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This Upload is symbolic, I was disappointed to see some people commenting on one of my flcikr contact 's Image, This was Unexpected form a cultural minded photogrpher, One has his/ her own perspetive, and other may / may not agree, we must know how to comment back and impose own likeness on others, thats also an art, I have an article DOING A PHOTO CRITIQUE here Plz read if you have some time,

 

It'/s Important now to Lean Flickr , Customs & Etiquette and should make a community of same minded, There are many mind in flcikr but basically two types, one, those who like to play game in the group and post logs and enjoy, even count who has the maximum logos, and the other one

they do not like graphics and only make sens within the image and text, , in-bwtween those who are a mixtue of both , may be they are not yet tuned up with the flikr customs,

 

Photography is an art and expression/ reading and getting in to an Image on photograph also an art, No reason to teach someone if you are a new friend or not a contact, b coz S/he may not accept you even a good valued words, one better avoid such and make a comfortabele zone,

 

I always sugesst to ignore such comments and may remove comments first and repeted doing so may block and be safe from such an idiot,

 

I came accrros a few of them and Now I put then in my Block list,

 

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Kalighat Kali Temple (Bengali: কালীঘাট মন্দির) is a Hindu temple in West Bengal, India dedicated to the Hindu goddess Kali. It is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas.

 

Kalighat was a Ghat (landing stage) sacred to Kali on the old course of the Hooghly river (Bhāgirathi) in the city of Calcutta. The name Calcutta is said to have been derived from the word Kalighat. The river over a period of time has moved away from the temple. The temple is now on the banks of a small canal called Adi Ganga which connects to the Hoogly. The Adi Ganga was the original course of the river Hoogly (the Ganges). Hence the name Adi (original) Ganga.

 

WORSHIP

The temple is visited by pilgrims from all over India irrespective of sectarian differences. The thousands of pilgrims who flock daily to the Kalighat temple treat Kali very much like a human mother, bringing her their domestic problems and prayers for prosperity, and returning when their prayers are fulfilled to express their gratitude. Their attitude towards the Goddess is guided by their religious traditions and training, their spiritual and intellectual capacities, and the guidance of their temple priests.

 

LEGEND

Kalighat is regarded as one of the 52 Shakti Peethas of India, where the various parts of Sati's body are said to have fallen, in the course of Shiva's Rudra Tandava. Kalighat represents the site where the toes of the right foot of Dakshayani or Sati fell. Legend has it that a devotee discovered a luminant ray of light coming from the Bhāgirathi river bed, and upon investigating its source came upon a piece of stone carved in the form of a human toe. He also found a Svayambhu Lingam of Nakuleshwar Bhairav nearby, and started worshiping Kaali in the midst of a thick jungle.

 

Kalighat is also associated with the worship offered to Kali by a Dasanami Monk by name Chowranga Giri, and the Chowringee area of Calcutta is said to have been named after him.

 

HISTORY

The Kalighat temple in its present form is only about 200 years old, although it has been referred to in Mansar Bhasan composed in the 15th century, and in Kavi Kankan Chandi of the 17th century. Only two types of coins of Chandragupta II, who incorporated Vanga in the Gupta Empire, are known from Bengal. His Archer type coins, which became the most popular type of coinage with the Gupta rulers after Kumaragupta I, have been found in Kalighat. This is evidence of the antiquity of the place.

 

The original temple was a small hut. A small temple was constructed by King Manasingha in the early 16th century. The present temple was erected under the patronage of the Kaliprasad Dutta of Hatkhola Dutta Bari with the help of Santosh Roy Chaudhury of Sabarna Roy Chowdhury family of Barisha. It was completed in 1809 by Santosh Roy Chowdhury and his grand son.Kaliparasad Dutta had given Rs.25,000/- to Santosh Roy Chaudhury to build the Mandir.Sabarna Roy Chowdhury family is the original owner of this temple.Halder family of kalighat is called the 'sebadas' of this temple In the 1960s a committee was formed for the administrative management of the temple with representation from the Government.

 

THE IMAGE OF KALI

The image of Kali in this temple is unique. It does not follow the pattern of other Kali images in Bengal. The present idol of touchstone was created by two saints - Brahmananda Giri and Atmaram Giri. Three huge eyes, long protruding tongue made of gold and four hands, which all are made of gold too. Two of these hands holding a scimitar and a severed head of the asura king 'Shumbha'. The scimitar signifies Divine Knowledge and the asura (or, human) head signifies human Ego which must be slain by Divine Knowledge in order to attain Moksha. The other two hands are in the abhaya and varada mudras or blessings, which means her initiated devotees (or anyone worshiping her with a true heart) will be saved as she will guide them here and hereafter.

 

TEMPLE DETAILS

SOSTHI TALA

This is a rectangular altar about three feet high bearing a small cactus plant. Beneath the tree, on an altar three stones are placed side by side - left to right representing the goddesses Shashthi (Sosthi), Sitala and Mangal Chandi. This sacred spot is known as Sosthi Tala or Monosha Tala. This altar was constructed by Gobinda Das Mondal in 1880. The place of the altar is the Samadhi of Brahmananda Giri. Here all the priests are female. No daily worship or offering of Bhog (food offering) is done here. The goddesses here are considered as part of Kali.

 

NATMONDIR

A large rectangular covered platform called Natmondir has been erected adjacent to the main temple, from where the face of the image can be seen. This was originally built by Zamindar Kasinath Roy in 1835. It has been subsequently renovated often.

 

JOR-BANGLA

The spacious varandah of the main temple Facing the image is known as Jor Bangla. Rituals occurring inside the sanctum sanctorum are visible from the Natmondir through the Jor-bangla.

 

HARKATH TALA

This is the spot adjacent to the Natmondir, southwards meant for Bali (sacrifice). There are two Sacrificial altars for animal sacrifices side by side. These are known as Hari- Kath.

 

The bigger one is for buffalo sacrifices and the smaller one for goats and sheep. The animals are sacrificed with a single stroke of the scimitar and there is very little cruelty to animals when compared to the professional abattoirs.

 

RADHA-KRISHNA TEMPLE

This temple is known as Shamo-ray temple and is situated inside the temple at the west side of the main temple. In 1723, a settlement officer of Mushirabad district first erected a separate temple for Radha-Krishna. In 1843 a Zamindar called Udoy Narayan Mondal erected the present temple in the same spot. The Dolmancho was founded in 1858 by Madan Koley of Saha Nagar. There is a separate kitchen for preparation of vegetarian Bhog (food offering) for Radha-Krishna.

 

KUNDUPUKUR

This is the sacred tank situated in the south-east of the temple outside the boundary walls. Present area of the tank is approximately 10 cottahs. In the past it was bigger and called 'Kaku-Kunda'. In 16th century 'Sati-Ango' ( the right toe of Sati) was discovered from this tank. This tank is well known for its power to bestow the boon of a child. The water from this tank is regarded as sacred as that of the Ganges. Efforts at draining the water from the tank for cleaning has failed in the past showing the possibility of a subterranean with Adi Ganga.

 

ASSOCIATED TEMPLES

NAKHULESHWAR MAHADEV TEMPLE

This Shiva temple is dedicated to the consort of Maa Kali. It is situated in Haldar Para lane on the opposite side of the temple behind the police station. This temple is also very old and mentioned in the history.

 

The four Shiva temples inside the temple were constructed by different shebait families who retain control over them.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Dedicated to RACP. One day, she told me the following words:

 

You have the sky with the ray of light,

I've the sky with the shadow of 'U'.

You have the beauty of this evening,

I've the beauty of love that's everyday shinning.

You have all that you want,

I've nothing except my four stars.

Here I'm alone, here I'm alone,

But, there you are with the world that's your own...

Paul Gauguin - Self Portrait Dedicated to Carriere, 1889 at National Art Gallery Washington DC

 

Also viewed at the Legion of Honor Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco CA for Intimate Impressionism from the National Gallery of Art

The temple was begun by Augustus in 42 BC after the senate deified Julius Caesar posthumously. Augustus dedicated the prostyle temple (it is still unknown whether its order was Ionic, Corinthian or composite) to Caesar, his adoptive father, on 18 August 29 BC, after the Battle of Actium. It stands on the east side of the main square of the Roman Forum, between the Regia, Temple of Castor and Pollux, and the Basilica Aemilia, on the site of Caesar's cremation and where Caesar's testament was read aloud at the funeral by Mark Antony.

 

Caesar was the first resident of Rome to be deified and so honored with a temple. A fourth flamen maior was dedicated to him after 44 BC, and Mark Antony was the first to serve as Flamen Divi Julii, priest of the cult of Caesar.

  

Commemorative plaque beside Caesar's altar.

The high platform on which the temple was built served as a rostra (Rostra ad divi Iuli) and, like the rostra at the opposite end of the Forum, was decorated with the beaks of ships taken at the battle of Actium.

The Temple of Caesar was the only temple to be entirely dedicated to the cult of a comet (referred to as a 'comet star') The comet, appearing some time after Caesar's murder (44 BC), was considered to be the soul of the deified Julius Caesar and the symbol of the "new birth" of Augustus as a unique Roman ruler and Emperor. In Greek and Roman culture, comet is an adjective describing the distinctive characteristic of a special star. "Comet star" means "long-haired star", and it was so represented on coins and monuments. Here is an excerpt of an account by Pliny, with parts of a public speech delivered by Augustus about the comet, his father Caesar, and his own destiny:

 

The only place in the whole world where a comet is the object of worship is a temple at Rome. [...] His late Majesty Augustus had deemed this comet very propitious to himself; as it had appeared not [...] long after the decease of his father Caesar. [...] People believed that this star signified the soul of Caesar received among the spirits of the immortal gods.

The "Divine Star" was represented on coins, and probably worshiped in the temple itself either as a "comet star" or as a "simple star". The simple star had been used as a general symbol of divinity since 44 BC, as can be seen on the 44 BC coin series; after the appearance of the comet, the simple star was transformed into a comet by adding a tail to one of the rays of the simple star, as is shown on the 37–34 BC, 19–18 BC and 17 BC coin series.

According to Appian the place near the Regia and probably part of the main square of the Roman Forum was a second choice, because the first intention of the Roman people was to bury Caesar on the Capitoline Hill among the other Gods of Rome. However, the Roman priests prevented them from doing so (allegedly because the cremation was considered unsafe due to the many wooden structures there) and the corpse of Caesar was carried back to the Forum near the Regia, which had been the personal headquarters of Caesar as Pontifex Maximus. After a violent quarrel about the funeral pyre and the final destiny of Caesar's ashes, the Roman people, the men of Caesar's party, and the men of Caesar's family decided to build the pyre at that location. It seems that in that very place there was a tribunal praetoris sub divo with gradus known as the tribunal Aurelium, a structure built by C. Aurelius Cotta around 80 BC near the so-called Puteal Libonis, a bidental used for sacred oaths before trials. After the funeral of Caesar and the building of the temple, this tribunal was then moved in front of the Temple of Caesar, probably to the location of the so-called Rostra Diocletiani.

Caesar's corpse was carried to the Roman Forum on an ivory couch and set up on the Rostra in a gilded shrine modelled on the Temple of Venus Genetrix, the goddess from whom the family of the Iulii claimed to have originated. Mark Antony delivered his famous speech followed by a public reading of Caesar's will, while a mechanical device, positioned above the bier itself, rotated a wax image of Caesar so that people were able to clearly see the 23 wounds in all parts of the body and on the face. The crowd, moved by the words of Mark Antony, Caesar's will, and the sight of the wax image, attempted but failed to carry the corpse to the Capitol to rest among the gods. In the end the corpse was placed on a funeral pile created near the Regia by making use of any wooden objects available in the Forum, such as wooden benches, and a great cremation fire lasted all the night long. It seems that an ordinary funeral had been prepared for Caesar at the Campus Martius.

 

An altar and a column were briefly erected at the cremation site for the cult of the murdered pontifex maximus, a sacred man, against whom it was strictly prohibited to use cutting weapons and objects. The column was of Numidian yellow stone and had the inscription Parenti Patriae, i.e., to the founder of the nation. But this first monument was almost immediately taken down and removed by the anti-Caesarian party. In 42 BC Octavian, Lepidus and Mark Antony decreed the building of a temple to Caesar.

 

Some time after the death of Caesar a comet appeared in the sky of Rome and remained clearly visible every day for seven days, starting one hour before sunset. This comet appeared for the first time during the ritual games in front of the Temple of Venus Genetrix, the supposed ancestor of the Julii family in the Forum of Julius Caesar, and many in Rome thought it was the soul of deified Caesar called to join the other gods. After the appearance of this sign, Augustus delivered a public speech giving an explanation of the appearance of the comet. The speech is partially known since a partial transcription by Pliny the Elder has been handed down. After the public speech Augustus caused a few series of coins devoted to the comet star and to the deified Caesar, "Divus Iulius", to be struck and widely distributed, so it is possible to have an idea of the representation of the comet star of the deified Julius Caesar.

 

During his public speech about the appearance of the comet, Augustus specified that he himself, the new ruler of the world, was born politically at the very time his father Julius Caesar appeared as a comet in the sky of Rome. His father was announcing the political birth of his adoptive son; he was the one born under the comet and whom the appearance of the comet was announcing. Other messianic prophecies about Augustus are related by Suetonius, including the story of the massacre of the innocents conceived in order to kill the young Octavius soon after his own birth. Augustus wanted to be considered the real subject of any kind of Messianic prophecies and accounts. Later during his reign, he ordered that all other books of prophecies and Messianic accounts be gathered and destroyed. The temple therefore ended up as representing both Julius Caesar as a deified being and Augustus himself as the newborn under the comet. The comet star itself was an object of public worship.

 

The consecration of the temple lasted many days, during which there were reconstructions of the siege of Troy, gladiatorial games, hunting scenes, and banquets. On this occasion a hippopotamus and a rhinoceros were displayed in Rome for the first time. It seems that the doors of the Temple were left opened so that it was possible to see the statue of the deified pontifex maximus Julius Caesar from the main square of the Roman Forum. If this is true, the new interpretation about the location of the Rostra Diocletiani and Rostra ad Divi Iuli cannot be correct.

 

Augustus used to dedicate the spoils of war in this temple. The altar and the shrine conferred the right of asylum. Every four years a festival was held in front of the Rostra ad Divi Iuli in honour of Augustus. The Rostra were used to deliver funeral speeches by succeeding emperors. Drusus and Tiberius delivered a double speech in the Forum; Drusus read his speech from the Rostra Augusti and Tiberius read his from the Rostra ad Divi Iuli, one in front of the other. The emperor Hadrian delivered what was perhaps a funeral speech from the Rostra ad Divi Iuli in 125 AD, as can be seen on the coin series struck for the occasion.

The Peruvudaiyar Kovil is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva that is located in the city of Thanjavur in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is an important example of Tamil architecture achieved during the Chola dynasty. It is also known as Periya Kovil, Brihadeshwara Temple, RajaRajeswara Temple and Rajarajeswaram, It is one of the largest temples in India and one of India's most prized architectural sites. Built by emperor Raja Raja Chola I and completed in 1010 AD, Peruvudaiyaar Temple, also popularly known as the 'Big Temple', turned 1000 years old in 2010. The temple is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Great Living Chola Temples".

 

Thanjavur Periya Kovil stands amidst fortified walls that were probably added in the 16th century. The vimanam (or temple tower) is 66 m high and is among the tallest of its kind in the world. The Kumbam (Kalasha or Chikharam, the apex or the bulbous structure on the top) of the temple is carved out of a single rock and it weighs around 80 tons. There is a big statue of Nandi (sacred bull), carved out of a single rock, at the entrance measuring about 16 feet long and 13 feet high. The entire temple structure is made out of granite, the nearest sources of which are close to Tiruchirappalli, about 60 km to the west of Thanjavur. The temple is the most visited tourist attraction in Thanjavur and the state alike.

 

HISTORY

The Brihadeshwarar temple was built to grace the throne of the Chola empire by the Tamil emperor Arulmozhivarman, popularly called Rajaraja Chola I, in compliance to a command given to him in a dream.One of the first great Tamil Chola building projects, the temple's foundations were laid out in 1002 CE. An axial and symmetrical geometry rules the temple layout.Temples from this period and the following two centuries are an expression of the Tamils (Chola) wealth, power and artistic expertise. The emergence of such features as the multifaceted columns with projecting square capitals signal the arrival of the new Chola style.Intended to display the emperor's vision of his power and his relationship to the universal order, the temple was the site of the major royal ceremonies such as anointing the emperor and linking him with its deity, Shiva, and the daily rituals of the deities were mirrored by those of the king. It is an architectural example showcasing the pure form of the Dravida type of temple architecture and representative of the Chola Empire ideology and the Tamil civilisation in Southern India. The temple "testify to the brilliant achievements of the Chola in architecture, sculpture, painting and bronze casting."

 

CONSTRUCTION

The esteemed architect and engineer of the temple was Kunjara Mallan Raja Raja Perunthachan as stated in inscriptions found at the temple. The temple was built per ancient texts called Vaastu Shastras and Agamas. The temple was built using a measure of 1 3/8-inch called an angula (24 units equalling 33 inches called a hasta, muzam, or kishku). This is the same measure found in ancient Lothal and other sites in the Indus Valley dating back 4000 - 6000 years. This same measure is used to build structures compliant with the Vaastu Shastras and Agamas today. While some builders use a different measure this is considered a standard due to its antiquity.

 

This temple is the first building fully built by granite and finished within 5yrs [1004AD – 1009AD]. The solid base of the temple raises about 5 metres, above which stone deities and representatives of Shiva dance. The huge kalasam or Vimanam (top portion of the shrine) weighing in at 81.284 tonnes and made of 8 pieces, was raised to its present height by dragging on an inclined plane of 6.44 km. The big Nandi (bull), weighing about 20 tonnes is made of a single stone and is about 2 m in height, 6 m in length and 2.5 m in width. The presiding deity of lingam is 3.7m tall. The prakaram (outer precincts of the temple) measures 240m by 125m. The outer wall of the upper storey is carved with 108 dance karanas – postures of Bharathanatyam, the classical dance of Tamil Nadu. The shrine of Goddess was added by Pandyas during the 13th century, Subramanya Shrine by Vijayanagara rulers and the Vinayaka shrine was renovated by Maratha rulers. There were significant additions from the Thanjavur Nayaks.

 

TEMPLE COMPLEX

The temple complex sits on the banks of a river that was channelled to make a moat around the complex's outer walls, the walls being built like a fortress. The complex is made up of many structures that are aligned axially. The complex can be entered either on one axis through a five-story gopuram or with a second access directly to the huge main quadrangle through a smaller free-standing gopuram. The massive size of the main Vimanam (Shikhara) is ca. 60.96 meters high, with 16 elaborately articulated stories, and dominates the main quadrangle. Pilaster, piers (a raised structure), and attached columns are placed rhythmically covering every surface of the Vimanam. The gopuram of the main entrance is 30 m high, smaller than the vimana. It is unusual in the dravidian architecture where the gopurams are generally the main towers and taller than the vimanam.

 

MAIN TEMPLE

A first rectangular surrounding wall, 270 m by 140 m, marks the outer boundary. The main temple is in the center of the spacious quadrangle composed of a sanctuary, a Nandi, a pillared hall and an assembly hall (mandapas), and many sub-shrines. The most important part of the temple is the inner mandapa which is surrounded by massive walls that are divided into levels by sharply cut sculptures and pilasters providing deep bays and recesses. Each side of the sanctuary has a bay emphasising the principle cult icons.

 

The karuvarai, a Tamil word meaning the interior of the sanctum sanctorum, is the inner most sanctum and focus of the temple where an image of the primary deity, Shiva, resides. Inside is a huge stone linga. The word Karuvarai means "womb chamber" from Tamil word karu for foetus. Only priests are allowed to enter this inner-most chamber.

 

In the Dravida style, the Karuvarai takes the form of a miniature vimana with other features exclusive to southern Indian temple architecture such as the inner wall together with the outer wall creating a pradakshina around the garbhagriha for circumambulation (pradakshina). The entrance is highly decorated. The inside chamber housing the image of the god is the sanctum sanctorum, the garbhagriha.

 

The garbhagriha is square and sits on a plinth, its location calculated to be a point of total equilibrium and harmony as it is representative of a microcosm of the universe. In the center is placed the image of the deity. The royal bathing-hall where Rajaraja the great gave gifts is to the east of the hall of Irumudi-Soran.The circumambulation winds around the massive lingam in the garbhagriha and is repeated in an upper story, presenting the idea that Chola Empire freely offered access to the gods.The inner mandapa leads out to a rectangular mandapa and then to a twenty-columned porch with three staircases leading down. Sharing the same stone plinth is a small open mandapa dedicated to Nandi, Shiva's sacred bull mount.

 

TEMPLE DEITIES

The "moolavar" or prime deity of the Brihadeeswarar Temple is Shiva. All deities, particularly those placed in the niches of the outer wall (Koshta Moorthigal) like Dakshinamurthy, Surya, Chandra are of huge size. The Brihadiswarar temple is one of the rare temples which has idols for "Ashta-dikpaalakas" (Guardians of the directions) – Indra, Agni, Yama, Nirṛti, Varuṇa, Vāyu, Kubera, Īśāna – each of whom was originally represented by a life-sized statue, approximately 6 feet tall, enshrined in a separate temple located in the respective direction. (Only Agni, Varuṇa, Vāyu and Īśāna are preserved in situ.)

 

ADJOINING STRUCTURES

Surrounding the main temple are two walled enclosures. The outer wall is high, defining the temple complex area. Here is the massive gopuram or gateway mentioned above. Within this a portico, a barrel vaulted gorpuram with over 400 pillars, is enclosed by a high wall interspersed with huge gopurams axially lined up to the main temple.

 

FEATURES

A widely held, though disputed, belief is that the shadow of the gopuram (pyramidal tower usually over the gateway of a temple) never falls on the ground. The temple is said to be made up of about 60,000 tons of sandstone and granite. The Kumbam itself, a 60-ton granite stone carved in one piece, on top of the main gopuram is believed to have been taken to the top by creating an inclined slope to the height of 66m to the top of the gopuram. Elephants might have been used to drag the stone up the slope.

