Motherhood' which was made by the late Brian Scraton, a local art teacher, and installed in 1993.

 

Following the arrival of Stephen Davis as Rector in the 1960s, St Margaret's experienced a period of Charismatic Renewal (of a distinctively catholic and sacramental flavour) and in the 1970s and 80s was a leading centre of charismatic worship in the north of England. This particular period in its history came to an end with the retirement of Fr Davis in 1988; under subsequent Rectors different emphases have been in evidence: from charismatic to catholic to contemplative, all of which aspects have contributed to its present character.[3]

 

An historical guide to the Church was written by Bertram Colgrave, renowned Anglo-Saxonist and former worshipper at St Margaret's; it is still in print, having been thoroughly revised in 2008.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Margaret%27s_Church,_Durham

PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- Culminating a process that began more than 23 years ago to establish a final resting place for veterans on the lands of the former Fort Ord, a ground-breaking ceremony was held at the General Stilwell Community Center March 13 to mark the beginning of the first phase of construction for the Central Coast Veterans Cemetery. Speakers at the event included former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta; U.S. Rep. Sam Farr; California Senator Bill Monning; Army veteran and last surviving member of the original Fort Ord Veterans Cemetery Advisory Committee, Jack Stewart; California Department of Veterans Affairs Deputy Secretary Keith Boylan; and Presidio of Monterey Garrison Commander Col. Paul Fellinger. The ceremony was attended by an estimated 500 people, including many veterans and family members of veterans.

 

Official Presidio of Monterey Web site

 

Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook

 

PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Foto de Mayo 13 despues de la Restauración

 

www.facebook.com/catedraleseiglesias

 

© Álbum 0356

By Catedrales e Iglesias

By Cathedrals and Churches

Arquidiócesis Primada de México

www.catedraleseiglesias.com

  

Parroquia la Santa Cruz de Jerusalén

M.I.S.

Párroco Presbítero Lic. Sergio Oliva Martínez

Vicario Presbítero Ángel Lauro Sánchez Montalvo

Prol. Av. Cuauhtémoc 1316

Col. Santa Cruz Atoyac

C.P. 3310

Del. Benito Juárez

Ciudad de México

Tel. 5688-5589

Tel.

Fax.

 

Esta iglesia fue edificada por los franciscanos en el siglo XVI terminada el 29 de septiembre de 1563, seg{un consta en la inscripcion de su bella portada plateresca. La torre es posterior a la fachada, tal vez de principios del XVII. El resto del edificio es moderno y consta de materiales y tecnica de los usados hscis 1930 cuando la iglesia fur reparada.

 

El templo posee una sobria fachada pero con una bella portada plateresca de cantera rosa y gris, con las inscripciones correspondientes a su fundación, donde de pronto voy leyendo “A XXIX” Lo que traduciendo abreviatura y números romanos dice “Año 1529” ¿Será esto posible? Increíblemente son solo 10 años después de la conquista de Tenochtitlán, eso quiere decir que Fray Pedro de Gante muy posiblemente pudo conocer este edificio.

 

unque el estado en que se encuentra el templo tiene unos cuantos, ya que en el año de 2008 sufrió severas remodelaciones y según el testimonio de los pobladores además de una denuncia ante el ministerio público el entonces párroco Sergio Oliva sustrajo obras de arte y retablos, con el pretexto de su preservación.

 

Obras de arte de las que no pude dar cuenta de su regreso, ya difícilmente sabremos que no estaban en un taller de restauración sino en la casa de algún político o muy posiblemente en el mercado negro de arte sacro que es lamentablemente muy difundido en este país. Por si fuera poco también se tapearon diversos arcos que poseía el templo, otros simplemente se retiraron como es el caso de unos nichos laterales que tenía la nave mayor y se quitaron lápidas muy antiguas del panteón que originalmente hubo en el atrio.

 

Como siempre uno se encuentra con estas atrocidades a la historia y el patrimonio que no pueden ignorarse, pero también uno celebra que a pesar de todo esto, aún existan estos templos tan antiguos y no hayan sido reemplazados por alguna inmundicia arquitectónica que se celebre como “de vanguardia”

 

En otra de las salas aprecié una reliquia que es la que da su nombre a la iglesia “Santa Cruz de Jerusalén” que se encuentra custodiada en una vitrinita y que pasean cada año en una procesión con banda de pueblo, para culminar en una feria en torno a la iglesia con jactanciosos juegos mecánicos y estrepitosos cohetes. Estos son los vestigios más de otro pueblo originario desde la época prehispánica y que hace ya casi un siglo se sumó a la ciudad.

 

This church was built by the Franciscans in the sixteenth century ended on September 29, 1563, sec {one stated in the inscription on his beautiful plateresque. The tower is later than the front, perhaps the beginning of the century. The rest of the building is modern and consists of materials and the technique used hscis 1930 when the church fur repair.

 

The temple has a plain facade but with a beautiful pink stone plateresque and gray, with entries corresponding to its foundation, where suddenly I'm reading "A XXIX" What translating abbreviations and Roman numerals say "Year 1529" Is this possible? Incredibly are only 10 years after the conquest of Tenochtitlan, it means that Fray Pedro of Ghent could quite possibly know about this building.

 

lthough the state is the temple has a few, as in the year of 2008 was severe remodeling and the testimony of villagers and a complaint to the prosecutor Sergio Oliva then-pastor stole art and retablos, under the guise of preservation.

 

Works of art which could not account for his return, and hardly know they were not in a restoration shop but in the house of a politician or quite possibly in the black market of religious art that is unfortunately widespread in this country . What's more diverse tapearon also had the temple arches, others simply withdrew as in lateral niches of the nave was removed and ancient tombstones of the cemetery was originally in the atrium.

 

As always you meet these atrocities to the history and heritage that can not be ignored, but also a place that despite all this, there are still these temples as old and not been replaced for some filth that is held as architectural " cutting edge "

 

In another room a relic that is appreciated that gives its name to the church "Holy Cross of Jerusalem" which is kept in a vitrinite and who walk each year in a procession with the town band, culminating in an exhibition in around the church with boastful and noisy rides rockets. These are the vestiges of another people originating from pre-Hispanic times and nearly a century ago joined the city.

NON HINDUS

ARE NOT ALLOWED INSIDE THE TEMPLE

 

Lingaraj Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Harihara, a form of Shiva and is one of the oldest temples in Bhubaneswar, the capital of the East Indian state of Odisha (formerly Orissa). The temple is the most prominent landmark of the Bhubaneswar city and one of the major tourist attractions of the state.

 

The Lingaraj temple is the largest temple in Bhubaneswar. The central tower of the temple is 55 m tall. The temple represents the quintessence of the Kalinga Architecture and culminates the medieval stages of the architectural tradition at Bhubaneswar. The temple is believed to be built by the kings from the Somavamsi dynasty, with later additions from the Ganga rulers. The temple is built in the Deula style that has four components namely, vimana (structure containing the sanctum), jagamohana (assembly hall), natamandira (festival hall) and bhoga-mandapa (hall of offerings), each increasing in the height to its predecessor. The temple complex has 50 other shrines and is enclosed by a large compound wall.