 

MURALS

The temple has Chola frescoes on the walls around the sanctum sanctorum potryaing Shiva in action, destroying demonic forts, dancing and sending a white elephant to transport a devotee to heaven. These frescoes were discovered in the 1940s and portray the mythological episodes of the journey of Saint Sundarar and the Chera King to heaven, the battle scene of Tripurantaka (Lord Siva) with Asuras (demons). The Chola artists have proved their mettle by portraying even the Asura women with a sense of beauty. Some of the paintings in the sanctum sanctorum and the walls in the passage had been damaged because of the soot that had deposited on them. Owing to the continuous exposure to smoke and soot from the lamps and burning of camphor in the sanctum sanctorum over a period of centuries certain parts of the Chola paintings on the circumambulatory passage walls had been badly damaged. The Tanjore Nayak kings replaced them with a few paintings of their own, about 400 years ago. The Archaeological Survey of India, for the first time in the world, used its unique de-stucco process to restore 16 Nayak paintings, which were superimposed on 1000-year-old Chola frescoes. These 400-year-old paintings have been mounted on fibre glass boards, displayed at a separate pavilion.

 

TEMPLE PERSONNEL

The temple was consecrated in 1010 CE by Raja Raja Chola I & in 2010 a celebration commemorated the temple's thousandth anniversary. The temple maintained a staff of 1000 people in various capacities with 400 being temple dancers Besides the Brahmin priests, these included record-keepers, musicians, scholars, and craftsman of every type as well as housekeeping staff. In those days the temple was a hub of business activities for the flower, milk, oil, and ghee merchants, all of whom made a regular supply of their respective goods for the temple for its poojas and during festival seasons. Moreover as evidenced by the inscriptions that found in the compound wall of this temple, the temple had always been serving as a platform for the dancers who excelled in the traditional dance form of Bharatnatyam.

 

MILLENNIUM COMMEMORATION

Built in the year 1010 CE by Raja Raja Chola in Thanjavur, Brihadeeswarar Temple popularly known as the 'Big Temple' turned 1000 years old in September 2010. To celebrate the 1000th year of the grand structure, the state government and the town held many cultural events. It was to recall the 275th day of his 25th regal year (1010 CE) when Raja Raja Chola (985–1014 CE) handed over a gold-plated kalasam (copper pot or finial) for the final consecration to crown the vimana, the 59.82-metre tall tower above the sanctum.

 

BHARATHANATYAM YAJNA

To mark the occasion, the state government organised a Bharathanatyam Yajna, classical dance show under noted dancer Padma Subramaniam. It was jointly organised by the Association of Bharatanatyam Artistes of India (ABHAI) and the Brhan Natyanjali Trust, Thanjavur. To mark the 1000th year anniversary of the building, 1000 dancers from New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Singapore, Malaysia and the US danced in concert to the recorded 11 verses of divine music Thiruvichaippa (ninth of Thirumurai) composed by Karuvur Thevar (the guru of Raja Raja Chola) named Tiruvisaippa. The small town turned into a cultural hub for two days beginning 26 September 2010 as street performers and dancers performed throughout the town.

 

POPULAR CULTURE

Kalki, a renowned Tamil novelist, has written a historical novel named Ponniyin Selvan, based on the life of Raja Raja Chola I. Balakumaran, another Tamil author has written a novel named Udaiyar themed on the life of Raja Raja Chola I and the construction of the Brihadeeswarar temple.

 

WIKIPEDIA

  

Taken By : Me ,,,

Edting By : Me ,,,

Using : Canon 60D ,,,

__________________________________

 

صباحكم ومساكم ورد

هالصورة اهداء لمحبي ريال مدريد وخصوصا أخوي ضاري

 

ملعب سانتياغو بيرنابيو

 

معلومات بسيطه

ملعب سانتياغو بيرنابيو هو ملعب كرة قدم يقع في مدينة مدريد عاصمة إسبانيا. وهو ملعب ريال مدريد سمي بذلك نسبة إلى الرئيس السابق لريال مدريد سنتياغو برنابيو. ويعد من أكبر الملاعب في إسبانيا ويتسع لأكثر من 80 ألف متفرج تقريبا. جرت على الملعب الالعاب الأولمبية وكاس العالم وتجري عليه مباريات ريال مدريد في الليغا الأسبانية وبه ارقام قياسية حيث قضى ريال مدريد ثماني سنوات بلا اي خسارة عليه.

 

ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A8_%D8%B3%D8%...

 

Hello all

This Picture Dedicated To Madrid Football Team Lovers

Spacially My Brother " Dari "

 

The Estadio Santiago Bernabéu Spanish pronunciation: is an all-seater football stadium in Madrid, Spain. It was inaugurated on 14 December 1947 and is owned by Real Madrid Club de Fútbol. It has a current capacity of 85,454 spectators.[1]

El Bernabéu, re-named in honour of their former chairman Santiago Bernabéu Yeste, is one of the world's most famous and prestigious football venues. It has hosted the European Cup final on three occasions: in 1957, 1969 and 1980, and the UEFA Champions League Final in 2010.[5] The finals for the 1964 European Nations' Cup and the 1982 World Cup have also been held at the Bernabéu.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_Bernab%C3%A9u_Stadium

  

dedicated to Gerhard!!

Gute Reise!

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Have a good trip!

The Brihadeshwara Temple at Thanjavur in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva. It is an important example of Tamil architecture achieved during the Chola dynasty. The temple is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Great Living Chola Temples".

 

This is one of the largest temples in India and one of India's most prized architectural sites. Built by emperor Raja Raja Chola I and completed in 1010 AD, Peruvudaiyaar Temple, also popularly known as the 'Big Temple', turned 1000 years old in 2010.

 

Thanjavur Periya Kovil stands amidst fortified walls that were probably added in the 16th century. The vimanam (or temple tower) is 66 m) high and is among the tallest of its kind in the world. The Kumbam (Kalasha or Chikharam, the apex or the bulbous structure on the top) of the temple is carved out of a single rock and it weighs around 80 tons. There is a big statue of Nandi (sacred bull), carved out of a single rock, at the entrance measuring about 16 feet long and 13 feet high. The entire temple structure is made out of granite, the nearest sources of which are close to Tiruchirappalli, about 60 km to the west of Thanjavur.

 

HISTORY

The temple had its foundations laid out by the Tamil emperor Arulmozhivarman, popularly called Rajaraja Chola I, in 1002 CE, as the first of the great Tamil Chola building projects.

 

The Brihadeshwarar Temple was built to grace the throne of the Chola empire in compliance to a command given to him in his dream. The scale and grandeur is in the Chola tradition. An axial and symmetrical geometry rules the temple layout. Temples from this period and the following two centuries are an expression of the Tamils (Chola) wealth, power and artistic expertise. The emergence of such features as the multifaceted columns with projecting square capitals signal the arrival of the new Chola style.

 

The Brihadeshwarar Temple was built to be the royal temple to display the emperor's vision of his power and his relationship to the universal order. The temple was the site of the major royal ceremonies such as anointing the emperor and linking him with its deity, Shiva, and the daily rituals of the deities were mirrored by those of the king. It is an architectural example showcasing the pure form of the Dravida type of temple architecture and representative of the Chola Empire ideology and the Tamil civilisation in Southern India. The temple "testify to the brilliant achievements of the Chola in architecture, sculpture, painting and bronze casting."

 

CONSTRUCTION

The wish to build a mammoth temple like this is said to have occurred to Raja Raja while he stayed at Sri Lanka as an emperor.

 

The esteemed architect and engineer of the temple was Kunjara Mallan Raja Raja Perunthachan as stated in inscriptions found at the temple. The temple was built per ancient texts called Vaastu Shastras and Agamas. He is the ancient ancestor of the doyan of Vaastu Vedic architecture, the late Dr. V. Ganapti Sthapati of Chennai and Mahabalipurim (architect of the 133' granite Thiruvalluvar statue at the tip of south India). Members of his family still live and practice the ancient art and science. The American University of Mayonic Science and Technology was initiated by Dr. V. Ganapati Sthapati to perpetuate the same form of architectural principles used by Kunjara Mallan Raja Raja Perunthachan to build the Brihadeeswarar temple. The temple was built using a measure of 1 3/8-inch called an angula (24 units equalling 33 inches called a hasta, muzam, or kishku). This is the same measure found in ancient Lothal and other sites in the Indus Valley dating back 4000 - 6000 years. This same measure is used to build structures compliant with the Vaastu Shastras and Agamas today. While some builders use a different measure this is considered a standard due to its antiquity.

 

This temple is the first building fully built by granite and finished within 5yrs [1004AD – 1009AD]. The solid base of the temple raises about 5 metres, above which stone deities and representatives of Shiva dance. The huge kalasam or Vimanam (top portion of the shrine) is believed to weigh 81.28 tonnes of single stone block and was raised to its present height by dragging on an inclined plane of 6.44 km. The big Nandi (bull), weighing about 20 tonnes is made of a single stone and is about 2 m in height, 6 m in length and 2.5 m in width. The presiding deity of lingam is 3.7m tall. The prakaram (outer precincts of the temple) measures 240m by 125m. The outer wall of the upper storey is carved with 81 dance karanas – postures of Bharathanatyam, the classical dance of Tamil Nadu. The shrine of Goddess was added by Pandyas during the 13th century, Subramanya Shrine by Vijayanagara rulers and the Vinayaka shrine was renovated by Maratha rulers.

 

TEMPLE COMPLEX

The temple complex sits on the banks of a river that was channelled to make a moat around the complex's outer walls, the walls being built like a fortress. The complex is made up of many structures that are aligned axially. The complex can be entered either on one axis through a five-story gopuram or with a second access directly to the huge main quadrangle through a smaller free-standing gopuram. The massive size of the main Vimanam (Shikhara) is ca. 60 meters high, with 16 elaborately articulated stories, and dominates the main quadrangle. Pilaster, piers, and attached columns are placed rhythmically covering every surface of the Vimanam.

 

The gopuram of the main entrance is 30 m high, smaller than the vimana. It is unusual in the dravidian architecture where the gopurams are generally the main towers and taller than the vimanam.

 

MAIN TEMPLE

A first rectangular surrounding wall, 270 m by 140 m, marks the outer boundary. The main temple is in the center of the spacious quadrangle composed of a sanctuary, a Nandi, a pillared hall and an assembly hall (mandapas), and many sub-shrines. The most important part of the temple is the inner mandapa which is surrounded by massive walls that are divided into levels by sharply cut sculptures and pilasters providing deep bays and recesses. Each side of the sanctuary has a bay emphasising the principle cult icons. The karuvarai, a Tamil word meaning the interior of the sanctum sanctorum, is the inner most sanctum and focus of the temple where an image of the primary deity, Shiva, resides. Inside is a huge stone linga. The word Karuvarai means "womb chamber" from Tamil word karu for foetus. Only priests are allowed to enter this inner-most chamber.

 

In the Dravida style, the Karuvarai takes the form of a miniature vimana with other features exclusive to southern Indian temple architecture such as the inner wall together with the outer wall creating a pradakshina around the garbhagriha for circumambulation (pradakshina). The entrance is highly decorated. The inside chamber housing the image of the god is the sanctum sanctorum, the garbhagriha. The garbhagriha is square and sits on a plinth, its location calculated to be a point of total equilibrium and harmony as it is representative of a microcosm of the universe. In the center is placed the image of the deity. The royal bathing-hall where Rajaraja the great gave gifts is to the east of the hall of Irumudi-Soran.

 

The circumambulation winds around the massive lingam in the garbhagriha and is repeated in an upper story, presenting the idea that Chola Empire freely offered access to the gods.

 

The inner mandapa leads out to a rectangular mandapa and then to a twenty-columned porch with three staircases leading down. Sharing the same stone plinth is a small open mandapa dedicated to Nandi, Shiva's sacred bull mount.

 

TEMPLE DEITIES

The "moolavar" or prime deity of the Brihadeeswarar Temple is Shiva. All deities, particularly those placed in the niches of the outer wall (Koshta Moorthigal) like Dakshinamurthy, Surya, Chandra are of huge size. The Brihadiswarar temple is one of the rare temples which has idols for "Ashta-dikpaalakas" (Guardians of the directions) – Indra, Agni, Yama, Nirṛti, Varuṇa, Vāyu, Kubera, Īśāna – each of whom was originally represented by a life-sized statue, approximately 6 feet tall, enshrined in a separate temple located in the respective direction. (Only Agni, Varuṇa, Vāyu and Īśāna are preserved in situ.)

 

ADJOINING STRUCTURES

Surrounding the main temple are two walled enclosures. The outer wall is high, defining the temple complex area. Here is the massive gopuram or gateway mentioned above. Within this a portico, a barrel vaulted gorpuram with over 400 pillars, is enclosed by a high wall interspersed with huge gopurams axially lined up to the main temple.

 

FEATURES

Another widely held belief is that the shadow of the gopuram (pyramidal tower usually over the gateway of a temple) never falls on the ground. . The temple is said to be made up of about 60,000 tons of sandstone and granite. The Kumbam itself, a 60 ton granite stone carved in one piece, on top of the main gopuram is believed to have been taken to the top by creating an inclined slope to the height of 66m to the top of the gopuram. The prevailing belief is that a mud-slope, which starts at about three miles from the temple site, from Thirukoilore (birthplace of Raja raja's mother) near Sri Virateshvara swamy temple portrays the figure of the Thanjavur Temple. Elephants might have been used to drag the stone up the slope. This was claimed to be the only part of the gopuram, which does not cast a shadow that fall on the ground, at least not within the temple premises which is an architectural amazement in the world of architecture.

 

MURALS

The temple has Chola frescoes on the walls around the sanctum sanctorum potryaing Shiva in action, destroying demonic forts, dancing and sending a white elephant to transport a devotee to heaven. These frescoes were discovered in the 1940s and portray the mythological episodes of the journey of Saint Sundarar and the Chera King to heaven, the battle scene of Tripurantaka (Lord Siva) with Asuras (demons). The Chola artists have proved their mettle by portraying even the Asura women with a sense of beauty. Some of the paintings in the sanctum sanctorum and the walls in the passage had been damaged because of the soot that had deposited on them. Owing to the continuous exposure to smoke and soot from the lamps and burning of camphor in the sanctum sanctorum over a period of centuries certain parts of the Chola paintings on the circumambulatory passage walls had been badly damaged. The Tanjore Nayak kings replaced them with a few paintings of their own, about 400 years ago. The Archaeological Survey of India, for the first time in the world, used its unique de-stucco process to restore 16 Nayak paintings, which were superimposed on 1000-year-old Chola frescoes. These 400-year-old paintings have been mounted on fibre glass boards, displayed at a separate pavilion.

 

TEMPLE PERSONNEL

The temple was consecrated in 1010 CE by Raja Raja Chola I & in 2010 a celebration commemorated the temple's thousandth anniversary. The temple maintained a staff of 1000 people in various capacities with 400 being temple dancers Besides the Brahmin priests, these included record-keepers, musicians, scholars, and craftsman of every type as well as housekeeping staff. In those days the temple was a hub of business activities for the flower, milk, oil, and ghee merchants, all of whom made a regular supply of their respective goods for the temple for its poojas and during festival seasons. Moreover as evidenced by the inscriptions that found in the compound wall of this temple, the temple had always been serving as a platform for the dancers who excelled in the traditional dance form of Bharatnatyam. vallamuthu minnadi generation worshipped this temple.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Angkor Wat or "Capital Temple" is a temple complex in Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world. It was first a Hindu and later a Buddhist temple. It was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yaśodharapura, present-day Angkor, the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum.

 

Breaking from the Shiva tradition of previous kings, Angkor Wat was instead dedicated to Vishnu. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious center since its foundation. The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors. Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple-mountain and the later galleried temple, based on early Dravidian architecture, with key features such as the Jagati. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology: within a moat and an outer wall 3.6 kilometres long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of towers. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west; scholars are divided as to the significance of this. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs, and for the numerous devatas adorning its walls.

 

The modern name, Angkor Wat, means "Temple City" or "City of Temples" in Khmer; Angkor, meaning "city" or "capital city", is a vernacular form of the word nokor (នគរ), which comes from the Sanskrit word nagara (नगर). Wat is the Khmer word for "temple grounds" (Sanskrit: वाट vāṭa ""enclosure").

 

HISTORY

Angkor Wat lies 5.5 kilometres north of the modern town of Siem Reap, and a short distance south and slightly east of the previous capital, which was centred at Baphuon. It is in an area of Cambodia where there is an important group of ancient structures. It is the southernmost of Angkor's main sites.

 

According to one legend, the construction of Angkor Wat was ordered by Indra to act as a palace for his son Precha Ket Mealea.

 

According to the 13th century Chinese traveler Daguan Zhou, it was believed by some that the temple was constructed in a single night by a divine architect. The initial design and construction of the temple took place in the first half of the 12th century, during the reign of Suryavarman II (ruled 1113-C. 1150). Dedicated to Vishnu, it was built as the king's state temple and capital city. As neither the foundation stela nor any contemporary inscriptions referring to the temple have been found, its original name is unknown, but it may have been known as "Varah Vishnu-lok" after the presiding deity. Work seems to have ended shortly after the king's death, leaving some of the bas-relief decoration unfinished.

 

In 1177, approximately 27 years after the death of Suryavarman II, Angkor was sacked by the Chams, the traditional enemies of the Khmer. Thereafter the empire was restored by a new king, Jayavarman VII, who established a new capital and state temple (Angkor Thom and the Bayon respectively) a few kilometers to the north.

 

In the late 13th century, Angkor Wat gradually moved from Hindu to Theravada Buddhist use, which continues to the present day. Angkor Wat is unusual among the Angkor temples in that although it was somewhat neglected after the 16th century it was never completely abandoned, its preservation being due in part to the fact that its moat also provided some protection from encroachment by the jungle.

One of the first Western visitors to the temple was António da Madalena, a Portuguese monk who visited in 1586 and said that it "is of such extraordinary construction that it is not possible to describe it with a pen, particularly since it is like no other building in the world. It has towers and decoration and all the refinements which the human genius can conceive of."

 

In the mid-19th century, the temple was visited by the French naturalist and explorer, Henri Mouhot, who popularised the site in the West through the publication of travel notes, in which he wrote:

 

"One of these temples - a rival to that of Solomon, and erected by some ancient Michelangelo - might take an honorable place beside our most beautiful buildings. It is grander than anything left to us by Greece or Rome, and presents a sad contrast to the state of barbarism in which the nation is now plunged."

 

Mouhot, like other early Western visitors, found it difficult to believe that the Khmers could have built the temple, and mistakenly dated it to around the same era as Rome. The true history of Angkor Wat was pieced together only from stylistic and epigraphic evidence accumulated during the subsequent clearing and restoration work carried out across the whole Angkor site. There were no ordinary dwellings or houses or other signs of settlement including cooking utensils, weapons, or items of clothing usually found at ancient sites. Instead there is the evidence of the monuments themselves.

 

Angkor Wat required considerable restoration in the 20th century, mainly the removal of accumulated earth and vegetation. Work was interrupted by the civil war and Khmer Rouge control of the country during the 1970s and 1980s, but relatively little damage was done during this period other than the theft and destruction of mostly post-Angkorian statues.The temple is a powerful symbol of Cambodia, and is a source of great national pride that has factored into Cambodia's diplomatic relations with France, the United States and its neighbor Thailand. A depiction of Angkor Wat has been a part of Cambodian national flags since the introduction of the first version circa 1863. From a larger historical and even transcultural perspective, however, the temple of Angkor Wat did not become a symbol of national pride sui generis but had been inscribed into a larger politico-cultural process of French-colonial heritage production in which the original temple site was presented in French colonial and universal exhibitions in Paris and Marseille between 1889 and 1937. Angkor Wat's aesthetics were also on display in the plaster cast museum of Louis Delaporte called musée Indo-chinois which existed in the Parisian Trocadero Palace from C. 1880 to the mid-1920s. The splendid artistic legacy of Angkor Wat and other Khmer monuments in the Angkor region led directly to France adopting Cambodia as a protectorate on 11 August 1863 and invading Siam to take control of the ruins. This quickly led to Cambodia reclaiming lands in the northwestern corner of the country that had been under Siamese (Thai) control since 1351 AD (Manich Jumsai 2001), or by some accounts, 1431 AD. Cambodia gained independence from France on 9 November 1953 and has controlled Angkor Wat since that time.

 

ARCHITECTURE

SITE AND PLAN

Angkor Wat, located at 13°24′45″N 103°52′0″E, is a unique combination of the temple mountain, the standard design for the empire's state temples and the later plan of concentric galleries. The temple is a representation of Mount Meru, the home of the gods: the central quincunx of towers symbolises the five peaks of the mountain, and the walls and moat the surrounding mountain ranges and ocean. Access to the upper areas of the temple was progressively more exclusive, with the laity being admitted only to the lowest level. Unlike most Khmer temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west rather than the east. This has led many (including Maurice Glaize and George Coedès) to conclude that Suryavarman intended it to serve as his funerary temple.Further evidence for this view is provided by the bas-reliefs, which proceed in a counter-clockwise direction - prasavya in Hindu terminology - as this is the reverse of the normal order. Rituals take place in reverse order during Brahminic funeral services. The archaeologist Charles Higham also describes a container which may have been a funerary jar which was recovered from the central tower. It has been nominated by some as the greatest expenditure of energy on the disposal of a corpse. Freeman and Jacques, however, note that several other temples of Angkor depart from the typical eastern orientation, and suggest that Angkor Wat's alignment was due to its dedication to Vishnu, who was associated with the west.

 

A further interpretation of Angkor Wat has been proposed by Eleanor Mannikka. Drawing on the temple's alignment and dimensions, and on the content and arrangement of the bas-reliefs, she argues that the structure represents a claimed new era of peace under King Suryavarman II: "as the measurements of solar and lunar time cycles were built into the sacred space of Angkor Wat, this divine mandate to rule was anchored to consecrated chambers and corridors meant to perpetuate the king's power and to honor and placate the deities manifest in the heavens above." Mannikka's suggestions have been received with a mixture of interest and scepticism in academic circles. She distances herself from the speculations of others, such as Graham Hancock, that Angkor Wat is part of a representation of the constellation Draco.