 

Bhubaneswar is called the Ekamra Kshetra as the deity of Lingaraj was originally under a mango tree (Ekamra) as noted in Ekamra Purana, a 13th-century Sanskrit treatise. The temple is active in worship practises, unlike most other temples in Bhubaneswar and Shiva is worshipped as Harihara, a combined form of Vishnu and Shiva. The temple has images of Vishnu, possibly because of the rising prominence of Jagannath cult emnating from the Ganga rulers who built the Jagannath Temple in Puri in the 12th century.

 

Lingaraj temple is maintained by the Temple Trust Board and the Archeological Survey of India (ASI). The temple has an average of 6,000 visitors per day and receives lakhs of visitors during festivals. Shivaratri festival is the major festival celebrated in the temple and event during 2012 witnessed 200,000 visitors.

 

HISTORY

Lingaraj means "The king of Lingam", the symbol of Saivism. Shiva was worshipped as Kirtivasa and later as Harihara and is commonly referred as Tribhuvaneshwara (also called Bhubaneswar), the master of three worlds, namely, heaven, earth and netherworld). His consort is called Bhuvaneshvari.

 

The temple is more than 1100 years old, dating back in its present form to the last decade of the eleventh century, though there is evidence that part of the temple was built during the sixth century CE as the temple has been emphasized in some of the seventh century Sanskrit texts. Fergusson believes the temple might have been initiated by Lelat Indra Kesari who reigned from 615 to 657 CE. The Assembly hall (jagamohana), sanctum and temple tower wer built during the eleventh century, while the Hall of offering (bhoga-mandapa) was built during the twelfth century. The natamandira was built by the wife of Salini between 1099 and 1104 CE. By the time the Lingaraj temple was completely constructed, the Jagannath (form of Vishnu) cult had been growing in the region, which historians believe is evidenced by the co-existence of Vishnu and Shiva worship at the temple. The Ganga dynasty kings were ardent followers of Vaishnavism and built the Jagannath Temple at Puri in the 12th century.

 

The temple is believed to be built by the Somavanshi king Jajati Keshari, in 11th century CE. Jajati Keshari had shifted his capital from Jajpur to Bhubaneswar which was referred to as Ekamra Kshetra in the Brahma Purana, an ancient scripture. One of the Somavamsi queens donated a village to the temple and the Brahmins attached to the temple received generous grants. An inscription from the Saka year 1094 (1172 CE) indicates gifts of gold coins to the temple by Rajaraja II. Another inscription of Narasimha I from the 11th century indicates offer of beetel leaves as tambula to the presiding deity. Other stone inscriptions in the temple indicate royal grants from Chodaganga to village people.

 

ARCHITECTURE

The Lingaraj temple is the largest temple in Bhubaneswar. James Ferugsson (1808–86), a noted critic and historian, rated the temple as "one of the finest examples of purely Hindu temple in India". It is enshrined within a spacious compound wall of laterite measuring 160 m by 142 m. The wall is 2.3 m thick and surmounted by a plain slant coping. Alongside the inner face of the boundary wall, there is a terrace to protect the compound wall against outside aggression. The tower is 55 m high and the complex has 150 smaller shrines in its spacious courtyard. Each inch of the 55 m tall tower is sculpted. The door in the gate of the entrance porch is made of sandalwood.

 

The Lingaraja temple faces east and is built of sandstone and laterite. The main entrance is located in the east, while there are small entrances in the north and south. The temple is built in the Deula style that has four components namely, vimana (structure containing the sanctum), jagamohana (assembly hall), natamandira (festival hall) and bhoga-mandapa (hall of offerings). The dance hall was associated with the raising prominence of the devadasi system that existed during the time. The various units from the Hall of offering to the tower of the sanctum increase in height.

 

The bhogamandapa (Hall of offering) measures 13 m by 13 m from the inside, 17.15 m by 17.25 m from the outside and has four doors in each of the sides. The exterior walls of the hall has decorative sculptures of men and beast. The hall has a pyramidal roof made of up several horizontal layers arranged in sets of two with intervening platform. It bears an inverted bell and a kalasa in the top. The natamandira (festival hall) measures 12 m by 12 m from the inside, 15 m by 15 m from the outside, has one main entrance and two side entrances. The side walls of the hall has decortive sculptures displaying women and couples. It has a flat roof sloping in stages. There are thick pylons inside the hall. The jagamohana (assembly hall) measures 11 m by 9.1 m from the inside, 17 m by 15 m from the outside, entrances from south and north and has a 30 metres tall roof. The hall has a pyramidal roof made of up several horizontal layers arranged in sets of two with intervening platform as in the Hall of offering. The facade to the entrances are decorated with perforated windows with lion sitting on hind legs. The inverted bell above second unit is adorned by kalasa and lions. The rekha deula has a 60 m tall pyramidal tower over the sanctum and measures 6.7 m from the inside, 16 m from the outside over the sanctum. It is covered with decorative design and seated lion projecting from the walls. The sanctum is square in shape from the inside. The tower walls are sculpted with female figures in different poses.

 

RELIGIOUS SIGNIFICANCE

Bhubaneswar is called the Ekamra Kshetra as the deity of Lingaraj was originally under a mango tree (Ekamra). Ekamra Purana, a Sanskrit treatise of the 13th century mentions that the presiding deity was not seen as lingam (an aniconic form of Shiva) during the Satya and Treta yugas and only during the Dwapara and Kali yugas, it emerged as a lingam. The lingam in the temple is a natural unshaped stone that rests on a Sakti. Such a lingam is called Krutibasa or Swayambhu and is found in 64 places in different parts of India. With the advent of the Ganga dynasty in the early 12th century, who had Vaishnavaite orientation, a new movement started resulting in the synthesis of Saivism and Vaishnavism. The Ekamra was associated with Vaishanavite gods Krishna and Balaram during the period. It is attributed the raising prominence of Jagannath cult that became predominant during the construction of the temple. The Ganges remodelled the temple and introduced certain Vaishnavite elements like images of Vaishnava Dwarapalas namely Jaya and Prachanda, Jagannatha, Lakshmi Narayan and Garuda were installed. Tulsi leaves, which are favoured by Vishnu, was used along with Bela leaves for the worship of Lingaraj. Lingaraja was thus came to be known as Harihara, a combination of Shiva and Vishnu. The flag of the temple was fixed to a Pinaka bow instead of trident usually found in Shiva temples. The temple priests also changed the mark in their forehead from horizontal to a "U" sign with a dotted middle line. The Ganges also introduced certain fairs like Swing festival, Sun worship and mock quarell between priests after chariot festival, similar to the practises in Jagannath Temple in Puri. The influence of the Ganges dynasty has led to a cosmopolitan culture, that has reduced the status of Lingaraja temple as a distinct Saivite shrine.

 

FESTIVAL & WORSHIP PRACTISES

As per Hindu legend, an underground river originating from the Lingaraj temple fills the Bindusagar Tank (meaning ocean drop) and the water is believed to heal physical and spiritual illness. The water from the tank is thus treated sacred and pilgrims take a holy dip during festive occasions. The central deity of the temple, Lingaraj, is worshipped both as Shiva and Vishnu. The harmony between the two sects of Hinduism, Saivism and Vaishanvism, is seen in this temple where the deity is worshipped as Harihara, a combined form of Vishnu and Shiva.

 

Shivaratri is the main festival celebrated annually in Phalgun month when thousands of devotees visit the temple. Apart from a full day of fasting, bel leaves are offered to Lingaraj on this auspicious day. The main celebrations take place at night when devotees pray all night long. The devout usually break their fast after the Mahadipa (a huge lamp) is lit on the spire of the temple. Every year the chariot festival (Ratha-Yatra) of Lingaraja is celebrated on Ashokashtami. The deity is taken in a chariot to Rameshwar Deula temple. Thousands of devotees follow and pull brightly decorated chariots containing the idols of Lingaraj and his sister Rukmani. This chariot procession stays for five days at the Rameshwar Temple and then will be brought back. This festival commemorates Lord Lingaraj having slayed a demon. Thousands of bol bom pilgrims carry water from river Mahanadi and walk all the way to the temple during the month of Shravana every year. Sunian day is observed from royal times in the month of Bhandra, a day when temple servants, peasants and other holders of temple lands offer loyalty and tribute to Lingaraja. Candan Yatra (Sandalwood ceremony) is a 22-day festival celebrated in the temple when servants of the temple disport themselves in a specially made barge in Bindusagar tank. The deities and servants of the temples are anointed with sandalwood paste to protect from heat. Dances, communal feasts and merrymaking are arranged by the people associated with the temple.

 

The Lingaraja temple is active in worship practises, unlike the other ancient temples of Bhubaneshwar which are not active worship centres. Non Hindus are not allowed inside the temple, but it can be viewed from the viewing platform located outside the temple. The viewing platform and the back of the temple can be reached via a lineway located to the right of the main entrance of the temple. Sanctity of the temple is maitained by disallowing dogs, unbathed visitors, menstruating women and families that encountered birth or death in the preceding 12 days. In case of a foreign tresspass, the temple follows a purification ritual and dumping of prasad (food offering) in a well.

 

RELIGIOUS PRACTICES

The image of Lingaraja is abluted with water (called mahasnana) several times a day and decorated with flowers, sandal paste and cloth. Hemlock or hemlock flowers which are generally offered in other Shiva temples is not allowed in the Lingaraja temple. Bilva leaves (Aegle marmelos) and tulasi (Ocimum sanctum) are used in daily worship. Offerings of cooked rice, curries and sweet-meats are displayed in the bhogamandapa (hall of offering) and the divinity is invoked to accept them amidst scores of chanting of Sanskrit texts. Coconut, ripe plantains and kora-khai are generally offered to Lingaraja by the pilgrims. Bhang beverage is offered to Lingaraja by some devotees especially on the day of Pana Sankranti (Oriya new year).

 

The Lingaraja temple is open from 6 a.m. to about 9 p.m. and is intermittently closed during bhoga (food offering) to the deity. During early morning, lamps in the cella are lit to awaken Lingaraja from his sleep, ablution is performed, followed by adoration and arati (waving of light). The temple is closed at about 12 p.m. until about 3.30 P.M. A ceremony known as Mahasnana (ablution) is performed once the doors are closed, followed by pouring of Panchamrita (a mixture of milk, curdled milk, clarified butter, honey and ghee) upon the deity for purification. At about 1 P.M., a ripe plantain is divided into two, one half is offered to Sun god and the other half to Dwarapala (the guarding deities in the doorway). Between 1.00 and 1.30 P.M. the food offering called Ballabha Bhoga (breakfast containing curdled milk, curd and vegetables) is offered to the deity. The consecrated food is carried to the temple of Parvati and placed before her as an offering, a practice commonly observed by the orthodox Hindu housewives. At about 2 P.M., the Sakala Dhupa (morning's offering of food) takes place. After the food is offered to Lingaraja, the offerings are carried to the temple of Parvati to serve her. An offering called Bhanda Dhupa is carried out at 3.30 P.M. at the hall of offering. This food is later offered by the inmates to the pilgrims as Mahaprasad.

 

A light refreshment known as Ballabha Dhupa is offered to the deity at around 4.30 P.M. At around 5 P.M., Dwipahar Dhupa (mid day meal) is offered. At around 7 P.M., another offering called Palia Badu is placed before the deity. Sandhya arati (waving of lights in the evening) is performed during that time. Another light meal called Sahana Dhupa is offered at around 8:30 P.M. After the meals, the ceremony of waving light (arati) is performed before the deity. At 9.30 P.M, the last service of the day, Bada Singara (the great decoration) is performed when the deity is decorated with flowers and ornaments after which a light food offering is made. A wooden palanquin is laid in the room, incense is lighted, drinking water is served and prepared betel is placed. Panchabaktra Mahadeva comes to the palanquin and returns to his own abode after the arati is performed. This is a bronze image of Mahadeva having five faces and Parvati in his lap. Each of these ceremonies is accompanied by ritual observances and recitations of mantras (Sanskrit texts) specified for each occasion.

 

TEMPLE STAFF & ADMINISTRATION

King Jajati Keshari, believed to be the founder of the Lingaraja temple, deputed Dravidian Brahmins as temple priests over the local Brahmins on account of their increased knowledge of Saivism. The focus was to enhance the temple practises from tribal rites to Sanskritic. While the exact number of castes involved in the nijogas (practises) is not known, Brahmins, tribal worshippers and inmates from Untouchable castes are believed to be part of the setup. Bose (1958) identified 41 services with the involvement of 22 separate castes and Mahaptra (1978) identified 30 services. It is understood from the records that kings and temple managers of different times introduced or discontinued certain services, fairs, offerings and caste-centred core services during their regime. As of 2012, the temple practised 36 different services (nijogas).

 

In modern times, the Lingaraja temple priests are from two communities, namely Brahman Nijog and Badu Nijog. The Badu are non-Brahmin servant groups, whose origin is not ascertained due to unavailability of authentic records, while they are described as Vadu in chapter 62 of the Ekamrapurana. The caste group of Badu is called Niyoga, which elects the officers every year during the Sandalwood festival. Every Badu undergoes three distinct rites, namely, ear-piercing, marriage and god-touching. Historically, the Badus performed five different temple duties - Paliabadu and Pharaka, which were considered important and Pochha, Pahada and Khataseja, which were considered inferior. From 1962, only Paliabadu and Pharaka practises are followed and the others are discontinued. The Badus also carry out ablution and dressing of the images of Siddhaganesh and Gopalini. The temple is maintained by the Temple Trust Board and the Archeological Survey of India (ASI). The temple is guarded by security personnel deputed by the Police Commissioner of Bhubaneswar and security guards appointed by the temple administration. The temple has an average of 6,000 visitors every day and receives lakhs of visitors during festivals. The Shivaratri festival during 2012 witnessed 200,000 visitors. As of 2011, the annual income of Lingaraja temple from hundis (donation boxes) is around INR1.2 million per annum. Another INR4 million is collected annually from other sources like rents from shops, cycle stands and agriculture lands. Starting 2011, the temple charges an amount for six types of religious worship (special pujas) carried out by the devotees.