 

STYLE

Angkor Wat is the prime example of the classical style of Khmer architecture - the Angkor Wat style - to which it has given its name. By the 12th century Khmer architects had become skilled and confident in the use of sandstone (rather than brick or laterite) as the main building material. Most of the visible areas are of sandstone blocks, while laterite was used for the outer wall and for hidden structural parts. The binding agent used to join the blocks is yet to be identified, although natural resins or slaked lime has been suggested. The temple has drawn praise above all for the harmony of its design. According to Maurice Glaize, a mid-20th-century conservator of Angkor, the temple "attains a classic perfection by the restrained monumentality of its finely balanced elements and the precise arrangement of its proportions. It is a work of power, unity and style." Architecturally, the elements characteristic of the style include: the ogival, redented towers shaped like lotus buds; half-galleries to broaden passageways; axial galleries connecting enclosures; and the cruciform terraces which appear along the main axis of the temple. Typical decorative elements are devatas (or apsaras), bas-reliefs, and on pediments extensive garlands and narrative scenes. The statuary of Angkor Wat is considered conservative, being more static and less graceful than earlier work. Other elements of the design have been destroyed by looting and the passage of time, including gilded stucco on the towers, gilding on some figures on the bas-reliefs, and wooden ceiling panels and doors.

 

FEATURES

OUTER ENCLOSURE

The outer wall, 1024 by 802 m and 4.5 m high, is surrounded by a 30 m apron of open ground and a moat 190 m wide. Access to the temple is by an earth bank to the east and a sandstone causeway to the west; the latter, the main entrance, is a later addition, possibly replacing a wooden bridge. There are gopuras at each of the cardinal points; the western is by far the largest and has three ruined towers. Glaize notes that this gopura both hides and echoes the form of the temple proper. Under the southern tower is a statue of Vishnu, known as Ta Reach, which may originally have occupied the temple's central shrine.Galleries run between the towers and as far as two further entrances on either side of the gopura often referred to as "elephant gates", as they are large enough to admit those animals. These galleries have square pillars on the outer (west) side and a closed wall on the inner (east) side. The ceiling between the pillars is decorated with lotus rosettes; the west face of the wall with dancing figures; and the east face of the wall with balustered windows, dancing male figures on prancing animals, and devatas, including (south of the entrance) the only one in the temple to be showing her teeth. The outer wall encloses a space of 820,000 square metres, which besides the temple proper was originally occupied by the city and, to the north of the temple, the royal palace. Like all secular buildings of Angkor, these were built of perishable materials rather than of stone, so nothing remains of them except the outlines of some of the streets. Most of the area is now covered by forest. A 350 m causeway connects the western gopura to the temple proper, with naga balustrades and six sets of steps leading down to the city on either side. Each side also features a library with entrances at each cardinal point, in front of the third set of stairs from the entrance, and a pond between the library and the temple itself. The ponds are later additions to the design, as is the cruciform terrace guarded by lions connecting the causeway to the central structure.

 

CENTRAL STRUCTURE

The temple stands on a terrace raised higher than the city. It is made of three rectangular galleries rising to a central tower, each level higher than the last. Mannikka interprets these galleries as being dedicated to the king, Brahma, the moon, and Vishnu.

 

Each gallery has a gopura at each of the points, and the two inner galleries each have towers at their corners, forming a quincunx with the central tower. Because the temple faces west, the features are all set back towards the east, leaving more space to be filled in each enclosure and gallery on the west side; for the same reason the west-facing steps are shallower than those on the other sides.

 

The outer gallery measures 187 by 215 m, with pavilions rather than towers at the corners. The gallery is open to the outside of the temple, with columned half-galleries extending and buttressing the structure. Connecting the outer gallery to the second enclosure on the west side is a cruciform cloister called Preah Poan (the "Hall of a Thousand Gods"). Buddha images were left in the cloister by pilgrims over the centuries, although most have now been removed. This area has many inscriptions relating the good deeds of pilgrims, most written in Khmer but others in Burmese and Japanese. The four small courtyards marked out by the cloister may originally have been filled with water.

 

North and south of the cloister are libraries.

 

Beyond, the second and inner galleries are connected to each other and to two flanking libraries by another cruciform terrace, again a later addition. From the second level upwards, devatas abound on the walls, singly or in groups of up to four. The second-level enclosure is 100 by 115 m, and may originally have been flooded to represent the ocean around Mount Meru.

 

Three sets of steps on each side lead up to the corner towers and gopuras of the inner gallery. The very steep stairways represent the difficulty of ascending to the kingdom of the gods. This inner gallery, called the Bakan, is a 60 m square with axial galleries connecting each gopura with the central shrine, and subsidiary shrines located below the corner towers. The roofings of the galleries are decorated with the motif of the body of a snake ending in the heads of lions or garudas. Carved lintels and pediments decorate the entrances to the galleries and to the shrines. The tower above the central shrine rises 43 m to a height of 65 m above the ground; unlike those of previous temple mountains, the central tower is raised above the surrounding four. The shrine itself, originally occupied by a statue of Vishnu and open on each side, was walled in when the temple was converted to Theravada Buddhism, the new walls featuring standing Buddhas. In 1934, the conservator George Trouvé excavated the pit beneath the central shrine: filled with sand and water it had already been robbed of its treasure, but he did find a sacred foundation deposit of gold leaf two metres above ground level.

 

DECORATION

Integrated with the architecture of the building, and one of the causes for its fame is Angkor Wat's extensive decoration, which predominantly takes the form of bas-relief friezes. The inner walls of the outer gallery bear a series of large-scale scenes mainly depicting episodes from the Hindu epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Higham has called these, "the greatest known linear arrangement of stone carving".

 

From the north-west corner anti-clockwise, the western gallery shows the Battle of Lanka (from the Ramayana, in which Rama defeats Ravana) and the Battle of Kurukshetra (from the Mahabharata, showing the mutual annihilation of the Kaurava and Pandava clans). On the southern gallery follow the only historical scene, a procession of Suryavarman II, then the 32 hells and 37 heavens of Hindu mythology.

 

On the eastern gallery is one of the most celebrated scenes, the Churning of the Sea of Milk, showing 92 asuras and 88 devas using the serpent Vasuki to churn the sea under Vishnu's direction (Mannikka counts only 91 asuras, and explains the asymmetrical numbers as representing the number of days from the winter solstice to the spring equinox, and from the equinox to the summer solstice). It is followed by Vishnu defeating asuras (a 16th-century addition). The northern gallery shows Krishna's victory over Bana (where according to Glaize, "The workmanship is at its worst"). and a battle between the Hindu gods and asuras. The north-west and south-west corner pavilions both feature much smaller-scale scenes, some unidentified but most from the Ramayana or the life of Krishna. Angkor Wat is decorated with depictions of apsaras and devata; there are more than 1,796 depictions of devata in the present research inventory. Angkor Wat architects employed small apsara images (30–40 cm) as decorative motifs on pillars and walls. They incorporated larger devata images (all full-body portraits measuring approximately 95–110 cm) more prominently at every level of the temple from the entry pavilion to the tops of the high towers. In 1927, Sappho Marchal published a study cataloging the remarkable diversity of their hair, headdresses, garments, stance, jewelry and decorative flowers, which Marchal concluded were based on actual practices of the Angkor period.

 

CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES

The stones, as smooth as polished marble, were laid without mortar with very tight joints that are sometimes hard to find. The blocks were held together by mortise and tenon joints in some cases, while in others they used dovetails and gravity. The blocks were presumably put in place by a combination of elephants, coir ropes, pulleys and bamboo scaffolding. Henri Mouhot noted that most of the blocks had holes 2.5 cm in diameter and 3 cm deep, with more holes on the larger blocks. Some scholars have suggested that these were used to join them together with iron rods, but others claim they were used to hold temporary pegs to help manoeuvre them into place. The monument was made out of millions of tonnes of sandstone and it has a greater volume as well as mass than the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. The Angkor Wat Temple consumes about 6 million to 10 million blocks of sandstone with an average weight of 1.5 tons each. In fact, the entire city of Angkor used up far greater amounts of stone than all the Egyptian pyramids combined, and occupied an area significantly greater than modern-day Paris. Moreover, unlike the Egyptian pyramids which use limestone quarried barely half a km away all the time, the entire city of Angkor was built with sandstone quarried 40 km (or more) away. This sandstone had to be transported from Mount Kulen, a quarry approximately 40 km to the northeast. The route has been suggested to span 35 kilometres along a canal towards Tonlé Sap lake, another 35 kilometres crossing the lake, and finally 15 kilometres upstream and against the current along Siem Reap River, making a total journey of 90 kilometres. However, Etsuo Uchida and Ichita Shimoda of Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan have discovered in 2012 a shorter 35-kilometre canal connecting Mount Kulen and Angkor Wat using satellite imagery. The two believe that the Khmer used this route instead.

 

Virtually all of its surfaces, columns, lintels even roofs are carved. There are miles of reliefs illustrating scenes from Indian literature including unicorns, griffins, winged dragons pulling chariots as well as warriors following an elephant-mounted leader and celestial dancing girls with elaborate hair styles. The gallery wall alone is decorated with almost 1000 square metres of bas reliefs. Holes on some of the Angkor walls indicate that they may have been decorated with bronze sheets. These were highly prized in ancient times and were a prime target for robbers. While excavating Khajuraho, Alex Evans, a stonemason and sculptor, recreated a stone sculpture under 1.2 m, this took about 60 days to carve. Roger Hopkins and Mark Lehner also conducted experiments to quarry limestone which took 12 quarrymen 22 days to quarry about 400 tons of stone. The labor force to quarry, transport, carve and install so much sandstone must have run into the thousands including many highly skilled artisans. The skills required to carve these sculptures were developed hundreds of years earlier, as demonstrated by some artifacts that have been dated to the seventh century, before the Khmer came to power.

 

ANGKOR WAT TODAY

The Archaeological Survey of India carried out restoration work on the temple between 1986 and 1992. Since the 1990s, Angkor Wat has seen continued conservation efforts and a massive increase in tourism. The temple is part of the Angkor World Heritage Site, established in 1992, which has provided some funding and has encouraged the Cambodian government to protect the site. The German Apsara Conservation Project (GACP) is working to protect the devatas and other bas-reliefs which decorate the temple from damage. The organisation's survey found that around 20% of the devatas were in very poor condition, mainly because of natural erosion and deterioration of the stone but in part also due to earlier restoration efforts. Other work involves the repair of collapsed sections of the structure, and prevention of further collapse: the west facade of the upper level, for example, has been buttressed by scaffolding since 2002, while a Japanese team completed restoration of the north library of the outer enclosure in 2005. World Monuments Fund began conservation work on the Churning of the Sea of Milk Gallery in 2008 after several years of conditions studies. The project restored the traditional Khmer roofing system and removed cement used in earlier restoration attempts that had resulted in salts entering the structure behind the bas-relief, discoloring and damaging the sculpted surfaces. The main phase of work ended in 2012, and the final component will be the installation of finials on the roof of the gallery in 2013. Microbial biofilms have been found degrading sandstone at Angkor Wat, Preah Khan, and the Bayon and West Prasat in Angkor. The dehydration and radiation resistant filamentous cyanobacteria can produce organic acids that degrade the stone. A dark filamentous fungus was found in internal and external Preah Khan samples, while the alga Trentepohlia was found only in samples taken from external, pink-stained stone at Preah Khan. Angkor Wat has become a major tourist destination. In 2004 and 2005, government figures suggest that, respectively, 561.000 and 677.000 foreign visitors arrived in Siem Reap province, approximately 50% of all foreign tourists in Cambodia for both years. The site has been managed by the private SOKIMEX group since 1990, which rented it from the Cambodian government. The influx of tourists has so far caused relatively little damage, other than some graffiti; ropes and wooden steps have been introduced to protect the bas-reliefs and floors, respectively. Tourism has also provided some additional funds for maintenance - as of 2000 approximately 28% of ticket revenues across the whole Angkor site was spent on the temples - although most work is carried out by foreign government-sponsored teams rather than by the Cambodian authorities. Since Angkor Wat has seen significant growth in tourism throughout the years UNESCO and its International Co-ordinating Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Angkor (ICC), in association with representatives from the Royal Government and APSARA, organized seminars to discuss the concept of "cultural tourism". Wanting to avoid commercial and mass tourism, the seminars emphasized the importance of providing high quality accommodation and services in order for the Cambodian government to benefit economically, while also incorporating the richness of Cambodian culture. In 2001, this incentive resulted in the concept of the "Angkor Tourist City" which would be developed with regard to traditional Khmer architecture, contain leisure and tourist facilities, and provide luxurious hotels capable of accommodating large amounts of tourists. The prospect of developing such large tourist accommodations has encountered concerns from both APSARA and the ICC, claiming that previous tourism developments in the area have neglected construction regulations and more of these projects have the potential to damage landscape features. Also, the large scale of these projects have begun to threaten the quality of the nearby town's water, sewage, and electricity systems. It has been noted that such high frequency of tourism and growing demand for quality accommodations in the area, such as the development of a large highway, has had a direct effect on the underground water table, subsequently straining the structural stability of the temples at Angkor Wat. Locals of Siem Reap have also voiced concern over the charming nature and atmosphere of their town being compromised in order to entertain tourism. Since this charming local atmosphere is the key component to projects like Angkor Tourist City, local officials continue to discuss how to successfully incorporate future tourism without sacrificing local values and culture. At the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2012, both parties have agreed Borobudur and Angkor Wat to become sister sites and the provinces will become sister provinces. Two Indonesian airlines are considering the opportunity to open a direct flight from Yogyakarta, Indonesia to Siem Reap.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Seen in London, in front of Buckingham Palace.

 

Here's my favorite song of her:

Amy Winehouse - What it is about men

Dedicated to the less adventurous and more level-headed of our foremothers, who when asked, replied: "Covered wagon? Frontier? Sod house? Are you KIDDING me?! Get outta here!!!"

 

"To the Prairie I'll Fly Not," written by W.D. Brinckle, M.D., and published in the September 1840 issue of Godey's Lady's Book.

Shooter: COE

Location: Castle Wolfestein

Gears: Canon 500D + Zenithar 16mm fisheye

Stuffs: Manfrotto 190X PRO B + ballhead 486RC2

Settings: ISO100 / 7 poses -3/-2/-1/0/+1/+2/+3 ev

Strobe: Natural cloud filtered light

Processing: HDR from single RAW, levels, contrasts

Ispiration: "The Pit and the Pendolum" - novel by E.A.Poe

Dedicated to: Horror / Noir Novels....and their readers!

Woodside Plaza is dedicated to the members of the Woodside community who served and died in World War I (1914-1918), World War II (1939-1945), Korea (1950-1953), and Vietnam (1964-1975). It is named for the neighborhood of Woodside, which lies in northwestern Queens, abutting Long Island City.

 

During New Yorks colonial period, Woodside was known as suicides paradise, as it was largely snake-infested swamps and wolf-ridden woodlands. The Dutch gave Father John Doughty, a colonist from Massachusetts, a charter for 13,000 acres in 1642, and thus began the regions settlement. During the mid-1800s, several wealthy men moved from Charleston, South Carolina to build mansions in the region, including John Kelly. Kellys son John Andrew Kelly worked as a newspaper man and wrote a set of articles entitled Letters from Woodside, after his view of the woods from his window. When developer Benjamin Hitchcock bought the Kelly estate in 1867 to develop a village, he favored the name Woodside over suicides paradise for his new town.

 

Woodside saw a huge building boom in 1869, when Hitchcock broke the Kelly farm into lots, which he sold for between $100 and $300 each. He also built streets in the village, and his interest encouraged other builders to join in developing the area. Eventually, other large estates were sold and developed. The Long Island and the Flushing Rail Road companies merged and opened a station in Woodside in 1895. When the Queensboro Bridge opened in 1909, the population of Woodside rose to nearly six thousand people. Elevated train lines branched into the neighborhood and opened in 1917, causing the population to jump again. In the 1920s, the last tracts of undeveloped land disappeared. After World War II, many of the houses in Woodside were torn down to make way for apartment buildings.

 

Woodside Plaza, located at the junction of Roosevelt Avenue, Woodside Avenue, and 60th Street, was originally known as Woodside Memorial Park after its construction in 1971. Commissioner Stern renamed the property Woodside Plaza in 1998. There is a large monument in the park, made of smooth gray marble, with the following inscription in gold lettering: WOODSIDE MEMORIAL PARK: Dedicated to all members of the community who made the supreme sacrifice for the good and welfare of their country and for the peace and freedom of mankind. THE WORLD WARS, KOREA, AND VIETNAM.

 

Also in the park are several young trees and new plantings including Willowleaf cotoneaster (Cotoneaster salicifolius), Siberian cypress (Microbiota decussata), lillyturf (Liriope muscari Big Blue), cranesbill (Geranium masculatum), Bloody geranium (Geranium sanguineum), Evergreen barrenwort (Epidium davidii), Threadleaf bluestar (Amsonia hubrechtii), Meadow sage (Salvia pratensis), and comfrey (Symphytum officinale).

 

The property is paved with square and hexagonal tiles. There are several sets of wooden benches, as well as two lampposts, a flagpole with a yardarm, and a drinking fountain, all of which were added during reconstruction in 1999. Woodside Plaza is now part of the Greenstreets program, a joint project of Parks and the Department of Transportation begun in 1986 and revived in 1994. Its goal is to convert paved street properties, such as triangles and malls, into green spaces.

From the May 2016 trip to Thailand and Cambodia:

 

Preah Khan is a fairly unique site for being one of the lesser-known places in the Angkor complex. It was constructed by Jayavarman VII in the late 12th century (1191 A.D.), with alterations by Jayavarman VIII.

 

As I mentioned about Ta Prohm being dedicated to Jayavarman’s mother (in that the main deity was sculpted in her likeness), Preah Khan is dedicated to his father Dharanindravarman. The bodhisattva Lokesvara was sculpted in his likeness.

 

Preah Khan is also a fortunate site in that its main stele was found in situ, so the history of Preah Khan is well-known. It was a city that housed over 1,000 Buddhist teachers (and, as a result, a Buddhist university). It was built on a “lake of blood” as, apparently, this is the site where the Khmers recaptured Angkor from the Chams (a group from Vietnam, may have been Muslim) and the Cham king died here.

 

In short, this was a university city – and, like all of these sites, it’s pretty much in the jungle now, but in its prime, was a flourishing city with houses, streets and the like – a religious site, and a site with important history for the Khmers. On top of that, its architecturally unique from other Angkor sites in that it’s a round-columned, two-storied building and there are entrance causeways with boundary stones and nagas.

 

Preah Khan is located on the route out of the north gate of Angkor Thom on the grand circuit, and visiting here will probably take you at least an hour (but not more than two).

 

Well, this is it. Save for a return flight to Bangkok on Tuesday, May 17 (a formality, really, just to pick up the return flight to China on the 18th…and no shoots on the 17th in Bangkok), Siem Reap/Angkor Wat is the last stop – and the one I was most looking forward to.

 

The flight over was pretty uneventful, though amusing. At Phnom Penh International Airport, we checked in at the gate, then went outside and hopped on a bus to take us to the plane…which was literally less than 100 meters away. That amused me to no end. A quick, comfortable 45 minute flight on the prop jet later – over completely black terrain; it seems the countryside is either sparsely populated, or electricity is a premium, but we may as well have been flying over a moonless ocean – brought us to Siem Reap (which, I’m glad to say, had lights). Siem Reap is the small town (and it’s basically a tourist/party kind of town where it’s great to go out at night after spending a full day in the sweltering hot sun. It’s about 10 kilometers south of Angkor Wat.

 

In overview, Angkor Wat is the ancient capital of the Khmer kingdom. What remains today are temples…temples…and temples. Hindu temples. Buddhist temples. They were also a people who were animists, so some temples are reminiscent of that system, too.

 

The detail of the temples is also fascinating. There are more asparas here than you can shake a stick at. Of the roughly 20,000 asparas, only one is shown smiling (baring teeth, that is). It fascinates – and impresses – me that people have done such extensive research and restoration that they know this. Those are the details, though.

 

A macro view of the Siem Reap area is just as impressive in that these temples are a study of a civilization close to one thousand years old (yet another jaw-dropping aspect of Angkor: the longevity) and their durability. The earliest temples are over a thousand years old, and the most recent are from the 14th century. (If the guide book I bought is correct, they were all built between 790-1307.) What survives today is all original (though there have been reinforcements with stone – many foreign countries support renovations of specific temples; I recall China and India among them). It’s quite obvious to tell what’s old and what’s new in most cases. However, the restorations are all good and necessary. One last note regarding the longevity of these temples is this: If these stone temples are what remained…how impressive must the society have been who created them? (That’s to say…think of the temples, houses, and all that didn’t survive as they were built of wood; these are simply the temples built by the royals or the aristocracy.)

 

A tour of modern-day Angkor Wat can be done in one or two fairly vigorous days. However, if you’re looking for any classic shots, you’ll want to spend longer here. (Common sense: the more time here, the more chances for good shots.) For this trip – it may be the only time I come here, though you never know – we arrived on a Saturday night and checked into our hotel (My Home Tropical Garden Villa; $20/night)

 

Siem Reap feels, at first, like a small dusty outpost of a town. The center of town is about four square blocks of small dive restaurants (and a bar street) and slightly pricier restaurants. There is also a night market street, an art street…all in all, it’s quite nice and has a bit of a party feel to it in addition to the endless souvenir stands you would expect. Though we didn’t go out on Saturday night (since we didn’t get checked in until around 9:30 p.m.), we did get a chance to go on Sunday.

 

Sunday morning was an awfully early start. Before having left Phnom Penh, I jumped on Facebook and, by chance, found and hired a local tuktuk driver, Mao Khvan, for $25/day. He agreed to pick us up at 4:50 a.m. to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat.