 

WIKIPEDIA

 

PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- Culminating a process that began more than 23 years ago to establish a final resting place for veterans on the lands of the former Fort Ord, a ground-breaking ceremony was held at the General Stilwell Community Center March 13 to mark the beginning of the first phase of construction for the Central Coast Veterans Cemetery. Speakers at the event included former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta; U.S. Rep. Sam Farr; California Senator Bill Monning; Army veteran and last surviving member of the original Fort Ord Veterans Cemetery Advisory Committee, Jack Stewart; California Department of Veterans Affairs Deputy Secretary Keith Boylan; and Presidio of Monterey Garrison Commander Col. Paul Fellinger. The ceremony was attended by an estimated 500 people, including many veterans and family members of veterans.

 

Official Presidio of Monterey Web site

 

Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook

 

PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Orthodox Jewish families in Jacksonville when the sentiment for the creation of a traditional Jewish congregation began to crystallize. By 1901 their number had grown to forty, and they realized their dream by incorporating as the Hebrew Orthodox Congregation B’nai Israel on December 6, 1901.

 

By 1907, the membership of B’nai Israel had increased to seventy-five, and the congregation erected a synagogue on the corner of Jefferson and Duval Streets in the Lavilla neighborhood. The lot was purchased with a down payment of $50 and a total cost of $25,000.

 

In 1926, the congregation hired a rabbi ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, who introduced Conservative Judaism and the synagogue-center concept as a means of strengthening and perpetuating Judaism in our growing community. To that end, in 1927 a down payment was made on a more spacious site in Springfield, facing a park at the corner of Third and Silver Streets, while Congregation B’nai Israel assumed a new identity for itself as the Jacksonville Jewish Center.

 

Over the next thirty-five years, the Jacksonville Jewish Center expanded its facility to meet the needs of a growing congregation. By 1959, the impressive campus of three large buildings housed a two-story main sanctuary complete with balcony and choir lofts, a chapel, library, social hall, school, playground, auditorium/gymnasium, banquet facility, bridal lounge, meeting rooms and offices.

 

With an eye to the future, property at 3662 Crown Point Road in Mandarin was acquired in November, 1963. The following summer, the synagogue’s day camp moved to the new site, where a recreational park with an Olympic-size pool and playing fields had been built. Renovated and improved throughout the years, the synagogue’s summer camp and schools continue to use this facility.

 

Groundbreaking on the synagogue-center complex took place on September 16, 1973. On Sunday, January 11, 1976, a caravan of automobiles followed an open truck upon which Center dignitaries sat carrying our priceless Torah scrolls from the ark at Third and Silver to their new home in Mandarin. It was an historic event that culminated in a moving dedication ceremony. Over the next 30 years, our magnificent synagogue building would see many additions, improvements and renovations to keep pace with the many activities, events and celebrations of our community.

Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle

 

The Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle, designed for NASA’s Project Mercury, was the first American manned space booster. It was used for six sub-orbital Mercury flights from 1960–61; culminating with the launch of the first, and 11 weeks later, the second American (and the second and third humans) in space.

 

A member of the Redstone rocket family, it was derived from the U.S. Army’s Redstone ballistic missile and the first stage of the related Jupiter-C launch vehicle; but to human-rate it, the structure and systems were modified to improve safety and reliability.

 

The four subsequent Mercury human spaceflights used the more powerful Atlas booster to enter low Earth orbit.

 

•General Specifications:

oFunction: Human-Rated Sub-Orbital Launch Vehicle

oManufacturer: Chrysler Corporation

oCountry of Origin: United States

•Size:

oHeight: 25.41 m (83.38 ft)

oDiameter: 1.78 m (5.83 ft)

oMass: 30,000 kg (66,000 lb)

oStages: 1

•Capacity:

oPayload to Sub-Orbital Trajectory: 1,800 kg (4,000 lb)

•Launch History:

oStatus: Retired

oLaunch Sites: Launch Complex 5, Cape Canaveral, Florida

oTotal Launches: 6

oSuccesses: 5

oFailures: 1

oFirst Flight: November 21, 1960

oLast Flight: July 21, 1961

oNotable Payloads: Mercury Spacecraft

•Single Stage:

oEngines: 1 Rocketdyne A-7

oThrust: 350 kN (78,000 lbf)

oSpecific Impulse: 215 sec

oBurn Time: 143.5 seconds

oFuel: LOX/ethyl alcohol

 

Modifications from the Redstone Missile

 

NASA chose the U.S. Army’s Redstone liquid-fueled ballistic missile for its suborbital flights as it was the oldest one in the US fleet, having been active since 1953 and had many successful test flights.

 

The standard military Redstone lacked sufficient thrust to lift a Mercury capsule into the ballistic suborbital trajectory needed for the project; however, the first stage of the Jupiter-C, which was a modified Redstone with lengthened tanks, could carry enough propellant to reach the desired trajectory. Therefore, this Jupiter-C first stage was used as the starting point for the Mercury-Redstone design. The Jupiter-C’s engine, however, was being phased out by the Army, so to avoid potential complications such as parts shortages or design revisions, the Mercury-Redstone designers chose the Rocketdyne A-7 engine used on the latest military Redstones. Hans Paul and William Davidson, propulsion engineers at the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA), were assigned the task of modifying the A-7 to be safe and reliable for manned flights.

 

During 1959, most of ABMA were preoccupied with the Saturn project, but those engineers who could find enough free time in their schedule were invited to work on man-rating the Jupiter-C. As a starting point, the most obvious step was getting rid of its staging capability as the Mercury-Redstone would not utilize upper stages. Many of the more advanced Jupiter-C components were also removed for reliability reasons or because they were not necessary for Project Mercury.

 

The standard Redstone was fueled with a 75 percent ethyl alcohol 25 percent water solution, essentially the same propellants as the V-2, but the Jupiter-C first stage had used hydyne fuel, a blend of 60 percent unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) and 40 percent diethylenetriamine (DETA). This was a more powerful fuel than ethyl alcohol, but it was also more toxic, which could be hazardous for an astronaut in a launch pad emergency. Furthermore, hydyne had never been used with the new A-7 engine. The Mercury-Redstone designers rejected hydyne and returned to the standard ethyl alcohol fuel. The lengthened propellant tanks were thus also necessary in lieu of using less powerful fuel.

 

Use of alcohol created a problem with the Mercury-Redstone in that the graphite thrust vector vanes could be eroded due to the significantly longer burn time, hence NASA put out a requirement that the launch vehicles needed high quality vanes.

 

Because Mercury-Redstone had larger propellant tanks than the Redstone missile, an additional nitrogen bottle was added for tank pressurization, and an extra hydrogen peroxide tank for powering the turbopump due to the longer burn time.

 

The most important change in making the Mercury-Redstone a suitable vehicle for an astronaut was the addition of an automatic in-flight abort sensing system. In an emergency where the rocket was about to suffer a catastrophic failure, an abort would activate the launch escape system attached to the Mercury capsule, which would rapidly eject it from the booster. Either the astronaut or the ground controllers could initiate an abort manually, but some potential failures during flight might lead to disaster before an abort could be manually triggered.