 

Now, a quick note on tuktuks: almost every single hotel/hostel/guesthouse probably has tuktuks available for hire. Also, when we were picked up at the airport, the taxi driver offered to drive us for the time we were there. In short…it’s a competitive market, and finding a driver for the day will be no problem. $25 may even be slightly pricy (you could probably find a driver for $15-20), however, I was so impressed with Mao’s service that, if I were to return, I’d gladly hire him again. He wasn’t rude or pushy, provides all the ice water you could possibly want to drink, and though he’s not an “official” guide, he’s very, very knowledgeable and made both days pleasant. I even had him take us to the airport the morning we left, and he brought his wife and daughter to meet us. He’s just a genuinely good and decent guy. (For anyone who goes to Angkor Wat, here’s Mao’s contact info if you want to arrange his services ahead of time: www.facebook.com/maotuktuksiemreap/?fref=ts )

 

Back to the actual touring itself, Angkor is geared towards tourism and they do it well. You can buy an admission ticket for either one, three, or seven days. ($20, $40, or…$60?). It’s also nice because they don’t have to be used in consecutive days (for the three and seven day passes, obviously). The three days can be used in a given week. The seven day pass, within a month.

 

Conventionally, two days is enough to see the “main” sites (albeit quickly) in about 8 hours each day. There’s a small loop (which we did the first morning) in which we caught the sunrise (not a great one, but…there was one, and it wasn’t terrible, by any stretch) at Angkor Wat, followed by a quick tour of the grounds – but not the temple itself. Afterwards (we were at Angkor Wat from 5:30 until 7:00 or 8:00, I’d say), we hopped back in the tuktuk and headed over to Ta Prohm, about 15-20 minutes away. Ta Prohm is famous for those who are fans of the Lara Croft Tomb Raider movies. (The first, I think. I’m not, so I don’t recall it vividly.) After those two spots – probably two of the three most famous – we went to the Khmer Country Kitchen for a rather nice, relaxing, and cheap breakfast where we spent an hour with the other two members of our group. Around 10:00, we went to our third stop: Ta Keo Temple. In 40 degree heat (roughly 104F), I was feeling a bit too exhausted to climb the somewhat steep stairs to the top of this temple, but I did enjoy the lower area just as well. From Ta Keo, we made a quick stop at two temples (they form a pair): Thommanon and Chau Say Tevoda for about 20 minutes. Between these three, I’d say we spent about an hour. Our last stop of the morning, around high noon, was the Bayon complex of Angkor Thom. Passing through Bayon’s east gate, we stopped for a few quick pictures before going to the main compound of Bayon, which I would say is the the last of the three most-recognizable places here. We spent a good hour, or a little longer, shooting here after which point we were completely spent. Mao would have gladly taken us back to Angkor for sunset, but we actually decided to call it a day around 1:00. 9 hours in high heat was more than enough.

 

Back at the hotel, we rested, and I enjoyed myself immensely in the swimming pool. In the early evening, we walked about 600 meters to the “happening” part of town where we wandered the various streets and had a rather nice Khmer dinner. After eating and walking off a rather good dinner, we called it a night and headed back to our room. (For what it’s worth, the afternoon sky clouded over quite a bit and I heard we didn’t miss much as far as sunsets go. Mao also told us the following morning that the sunrise was a wash, as was Tuesday morning’s. Perhaps he was just trying to make us feel good.)

 

Monday morning we gladly skipped the sunrise and had a late start around…10:00. After a good old-fashioned breakfast of a ham & cheese omelet, Mao came by and we spent the second full day on the large loop. The first stop of the day was at Ba Phuon, a lesser temple just north of Bayon in Angkhor Thom. This was accompanied by quick stops at the adjacent Elephant Terrace and Leper King Terrace. After about an hour in the Ba Phuon area, we rode off to the northeast and stopped at Preah Khan, which was a rather interesting ruins. Another hour or so gone, we continued along the northeastern loop, bypassing Neak Pean (which, following English pronunciation rules, could theoretically be pronounced “neck pain,” which amused me for some reason…). The next stop was a rather small temple named Ta Som on the eastern end of the outer loop. Just down the road from Ta Som, we stopped at the East Mebon temple. When it was constructed, this was an island, only accessible by boat. That, however, was centuries ago. Now, it’s just a very dry, dusty area – with the temple still standing – and it’s hard to imagine it was once surrounded by water. At any rate, it was a quick stop at East Mebon, followed by another nice meal at the Khmer Country Kitchen before we continued with the tour. The next stop on the list was due east of the restaurant (southeast corner of the outer loop, which is really slightly northeast of Angkor Wat). Pre Rup (or Bre Rup) was a fairly photogenic temple. By this point, the heat – also around 40 degrees, just like Sunday – was starting to take a toll, though we still managed to stay out and see all we could. The last “new” temple for us was Banteay Kdei, a citadel that is at the corner of where the inner and outer loop meet on the eastern side of Angkor Wat. Directly across the street from Bnateay Kdei is what should be a nice lake called Sra Srang. A long, rectangular lake, which is also across the street from the Khmer Country Kitchen, it’s now nothing but a dustbowl. Though it’s rainy season now, there’s been so little rain that the lake has completely dried up. (But, please don’t tell any “right”-thinking politicians in my country that global warming is a problem. It certainly isn’t, despite what your eyes see.) After some rather sad contemplation at Sra Srang, we went back to Angkor Wat around 4:00 and were there until 6:30 or so for sundown. However, a boomer of a thunderstorm (light rain, but heavy on thunder & lightning) came through and there wasn’t much to see. However, we did finally get to tour the interior of Angkor Wat, and found that a pretty fitting way to end the initial Siem Reap shoot. From there, we went back to the hotel where we passed out from exhaustion.

 

The only thing left to do was wake up on Tuesday for a quick 45 minute flight at noon to Bangkok. We concluded the trip as we started it: eating well at a Thai restaurant. Other than that, we just had a quiet night in Bangkok (no shooting at all) and a very early (3:30 a.m.) wake up call for our return flights out of Thailand. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing Thailand again soon.

This one is dedicated to the people who helped me to celebrate my Love's Birthday so wonderfully

 

A big thanks to Mill and Mihu's Dhonthy, Sunny, Shija, Amy, Anu, Munako and Dad for helping me out to give Mihu a supprise gift. You guys are so great.

 

Also a Big thanks to my Mom, Dad, Dhontha, Dhatha, Thitha, Maanu, Mufu, Aththu, Zeekko n my lovly sweet little niece for arranging a lunch for Mihu. I love u all.

  

PS: Thanks NZFM's Sam aka Life_With_Auto_Focusfor the Polaroid filter. Really appreciate it.

Photo taken at meetup of NZFM in Maori Bay, Muriwai. Its nice to meet u guys of NZFM

Dedicated to my fellow friend pixelspin. Had a lot of fun tonight with our ducks :D

 

Monty Python - Nudge Nudge Wink Wink

Dedicated Nurses, teachers, administrators, and supervisors of nursing floors, lab, x-ray, and nutrition services.

These pictures are dedicated to my “make-up” day that I stole from southern Gansu earlier in the week. As mentioned in the Singing Sand post, I was having breakfast at Charley Johng’s on Wednesday morning and talking with the owner who recommended this day trip.

 

It started at 8:00 a.m. on a coach that picked me up outside her restaurant (before proceeding to a hotel to fill out the rest of the 45 seats). I wasn’t the only foreigner, but I was the only one who didn’t look Chinese (or speak fluent Mandarin). I met some friendly Chinese who were living in Vancouver, and some Hong Kong folks (who are Chinese, but they most certainly distinguish from mainlanders…and most foreigners understand why).

 

So, off we went on our sojourn with six or seven stops. We drove west through the aforementioned “real” Dunhuang for about 15-20 minutes before the mountains and desert landscape began to resume control.

 

Our first stop, less than half an hour out of town, was “Old Dunhuang.” Really, they mean to say, “Old Fake Dunhuang,” but I jest. It’s…an area that shoots as a television studio when someone wants to shoot things that look like the Old West, Chinese style. For the bargain price of 40 RMB (about $7 in the current market on 1/10/16), you get to wander around this fairly decent-sized fake fort with fake everything inside…and a random prop fighter jet inside…and, outside, the backdrop of both mountainous sand dunes and snow-capped mountains off in the distance. All in all, it was a rather unique setting – at least one I’d never experienced before.

 

After 40 minutes there (not 35, not 45, but 40…per Mr. Coach Driver), we all climbed back aboard and headed a little farther west to what I think they call the “Western Caves.” This is a repository of Buddhist art in grottoes west of town, but since the world-famous Mogao Grottoes are nearby (and also in my personal plan for tomorrow morning), I didn’t feel particularly inspired to spend the very cheap and fair price of 15 RMB to see a few pieces of art. In retrospect, perhaps I should have, but who knows? I may be back this way again someday. I did spend my time at the Western Caves enjoying the panoramic view of the same snow-capped mountains and desert from Old Dunhuang with the juxtaposition of this particular oasis (which is apparently why this grotto/temple was built here in the first place).

 

A few minutes later, we kept making our way west towards Xinjiang. At some point just west of Dunhuang, the old Silk Road split into a northern and southern route. One of the first mountain passes (and forts, where we were heading) along the southern route is Yangguan Pass 70 km. southwest of Dunhuang. It was built in the 1st century AD during the Western Han Dynasty. This place was particularly enjoyable for me. Having been to quite a few sections of the Great Wall (and very much looking forward to the westernmost terminal of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall here in Gansu a few days later), I’m very much accustomed to these historical reproductions…and really love when I find some “real” history; the authentic walls and posts, though 500 years later, are just weather-worn rock.

 

Yangguan had a very nice mix of both the fake and the real. For 60 RMB (roughly $9), we had access to the completely remade fort with its bastions, gift shops, museum (a very nice one, admittedly), and what not. Out the back of the fort, and about a mile in the distance on a hill, is the original: one of the watchtowers that helped guard travelers for centuries along the Silk Road. To get there, you can walk, take golf carts on steroids (the kind you find at zoos that carry about 12-15 people), or rent a horse. Since I’d ridden a camel the day before and have ridden horses quite a few times, I went the lazy way…and got chauffeured up the hill. The watchtower itself is fenced off – and rightfully so – but, right next to it is a fantastic place to take in the surrounding landscape, with views of the mountains about 50 kilometers off. After a delightful two hours or so at Yangguan, we had lunch as a group at a Chinese restaurant near the fort. (It’s fun to eat with Chinese; the whole table of six, eight, or ten people just order random dishes of food. Everyone gets a bowl of rice then it’s a mini-buffet with your chopsticks from then on out.)

 

After being well-fed for about $3, we boarded the iron stallion and headed back down to the main road, then back east about 5 kilometers to the only road that turned off this western highway. The only point, it seems, of this side road is to go to Jade Pass (which follows the northern route of the Silk Road about 30 km down and, beyond that another 70-80 kilometers, it ends at Yadan National Park.

 

First stop down the über-long spur road: Jade Pass, 90 km WNW of Dunhuang. To get there, all vehicles have to pass through a random checkpoint about 20 minutes down the road. Aside from that, it almost feels like you leave planet earth. I have never seen a flatter, more desolate landscape anywhere in my life. I almost imagine it’s what the lunar surface would feel like, with the exception of having a different atmosphere, gravitational pull, and what have you. Anyway, you catch my drift…

 

Jade Pass is beautiful landscape, minus the fort that you find at Yangguan Pass. The watchtower is in much better shape than those you find at Yangguan. But, unlike Yangguan, where they take better care of the watchtowers, over here at Jade Pass, you find plenty of pea-brained tourists ignoring signs (and fences) and climbing all over the watchtower as if it were a jungle gym. It’s times like these that it’s probably good my Mandarin is so poor. I would probably manage to somehow get myself deported, ironically, for yelling at idiots when I’m frustrated that they have no concept of conserving their own heritage. Running away from idiots as quickly as possible, I snapped a few pictures of the scenery…where more buffoons were blatantly ignoring signs and going where they oughtn’t. So, I cut my time at Jade Pass short and returned to the bus, which was waiting next to what looked to be a promising museum that we didn’t have the time to visit. We were apparently on a pretty tight schedule now.

 

Boarding the bus, we went a whole five minutes farther north for a stop to see the Han Dynasty Great Wall. Now, a few things to know. When people mention the “Great Wall” of China, it’s actually a series of walls that form a patchwork length that crosses from Shanhaiguan at the eastern terminal (ending famously in the sea), though there is a section in Liaoning province called Hushan that borders North Korea that I’ve been to and claims that it is the rightful eastern terminus of the wall. The western terminus of that wall is nearby (relatively speaking) at Jiayuguan here in Gansu province. The whole patchwork nature of that wall is emphasized by sections like Hushan. I only mention it now because the Great Wall of China refers to the Ming Dynasty wall…mostly built between 1368-1644 (with some sections marginally older, like Juyongguan, which dates to the Yuan Dynasty, immediately before the Ming).

 

The Han Dynasty wall out here dates to the original dynasty of China…in the 3rd century BC. So the wall here, while not as impressive as the rebuilt Ming sections of the wall in terms of visual appearance floored me because it’s original and almost 2,500 years old. The way the wall here was built (mud, adobe, etc.) is completely different than the Ming wall that came 1,500 years later. It’s shorter – in length (obviously) and height, but much longer in history. There is so little of this wall left here, though, that it would never be worth visiting on its own…or possible. Ten to fifteen minutes here is more than enough to get the “wall experience.”

 

From there, we were on to the ultimate destination of the day: Yadan National Park. I also discovered the reason we were on such a tight schedule. Yadan National Park is a very large park. Though this is lost in translation, I think the Chinese market it as sort of an “out of this world” experience, though I could be way off base. In reality, this used to be a seabed tens of thousands of years ago and the rock formations that are left here are the remnants of harder rocks that didn’t erode as quickly over time…which gives this park its current appearance.

 

Yadan National Park is strictly controlled. Admission was 150 or 180 RMB from what I recall (no more than $30) and, like Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan, getting around the park is tightly controlled. (You have to take park-controlled buses from point to point, though at the various points, you can go out and explore the area.)

 

The landscape at this park, as mentioned, is quite unique. For anyone who has seen Chinese movies (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, for example, or Zhang Yimou’s Hero), the landscape will be familiar. The “far west” scenes in those movies were filmed near here in areas with identical landscapes. (I’m about 90% Hero’s western landscape was filmed just over the provincial border in Xinjiang. Crouching Tiger’s…I’m much less certain.)

 

After a few stops, we found that we were out in the middle of this out-of-this-world ghost city (Chinese definitely like to call these ghost cities) for a stunning sunset. After staying around for sunset for 30-45 minutes, we finally headed back to the visitor center and then boarded our own coach for the long, flat, 2-3 hour ride back to Dunhuang, where I gladly spent my last night in the nameless hotel before starting Friday’s slow trip back towards Lanzhou. Before bidding farewell to Dunhuang, though, Friday morning had an incredible trip – mostly unphotographed (as photography is forbidden and I tend to follow rules when traveling) of the Mogao Grottoes. More to come…

 

As usual, I hope you enjoy the pictures. Please feel free to leave any comments, questions, or suggestions.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

In the first years of the war, the Wehrmacht had only little interest in developing self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, but as the Allies developed air superiority and dedicated attack aircraft threatened the ground troops from above, the need for more mobile and better-armed self-propelled anti-aircraft guns increased. As a stopgap solution the Wehrmacht initially adapted a variety of wheeled, half-track and tracked vehicles to serve as mobile forward air defense positions. Their tasks were to protect armor and infantry units in the field, as well as to protect temporary forward area positions such as mobile headquarters and logistic points.

 

These vehicles were only lightly armored, if at all, and rather mobilized the anti-aircraft weapons. As Allied fighter bombers and other ground attack aircraft moved from machine gun armament and bombing to air-to-ground rockets and large-caliber cannons, the air defense positions were even more vulnerable. The answer was to adapt a tank chassis with a specialized turret that would protect the gun crews while they fired upon approaching Allied aircraft. Furthermore, the vehicle would have the same mobility as the battle tanks it protected.

 

Initial German AA-tank designs were the ‘Möbelwagen’ and the ‘Wirbelwind’, both conversions of refurbished Panzer IV combat tank chassis with open platforms or turrets with four 20mm cannon. Alternatively, a single 37mm AA gun was mounted, too – but all these vehicles were just a compromise and suffered from light armor, a high silhouette and lack of crew protection.

 

Further developments of more sophisticated anti-aircraft tank designs started in late 1943 and led into different directions. One development line was the ‘Kugelblitz’, another Panzer IV variant, but this time the ball-shaped turret, armed with very effective 30 mm MK 103 cannon, was fully integrated into the hull, resulting in a low silhouette and a protected crew. However, the ‘Kugelblitz’ only featured two of these guns and the tilting turret was very cramped and complicated. Venting and ammunition feed problems led to serious delays and a prolonged development stage.

The ‘Coelian’ family of bigger turrets with various weapon options for the Panzer V (the ‘Panther’) was another direction, especially as a response against the armored Il-2 attack aircraft at the Eastern front and against flying targets at medium altitude. Targets at high altitude, esp. Allied bombers, were to be countered with the very effective 8.8 cm Flak, and there were also several attempts to mount this weapon onto a fully armored hull.

 

The primary weapon for a new low/medium altitude anti-aircraft tank was to become the heavy automatic 55 mm MK 214. Like the 30 mm MK 103 it was a former aircraft weapon, belt-fed and adapted to continuous ground use. However, in early 1944, teething troubles with the ‘Kugelblitz’ suggested that a completely enclosed turret with one or (even better) two of these new weapons, mounted on a ‘Panther’ or the new E-50/75 tank chassis, would need considerable development time. Operational vehicles were not expected to enter service before mid-1945. In order to fill this operational gap, a more effective solution than the Panzer IV AA conversions, with more range and firepower than anything else currently in service, was direly needed.

 

This situation led to yet another hasty stopgap solution, the so-called ‘Ostwind II’ weapon system, which consisted primarily of a new turret, mated with a standard medium battle tank chassis. It was developed in a hurry in the course of 1944 and already introduced towards the end of the same year. The ‘Ostwind II’ was a compromise in the worst sense: even though it used two 37 mm FlaK 43 guns in a new twin mount and offered better firepower than any former German AA tank, it also retained many weaknesses from its predecessors: an open turret with only light armor and a high silhouette. But due to the lack of time and resources, the ‘Ostwind II’ was the best thing that could be realized on short notice, and with the perspective of more effective solutions within one year’s time it was rushed into production.

 

The ‘Ostwind II’ system was an open, roughly diamond-shaped, octagonal turret, very similar in design to the Panzer IV-based ‘Wirbelwind’ and ‘Ostwind’ (which was re-designated ‘Ostwind I’). As a novelty, in order to relieve the crew from work overload, traverse and elevation of the turret was hydraulic, allowing a full elevation (-4° to +90° was possible) in just over four seconds and a full 360° traverse in 15 seconds. This had become necessary because the new turret was bigger and heaver, both the weapons and their crews required more space, so that the Ostwind II complex could not be mounted onto the Panzer IV chassis anymore and movement by hand was just a fallback option.

In order to provide the ‘Ostwind II’ with a sufficiently large chassis, it was based on the SdKfz. 171 Panzer V medium battle tank, the ‘Panther’, exploiting its bigger turret ring, armor level and performance. The Panther chassis had, by late 1944, become available for conversions in considerable numbers through damaged and/or recovered combat tanks, and updated details like new turrets or simplified road wheels were gradually introduced into production and during refurbishments. Mounting the ‘Ostwind II’ turret on the Panzer VI (Tiger) battle tank chassis had been theoretically possible, too, but it never happened, because the Tiger lacked agility and its protection level and fuel consumption were considered impractical for an SPAAG that would typically protect battle tank groups.

 

The ‘Ostwind II’ turret was built around a motorized mount for the automatic 3.7 cm FlaK 43 twin guns. These proven weapons were very effective against aircraft flying at altitudes up to 4,200 m, but they also had devastating effect against ground targets. The FlaK 43’s armor penetration was considerable when using dedicated ammunition: at 100 m distance it could penetrate 36 mm of a 60°-sloped armor, and at 800 m distance correspondingly 24 mm. The FlaK 43’s theoretical maximum rate of fire was 250 shots/minute, but it was practically kept at ~120 rpm in order to save ammunition and prevent wear of the barrels. The resulting weight of fire was 76.8 kg (169 lb) per minute, but this was only theoretical, too, because the FlaK 43 could only be fed manually by 6-round clips – effectively, only single shots or short bursts could be fired, but a trained crew could maintain fire through using alternating gun use. A more practical belt feed was at the time of the Ostwind II's creation not available yet, even though such a mechanism was already under development for the fully enclosed Coelian turret, which could also take the FlaK 43 twin guns, but the armament was separated from the turret crew.

 

The new vehicle received the official designation ‘Sd.Kfz. 171/2 Flakpanzer V’, even though ‘Ostwind II’ was more common. When production actually began and how many were built is unclear. The conversion of Panther hulls could have started in late-1944 or early-1945, with sources disagreeing. The exact number of produced vehicles is difficult to determine, either. Beside the prototype, the number of produced vehicles goes from as little as 6 to over 40. The first completed Ostwind II SPAAGs were exclusively delivered to Eastern front units and reached them in spring 1945, where they were immediately thrown into action.

All Flakpanzer vehicles at that time were allocated to special anti-aircraft tank platoons (so-called Panzer Flak Züge). These were used primarily to equip Panzer Divisions, and in some cases given to special units. By the end of March 1945, there were plans to create mixed platoons equipped with the Ostwinds and other Flakpanzers. Depending on the source, they were either to be used in combination with six Kugelblitz, six Ostwinds and four Wirbelwinds or with eight Ostwinds and three Sd.Kfz. 7/1 half-tracks. Due to the war late stage and the low number of anti-aircraft tanks of all types built, this reorganization was never truly implemented, so that most vehicles were simply directly attached to combat units, primarily to the commanding staff.