 

The Mercury-Redstone’s automatic in-flight abort sensing system solved this problem by monitoring the rocket’s performance during flight. If it detected an anomaly which might threaten the astronaut, such as loss of flight control, engine thrust, or electrical power, it would automatically abort, shutting down the engine and activating the capsule’s escape system. The abort system could not shut off the engine until at least 30 seconds after liftoff in order to prevent a malfunctioning launch vehicle from coming down on or near the pad; during the initial 30 seconds, only the Range Safety Officer could terminate the flight. Review of flight data from the more than 60 Redstone and Jupiter C launches since 1953 was used to analyze the most likely failure modes of this launch vehicle family. In the interest of simplicity, the abort sensing system had to be kept as simple as possible and only monitor parameters that were vital to booster operation. An automatic abort could be triggered by any of the following conditions, all of which could be indicative of a catastrophic launch vehicle malfunction:

 

•Pitch, yaw, or roll angle deviating too far from the programmed flight profile,

•Pitch or yaw angle changing too rapidly,

•Pressure in the engine’s combustion chamber falling below a critical level,

•Loss of electrical power for the flight control system, or

•Loss of general electrical power (including power for the abort sensing system itself), which could indicate a catastrophic failure.

 

Instant abort capability was important because certain failure modes such as loss of thrust upon liftoff (for example the third Redstone test flight in May 1954) could result in an immediate catastrophic situation. Other failure modes such as deviation from the proper flight path or a drop in engine chamber pressure during ascent did not necessarily present an immediate risk to the astronaut’s safety and he could either initial a manual abort by pulling a lever in the capsule to activate the Launch Escape System or ground control could send a command to activate it.

 

The range safety system was modified slightly in that a three-second delay would take place between engine cutoff and missile destruct so as to give the escape tower enough time to pull the capsule away.

  

Schematic View

 

The most visible difference between the Jupiter-C first stage and the Mercury-Redstone was in the section just below the Mercury capsule and above the propellant tanks. This section was known as the aft section, a term which was inherited from the military Redstone. (The actual rear end of the rocket was called the tail section.) The aft section held most of the Mercury-Redstone’s electronics and instrumentation, including the guidance system, as well as the adapter for the Mercury capsule. In the military Redstone and the Jupiter-C first stage, when the rocket had burned out, its lower portion, containing the rocket engine and propellant tanks, would separate from the aft section and be discarded, and the aft section, with its guidance system, would direct the top half of the rocket during its unpowered ballistic flight. However, in the Mercury-Redstone, the aft section was permanently attached to the lower portion of the rocket. When the rocket had shut down, the Mercury capsule would separate from the aft section and would rely on its own guidance.

 

Other changes were made to improve the Mercury-Redstone’s reliability. The standard Redstone’s ST-80 inertial guidance system was replaced in the Mercury-Redstone with the simpler LEV-3 autopilot. The LEV-3, whose design dated back to the German V-2 missile, was not as sophisticated or as precise as the ST-80, but it was accurate enough for the Mercury mission and its simplicity made it more reliable. A special instrument compartment was built in the “aft section” to hold the most important instrumentation and electronics, including the guidance system, the abort and destruct systems, the telemetry instrumentation, and the electrical power supplies. To reduce the chance of failure in this equipment, this compartment was cooled before launch and kept pressurized during flight.

 

The fuel prevalves were deleted from the Mercury-Redstone in the interest of improved reliability, since if they closed during a launch, an abort condition could be triggered. On the three unmanned flights, it was discovered that the Mercury-Redstone exhibited a roll transient of 8° per second versus 4° for the Redstone missile. Although this was below the 12° per second roll transient required to trigger an abort, the roll rate sensor was removed from the two manned flights to reduce the chances of an accidental abort (the booster still retained the roll attitude angle sensor which would be triggered at 10°).

 

Mercury-Redstone 1A and Mercury-Redstone 2 both experienced overacceleration in flight, the former due to a problem with an accelerometer, the latter due to a problem with the LOX regulator which oversupplied the engine with oxidizer and caused thrust termination to occur 1.2 seconds early. The ASIS system activated and the escape tower yanked the capsule away, subjecting its chimpanzee passenger to high G loads. The third flight, Mercury-Redstone BD, was designed as an engineering test to correct these problems before the booster could be considered man-rated.

 

The space between the pressurized instrument compartment and the capsule was originally intended to hold a parachute recovery system for the rocket, but it had been left empty after this system was abandoned. The three unmanned Mercury-Redstone flights exhibited high vibration levels and structural bending in the adapter area, so Alan Shepard’s flight included 340 pounds of lead-infused plastic in the adapter section along with additional bracing and stiffeners. After Shepard still reported noticeable vibration during launch, Gus Grissom’s booster included even more ballast. The Atlas booster used for orbital Mercury flights had also experienced this issue, but with more catastrophic results as Mercury-Atlas 1 was destroyed in-flight due to structural failure caused by excessive flexing at the point where the booster mated with the capsule adapter.

 

In total, some 800 modifications were made to the Redstone design in the process of adapting it for the Mercury program. The process of man-rating Redstone was so extensive that NASA quickly found themselves not using an off-the-shelf rocket, but what was in effect a completely new one and thus negating all of the hardware and flight test data from previous Redstone and Jupiter-C launches. This created a series of disputes between Von Braun’s team at ABMA and NASA, as the former preferred simply making the abort system as foolproof as possible so as to guarantee that the astronaut would be bailed out of a malfunctioning launch vehicle, while the latter favored maximum booster reliability to minimize the chance of aborts happening at all.

 

Proposed Parachute Recovery System

 

The Mercury-Redstone designers originally planned for the rocket to be recovered by parachute after its separation from the Mercury capsule. This was the first significant effort to develop a recoverable launch vehicle and the first to reach the testing phase.

 

The recovery system, at the top of the rocket, would have used two stages of parachutes. In the first stage, a single parachute, 17 feet (5.2 m) in diameter, would stabilize the rocket’s fall and slow its descent. This parachute would then draw out a set of three main parachutes, each 67 feet (20 m) across. The rocket would come down in the Atlantic Ocean, to be recovered by ship.

 

To determine the feasibility of this system, several tests were performed on full-sized Redstones, including water impact and flotation tests, and an exercise at sea in which a floating Redstone was picked up by a Navy recovery ship. All these tests showed recovery of the rocket to be workable. Further development was halted, however, due to lack of funding, so the parachute system was not tested.

 

Flights

 

Mercury-Redstone flights were designated with the prefix “MR-”. Confusingly, the Mercury-Redstone boosters used for these flights were designated in the same way, usually with different numbers. (In photographs, this designation can sometimes be seen on the rocket’s tail end.) Two rockets, MR-4 and MR-6, were never flown. Although there had been rumors that NASA in the very beginning of Project Mercury had intended to launch each astronaut on a suborbital mission before beginning orbital Atlas flights, they only purchased eight Mercury-Redstone boosters, one of which was damaged in the unsuccessful MR-1 launch and not reused, and another used for the MR-BD flight (the original schedule was for one unmanned Mercury-Redstone flight, one chimpanzee flight, and six manned flights). Since Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom’s flights were successful and since the Soviet Union had flown two orbital manned space flights by the late summer of 1961, there was no need to continue with Redstone missions.

 

•MR-1

oRocket Designation: MR-1

oLaunch Date: November 21, 1960

oComments: Empty capsule; launch abort; rocket shut down at liftoff due to electrical fault.

•MR-1A

oRocket Designation: MR-3

oLaunch Date: December 19, 1960

oComments: Empty capsule.