 

The Ostwind II armament proved to be very effective, but the open turret (nicknamed ‘Keksdose’ = cookie tin) left the crews vulnerable. The crew conditions esp. during wintertime were abominable, and since aiming had to rely on vision the system's efficacy was limited, esp. against low-flying targets. The situation was slightly improved when the new mobile ‘Medusa’ and ‘Basilisk’ surveillance and target acquisition systems were introduced. These combined radar and powerful visual systems and guided the FlaK crews towards incoming potential targets, what markedly improved the FlaKs' first shot hit probability. However, the radar systems rarely functioned properly, the coordination of multiple SPAAGs in the heat of a low-level air attack was a challenging task, and - to make matters worse - the new mobile radar systems were even more rare than the new SPAAGs themselves.

 

All Ostwind II tanks were built from recovered ‘Panther’ battle tanks of various versions. The new Panther-based SPAAGs gradually replaced most of the outdated Panzer IV AA variants as well as the Ostwind I. Their production immediately stopped in the course of 1945 when the more sophisticated 'Coelian' family of anti-aircraft tanks with fully enclosed turrets became available. This system was based on Panzer V hulls, too, and it was soon followed by the first E-50 SPAAGs with the new, powerful twin-55 mm gun.

  

Specifications:

Crew: Six (commander, gunner, 2× loader, driver, radio-operator/hull machine gunner)

Weight: 43.8 tonnes (43.1 long tons; 48.3 short tons)

Length (hull only): 6.87 m (22 ft 6 in)

Width: 3.42 m (11 ft 3 in)

Height: 3.53 m (11 ft 6 3/4 in)

Suspension: Double torsion bar, interleaved road wheels

Fuel capacity: 720 litres (160 imp gal; 190 US gal)

 

Armor:

15–80 mm (0.6 – 3.15 in)

 

Performance:

Maximum road speed: 46 km/h (29 mph)

Operational range: 250 km (160 mi)

Power/weight: 15.39 PS (11.5 kW)/tonne (13.77 hp/ton)

 

Engine:

Maybach HL230 P30 V-12 petrol engine with 700 PS (690 hp, 515 kW)

ZF AK 7-200 gear; 7 forward 1 reverse

 

Armament:

2× 37 mm (1.46 in) FlaK 43 cannon in twin mount with 1.200 rounds

1× 7.92 mm MG 34 machine gun in the front glacis plate with 2.500 rounds

  

The kit and its assembly:

This was a spontaneous build, more or less the recycling of leftover parts from a 1:72 Revell Ostwind tank on a Panzer III chassis that I had actually bought primarily for the chassis (it became a fictional Aufklärungspanzer III). When I looked at the leftover turret, I wondered about a beefed-up/bigger version with two 37 mm guns. Such an 'Ostwind II' was actually on the German drawing boards, but never realized - but what-if modelling can certainly change that. However, such a heavy weapon would have to be mounted on a bigger/heavier chassis, so the natural choice became the Panzer V, the Panther medium battle tank. This way, my ‘Ostwind II’ interpretation was born.

The hull for this fictional AA tank is a Hasegawa ‘Panther Ausf. G’ kit, which stems from 1973 and clearly shows its age, at least from today’s point of view. While everything fits well, the details are rather simple, if not crude (e. g. the gratings on the engine deck or the cupola on the turret). However, only the lower hull and the original wheels were used since I wanted to portray a revamped former standard battle tank.

 

The turret was a more complicated affair. It had to be completely re-constructed, to accept the enlarged twin gun and to fit onto the Panther hull. The first step was the assembly of the twin gun mount, using parts from the original Ostwind kit and additional parts from a second one. In order to save space and not to make thing uber-complicated I added the second weapon to the right side of the original gun and changed some accessories.

This, together with the distance between the barrels, gave the benchmark for the turret's reconstruction. Since the weapon had not become longer, I decided to keep things as simple as possible and just widen the open turret - I simply took the OOB Ostwind hexagonal turret (which consists of an upper and lower half), cut it up vertically and glued them onto the Panther turret's OOB base, shifting the sides just as far to the outside that the twin gun barrels would fit between them - a distance of ~0.4 inch (1 cm). At the rear the gap was simply closed with styrene sheet, while the front used shield parts from the Revell Ostwind kit that come from a ground mount for the FlaK 43. Two parts from this shield were glued together and inserted into the front gap. While this is certainly not as elegant as e. g. the Wirbelwind turret, I think that this solution was easier to integrate.

Massive PSR was necessary to blend the turret walls with the Panther turret base, and as a late modification the opening for the sight had to be moved, too. To the left of the weapons, I also added a raised protective shield for the commander.

Inside of the turret, details from the Ostwind kit(s), e. g. crew seats and ammunition clips, were recycled, too.

  

Painting and markings:

Since the Ostwind II would be based on a repaired/modified former Panzer V medium battle tank, I settled upon a relatively simple livery. The kit received a uniform finish in Dunkelgelb (RAL 7028), with a network of greenish-grey thin stripes added on top, to break up the tank's outlines and reminiscent of the British ‘Malta’ scheme, but less elaborate. The model and its parts were initially primed with matt sand brown from the rattle can (more reddish than RAL 7028) and then received an overall treatment with thinned RAL 7028 from Modelmaster, for an uneven, dirty and worn look. The stripes were created with thinned Tamiya XF-65 (Field Grey).

 

Once dry, the whole surface received a dark brown wash, details were emphasized with dry-brushing in light grey and beige. Decals were puzzled together from various German tank sheets, and the kit finally sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

 

The black vinyl tracks were also painted/weathered, with a wet-in-wet mix of black, grey, iron and red brown (all acrylics). Once mounted into place, mud and dust were simulated around the running gear and the lower hull with a greyish-brown mix of artist mineral pigments.

  

A bit of recycling and less exotic than one would expect, but it’s still a whiffy tank model that fits well into the historic gap between the realized Panzer IV AA tanks and the unrealized E-50/75 projects. Quite subtle! Creating the enlarged turret was the biggest challenge, even, even more so because it was/is an open structure and the interior can be readily seen. But the new/bigger gun fits well into it, and it even remained movable!

 

The Pashupatinath Temple (Nepali: पशुपतिनाथ मन्दिर) is a famous, sacred Hindu temple dedicated to Pashupatinath and is located on the banks of the Bagmati River 5 kilometres north-east of Kathmandu Valley in the eastern city of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. This temple is considered one of the sacred temples of Hindu faith. The temple serves as the seat of the national deity, Lord Pashupatinath. This temple complex is on UNESCO World Heritage Sites's list Since 1979. This "extensive Hindu temple precinct" is a "sprawling collection of temples, ashrams, images and inscriptions raised over the centuries along the banks of the sacred Bagmati river" and is included as one of the seven monument groups in UNESCO's designation of Kathmandu Valley as a cultural heritage site. One of the major Festivals of the temple is Maha Shivaratri on which day over 700,000 devotees visit here.

 

The twelve Jyotirlinga (in India) are the body and the Jyotirlinga at Pashupatinath in Kathmandu (Nepal) is the head over this body.

 

The temple is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams (Holy Abodes of Shiva) on the continent. Kotirudra Samhita, Chapter 11 on the Shivalingas of the North, in Shiva Purana mentions this Shivalinga as the bestower of all wishes.

 

HISTORY

The temple was erected anew in the 15th century by Lichhavi King Shupuspa after the previous building had been consumed by termites. Countless further temples have been erected around this two -storied temple. These include the Vaishnav temple complex with a Ram temple from the 14th century and the Guhyeshwari Temple mentioned in an 11th-century manuscript.

 

LEGEND ABOUT THE TEMPLE ORIGIN

Pashupatinath Temple is the oldest Hindu temple in Kathmandu. It is not known for certain when Pashupatinath Temple was founded. But according to Nepal Mahatmaya and Himvatkhanda, the deity here gained great fame there as Pashupati, the Lord of all Pashus, which are living as well as non-living beings. Pashupatinath Temple's existence dates back to 400 A.D. The richly-ornamented pagoda houses the sacred linga or holy symbol of Lord Shiva. There are many legends describing as to how the temple of Lord Pashupatinath came to existence here. Some of them are narrated below:

 

THE COW LEGEND

Legend says that Lord Shiva once took the form of an antelope and sported unknown in the forest on Bagmati river's east bank. The gods later caught up with him, and grabbing him by the horn, forced him to resume his divine form. The broken horn was worshipped as a linga but overtime it was buried and lost. Centuries later an astonished herdsmen found one of his cows showering the earth with milk. Digging deep at the site, he discovered the divine linga of Pashupatinath.

 

THE LINCHCHAVI LEGEND

According to Gopalraj Vamsavali, the oldest ever chronicle in Nepal, this temple was built by Supuspa Deva, a Linchchhavi King, who according to the stone inscription erected by Jayadeva 11 in the courtyard of Pashupatinath in 753 AD, happened to be the ruler 39 generations before Manadeva (464-505 AD).

 

THE DEVALAYA LEGEND

Another chronicle states that Pashupatinath Temple was in the form of Linga shaped Devalaya before Supuspa Deva constructed a five storey temple of Pashupatinath in this place. As the time passed, the need for repairing and renovating this temple arose. It is learnt that this temple was reconstructed by a medieval King named Shivadeva (1099-1126 AD). It was renovated by Ananta Malla adding a roof to it. Thousands of pilgrims from all over the world come to pay homage to this temple, that is also known as 'The Temple of Living Beings'.

 

OTHER BELIEFS

There are several complex stories involving the origins of Pashupatinath. One story goes, in brief, that Shiva and Parvati came to the Kathmandu Valley and rested by the Bagmati while on a journey. Shiva was so impressed by its beauty and the surrounding forest that he and Parvati changed themselves into deers and walked into the forest. Many spots in the Kathmandu Valley are identified as places where Shiva went during his time as a deer. After a while the people and gods began to search for Shiva. Finally, after various complications, they found him in the forest, but he refused to leave. More complications ensued, but ultimately Shiva announced that, since he had lived by the Bagmati in a deer's form, he would now be known as Pashupatinath, Lord of all animals. It is said that whoever came here and beheld the lingam that appeared there would not be reborn as an animal.

 

FINDING OF SHIVA LINGA AT PASHIPATINATH TEMPLE

It is said that the wish-fulfilling cow Kamadhenu took shelter in a cave on the Chandravan mountain. Everyday Kamadhenu went down to the place the lingam was sunken into the soil and poured her milk on top of the soil. After ten thousand years some people saw Kamadhenu pouring milk on that same spot everyday, and started to wonder what that would be. So they removed the soil and found the beautiful shining lingam and started worshiping it.

 

TEMPLE COMPLEX

The area of Pashupatinath encompasses 264 hectare of land including 518 temples and monuments. Main pagoda style temple is located in the fortified courtyard within the complex guarded by Nepal Police and has a police outpost post along with living quarter within. In front of the western door there is a huge statue Nandi bull, in bronze. Along with many temples and shrines of both Vaishnav and saiva tradition.

 

TEMPLES AND SHRINES IN THE INNER COURTYARD

Vasuki nath temple

Unmatta Bhairav temple

Surya narayan temple

Kirti mukh bhairav shrine

Budanil kantha shrine

Hanuman shrine

184 shivaling shrine

 

TEMPLES AND SHRINES IN THE OUTER COMPLEX

Ram mandir

Virat swaroop temple

12 jyotirlingha and Pandra Shivalaya

Guhyeshwari Temple

 

MAIN TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE

This main temple is built in the Nepalese pagoda style of architecture. All the features of pagoda style is founded here like cubic constructions, beautifully carved wooden rafters on which they rest (tundal). The two level roofs are of copper with gold covering. The temple resides on a square base platform with a height of 23m 7 cm from base to pinnacle. It has four main doors, all covered with silver sheets. This temple has a gold pinnacle (Gajur). Inside are two Garbhagrihas, outer and inner. The inner garbhagriha or sanctum sanctorum is where the idol is placed and outer sanctum is an open corridor like space.

 

THE DEITY

The sacro sanctum, or the main idol is a stone Mukhalinga with a silver yoni base bound with silver serpent. The lingam is one metre high and has faces in four directions. These faces represents various ascepts of Shiva; Sadyojata (also known as Barun), Vamdeva (also known as Ardha nareshwor), Tatpurusha, Aghor & Ishana (imaginative). Facing West, North, East, South and Zenith respectively representing five primary elements namely earth, water, air, light and ether. Each face has tiny protruding hands holding rudraksha mala on right hand and a kamandalu on the other.Unlike other shiva lingams in India and Nepal this pashupati shiva lingam is always Dressed in its golden vastra except during abhishakam, so pouring milk and ganga jal is only possible during abhishakam through the main priests.

 

PRIESTS

Daily rituals of Pashupatinath are carried out by two sets of priests ;one being the Bhatt priests and other Bhandari. Bhatta or Bhatt are the one who performs the daily ritual and can touch the lingam, where as Bhadaris are the helper and temple care taker priests but are not qualified perform pooja rituals or to touch the deity.

 

Bhatta or Bhat are highly educated Vedic bhramin Scholars from Brahmin family from South Indian State Karnataka.Unlike other Hindu temples priesthood of Pashupatinath is not hereditary. Priests are selected from a group of scholars educated by Shri Shankaracharya Dakshinamnaya Peeth Sringeri on Rig Vedic Recitation, initiated in Pashupata Yoga by Kashi Math,Shiva Āgama and learned Recitation of Samaveda from Haridwar.After qualifying and fulfilling all those criteria they will be selected for Priesthood by Raj Guru of Pashupatinath Temple undergoing strict examination on Vedas and Shiva Agamas and then the qualifies are sent to Kathmandu for performing Puja and Daily Worship of Lord Shri Pashupatinath This tradition is reported to have started by the request of Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th century, who sought to unify the different states of Bharatam (Unified India) by encouraging cultural exchange. This procedure is also followed in other temples around Bharata-varsa which were sanctified by Adi Shankaracharya. The unique feature of this temple is that only 4 Bhatta priests can touch the deity.Current Bhatt priests of the temple are;

 

Ganesh Bhat (15th head priest of the Pashupatinath Temple aka Mool Bhat) from Udupi.

Ram Karanth Bhat from Mangaluru.

Girish Bhat from Sirsi.

Narayan Bhat(Recently appointed) from Bhatkal

Raghavendra Bhat (Priest for Vasuki Nath temple only)

 

Bhandaris or Rajbhandari are the treasurers, temple caretakers, and assistant priest of the temple.

 

These Bhandaris are the descendants of helper priests brought up by early Bhatts, but were allowed to settle in Kathmandu valley and later assimilated in existing Newar caste of Rajbhandari - a high-caste Chathariya/Kshatriya clan of Kashyapa gotra. Their main function is to help the Bhatta priest and perform maintenance of the inner Garbhagriha. They can have little or no Vedic knowledge but still qualify as assistant priests if they belong from the same family lineage and undergo some basic criteria like caste, gotra, lineage purity, educational qualification, etc. They work in set of four and change in every full moon day. There are a total of 108 Bhandaris.

 

ENTRY AND DARSHAN

Temple courtyard has 4 entrances in all directions.The western entrance is the main entrance to the temple courtyard and rest three entrances are only opened during big festival . Temple security (Armed Police Force Nepal) is selective regarding who is allowed entry into the inner courtyard . Practicing Hindus and buddhist of Indian and Tibetan descendent are only allowed into temple courtiyard . Practicing Hindus of western descent are not allowed into the temple complex along with other non Hindu Visitors. Sikh and Jain groups are allowed into the temple compound if they are of Indian ancestry. Others can look at the main temple from adjacent side of the river and has to pay a nominal fee of $10 (1000 Nepali rupee) for visiting hundreds of small temples in the external premises of the temple complex . The inner temple courtyard remains open from 4 am to 7 pm for the devotee but the Inner Pashupatinath Temple where the Lingam of lord Pashupatinath is established is open from 5am to 12 pm for the morning ritual and viewing and from 5pm to 7 pm for evening ritual. Unlike many other Saiva temples devotees are not allowed to enter in the inner-most Garbhagriha but are allowed to view from the exterior premises of the outer Garbhagriha.

 

FESTIVALS

There are many festivals throughout the year .Thousands of people attend these festival.The most important festival is the Maha Shiva Ratri .Bala chaturthi and Teej.

 

CONTROVERSY OF 2009

In January 2009, after the forced resignation by the chief priest of Pashupatinath temple, the Maoist-led government of Nepal "hand picked" Nepalese priests to lead the temple, thus bypassing the temple's long-standing requirements. This appointment was contested by the Bhandaris of the temple, stating that they were not against the appointment of Nepalese priests but against the appointment without proper procedure. After the appointment was challenged in a civil court, the appointment was overruled by Supreme Court of Nepal.However, the government did not heed the ruling and stood by its decision. This led to public outrage and protests over a lack of transparency. The paramilitary group of the CPN (Maoist), called YCL, attacked the protesters, leading to over a dozen injuries. Lawmakers and activists from opposition parties joined protests, declaring their support for the Bhatta and other pro-Bhatta protesters. After long dissatisfaction and protest by Hindus both in and outside Nepal, the government was forced to reverse its decision that had been declared illegal by the Supreme Court of Nepal and reinstate Bhatta priests.

 

2015 EARTHQUAKE

The main temple complex of Pashupatinath and the sanctum sanctorum was left untouched but some of the outer buildings in the World Heritage Site were damaged by the April 2015 Nepal earthquake.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Dedicated to all the pseudoscientists currently serving in the 114th Congress of the U.S.A.

 

Photographed in thrilling PANO-Vision.

 

No apps, except for signature, straight out of the camera.

 

Music video accompaniment, Thomas Dolby"s "The Flat Earth" suggested by Richard S. Warner: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaMJCix5l3c

 

Thanks, Richard!

via Instagram ift.tt/2e6Llmd

The Theosophical Society, founded in New York in 1875, includes a Rosicrucian current that sees the Rosy Cross as ‘the divine light of self-knowledge’ (Franz Hartmann, 1838-1912). Yet there are no commentaries specifically dedicated to the Chymical Wedding in the theosophical literature. Like Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891), the co-founder of the Theosophical Society, the Austrian theosopher Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) was convinced that the mysteries of the Rosy Cross were ‘solely passed on through oral tradition’ (1906). Steiner became the Secretary General of the German branch of the Theosophical Society in 1902. He expected to discover authentic Rosicrucian rituals when he joined the Freemasons as his mentor Goethe had. But like the theosophers, he observed that the true spirit of the Rosy Cross was no longer to be found in the secret societies of his day. In 1906, the ‘Rosy Cross of the Theosophical Society’ began presenting the ‘Mystery of Golgotha’ as an entirely unique event in the history of mankind, at odds with the Theosophical Society’s custom of granting equal importance to all religions. In 1917, ten years after leaving Annie Besant’s Esoteric School and five years after founding the Anthroposophical Society, Steiner published a study on the Chymical Wedding in Berlin. The present article shows that this written commentary was a means for him to situate himself in the continuity of the Rosicrucian tradition of esoteric Christianity while introducing his own theosophy, which he called ‘anthroposophy’ or ‘spiritual science’, as the heir of the authentic Rosicrucians. The reference to the authoritative text allowed him to illustrate and justify his former assertions on 1) the actual existence of Christian Rosenkreuz and the Rosicrucian order, 2) the seven stages of Rosicrucian initiation, 3) Rosicrucianism as the best way of initiation for modern European man, 4) the “etheric vision” of Christ based on the action of Christian Rosencreuz’s “etheric body”. These ideas influenced a number of Western esotericists, including Neville Meakin (†1912), Max Heindel (1865-1919) and Jan van Rijckenborgh (1896-1968).

 

1 Chymical Wedding by Christian Rosencreutz has been the subject of an important reception1 within certain modern Western esoteric currents2, in particular since the end of the 19th century. In a context of criticism of positivism and enthusiasm for spiritualism from the United States, occultism was on the rise in Europe around 1900, and the Rosicrucians were a fashionable subject. In France, for example, the Martinist writer Joseph Péladan (1858-1918) organized between 1892 and 1897, in Parisian art galleries, several Salons de la Rose-Croix in which symbolist artists known as the Belgian painter Fernand Khnopff took part. . In this contribution, I will focus mainly on the period from 1875 – the date of the founding of the Theosophical Society in New York by the Russian occultist Helena Blavatsky, Colonel Henry Steel Olcott and a few others – to 1917, the year of the publication in Berlin of the Commentary on the Chemical Wedding of Christian Rose-Croix by the Austrian occultist Rudolf Steiner. The aim will be to understand Steiner's commentary from the inside, to reconstitute its internal logic from an emic perspective3, and to perceive in doing so the construction of the Rosicrucian myth specific to this esoteric4 vision of the world that is anthroposophy. . It will also be a question of resituating this commentary in the theosophical literature which preceded it and of bringing to light its influence on later esoteric literature.

 

Theosophical literature and the Chemical Weddings (1877-1902)

5 Franz Hartmann: Unter den Adepten und Rosenkreuzern (Leipzig n.d.). Berlin 1963, p. 96.

2The Theosophical Society is an international association teaching a religious syncretism of occultist and esoteric inspiration with a strong oriental flavor, particularly Buddhist and Hindu. Theosophical literature does not include a commentary dedicated specifically to the Chemical Wedding, but rather scattered reflections emphasizing the importance of Rosicrucianism as a Western path of self-knowledge leading to the knowledge of God. The German theosophist Franz Hartmann (1838-1912) states for example: “Es wird uns klar sein, daß es den Rosenkreuzern nicht so sehr um intellektuelle Forschung und Vielwisserei, als vielmehr um die göttliche Selbsterkenntnis zu tun war und um die Kraft des wahren Glaubens , der zu dieser Gotteserkenntnis führt. 5 The Theosophical Society does not regard any religion as superior to others; all express, according to her, an aspect of a universal truth. According to the famous motto of the Society, “there is no religion superior to truth”. According to Helena P. Blavatsky, the true spirit of the Rose-Croix no longer animates the Rosicrucians of her time:

 

6 Helena Petrovna Blavatsky: Isis unveiled. Key to the Mysteries of Ancient Science and Theology (...)

The Rose-Croix Brothers, mysterious practitioners of the Middle Ages, still exist, but only in name. They may 'shed tears over the grave of their revered Master Hiram Abiff', but they will search in vain for the true place 'where the acacia branch was placed'. The dead letter remains alone, the spirit has fled.6

 

3 This spirit is, according to her, much more preserved in literature – and Blavatsky explicitly quotes the famous initiatory novel by the British novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton Zanoni7 – than in the various lodges and groups claiming Rosicrucianism in his time in Europe and in the USA. None seem to find favor in his eyes. We can think of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, a Rosicrucian order founded in London in 1865 by master masons William J. Hughan and Robert W. Little, or L'Aube Dorée, The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a secret society (whose rituals are inspired by the Golden Rose-Cross, at least for the distribution of degrees) founded in London in 1888 by Samuel Liddell Mathers and William Wynn Westcott, both members of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia. Note that Westcott later became theosophist. These groups multiplied at the end of the 19th century. In France, the Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Croix founded in 1888 by Stanislas de Guaita (1861-1897) and Joséphin Péladan (1858-1918) had the role of perfecting the training of Martinists and included the French doctor and occultist Gérard Anaclet Vincent Encausse (1865-1916), known as Papus, among its members. In Germany, the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), a para-Masonic organization oriented towards magic, was animated by a member of the Societas Rosicruciana in Germania, the German-English occultist Theodor Reuß, who in 1902 obtained the right, with the German theosophist Franz Hartmann, to practice the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite and the Rite of Memphis-Misraïm.

 

Rudolf Steiner, the “Rose-Croix” of the Theosophical Society (1902-1906)

8 Gary Lachmann: Rudolf Steiner, a biography. Paris 2009.

9 Rudolf Steiner: Mein Lebensgang. Eine nicht vollendete Autobiography [1925], Rudolf Steiner Gesam (...)

10 Hartmann: Unter den Adepten, quoted by Friedrich Lienhard: Unter dem Rosenkreuz: ein Hausbuch aus (...)

4It was also in 1902 that Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian born in 1861 in a small village in Croatia (which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), became Secretary General of the German section of the Theosophical Society, multiplying the conferences across Germany and beyond8. Steiner states in his autobiography that he became close to the Theosophists because, like them, he was convinced of the existence of a “spiritual world”9. At the beginning of the 20th century, Steiner gave less importance to the Rosicrucian manifestos than to an oral Rosicrucian tradition which would have remained intact within secret societies. He asserted in December 1906 that nothing of authentic Rosicrucianism would be found in the Rosicrucian writings of the early seventeenth century. Steiner endorses the argument of theosophists like Franz Hartmann who describe the essence of the authentic Rose-Croix as "the divine light of self-knowledge"10 and who are convinced that the mysteries of the Rose-Croix are only transmitted orally:

 

But you can see how difficult it has always been to get to know Rosicrucianism from the fact that Helmont, Leibniz and others were unable to find out anything about the Rosicrucians. The Rosicrucian initiation is historically traced back to a book from the beginning of the 17th century, which states, among other things, that the Rosicrucians dealt with alchemical things, as well as with other things, for example with higher education and so on. So it is written in the Fama Fraternitatis. / Nothing can be found there either about what really is Rosicrucianism, because the mysteries of the Rosicrucians have only been handed down through oral tradition. What has externally attached itself to the name Rosicrucian is very little suitable for fathoming the nature of the Rosicrucians.11

 

5 Steiner is also nourished by another tradition, in this case German thought and its “great geniuses”, which, according to him, must fertilize theosophy. Steiner thinks in particular of Goethe, whose thought cannot be grasped, according to him, without a deep understanding of its occult foundation. After having studied philosophy in Vienna and read in particular Kant, Fichte, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, after having defended in 1891 a doctoral thesis in philosophy at the University of Rostock, Steiner worked in Weimar on the edition of the scientific work of Goethe, and gave numerous lectures on Goethe to members of the Theosophical Society. Thus, in the lecture “Die okkulte Grundlage in Goethes Schaffen” (1905), he refers to Goethe’s poem Die Geheimnisse (1785), which according to him expresses the mysteries of the Rose-Croix12. Steiner takes Goethe for a Rose-Croix initiate. In 1780, the German poet was initiated into Freemasonry in the Amalia lodge in Weimar, and received in 1783 into the Order of the Illuminated under the name of Abaris. Speeches and many poems bear witness to this interest in Freemasons, but also several passages from Wilhelm Meister, from Dichtung und Wahrheit (Poetry and Truth) as well as Das Märchen (The Fairy Tale of the Beautiful Lily)

 

6 Steiner attempts to revitalize the Rosicrucian tradition not only by relating himself to the Rosicrucian inspiration of Goethe, but also by concretely seeking authentic Rosicrucians and rituals; he thinks he can do this by joining Freemasonry, like his mentor Goethe. It was in 1904-1905 that Steiner began to participate in Masonic activities, hoping to introduce the occult teachings of Theosophy into them. In 1905, he was initiated by Theodor Reuß into the Rite of Misraïm, with his wife – which cost him dearly, as noted by the German historian Helmut Zander14 –, and in 1906 became President of the “Chapter and Mystical Temple” Mystica Aeterna, in Berlin. In January 1906, he obtained permission from Theodor Reuß to bring into this Freemason Chapter as many members of the Theosophical Society (and other people) as he wished15. But he is somewhat wary of Reuß: “Reuß ist kein Mensch, auf den irgendwie zu bauen wäre. […] Wir haben es mit einem ‘Rahmen’, nicht mit mehr in der Wirklichkeit zu tun. Augenblicklich steckt gar nichts hinter der Sache. Die okkulten Mächte haben sich ganz davon zurückgezogen. 16 According to Helmut Zander, there is no historical proof that Steiner belonged to another Masonic society. In 1907, Steiner was appointed Grand Master of the Rite of Misraïm and led initiation ceremonies in this capacity. The First World War, however, marked the end of Steiner's Masonic activities. Between 1902 and 1906, Steiner developed his Christology independently within the Theosophical Society without this posing any particular problem. His relationship with Annie Besant is excellent: he is part of her Esoteric School and comments glowingly on the German translation of his work Esoteric Christianity published in 1903.

 

The gradual break with the Theosophists and the founding of the Anthroposophical Society (1906-1912)

18 Steiner, “Die drei Einweihungspfade”, lecture given in Basel on September 19, 1906 before (...)

19 Ibid., p. 92: “der größte der Religionslehrer”.

20 On the action of the Buddha, carried out at the request of the servant of Christ, Christian Rose-Croix, see (...)

7 It was in 1906 that Steiner distinguished for the first time three forms of initiation: the Eastern path, which presupposes the absolute obedience of the student to a guru, the Christian path, which would no longer be adapted to modern man due to the evolution of science and culture, and the Rosicrucian path, which would be free from any enslaving master-disciple relationship18. Alongside this hierarchy of initiatic schools, the "mystery of Golgotha" was mentioned for the first time, at the end of 1906, a concept which would become central to Steiner's Christology: Christ, considered as "the greatest religious teacher"19, embodies in an earthly physical body the solar macrocosmic Christ principle. He gives "the greatest impulse that the soul is able to assimilate" by coming from other worlds to unite with the earth. The Christ impulse, what Steiner calls the "mystery of Golgotha", is for him a completely unique and exceptional fact in the history of humanity. It is no coincidence that in several of his lectures, Steiner emphasizes that the life of Christ goes further than that of the Buddha, since it reaches the resurrection while that of the Buddha ends in the transfiguration20. By focusing his thought on the figure of Christ, Steiner approaches European theological traditions which consider Christ as a personal figure; but he distances himself from the theosophists of Adyar who give equal importance to all religions and consider Jesus as a “great initiate” among others. It was in this context that Annie Besant was elected President of the Theosophical Society in 1907. The same year, Steiner left the Esoteric School of Besant to found an independent esoteric school, teaching a Rosicrucian path rooted in a specifically European esoteric tradition. .

 

8 According to Helmut Zander, it was above all in opposition to Annie Besant that Steiner increasingly sought, from 1906-1907, to situate himself in a Rosicrucian tradition and to “Christologize” his thought21. The fact that in 1903 Steiner did not mention Christian Rose-Croix in his list of great initiates shows, according to Zander, that the Rosicrucian tradition was built gradually. It is also with the aim of building this European tradition that Steiner would have integrated Christian Rose-Croix in a series of reincarnations: Lazare, Hiram Abiff, the Count of Saint-Germain, etc. When Steiner and Besant agreed at the Munich Congress in May 1907, it was decided that Steiner would teach the Western, "Rosicrucian" path, and Besant the Eastern path. According to Zander, this agreement is superficial and hides a settlement of power. The day after the Congress, Steiner begins the cycle of lectures entitled Die Theosophie des Rosenkreuzers in which he emphasizes the superiority of the Rosicrucian path, and therefore, according to the German historian, his personal superiority over Besant. Zander is of the opinion that in these lectures, in particular in the last lecture of the cycle entitled "Theosophy according to the Rosicrucian method", the Rosicrucian reference would be applied like a thin superstructure on specifically Theosophical themes and, given its vague in the occultist circles of his time, would serve as an empty frame that Steiner could fill as he pleased with content from Christian and European esotericism22. This theory only seems partly relevant because the reference to the Rosicrucians is present long before the break with Besant and anchored in the German tradition, in Goethe in particular. From 1903-1904, Steiner presented Christian Rose-Croix and Jesus as the "two great Masters of the West", thus minimizing the influence of the Eastern Masters. In 1906 Steiner described the seven stages of the Rosicrucian path23, also present or explained in other texts, as in the Science of the Occult (1910) for example.

 

9 The fundamental disagreement concerns the theory of the return of Christ developed by Besant after the Munich Congress and explains that Steinerian Christology developed with increased speed after 1907. In 1908, Steiner clearly asserts the superiority of Christianity: “[… ] das Christentum ist größer als alle Religion! Das ist die Rosenkreuzerweisheit. 24 In 1911 he held conferences on Christian Rosicrucians at the newly created Rosicrucian branch of the Theosophical Society, where the disagreements appeared more and more evident. Unlike the Theosophists, Steiner considers Christian Rose-Croix as a personality who really lived in the 13th century, and the Rosicrucian order as an organization that really existed. The influence of the spiritual entity that is Christian Rose-Croix would be exerted mainly from his “etheric body”25, incarnated or not26. The action of Christ can take place according to Steiner only from the "etheric"27, that is to say from a subtle field of life forces made up of four ethers and located between the material and the astral plane. For Steiner, there can be no return of Christ to the physical plane, as the Theosophists assert. When leaders of the Theosophical Society believe they have found a new Messiah in the person of the young Hindu Jiddu Krishnamurti, Steiner separates definitively from the Theosophical Society to found, at the end of 1912, the Anthroposophical Society.

 

Rudolf Steiner anthroposophist: the role of the Chemical Weddings in the construction of a Rosicrucian tradition (1912-1917)

28 Rudolf Steiner: The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rose-Croix 1459, recorded by J. V. Andreae, Stud (...)

29 Rudolf Steiner: Die Theosophie des Rosenkreuzers, Vierzehn Vorträge, München 22. May bis 6. June 1 (...)

 

11 Steiner no doubt chose to comment on the Wedding because it was the Rosicrucian text he knew best31, but that is not the only reason. The importance he attached to this commentary is evident in the fact that, unlike many other things he has said about Christian Rose-Croix at conferences, it is a written study that he wrote himself. This is indicative of a change in initiatory method in modern times:

 

32 Bettina Gruber: “Überlegungen zu einer Begriffsdiskussion”. In: Moritz Baßler / Hildegard Châtel (...)

33 Aurélie Choné: Rudolf Steiner, Carl Gustav Jung, Hermann Hesse, Passeurs between East and West. (...)

As the written expression of the traditional teaching transmitted from master to disciple, the book increasingly replaces the oral transmission of knowledge within secret societies, and becomes what connects the instructor and the reader, or more precisely, the Real. and the reader. Reading thus becomes the occasion for a practice, that of a conscious relationship. This ‘self-initiation through reading’32 is a characteristic trend of modernity, perceptible as early as the 19th century. It is based on respect for the subject and his autonomy of thought, but in return requires significant self-discipline and a very firm will.33

 

30 Rudolf Steiner: Das rosenkreutzerische Christentum. Stuttgart 1950.

10 In 1917, five years after the foundation of the Anthroposophical Society, Steiner published in Berlin a study devoted to the Chemical Weddings28. A series of questions does not fail to arise: how to explain that Steiner felt the need to give a commentary on the Weddings when he did not comment on either the Fama or the Confessio? How to explain that he found it necessary to write a study insisting on the importance of this text eleven years after having affirmed that the oral tradition was more important than the Manifestos? Why did you publish this commentary precisely in 1917, more than a century ago, when he had already given several lectures in previous years on the Rosicrucian path, in particular ten years earlier, in 1907, Die Philosophie des Rosenkreuzers29 and in 1911-1912, on Rosicrucian Christianity30? And finally, for what purpose does he write this comment?

 

12 As secret societies no longer conveyed the authentic message according to Steiner, it no doubt seemed necessary to him, sensing the end of his life approaching, to write down what he knew of this original message. We will show that this written commentary was a means for him, at a time when he needed to affirm the identity of his movement in the face of the theosophists, to situate himself in the continuity of the Western tradition of Christian esotericism and to present anthroposophy as the heiress of the authentic Rosicrucians. If he appeals to an authoritative text, Les Noces Chymiques, it is to illustrate and justify his previous remarks:

 

on the real existence of Christian Rose-Croix and the Rosicrucian Order,

 

on the content of the Rosicrucian initiatory path,

 

on the superiority of the Rosicrucian path at the present time,

 

on the etheric vision of Christ thanks to the action of Christian Rose-Croix from the "etheric world".

 

The real existence of Christian Rose-Croix and the Order of the Rose-Croix

 

34 On this subject, see the article by Stefania Salvadori in this volume.

13 For Steiner, Johann Valentin Andreae (1586-1654) is the author of Les Noces Chymiques and he wrote the work in 1603, thirteen years before its publication in Strasbourg in 1616. It should be noted that these dates are roughly in line with the assertions of the most current researchers. Steiner does not seek to challenge by means of historical arguments the assertions of historians who hold the work to be “a kind of literary deception” (NC, 264). But he considers it impossible that a young man of seventeen had “the maturity required to ridicule the evaporated minds of his time, by presenting them with a phantasmagoria under the name of the Rosicrucian current”. Moreover, the spiritually very high content of Les Noces is not for him contradictory with the young age of the author. In his eyes, Andreae wrote under the dictation of “great intuitive forces” (NC, 269). Later, having become a pietistic theologian, Andreae would have lost this intuition, which explains why he was able to deny his story afterwards. Steiner points out that in transcribing the experiences of Christian Rose-Croix, the young Andreae encountered strong resistance, in this case “events similar to those which led to the Thirty Years’ War” (NC, 8). By comparing this situation to the one he knew himself, at a time when the development of anthroposophy was hampered by opposing forces, he clearly places himself in the continuity of the Rosicrucian current.

 

14 In his commentary, Steiner begins by explaining how the work should be approached, devoting several pages to the “method”, or rather to the attitude to adopt when faced with the text. Because it is precisely not an intellectual, scientific method in the usual sense of the word. Humility, self-knowledge and purification of the soul are the necessary conditions for the spiritual world to be able, through the text, to speak to the soul in the form of images, symbols, "secret figures" such as those of the Geheime Figuren der Rosenkreuzer35. A rather similar attitude of attentive listening with regard to images (and the products of the unconscious) characterizes the psychology of the depths of C. G. Jung (in particular the active imagination): it is not a question of seeking to understand intellectually the image that presents itself, but rather to let it act, to mature in the soul, to brood over it in oneself, until its meaning becomes clear; this requires great patience and the awareness that, as in any deep esoteric text, the message is never completely unveiled, deeper layers always remaining hidden.

 

15 The key to Steiner's argument therefore rests on a precise method, which he claims to deduce from the attitude and mode of perception of Christian Rose-Croix himself, as described in the novel. The historical method seems to him inappropriate for clarifying overly complicated controversies. “Spiritual Science” is presented as the most adequate way to deduce from the text itself the authenticity of the experiences described, and therefore the reality of the existence of Christian Rose-Croix as well as of the Rosicrucian current. It is not for him an allegory, but a true story, which confirms what he affirmed in his lectures of 1911 on the historical, and not mythical, figure of Christian Rose-Croix.

 

The content of the Rosicrucian initiatory school

 

16 In his commentary of 1917, Steiner explains, through the lived experience of Christian Rose-Croix, the seven stages of the Rosicrucian path which he had already exposed ten years earlier, in Die Theosophie des Rosenkreuzers: the study, the imagination, inspiration, the preparation of the Philosopher's Stone, the correspondences between macrocosm and microcosm, diving into the macrocosm and bliss. The seven days correspond to the stages of the initiatory path of Christian Rose-Croix towards the suprasensible worlds and reflect a process of alchemical transformation which leads him towards his spiritual rebirth.

 

17 From the first day, it is a question of an “imaginative vision” that Christian Rose-Croix had seven years earlier, which announced to him that he would be invited to the “Chymic Wedding”. Another imagination has him “see” a young woman in a blue dress studded with stars – the “manifestation of an entity from the spirit world” (NC, 195) according to Steiner. Another imagination reveals to him a portal, the threshold of the suprasensible world according to Steiner, and a castle, place of spiritual experience. Then comes the fourth day, with the presentation to the Kings and their decapitation: these symbols are for Steiner “authentic imaginations, in conformity with the laws which govern the evolution of the soul” (NC, 243). The ordeals that kings undergo foreshadow what must happen to Christian Rose-Croix himself. He feels the tragedy of the royal hall “as if his own soul lived it: Decapitation is a stage in his own evolution. (NC, 244) According to Steiner, the whole alchemical process described highlights "the mystery of psychic metamorphosis" (NC, 263), namely "the way in which the forces of knowledge, developed by the organism in the ordinary course of life, are transformed into forces of supersensible investigation. (NC, 253) The term "power of knowledge" is imbued with the philosophy of life (Lebensphilosophie) present at the time of Steiner, but it is a question of directing this vitalism towards a spiritualism by transforming sensitive knowledge in supersensible knowledge, which is possible only on condition "of being penetrated by the forces of death." (NC, 247) Thus Christian Rose-Croix contemplates the death of the "kings" in his soul, namely the death of "his means of knowledge, such as they result from the metamorphosis of the material processes of his organism, without himself intervenes. (NC, 248-249) By passing from natural alchemy to the art of alchemy, he will be able to confer on his ordinary faculties of knowledge a particular character which the processes of organic evolution have removed from them. The purpose of the fifth day is precisely, according to Steiner, to complete the natural alchemy. Christian Rose-Croix directs his gaze towards the “laboratory” of nature, where it “gives birth to the vital element of growth” (NC, 249). In the Tower of Olympus, during the preparation of the Stone of the Sages, the inanimate forces of knowledge are brought to life.

 

18 The seventh day describes the accomplishment of the alchemical work and the promotion of Christian Rose-Croix to the rank of “Knight of the Stone of Gold”. The man whose forces of the soul – thought, feeling, will – are transformed, is as if born again: he becomes the “father” of his own faculties of knowledge. It is a true gnosis in the sense of knowledge, the birth of new forces of supersensible knowledge. This also explains the Steinerian interpretation of the end of the story: Christian Rose-Croix expects to expiate the "fault" of having succumbed to the temptation by looking at Venus naked on the fifth day, and to be condemned to the charge of guardian; but this is not the case, because this guardian turns out in fact to be only a part of himself that he is able to distinguish from himself; and here we are almost approaching a Jungian interpretation of The Wedding , except that the existence of a spiritual world is clearly posed in Steiner: “He becomes the guardian of his own psychic life; but this office in no way prevents him from maintaining free relations with the world of the spirit. (NC, 260-261)

 

The Rosicrucian path, the initiatory school most suited to modern Europeans

 

19 Steiner also explains in his commentary on the Marriage why the Rosicrucian way is the most suitable for modern Western man.

 

20 First, it does not involve blindly following a guru as in the Eastern path as Steiner imagines it, or having absolute faith in the personality of Jesus Christ as in the Christian path. The Rosicrucian path gives less importance to feelings than to facts that can be observed and studied. The first stage of the journey, study, demonstrates the importance of a scientific approach. Steiner emphasizes that Christian Rose-Croix was versed in the knowledge provided by the study of the “Liberal Sciences and Arts” of his time and that he sought to unite knowledge and faith. This is also, according to Steiner, the objective of anthroposophy and as he can situate it in the continuity of the Rosicrucian current: neither religion nor philosophy, the Science of the mind (Geisteswissenschaft) aims to know the worlds suprasensibles with the same rigor as science studies the phenomena of the physical, sensible world.

 

36 Steiner: “The mission of Christian Rose-Croix, his character and his task. The mission of Gautama Bu (...)

21 This is only possible through the knowledge of nature, the very object of natural alchemy. In his commentary on the Wedding, Steiner clearly opposes the paths of mysticism and alchemy: “The alchemist seeks a knowledge of nature which opens the way to a true knowledge of man. (NC, 214) as the mystic turns inward. According to Steiner, it is quite revealing that the Rosicrucian current was born in the 15th century – a very dark period marked, according to him, by the appearance of the materialist current, which played a major role in scientific theories, especially in matters astronomy; with the beginnings of modern science – Copernicus (1473-1543), Galileo (1564-1642), Kepler (1571-1630), etc. – developed, according to him, “a vision of the world which saw in the macrocosm only an immense machinery composed of material globes”36. A new science must bring the necessary corrective to this materialistic tendency; and Steiner sees it represented in the Weddings through the figure of the Virgin whose name is Alchemy: "this suprasensible science comes from the spiritual worlds whereas the knowledge of the Seven 'Liberal Arts' is acquired on the sensible plane" (NC, 236).