•MR-2

oRocket Designation: MR-2

oLaunch Date: January 31, 1961

oComments: Carried chimpanzee Ham.

•MR-BD

oRocket Designation: MR-5

oLaunch Date: March 24, 1961

oComments: Empty nonfunctional “boilerplate” capsule.

•MR-3

oRocket Designation: MR-7

oLaunch Date: May 5, 1961

oComments: Carried astronaut Alan Shepard.

•MR-4

oRocket Designation: MR-8

oLaunch Date: July 21, 1961

oComments: Carried astronaut Gus Grissom.

An entertaii ng game despite the best efforts of the ref to spoil it with a succession of baffling decisions culminating in a ref card for a Salisbury player

The Surfers Paradise Festival culminates each year with a fireworks shootout between 3 companies. I got some decent ones from company one, completely screwed up company 2 and totally missed company 3 as I read somewhere that there were only two companies this year, so packed off and had to watch from the Hanlan St foreshore.

Culminating a week of symbolic ringing of the opening bell at stock exchanges around the world, on 9 March at 9.30 a.m. the opening bell is rung at the NASDAQ exchange in New York, by UN Women Deputy Executive Director Lakshmi Puri, Commissioner for International Affairs for the City of New York Penny Abeywardena, and Chair of the Women's Empowerment Principles' Leadership Group Elizabeth Broderick.

 

In celebration of the 20th Beijing Declaration anniversary and the commemoration of International Women’s Day, UN Women, the UN Global Compact and the Sustainable Stock Exchange (SSE) arranged similar events at stock exchanges in in seven countries (India, Nigeria, Turkey, Egypt, Sweden, Poland and the United States). The aim of these events is to raise the awareness of the importance of greater gender equality in the business sector.

  

Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

 

Orange County Fashion Week 2015

 

Orange County, CA – The California Riviera is no stranger to luxury or style and this year’s OCFashion Week (OCFW) will exude both those traits during its full week of events, beginning with World of Fashion Photography Exhibit and gala at Newport Lexus on Friday, February 27th and culminating in the Couture Designer event at Dawson Fine Art on Thursday, March 5th.

   

Each night holds something magical and fashionable, beginning at 6 pm with cocktails. Showtime on the runway begins at 7 pm, with after-parties at 10 pm. Each night is presented by Newport Lexus with signature sponsors by Toni & Guy Academy Manna Kadar Cosmetics, runway styling by Betinnis in Brea and will spot light a different charity each night. Orange County Fashion Week is produced by Hauteoc Inc. Discover the World You've Been Missing. Discover the World of Orange County.

  

NEWPORT BEACH, FEBRUARY 28th, 2015 – OC Fashion Week is proud to announce that this season’s 2015 presenting sponsor, Newport Lexus of Newport Beach, will be the site for this year’s SUGAR RUSH. The event will be held on Saturday, February 28, 2015 from 6:00pm – 9:00pm and will showcase makeovers, a celebrity runway show and the Fashionably Responsible Awards Reception. The night will also feature models from popular television show America's Next Top Models.

   

Beginning at 7 pm, Brit B of BeachCandy Swimwear will open the presentation showcase of Orange County Sugar Rush designers with a preview of her latest collection of swimwear, followed by the Fabulous Life of Claire Farewell’s London designer wear. As the night continues, designers Victoria by Elizabeth, According to Kimberly and Men’s Undercover Underwear debuts an exciting runway tribute to OC Fashion Week’s to retailers and fashion designers that embrace both cause and commerce in their business practices. Jewelry, handbag and accessories designers will showcase their goods, alongside pop-up shops with a portion of the proceeds donating to Working Wardrobes, which has helped more than 70,000 victims of abuse and addiction regain control of their lives by helping them dress for success.

   

Additionally, guests will have the opportunity to receive makeovers throughout the evening by Manna Kadar Cosmetics founder and CEO Manna Kadar. A noted industry expert, beauty editor and makeup artist to an impressive roster of celebrity clients, Manna has made her mark as a true trendsetter in the world of beauty.

   

Other evening highlights include a runway show featuring past contestants from America’s Next Top Model and up-and-coming designers that give back to this fashion-studded evening.

     

Meet the Designers:

   

Brit B. of BeachCandy Swimwear: A native of Orange County, with her signature store in Corona del Mar, Brit B. creates custom swimsuits for clients with the goal of making every woman feel beautiful and comfortable.

   

Claire Farwell of Claire Farwell London: A former model and survivor of cancer, Farwell has not only succeeded in one of the toughest industries she has also been a tireless supporter of women fighting cancer.

   

Manoni Handbags and Accessories: Hand-crafted out of full-grained ostrich and crocodile, every handbag is designed for the chic, fashion-forward-thinking woman.

   

Victoria by Elizabeth: Pencil Skirt Designers innovating style bringing the elegance of women, by heart and soul.

   

Kimberly Luu of According to Kimberly: Born and raised in Orange County, the multitalented Luu is a clinician, blogger and designer whose first design won Top Five at OC Fashion Week’s 2011 Designer competition. That was just the beginning of her success story.

   

Salt Shoes SALT SHOES are uniquely designed with your comfort in mind. But having flexibility by way of look and color is what makes Salt Shoes the “IT” wedge or heel to get. Interchangeable straps allow you to create a new look with each outfit.

  

What a Betty

 

What A Betty designs have been seen everywhere from gorgeous brides, to celebrities on the red carpet and has been on hit TV Shows such as “Revenge” and "VH1", and high fashion and bridal magazines.

  

Undercover Underwear

  

Adriana Viano is the owner and founder of UnderCover MensWear Inc. Adriana always had the vision that the privilege of the right, sexy and comfortable underwear and loungewear should not only be for women. She always believed that men were in need of their own "Victoria's Secret". UnderCoverMensWear.com is an on line only boutique with unique and innovative products carefully chosen from around the world. All items sold in the on line store will not be found in any department stores.

 

Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle

 

The Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle, designed for NASA’s Project Mercury, was the first American manned space booster. It was used for six sub-orbital Mercury flights from 1960–61; culminating with the launch of the first, and 11 weeks later, the second American (and the second and third humans) in space.

 

A member of the Redstone rocket family, it was derived from the U.S. Army’s Redstone ballistic missile and the first stage of the related Jupiter-C launch vehicle; but to human-rate it, the structure and systems were modified to improve safety and reliability.

 

The four subsequent Mercury human spaceflights used the more powerful Atlas booster to enter low Earth orbit.

 

•General Specifications:

oFunction: Human-Rated Sub-Orbital Launch Vehicle

oManufacturer: Chrysler Corporation

oCountry of Origin: United States

•Size:

oHeight: 25.41 m (83.38 ft)

oDiameter: 1.78 m (5.83 ft)

oMass: 30,000 kg (66,000 lb)

oStages: 1

•Capacity:

oPayload to Sub-Orbital Trajectory: 1,800 kg (4,000 lb)

•Launch History:

oStatus: Retired

oLaunch Sites: Launch Complex 5, Cape Canaveral, Florida

oTotal Launches: 6

oSuccesses: 5

oFailures: 1

oFirst Flight: November 21, 1960

oLast Flight: July 21, 1961

oNotable Payloads: Mercury Spacecraft

•Single Stage:

oEngines: 1 Rocketdyne A-7

oThrust: 350 kN (78,000 lbf)

oSpecific Impulse: 215 sec

oBurn Time: 143.5 seconds

oFuel: LOX/ethyl alcohol

 

Modifications from the Redstone Missile

 

NASA chose the U.S. Army’s Redstone liquid-fueled ballistic missile for its suborbital flights as it was the oldest one in the US fleet, having been active since 1953 and had many successful test flights.