 

22 In the same spirit, Agrippa von Nettesheim (1487-1535) and Paracelsus (1493-1541) sought, according to Steiner, to explore the laws of nature and access the superior worlds from the natural sciences, through the study of the five elements . The alchemist learns to know his soul as well as nature and discovers that the same forces act there. This is the fifth stage of the Rosicrucian path, the correspondences between macro- and microcosm. The contemplation of natural processes like dissolution and putrefaction becomes meditation, fervent prayer, and arouses a sense of devotion. According to Steiner, the sanctity of nature is at the center of Les Noces, the mission of Christian Rose-Croix being to discover the spirit in nature. As a Knight of the Stone of Gold, he will have to live in accordance with the two mottos inscribed on the medal he receives, as well as the other Knights, on the seventh day: "Art is the servant of nature" and “Nature is the daughter of time. (NC, 259)

 

37 Antoine Faivre: Access to Western esotericism. Paris vol. I 1986, vol. II, 1996.

23 Steiner presents the Science of the Spirit as the heir to the Rosicrucian current in that it seeks to rediscover the religious character that the study of nature had in the Middle Ages, to reveal the spiritual reality behind the veil of nature. At the same time, he seeks to show the evolution of the Rosicrucian teaching. Mainly based on the natural sciences in the Middle Ages, in connection with alchemy, it became in its time "Science of the mind" in connection with the natural sciences in the Goethean sense of the term. The great Rosicrucian meditation on the symbol of the cross surrounded by seven roses, described for example in 1910 in Die Geheimwissenschaft (Science of the Occult), is deeply linked to living Nature, one of the criteria of esotericism according to Antoine Faivre37, since it is first of all a question of representing a plant which opens out, its roots which plunge into the darkness, its stem which rises towards the light. It involves the transformation of the forces of life into spiritual forces by a process of transmutation of the "etheric" into supersensible energy: this inner alchemy constitutes the very essence of the new Rosicrucian mysteries according to Steiner.

 

38 Johann Valentin Andreae: The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rose-Croix. In: Bernard Gorceix: The bi (...)

24 Finally, Steiner wishes to show through the experiences of Christian Rose-Croix and his companions that the Rosicrucian initiation is a personal path at the service of society: “The presence of such men in the social order will be a leaven for those who it and will help clean it up. (NC, 261) On reading Les Noces, it clearly appears that Christian Rose-Croix will play a special role because he is led to see more marvels38 than his companions who "only perceive what is shown to them, without the intervention of their personal will. (NC, 230) By continuing to serve as a guardian after receiving the supreme reward, he does not return to his solitary life, out of the world; he sees himself obliged to link spiritual life and social life in the service of others (karma-yoga, one would say in the Indian tradition), which is characteristic of a modern initiation. Steiner situates anthroposophy in the continuity of this tradition by insisting on education for freedom and by showing the importance of the concrete societal applications of its ideas in fields as diverse as pedagogy, agriculture, medicine and science. 'architecture.

 

25 In his commentary on Les Noces, Steiner particularly insists on the visions and imaginations of Christian Rose-Croix, which would be produced by the action of his “etheric body”. On Easter Friday, Christian's supersensible perception allows him to have the vision of the woman in the blue dress: "This activity of the etheric body can be compared to the bringing into action of a radiant light. (NC, 195-196) It is this activity that every human being is called upon to develop thanks to a daily meditative practice allowing the metamorphosis of his soul and the development of faculties of supersensible perception. Through this central practice in the Rosicrucian initiation as Steiner understands it, the student feels the influence of the etheric body of Christian Rose-Croix and can perceive the appearance of Christ in his own etheric body, that is, say realize the Christ in himself, the inner Christ, without going through a guru or other spiritual master. According to Steiner, all of humanity would be called to live this experience of the road to Damascus, and not only the circle of Rosicrucian initiates. The mission of the "Science of the Spirit" would be to divulge the Rosicrucian mystery to as many people as possible today.

 

39 On this subject, see Véronique Liard's contribution: “Carl Gustav Jung and the Chymic Weddings. Alc (...)

40 I refer here to chapter 10 of C. G. Jung's Psychological Types: Psychologische Typen. Zurich (...)

41 However, this interpretation should be qualified. Indeed, experience plays a very important role (...)

26We can see a certain affinity between the Steinerian commentary and the Jungian reading39 of the Wedding: in both cases, the initiatory journey of Christian Rose-Croix expresses the “mystery of psychic metamorphosis” (NC, 263). The big difference comes from the way of thinking of Jung and Steiner, and their opposite attitude towards reality. From a Jungian perspective,40 one could perhaps qualify Steiner’s philosophical temperament as “extroverted” and that of Jung as “introverted” (this is moreover how he saw himself); indeed, the anthroposophist links his thought closely to real objects while the founder of depth psychology is above all concerned with his inner world. Steiner is an idealist in that the spiritual world has for him a character of truth and absolute in the same way as the objects which are in front of him, without possible contestation, while for Jung, nourished by Kant, thought partially derives from subjectivity, which places all metaphysics beyond the reach of human understanding and establishes an empirical approach to reality. Jung needs to look within himself for landmarks to evolve in his inner world, without resorting to metaphysics to name things outside of him; he tends to see in him realities which, for the extrovert, are external.

 

42 We can think in particular of biodynamic agriculture – the processes of decomposition, putr (...)

43 See the third stage of the conjunction described at the end of Carl Gustav Jung: Mysterium conjunct (...)

44 On the comparison of these paths, see Aurélie Choné: Rudolf Steiner, Carl Gustav Jung, Herman (...)

27 Steiner considers the mystical path (introverted attitude according to the Jungian typology) unsuited to the materialistic modern age, and considers the alchemical path (extroverted attitude according to the Jungian typology) which passes through the knowledge of nature, as the most appropriate today. today. Could this be the reaction of an extrovert who does not understand the other attitude? Jung also uses alchemy, but more in the psychological sense of an inner psychic transformation; he emphasizes the writings that translate external experiences into symbolic processes revealing the archetypes of the collective unconscious, which he wants to find in order to shed light on his journey and that of his patients. But if Jung seems to be more interested in the interior side (oratory) and Steiner in the operative side of alchemy42 (laboratory), the fact remains that the psychiatrist also integrates a much broader dimension through the notion of unus mundus43, and that the anthroposophist pays great attention to inner processes, emphasizing the passage from natural alchemy to the Science of the mind. Anthroposophy, which seeks to develop our perception of the supersensible world, and depth psychology, which aims to approach the Self in order to reach the totality of our being, have important similarities in the journey they offer towards greater freedom. and autonomy.

 

28 If Les Noces has caught the attention of such different thinkers, it is undoubtedly because this writing offers a fine example of a balanced appreciation between the two points of view. The oratory is as important there as the laboratory. There is both the experimental side (Tower of Olympus) and the importance of moral purification (weighing test, vault of Venus). Extroverts tend to make it a laboratory affair by denying the other side, while introverts stress the projection of psychic contents onto matter and make it a process of individuation, neglecting the experimental side which is very vague in the definitions of the materials, which vary from one to another. But the secret undoubtedly lies in the right balance between extroversion and introversion, science and faith, laboratory and oratory.

 

Assessment and posterity of the anthroposophical reception of Les Noces until today

29 All the arguments deployed in Steiner’s extremely dense Commentary combine to demonstrate that the Weddings are “an objective relationship of an authentic quest” (NC, 263). Steiner felt the need to give a commentary on the Wedding - rather than on the Fama or the Confessio - because this story contains a wealth of images and symbols which make visible, in the form of evocative imaginations, the passage from sensitive to supersensitive. This commentary aims to anchor Steiner's theosophy, which he calls anthroposophy, in the Rosicrucian tradition of esoteric Christianity. Steiner thus stands out from the Theosophical Society and Eastern initiation by proposing a “Rosicrucian initiation” adapted to modern man in that it brings together faith and science, knowledge and contemplation of nature. Starting from the Manifesto, he seeks to prove what he has asserted in previous conferences and to give greater authority to his words through the exegesis of the source text itself. In doing so, he presents himself as the successor to the Rosicrucian current, which is supposed to express the quintessence of the great previous religions, and therefore the cutting edge of all spiritual teachings.

 

30 His reception of Les Noces will find an important echo in the anthroposophical milieu, among students and close friends like Michael Bauer46 (1871-1929), who was a member of his esoteric School. Today, the Rosicrucian reference is still very present among anthroposophists. According to the Dutch writer Jelle van der Meulen, for example, Steiner was initiated by Christian Rose-Croix47. The links between Anthroposophy and Rosicrucianism have been studied by engineer Viktor Stracke (1903-1991) and physician Peter Selg (1963- )48. Les Noces gave rise to a new commentary by Bastiaan Baan, director of the seminary of the Fellowship of Christians in North America, and former Waldorf school teacher. Overall, the interpretation of Les Noces is the object of a deepening in two main directions: meditation50 and cosmology51.

 

52 The outer order of the Stella Matutina was known as the Mystic Rose or Order of the M.R. i (...)

53 Crispian Villeneuve: Rudolf Steiner in Britain: A Documentation of His Ten Visits, 1902‑25, vol. 1 (...)

54 The Table Round (Ordo Tabulae Rotundae) is a neo-Arthurian mystical order that Felkin also exported (...)

55 Zander: Anthroposophy in Deutschland. t. I, p. 844.

56 See the contribution of Sébastien Gregov in this volume.

31 We also mention the influence of Steiner on the English doctor Robert Felkin, who in 1903 created the magical order Stella Matutina (Morning Star)52 in England, a splinter group from the Golden Dawn, and on Neville Meakin53, a member of the Stella Matutina. They saw in him an authentic representative of the Rosicrucian tradition, the missing link in the chain of the Rose-Croix dating back to the 17th century. Known by the initials EOL (Ex oriente Lux), Grand Master of the neo-Arthurian Order Ordo Tabulae Rotundae54, Meakin met Steiner in 1910 and 1912, received the initiation of adeptus minor in the Chapter Mystica aeterna and embarked in 1911 for Constantinople, traveling in the footsteps of the pilgrimage described in the Fama Fraternitatis. Steiner's ideas on the real existence of Christian Rose-Croix and his Order, as well as on the different incarnations of Christian Rose-Croix, will influence Max Heindel (1865-1919), who was vice-president of theosophy of Adyar in California in 1904-1905 and student of the Esoteric School of Steiner in 1907-1908. In 1909 Heindel created the Rosicrucian Fellowship in California. Steiner would accuse him in 1913 of having plagiarized several of his lectures55. Finally, let us mention the obvious influence of the Steinerian reading of the Wedding on the Dutch Rosicrucian Jan van Rijckenborgh, a former disciple of Heindel who founded the Lectorium Rosicrucianum in the 1920s.

 

journals.openedition.org/rg/679

Parkway Drive @ Chelsea Heights Hotel

Atlantic Terminal

Cropredy has ancient origins, a chapel in the church is dedicated to St Fremund, an anglo-saxon saint thought to be the son of King Offa. It's name combines the Old English croppe or hill and ridig, a small stream. The village is only a few miles from Banbury, in hilly country along the banks of the River Cherwell. Before the Dissolution of the Monasteries Cropredy belonged the Bishop of Lincoln. More recently Brasenose College, Oxford, has become a significant landlord giving it's name to the local pub.

 

Dramatic changes to centuries of agrarian life were heralded by the excavation of the Oxford canal which runs alongside the Cherwell south-east of the church. This busy waterway was superseded by the Great Western railway, the village even had it's own station until 1956.

 

Unusually Cropredy retains the ringing of the curfew bell, in Medieval times this was a signal to return home and 'cover their fires'. Roger Lupton local priest between 1487 and 1528 was so lost in dense fog that he could only find his way from nearby Chacombe by the ringing of Cropredy's bells. He founded a fund in gratitude which paid for the daily winding of the clock and tolling the bell morning, noon and night. The bell is still rung Tuesday and Thursday nights for five minutes after eight O'clock.

 

The village is best known for the Civil War 'Battle of Cropredy Bridge'. A rare Royalist victory at a time when the Parliamentary forces were in the ascendancy. In June 1644 the King slipped out of Oxford to avoid two Roundhead armies which were rapidly approaching. At this point the Earl of Essex chose to lead his army south and relieve the siege of Lyme Regis leaving Sir William Waller to pursue the King with half of the men. Waller shadowed the Royal army to Worcester only for the King to double back towards Banbury where the Parliamentary commander saw an opportunity to split the Royal forces which were strung out along the Daventry road. Waller's artillery crossed Cropredy bridge but were too far ahead of the infantry and were overrun. Fierce fighting followed but neither side achieved a significant advantage and a chance of capturing the King was lost. As children we were told stories of a phantom drummer boy.

 

Cropredy's most prominent claim to fame is their music festival founded when Fairport Convention played the village fete in 1976. Cropredy Music Festival grew from these modest beginnings and now attracts over 20,000 music fans every year.

 

St. Mary the Virgin is an impressive building constructed from the local rust-coloured ironstone. While part of the wall of the south aisle has been dated to c1050 the present church begins in the 13th century with significant 14th and 15th century additions. The south wall has two tomb recesses thought to be built for Simon de Cropredy and his son c1200. The church has an interesting 13th century parish chest and the chapel dedicated to the anglo-saxon saint Fremund has two 15th century screens, one of which has the initials AD which may stand for Alice Danvers. The nave arcading, tower and choir arches are Perpendicular in style with no capitals and continuous moulding from ground level. The tower is early 15th century with the belfry and parapets added 80 years later, There are eight bells, six from the late 17th century, two added in 2007 called Fairport and Villager. Fragments of a Doom survive above the chancel arch. The church has a 17th century pulpit and a rare pre-reformation eagle lectern which is said to have been hidden in the river before the Battle of Cropredy where it lost one of it's lion feet. The beak has a slot for collecting 'Peter's Pence'. There is a beautiful 15th century head of the Virgin Mary in stained glass which was found in the churchyard. There are two fonts, one Norman and one Victorian. In the tower is a magnificent clock by John Moore of Clerkenwell dated 1831.

 

Cropredy is just off the Daventry road a few miles from Banbury about an hour from Stratford-upon-Avon.

 

www.youtube.com/user/Cotswoldchurches

 

www.bwthornton.co.uk

Hoysaleswara temple (Kannada: ಹೊಯ್ಸಳೇಶ್ವರ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನ) (also spelt "Hoysaleshwara" or Hoysaleshvara") is a temple dedicated to Hindu god Shiva. It was built in Halebidu (in modern Karnataka state, India) during the rule of King Vishnuvardhana of the Hoysala Empire in the 12th century. The construction was started around 1120 CE and completed in 1150 CE. During the early 14th century, Halebidu was sacked and looted by Muslim invaders from northern India and the temple fell into a state of ruin and neglect. Previously known as Dorasamudra or Dwarasamudra, Halebidu is 16 km from Belur, 31 km from Hassan and 149 km from Mysore, in the state of Karnataka, India.

 

HISTORY

According to art critic and historian S. Settar, from contemporary inscriptions it is known that the temple derives its name from the Hoysala ruler at that time, King Vishnuvardhana Hoysaleswara, though interestingly, the construction of the temple was initiated and financed by wealthy Shaiva (a Hindu sect) citizens of the city, prominent among who were Ketamala and Kesarasetti. The temple building activity was taken up in competition to the construction of the Chennakesava Temple at Belur, a Vaishnava (a Hindu sect) temple. Surrounded by numerous tanks, ponds and mantapas, the temple is built in the vicinity of the large Dorasamudhra lake. The tank preceded the temple by nearly 75 years. It is one of the largest temples dedicated to the god Shiva in South India.

 

TEMPLE PLAN

The temple is a simple dvikuta vimana (plan with two shrines and two superstructures), one for "Hoysaleswara" (the king) and the other for "Shantaleswara" (named after Shantala Devi, queen of King Vishnuvardhana) and is built with chloritic chist (more commonly known as Soapstone or potstone). The temple complex as a whole is elevated on a jagati (platform), which according to historian Kamath, is a feature that became popular in contemporary Hoysala constructions. According to art historian Foekema, the two shrines which are adjoining, face east and each have a mantapa (hall) in front. The two mantapas are connected giving a large and imposing view of the hall. Individually, each shrine is smaller than the one at the Chennakesava Temple at Belur and contains a simple linga, the universal symbol of the god Shiva. The plan of the inside of the temple is simple but the exterior looks different because of the introduction of many projections and recesses in the walls. The towers of the shrines that are missing must have followed the star shape of the shrine, just as in many existing well-preserved towers in other Hoysala temples. The superstructure over the vestibule which connects the shrine to the mantapa, called sukanasi (a low tower that looks like an extension of the main tower), and the row of decorated miniature roofs above the eaves of the hall are all missing. The temple was built at a height that provided the architects sufficient horizontal and vertical space to depict large and small sculptures. According to the art critic James Fergusson, the overall effect of the vertical and horizontal lines, the play of the outline, the effect of light and shade and the plan of the projections and recesses all amounts to a "marvellous exhibition of human labor to be found even in the patient east and surpasses anything in Gothic art". The outer walls of these temples contain an intricate array of stone sculptures. The temple of Halebidu, has been described by art critics James Fergusson and Percy Brown as an "outstanding example of Hindu architecture" and as the "supreme climax of Indian architecture".

 

The temple has four porches for entry and the one normally used by visitors as main entry is actually a lateral entrance (north). There is one entry on the south side and two on the east side, facing two large detached open pavilions whose ceiling is supported by lathe turned pillars. All entry porches have miniature shrines as flanking. In addition there is a sanctuary for the Sun god Surya, whose image stands 2.1 m tall. The pavilions enshrine large images of Nandi, the bull, an attendant of Shiva. The pavilions share the same jagati as the main temple. As in the Chennakesava temple, this temple originally had an open mantapa to which outer walls with pierced window screens made with the same material were erected, making the mantapa a closed one. The window screens are devoid of any art work. The interior of the temple is quite plain except for the lathe turned pillars that run in rows between the north and south entrances. According to Settar, the four pillars in front of each shrine are the most ornate and the only ones that have the madanika (chaste maidens) sculptures in their pillar brackets. There are no other madanikas in the temple.

 

SCULPTURES

The Hoysaleswara temple is most well known for its sculptures that run all along the outer wall, starting with an dancing image of the god Ganesha on the left side of the south entrance and ending with another image of Ganesha on the right hand side of the north entrance. In all there are two hundred and forty such images. According to the art critic Gerard Foekema, perhaps no other Hoysala temple is as articulate in sculpture as this is and these sculptures are "second to none in all of India". The most intricate of all sculptures are found in the lintels over two of the doorways, one on the south side doorway and the other on one of the eastern doorways.

 

HORIZONTAL TREATMENT

In this temple the Hoysala architects have broken from the tradition of using five moldings with friezes (which is the "old stlye") at the base of the temple, below the large wall sculptures and the window screens. The outer walls have two eaves that run around the temple. The top eaves is at the roof of the temple where the superstructure meets the wall, and the second eaves is about a meter below. In between there are decorated miniature towers (aedicule). Below the lower eaves are the wall sculptures and below them, the eight moldings. Historian Kamath calls this type of relief work "horizontal treatment". Each of the eight friezes carries an array of decoration. Going from the bottom where the temple wall meets the platform, the lowest frieze depicts charging elephants which symbolize strength and stability, above which, in order, are friezes with lions which symbolize courage, floral scrolls as decoration, horses symbolizing speed, another band of floral scrolls, depictions from the Hindu epics, mythical beasts called makara and finally a frieze with hansas (swans). According to Foekema, no two animals are alike in a total frieze span of over 200 m. In the epic frieze, the epics are not continuous as they are mixed with other depictions. After the construction of this temple, Hoysala architects used this new kind of horizontal treatment only fifty years later, making it a standard style, though they reduced it to six molding friezes.

 

GARUDA PILLAR

Another interesting object in the temple complex is the rare Garuda Sthamba (Garuda pillar). According to Settar, these are different from virgals (Hero stone). Garudas were elite bodyguards of the kings and queens. They moved and lived with the royal family and their only purpose was to protect their master. Upon the death of their master, they committed suicide. The rare pillar on the south side depicts heroes brandishing knives and cutting their own heads. The inscription honors Kuruva Lakshma, a bodyguard of Veera Ballala II. A devoted officer, he took his life and that of his wife and other bodyguards after the death of his master. This event is narrated in an old Kannada inscription on the pillar. A 2.4 m tall sculpture of Ganesha including the platform rests at the South entrance

 

WIKIPEDIA

Dedicated to the boys from South Carolina for their action at the Crater in Petersburg.

Petersburg, Virginia.

Fred takes great photos but he says he needs a new girlfriend to get him out these days, and Rebecca is looking for a good working man...

 

More from our Trash the Dress outing last Monday. She wanted a grunge look...

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.

   

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Dedicated to my Flickr friend ~BostonBill~ .....

Dedicated to St. Rumbold, Mechelen’s landmark gothic cathedral dates mainly from the 15th century, when the city prospered from the wool trade.

 

February 1997

Rollei 35 camera

Kodak Ektachrome 100 film.

LEGOLAND Windsor a theme park dedicated to children aged 3-12 years old and of course big kid adults.

An inspirational land where the kids are the hero and adults relive their childhood.

The fun never stops and imagination knows no bounds, a family attraction like no other.

Set in 150 acres of beautiful parkland, LEGOLAND Windsor is a unique family theme park with over 55 interactive rides, live shows, building workshops, driving schools and attractions.

It's amazing what can be built with LEGO bricks - nearly 55 million of them!

From comical camels to fearsome fire-breathing dragons, world landmarks to musical pirates, young and old alike will be fascinated by the incredible LEGO models throughout the park.

Fun Facts about LEGOLAND Windsor

There are 34 LEGO pieces in an average Miniland figure.

The largest model in Miniland is the Canary Wharf Tower which is 5.2 metres tall and took 3 model makers 850 hours to complete using 200,000 LEGO Bricks!

The smallest models are the pigeons in Trafalgar Square which contain 5 LEGO bricks each

New in 2011 - Atlantis Submarine Voyage

Take a deep breath and submerge yourself in an underwater adventure.