 

The standard military Redstone lacked sufficient thrust to lift a Mercury capsule into the ballistic suborbital trajectory needed for the project; however, the first stage of the Jupiter-C, which was a modified Redstone with lengthened tanks, could carry enough propellant to reach the desired trajectory. Therefore, this Jupiter-C first stage was used as the starting point for the Mercury-Redstone design. The Jupiter-C’s engine, however, was being phased out by the Army, so to avoid potential complications such as parts shortages or design revisions, the Mercury-Redstone designers chose the Rocketdyne A-7 engine used on the latest military Redstones. Hans Paul and William Davidson, propulsion engineers at the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA), were assigned the task of modifying the A-7 to be safe and reliable for manned flights.

 

During 1959, most of ABMA were preoccupied with the Saturn project, but those engineers who could find enough free time in their schedule were invited to work on man-rating the Jupiter-C. As a starting point, the most obvious step was getting rid of its staging capability as the Mercury-Redstone would not utilize upper stages. Many of the more advanced Jupiter-C components were also removed for reliability reasons or because they were not necessary for Project Mercury.

 

The standard Redstone was fueled with a 75 percent ethyl alcohol 25 percent water solution, essentially the same propellants as the V-2, but the Jupiter-C first stage had used hydyne fuel, a blend of 60 percent unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) and 40 percent diethylenetriamine (DETA). This was a more powerful fuel than ethyl alcohol, but it was also more toxic, which could be hazardous for an astronaut in a launch pad emergency. Furthermore, hydyne had never been used with the new A-7 engine. The Mercury-Redstone designers rejected hydyne and returned to the standard ethyl alcohol fuel. The lengthened propellant tanks were thus also necessary in lieu of using less powerful fuel.

 

Use of alcohol created a problem with the Mercury-Redstone in that the graphite thrust vector vanes could be eroded due to the significantly longer burn time, hence NASA put out a requirement that the launch vehicles needed high quality vanes.

 

Because Mercury-Redstone had larger propellant tanks than the Redstone missile, an additional nitrogen bottle was added for tank pressurization, and an extra hydrogen peroxide tank for powering the turbopump due to the longer burn time.

 

The most important change in making the Mercury-Redstone a suitable vehicle for an astronaut was the addition of an automatic in-flight abort sensing system. In an emergency where the rocket was about to suffer a catastrophic failure, an abort would activate the launch escape system attached to the Mercury capsule, which would rapidly eject it from the booster. Either the astronaut or the ground controllers could initiate an abort manually, but some potential failures during flight might lead to disaster before an abort could be manually triggered.

 

The Mercury-Redstone’s automatic in-flight abort sensing system solved this problem by monitoring the rocket’s performance during flight. If it detected an anomaly which might threaten the astronaut, such as loss of flight control, engine thrust, or electrical power, it would automatically abort, shutting down the engine and activating the capsule’s escape system. The abort system could not shut off the engine until at least 30 seconds after liftoff in order to prevent a malfunctioning launch vehicle from coming down on or near the pad; during the initial 30 seconds, only the Range Safety Officer could terminate the flight. Review of flight data from the more than 60 Redstone and Jupiter C launches since 1953 was used to analyze the most likely failure modes of this launch vehicle family. In the interest of simplicity, the abort sensing system had to be kept as simple as possible and only monitor parameters that were vital to booster operation. An automatic abort could be triggered by any of the following conditions, all of which could be indicative of a catastrophic launch vehicle malfunction:

 

•Pitch, yaw, or roll angle deviating too far from the programmed flight profile,

•Pitch or yaw angle changing too rapidly,

•Pressure in the engine’s combustion chamber falling below a critical level,

•Loss of electrical power for the flight control system, or

•Loss of general electrical power (including power for the abort sensing system itself), which could indicate a catastrophic failure.

 

Instant abort capability was important because certain failure modes such as loss of thrust upon liftoff (for example the third Redstone test flight in May 1954) could result in an immediate catastrophic situation. Other failure modes such as deviation from the proper flight path or a drop in engine chamber pressure during ascent did not necessarily present an immediate risk to the astronaut’s safety and he could either initial a manual abort by pulling a lever in the capsule to activate the Launch Escape System or ground control could send a command to activate it.

 

The range safety system was modified slightly in that a three-second delay would take place between engine cutoff and missile destruct so as to give the escape tower enough time to pull the capsule away.

  

Schematic View

 

The most visible difference between the Jupiter-C first stage and the Mercury-Redstone was in the section just below the Mercury capsule and above the propellant tanks. This section was known as the aft section, a term which was inherited from the military Redstone. (The actual rear end of the rocket was called the tail section.) The aft section held most of the Mercury-Redstone’s electronics and instrumentation, including the guidance system, as well as the adapter for the Mercury capsule. In the military Redstone and the Jupiter-C first stage, when the rocket had burned out, its lower portion, containing the rocket engine and propellant tanks, would separate from the aft section and be discarded, and the aft section, with its guidance system, would direct the top half of the rocket during its unpowered ballistic flight. However, in the Mercury-Redstone, the aft section was permanently attached to the lower portion of the rocket. When the rocket had shut down, the Mercury capsule would separate from the aft section and would rely on its own guidance.

 

Other changes were made to improve the Mercury-Redstone’s reliability. The standard Redstone’s ST-80 inertial guidance system was replaced in the Mercury-Redstone with the simpler LEV-3 autopilot. The LEV-3, whose design dated back to the German V-2 missile, was not as sophisticated or as precise as the ST-80, but it was accurate enough for the Mercury mission and its simplicity made it more reliable. A special instrument compartment was built in the “aft section” to hold the most important instrumentation and electronics, including the guidance system, the abort and destruct systems, the telemetry instrumentation, and the electrical power supplies. To reduce the chance of failure in this equipment, this compartment was cooled before launch and kept pressurized during flight.

 

The fuel prevalves were deleted from the Mercury-Redstone in the interest of improved reliability, since if they closed during a launch, an abort condition could be triggered. On the three unmanned flights, it was discovered that the Mercury-Redstone exhibited a roll transient of 8° per second versus 4° for the Redstone missile. Although this was below the 12° per second roll transient required to trigger an abort, the roll rate sensor was removed from the two manned flights to reduce the chances of an accidental abort (the booster still retained the roll attitude angle sensor which would be triggered at 10°).

 

Mercury-Redstone 1A and Mercury-Redstone 2 both experienced overacceleration in flight, the former due to a problem with an accelerometer, the latter due to a problem with the LOX regulator which oversupplied the engine with oxidizer and caused thrust termination to occur 1.2 seconds early. The ASIS system activated and the escape tower yanked the capsule away, subjecting its chimpanzee passenger to high G loads. The third flight, Mercury-Redstone BD, was designed as an engineering test to correct these problems before the booster could be considered man-rated.

 

The space between the pressurized instrument compartment and the capsule was originally intended to hold a parachute recovery system for the rocket, but it had been left empty after this system was abandoned. The three unmanned Mercury-Redstone flights exhibited high vibration levels and structural bending in the adapter area, so Alan Shepard’s flight included 340 pounds of lead-infused plastic in the adapter section along with additional bracing and stiffeners. After Shepard still reported noticeable vibration during launch, Gus Grissom’s booster included even more ballast. The Atlas booster used for orbital Mercury flights had also experienced this issue, but with more catastrophic results as Mercury-Atlas 1 was destroyed in-flight due to structural failure caused by excessive flexing at the point where the booster mated with the capsule adapter.

 

In total, some 800 modifications were made to the Redstone design in the process of adapting it for the Mercury program. The process of man-rating Redstone was so extensive that NASA quickly found themselves not using an off-the-shelf rocket, but what was in effect a completely new one and thus negating all of the hardware and flight test data from previous Redstone and Jupiter-C launches. This created a series of disputes between Von Braun’s team at ABMA and NASA, as the former preferred simply making the abort system as foolproof as possible so as to guarantee that the astronaut would be bailed out of a malfunctioning launch vehicle, while the latter favored maximum booster reliability to minimize the chance of aborts happening at all.

 

Proposed Parachute Recovery System

 

The Mercury-Redstone designers originally planned for the rocket to be recovered by parachute after its separation from the Mercury capsule. This was the first significant effort to develop a recoverable launch vehicle and the first to reach the testing phase.

 

The recovery system, at the top of the rocket, would have used two stages of parachutes. In the first stage, a single parachute, 17 feet (5.2 m) in diameter, would stabilize the rocket’s fall and slow its descent. This parachute would then draw out a set of three main parachutes, each 67 feet (20 m) across. The rocket would come down in the Atlantic Ocean, to be recovered by ship.

 

To determine the feasibility of this system, several tests were performed on full-sized Redstones, including water impact and flotation tests, and an exercise at sea in which a floating Redstone was picked up by a Navy recovery ship. All these tests showed recovery of the rocket to be workable. Further development was halted, however, due to lack of funding, so the parachute system was not tested.

 

Flights

 

Mercury-Redstone flights were designated with the prefix “MR-”. Confusingly, the Mercury-Redstone boosters used for these flights were designated in the same way, usually with different numbers. (In photographs, this designation can sometimes be seen on the rocket’s tail end.) Two rockets, MR-4 and MR-6, were never flown. Although there had been rumors that NASA in the very beginning of Project Mercury had intended to launch each astronaut on a suborbital mission before beginning orbital Atlas flights, they only purchased eight Mercury-Redstone boosters, one of which was damaged in the unsuccessful MR-1 launch and not reused, and another used for the MR-BD flight (the original schedule was for one unmanned Mercury-Redstone flight, one chimpanzee flight, and six manned flights). Since Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom’s flights were successful and since the Soviet Union had flown two orbital manned space flights by the late summer of 1961, there was no need to continue with Redstone missions.

 

•MR-1

oRocket Designation: MR-1

oLaunch Date: November 21, 1960

oComments: Empty capsule; launch abort; rocket shut down at liftoff due to electrical fault.

•MR-1A

oRocket Designation: MR-3

oLaunch Date: December 19, 1960

oComments: Empty capsule.

•MR-2

oRocket Designation: MR-2

oLaunch Date: January 31, 1961

oComments: Carried chimpanzee Ham.

•MR-BD

oRocket Designation: MR-5

oLaunch Date: March 24, 1961

oComments: Empty nonfunctional “boilerplate” capsule.

•MR-3

oRocket Designation: MR-7

oLaunch Date: May 5, 1961

oComments: Carried astronaut Alan Shepard.

•MR-4

oRocket Designation: MR-8

oLaunch Date: July 21, 1961

oComments: Carried astronaut Gus Grissom.

Leslie Chang is a Dean’s Honored Graduate in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. She is graduating with an honors degree in biochemistry, along with a certificate in Social Inequality and Health Policy through the Bridging Disciplines Program. Leslie is being recognized for her superior academic performance and her research, which has culminated in an honors thesis and two journal publications.

 

Leslie’s research was conducted in the laboratory of Professor George Georgiou and focused on the development of human therapeutic enzymes that can catalyze the degradation of the amino acids L-Leucine and L-Plenylalanine. Many tumors are well known to have both a high demand for these amino acids and defects in their biosynthesis. Thus, these tumors have to rely on the uptake of these amino acids from blood in order to grow. Under conditions where the supply of L-Leucine or LPhenylalanine is restricted the tumor cells experience rapid cell death whereas non-malignant cells are substantially less affected and can withstand starvation for prolonged periods. Human enzymes injected in the blood stream can degrade the amino acid of interest. Because humans do not produce enzymes with the desired properties and catalytic activity, it has been important to engineer artificial enzymes for therapeutic applications. Leslie characterized two human enzymes that display very similar three-dimensional structure and break up L-Glutamic acid and L-Cysteic acid, respectively. Leslie helped clone and produce these enzymes and carried out extensive analyses of their function, substrate specificity and other proteins. She is also working on a follow-up enzyme that can degrade L-Leucine and L-Phenylalanine.

 

Leslie pursued an honors degree in biochemistry while a student in the Dean’s Scholars Honors Program. At the same time, she completed an interdisciplinary certificate through the Bridging Disciplines Program. All the while she maintained a near-perfect 3.99 GPA. Not surprisingly, Leslie has been recognized with a series of awards while at UT, as well as a Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas Summer Fellowship, a summer fellowship from Memorial Sloan-Kettering, and a prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship.

 

After graduation, Leslie will enroll at Duke University, where she will pursue an MD/PhD thanks to support from the Medical Scientist Training Program funded by the National Institute of Health. She’s selected a collection of books, including The Complete C. S. Lewis Signature Classics, Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution, and Reflections on the Psalms.

Cadets from 2nd Regiment tackle their culminating Field Training Exercise (FTX) during Cadet Summer Training at Fort Knox, Ky., June 24, 2022. The FTX was Cadre assisted and had Cadets conduct various essential tasks, such as reconnaissance, ambushes, or assaults, against opposing forces. After 2nd Regiment finished with Panther, they will go on to point Grizzly, where the FTX will be completely lead by Cadets. | Photo by Nathan Abbott, CST Public Affairs Office.

PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- Culminating a process that began more than 23 years ago to establish a final resting place for veterans on the lands of the former Fort Ord, a ground-breaking ceremony was held at the General Stilwell Community Center March 13 to mark the beginning of the first phase of construction for the Central Coast Veterans Cemetery. Speakers at the event included former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta; U.S. Rep. Sam Farr; California Senator Bill Monning; Army veteran and last surviving member of the original Fort Ord Veterans Cemetery Advisory Committee, Jack Stewart; California Department of Veterans Affairs Deputy Secretary Keith Boylan; and Presidio of Monterey Garrison Commander Col. Paul Fellinger. The ceremony was attended by an estimated 500 people, including many veterans and family members of veterans.

 

Official Presidio of Monterey Web site

 

Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook

 

PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.