Plunge into the depths with this world-first LEGO® submarine ride and immerse yourself in a magical underwater adventure.

So what’s New in 2012

STAR WARS MINILAND EXPERIENCE - The Force has arrived at LEGOLAND

Take a trip to a galaxy far, far away at the UK’s only indoor LEGO® Star Wars™ Miniland Experience at the LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort. Enjoy seven of the most famous scenes from the six live-action Star Wars movies, as well as a scene from the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars™ all made out of 1.5 million LEGO® bricks built in 1:20 scale. Follow the chronological path through the Star Wars timeline and retrace the major events of the beloved Saga featuring 2,000 LEGO® models, authentic sounds and lighting effects in the ultimate LEGO® Star Wars experience.

 

LEGOLAND WINDSOR RESORT HOTEL - Now open

 

An exciting LEGO adventure awaits you, as the amazing 150 room, fully themed LEGOLAND Hotel opens at LEGOLAND Windsor RESORT!

Staying overnight at the new LEGOLAND Windsor Resort Hotel is a must for all LEGO fans. From the spectacular dragon-guarded entrance and interactive LEGO features through to the brightly coloured pirate splash pool and fully themed bedrooms, the new hotel will inspire imaginations and create laugh-out loud memories. With dedicated indoor play areas, entertainment and a buffet-style restaurant serving child-friendly meals, it’s the perfect family treat.

Bindhyabasini, one of the oldest temples in the Pokhara valley, has an immense cultural value. The temple is dedicated to Goddess Bhagawati. Bhagavati is a popular deity - also in the Indian states of Kerala, Goa and Konkan. It can be used to refer any of the Hindu goddesses like Durga, Kannaki, Parvati, Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Kali. In Goa, Bhagavati generally refers to the Mahishasurmardini form of Shakti.

 

Bindhyabasini is considered as one of the main and foremost Shaktipiths of western Nepal. Situated at a small hill-lock in between the main old market and Bagar it is at a height of 3000 ft. above from the sea level.

 

Pokhara (Nepali: पोखरा) is the second largest city of Nepal after Kathmandu. It is the headquarters of Kaski District, Gandaki Zone and the Western Development Region. It lies 200 km west of Kathmandu; its altitude varies from 780 m to 1350 m. Three out of the ten highest mountains in the world — Dhaulagiri, Annapurna I and Manaslu — are within a linear distance of 50 km from the city. Due to its proximity to the Annapurna mountain range, the city is also a base for trekkers undertaking the Annapurna Circuit through the ACAP region of the Annapurna ranges in the Himalayas.

 

Pokhara is home to many Gurkha soldiers. It is the most expensive city in the country, with a Cost of Living Index of 95.

 

GEOGRAPHY

Pokhara is in the northwestern corner of the Pokhara Valley, which is a widening of the Seti Gandaki valley that lies in the midland region (Pahad) of the Himalayas. In this region the mountains rise very quickly and within 30 km, the elevation rises from 1,000 m to over 7,500 m. As a result of this sharp rise in altitude the area of Pokhara has one of the highest precipitation rates in the country (3,350 mm/year to 5600 mm/year in Lumle). Even within the city there is a noticeable difference in rainfall between the south and the north of the city, the northern part of the city situated at the foothills of the mountains experiences proportionally higher amount of precipitation. The Seti Gandaki is the main river flowing through the city. The Seti Gandaki (White River) and its tributaries have created several gorges and canyons in and around the whole city which gives intriguingly long sections of terrace features to the city and surrounding areas. These long sections of terraces are interrupted by gorges which are hundreds of meters deep. The Seti gorge runs through the whole city from north to south and then west to east and at places these gorges are only a few metres wide. In the north and south, the canyons are wider.n the south the city borders on Phewa Tal (4.4 km2) at an elevation of about 827 m above sea level, and Lumle at 1,740 m in the north of the city touches the base of the Annapurna mountain range. Pokhara, the city of lakes, is the second largest city of Nepal after Kathmandu. 3 eight-thousand meter tall peaks (Dhaulagiri, Annapurna, Manaslu) can be seen from the city. The Machhapuchhre (Fishtail) with an elevation of 6,993 m is the closest to the city. The porous underground of the Pokhara valley favours the formation of caves and several caves can be found within the city limits. In the south of the city, a tributary of the Seti flowing out of the Phewa Lake disappears at Patale Chhango (पाताले छाँगो, Nepali for Hell's Falls, also called Davis Falls, after someone who supposedly fell into the falls) into an underground gorge, to reappear 500 metres further south. To the south-east of Pokhara city is the municipality of Lekhnath, a recently established town in the Pokhara valley, home to Begnas Lake.

 

CLIMATE

The climate of the city is sub-tropical; however, the elevation keeps temperatures moderate. Summer temperatures average between 25 to 33 °C, in winter around - 2 to 15 °C. Pokhara and nearby areas receive a high amount of precipitation. Lumle, 25 miles from the Pokhara city center, receives the highest amount of rainfall (> 5600 mm/year) in the country. Snowfall is not observed in the valley, but surrounding hills experience occasional snowfall in the winter. Summers are humid and mild; most precipitation occurs during the monsoon season (July - September). Winter and spring skies are generally clear and sunny.

 

HISTORY

Pokhara lies on an important old trading route between China and India. In the 17th century it was part of the Kingdom of Kaski which was one of the Chaubise Rajya (24 Kingdoms of Nepal, चौबिसे राज्य) ruled by a branch of the Shah Dynasty. Many of the hills around Pokhara still have medieval ruins from this time. In 1786 Prithvi Narayan Shah added Pokhara into his kingdom. It had by then become an important trading place on the routes from Kathmandu to Jumla and from India to Tibet.Pokhara was envisioned as a commercial center by the King of Kaski in the mid 18th century A.D. when Newars of Bhaktapur migrated to Pokhara, upon being invited by the king, and settled near main business locations such as Bindhyabasini temple, Nalakomukh and Bhairab Tole. Most of the Pokhara, at the time, was largely inhabited by Khas (Brahmin, Chhetri, Thakuri and Dalits), the major communities were located in Parsyang, Malepatan, Pardi and Harichowk areas of modern Pokhara and the Majhi community near the Phewa Lake. The establishment of a British recruitment camp brought larger Magar and Gurung communities to Pokhara. At present the Khas, Gurung (Tamu) and Magar form the dominant community of Pokhara. There is also a sizeable Newari population in the city. A small Muslim community is located on eastern fringes of Pokhara generally called Miya Patan. Batulechaur in the far north of Pokhara is home to the Gandharvas or Gaaineys (the tribe of the musicians).

 

The nearby hill villages around Pokhara are a mixed community of Khas and Gurung. Small Magar communities are also present mostly in the southern outlying hills. Newar community is almost non-existent in the villages of outlying hills outside the Pokhara city limits.

 

From 1959 to 1962 approximately 300,000 exiles entered Nepal from neighbouring Tibet following its annexation by China. Most of the Tibetan exiles then sought asylum in Dharamshala and other Tibetan exile communities in India. According to UNHCR, since 1989, approximately 2500 Tibetans cross the border into Nepal each year, many of whom arrive in Pokhara typically as a transit to Tibetan exile communities in India. About 50,000 - 60,000 Tibetan exiles reside in Nepal, and approximately 20,000 of the exiled Tibetans live in one of the 12 consolidated camps, 8 in Kathmandu and 4 in and around Pokhara. The four Tibetan settlements in Pokhara are Jampaling, Paljorling, Tashi Ling, and Tashi Palkhel. These camps have evolved into well built settlements, each with a gompa (Buddhist monastery), chorten and its particular architecture, and Tibetans have become a visible minority in the city.

 

Until the end of the 1960s the town was only accessible by foot and it was considered even more a mystical place than Kathmandu. The first road was completed in 1968 (Siddhartha Highway) after which tourism set in and the city grew rapidly. The area along the Phewa lake, called Lake Side, has developed into one of the major tourism hubs of Nepal.

  

TEMPLES, GUMBAS AND CHURCHES

There are numerous temples and gumbas in and around pokhara valley. Many temples serve as combined places of worship for Hindus and Buddhists. Some of the popular temples and gumbas are:

 

Tal Barahi Temple (located on the island in the middle of Phewa Lake)

Bindhyabasini Temple

Sitaladevi Temple

Mudula Karki Kulayan Mandir

Sunpadeli Temple (Kaseri)

Bhadrakali Temple

Kumari Temple

Akalaa Temple

Kedareshwar Mahadev Mani Temple

Matepani Gumba

World peace pagoda

Akaladevi Temple

Monastery (Hemja)

Nepal Christiya Ramghat Church, established in 1952 (2009 BS), in Ramghat area of Pokhara is also the first church in Nepal.

 

LOCATION

The municipality of Pokhara spans 12 km from north to south and 6 km from east to west but, unlike the capital Kathmandu, it is quite loosely built up and still has much green space. The valley is approximately divided into four to Six parts by the rivers Seti, Bijayapur, Bagadi, Fusre and Hemja. The Seti Gandaki flowing through the city from north to south divides the city roughly in two halves with the business area of Chipledunga in the middle, the old town centre of Bagar in the north and the tourist district of Lakeside (Baidam) to the south all lying on the western side of the river.[38] The gorge through which the river flows is crossed at five places: K.I. Singh Pul, Mahendra Pul and Prithvi Highway Pul from north to south of the city. The floor of the valley is plain, resembles Terai due to its gravel-like surface, and has slanted orientation from northwest to southeast. The city is surrounded by the hills overlooking the entire valley.

 

Phewa Lake was slightly enlarged by damming which poses a risk of silting up due of the inflow during the monsoon. The outflowing water is partially used for hydropower generation. The dam collapsed in 1974 which resulted in draining of its water and exposing the land leading to illegal land encroachment; since then the dam has been rebuilt. The power plant is about 100 m below at the bottom of the Phusre Khola gorge. Water from Phewa is diverted for irrigation into the southern Pokhara valley. The eastern Pokhara Valley receives irrigation water through a canal running from a reservoir by the Seti in the north of the city. Some parts of Phewa lake are used as commercial cage fisheries. The lake is currently being encroached upon by invasive water hyacinth (जलकुम्भी झार).

 

Pokhara is known to be a popular tourist destination. The tourist district is along the north shore of the Phewa lake (Baidam, Lakeside and Damside). It is mainly made up of small shops, non-star tourist hotels, restaurants and bars. Most upscale and starred hotels are on the southern shore of the Phewa Lake and southeastern fringes of the city where there are more open lands and unhindered view of the surrounding mountains. Most of the tourists visiting Pokhara trek to the Annapurna Base Camp and Mustang. To the east of the Pokhara valley, in Lekhnath municipality, there are seven smaller lakes such as Begnas Lake and Rupa Lake. Begnas Lake is known for its fishery projects.

 

TOURISM AND ECONOMY

After the occupation of Tibet by China in 1950 and the Indo-China war in 1962, the old trading route to India from Tibet through Pokhara became defunct. Today only few caravans from Mustang arrive in Bagar. In recent decades, Pokhara has become a major tourist destination, it is considered as tourism capital of Nepal. In South Asia mainly for adventure tourism and the base for the famous Annapurna Circuit trek. Thus, a major contribution to the local economy comes from the tourism and hospitality industry. A lot of tourists visit Pokhara every year. Tourism industry is one of major source of income for local people and the city. There are two 5-star hotels and approximately 305 other hotels that includes five 3-star, fifteen 2-star and non-star hotels in the city.

 

Many medieval era temples (Barahi temple, Bindhyabasini, Bhadrakali, Talbarahi, Guheshwori, Sitaldevi, Gita mandir temple, Bhimsen temple) and old Newari houses are still a part of the city (Bagar, Bindhyabasini, Bhadrakali, Bhairab Tol, etc.). The modern commercial city centres are at Chipledhunga, New Road, Prithvi Chowk and Mahendrapul (recently renamed as Bhimsen Chowk).

 

The city promotes two major hilltops as its viewpoints to view the city and surrounding panorama, World Peace Pagoda built in 1996 across the southern shore of Phewa lake and Sarangkot which is located northwest of the city. In February 2004, International Mountain Museum (IMM) was opened for public in Ratopahiro to boost city's tourism attractions. Other museums in the city are Pokhara Regional Museum, an ethnographic museum, Annapurna Natural History Museum which houses preserved specimens of flora and fauna, and contains particularly extensive collection of the butterflies, found in the Western and ACAP region of Nepal; and Gurkha Museum featuring history of the Gurkha Soldiers. The city also has recently been adorned with a bungee jumping site (second in Nepal) titled Water Touch Bunjee Jumping. Also, a cable car service has begun construction joining Fewa Lake with World Peace Stupa led by the government of Nepal which is expected to boost the tourism industry of the place exponentially.

 

Since the 1990s Pokhara has experienced rapid urbanization, as a result service sector industries have increasingly contributed to the local economy overtaking the traditional agriculture. An effect of urbanization is seen in high real estate prices, which among the highest in the country. The major contributors to the economy of Pokhara are manufacturing and service sector including tourism; agriculture and the foreign and domestic remittances. Tourism, service sector & manufacturing contributes approximately 58% to the economy, remittances about 20% and the agriculture nearly 16%.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Victorian Alpine Huts survey, for Parks Victoria 1994-5.

Built in 1937 for the Ski Club of Victoria and dedicated to a pioneer skier, Cleve Cole, this hut was illustrated in the club's journal `Schuss' as a rubble stone gabled building with casement widows and stone chimney. Larger than most cattlemen's huts, the design had a porch and wood box, a living space with a 10 person bunk at one end and a bunk room with heating slabs at the other. In the centre was the fireplace. A kitchen and eating alcove adjoined on the south side{ see also Stephenson: 206}. A memorial stone on the wall of this hut was inscribed with the words: `In Memory of Cleve Cole Died 1936'{ Stephenson: 214}. His death arose from a disastrous skiing trip across the Bogong High Plains with (Percy E ) Mick Hull and Howard Michell, all three being very experienced{ MP p.70}. The architect was Malcolm McColl, Tom Fisher and Harold Doughty acted as labourers on the construction while the stonework was formed by Art Downer and the foreman was M McLaren{ Stephenson (1982): 360f.}. McLaren remained on the site from the 21 February to 17 May 1937 to complete the work. The foundations were in place by March 1937. The huts origins are linked with the August General Meeting of the SCV when a committee, consisting of Gordon Brown (chair), Harold Brockhoff, V Letcher (Vic. Railways), AW Shands, D Gray and D Stogdale, was initiated to raise funds for a memorial hut on Mt Bogong. Other members coopted to the committee were H Doughty (scouts), AW Keown (Vict. Railways), Miss BM Kermode (treasurer and part of the Government Tourist Bureau) and M McColl (architect, designer of hut). Apart from its memorial function the hut would allow access to `really excellent ski runs, better than exist elsewhere in Victoria, becoming accessible to skiing enthusiasts on the highest mountain in the State'{ `Australian & New Zealand Ski Year Book' 1937, p51}. This could not be achieved without `a substantial building' and stone was opted for as the least likely to deteriorate in those conditions, resulting in a cost estimate of 500 pounds and a public appeal. Within 6 months, up until March 1937, they had raised 350 pounds and after a visit to the State Tourist Committee, they obtained 200 pound State Unemployment Fund grant for use to employ local labour in the hut construction. McColl (architect) and Doughty worked on erecting the hut in the summer of 1936-7, preparing three construction stages: the first being the public bunks (for 10) and living space (with fireplace), the second being a club bunk room served by heating slabs in the rear of the fireplace (locked, as club rooms), and the last stage was the kitchen, meal annexe and bathroom{ ibid.}. This plan also obtained approval from the SCV Hut & Trip sub-committee. This hut was one stage in a grand scheme for the mountain, one which might cause considerable controversy today. Then skiers used the Staircase Spur and Bivouac Hut to ascend to the slopes. This route was developed to Cole's plan which had meant the removal of `young timber which grows so vigorously along the crest of the ridge but more clearing and widening of the track was needed. A better solution was a new all-weather access road up the Big River Valley or another around the north or south face of the mountain and entering Camp Valley below the tree line ibid.}. Meanwhile the hut site access time had been cut down by an hour by road and track improvements via Staircase such that 4 hours on horse and 5 hours on foot from Cooper's property to the site was typical{ ibid.}. The Lone Scout section of the Boy Scouts Association had provided for the transport cost of the 11 tons of building materials from Melbourne to Tawonga (Cooper's). Local carter, Dudley Walker, packed the materials across the next 8 mile stage, costing some 19 pounds per ton and taking 6 weeks (February 21- April 7th) with 8 horses. Bright builder, George Sharpe who was experienced in stone construction, was selected to provide quantities and labour costing for the hut. Building materials were provided by H Parsons P/L at cost and D&W Chandler (Fitzroy hardware merchants) also provided discounts. The shell was of stone, with 2 feet high, 15" thick foundation walls set in reinforced concrete, with a damp course and the 12" thick walls built on them. Steps led to the entry area which had a large wood box and ski rack (20 pairs) and from there to the living area with its stone fireplace lined with fire bricks and flanked with two large drying cabinets (heated by slabs in the side of the fireplace and fitted with shelves for boots and hooks for clothes). Water from a spring some 420' distant, was piped into the kitchen bathroom section with its sink and draining board, shelves and a wash basin. There was also a colonial oven, a washing recess and hand pump, and a shower. This hut was thought to be the first to use double casements (double glazing) in a snow resort. The floor level was elevated and the roof was kept to a shallow grade to stop the snow from sliding off and building up around the entrance and windows. The final cost would be about 600 pounds. `The hut has been erected on a site which has a most commanding outlook with glorious views in all directions, has substantial firewood supply right on the spot and is very easily approached from the summit of the mountain'{ ibid.}. A little over 10 years later, the hut had deteriorated considerably to such an extent that its structural soundness would be questionable unless urgent work was done in the Summer of 1948-9. So reported its designed, Malcolm McColl. The main problem was a lack of flashing to one side of the chimney which allowed large quantities of snow to penetrate a 2" gap into the hut ceiling. The roofing also needed renailing and the stone chimney itself was not only too short (requiring an extension pipe to stop it smoking) but had nearly disintegrated. It needed rebuilding. The front steps had been almost destroyed as the mortar had not set in the original construction. The last painting was in 1941 and this too needed redoing at least annually. The putty was falling out and the window sashes coming to bits{ DCNR file H.019905 Report on Inspection of Cleve Cole Memorial Hut November 28-30 1948}. McColl thought that if the standard of maintenance was not kept up the users of the hut would not take care of it. In 1949, the SCV revealed plans to reduce the wear on the hut by building another unlocked shelter with two bunks and a stove nearby. The public would then be charged for access to the original hut on the same scale as members were for the club section of the hut. The money would go into a trust fund to maintain the building. The hut was thought to be the only comfortable accommodation on the Mountain and must remain accessible to the public if only to carry out the development plans of its namesake{ DCNR file H.019905 letter from SCV (H Cartledge) 13.12.49}. With the rapid development of Kiewa scheme and all its infrastructure, more people would soon have easy access to the area. Along with the repointing and rebuilding parts of the stonework, painting the woodwork `new green', renailing the roofing and inserting flashing, other works planned included provision of new high pressure chrome plated taps to basin and sink, one inch boarding to porch interior walls, new glass panes and puttying, new Whitco casement stays to all windows, painting of ceiling with Muraltone along with other interior woodwork, painting the kitchen and shower in light tones, removal of the wall between the kitchen and meal alcove and install kitchen bench around the alcove with shelves above, install shelves around bunks, repair Caneite ceiling and strapping, decrease number of bunks in clubroom and provide storage instead, and wired glass to lower bunk windows. The SCV also reacted to the complaints of local people over the locking up of the hut. The SCV pointed to the generous help provided by the old generation of cattlemen...

Dedicated to my wife,

This is the first gift which I gave her in March 2001 when she was my fiance. :)

Piazza Lavoro, designed by artist Ned Smyth, was dedicated in Allegheny Landing on June 12, 1984. Along with the nearby Mythic Source, Piazza Lavoro was commissioned by the Heinz family and H. J. Heinz Company in honor of the contributions of Pittsburgh to American labor history and its role in the nation's development. On the upper level, Piazza Lavoro suggests the heights to which civilization may be elevated. On the lower level, Mythic Source refers to life's aquatic origins and the sustaining powers of the waters.

 

The 25-foot by 30-foot by 30-foot sculptural work consists of a series of four mosaic-tiled, curved architectural facades which encircle a monolithic abstract vertical form made of black marble aggregate. The facades are adorned with figures and nature life meant to represent labor and its role the development of this country and remind the viewer of the delicate balance between civilization and nature. On one wall, there are two nude male figures, one holding a hammer in his proper left hand, his proper right hand encircling his head as he bends over; the other male figure wearing an expression of distress, holds his proper left hand up to his forehead. On the next wall, a single nude male figure is depicted in profile as he walks toward the edge of the wall. He holds a hammer down at his side with his proper left hand, his proper right hand encircles his head and he looks down at the ground. The next wall contains three open archways leading to the river. A circular window appears over the center archway. Palm trees are depicted between each of the archways. The next wall features three figures, two nude females and one nude male, who are involved in building a structure. One of the female figures kneels in front of a bucket located in the bottom left corner, the other female figure is up on top of the structure with a bucket beside her. With her proper left hand, she reaches down to the male figure who is climbing up a set of stairs carrying a square container on his proper left shoulder. A circular window appears over the three figures.

The Victoria Memorial (Victoria Memorial Hall of fame)a large marble building in Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal, India which was built between 1906 and 1921. It is dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria (1819–1901) and is now a museum and tourist destination under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture. The Memorial lies on the Maidan (grounds) by the bank of the Hooghly river, near Jawaharlal Nehru road.

 

HISTORY

In January 1901, on the death of Queen Victoria, George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston and Viceroy of India, suggested the creation of a fitting memorial. He proposed the construction of a grand building with a museum and gardens. Curzon said,

 

"Let us, therefore, have a building, stately, spacious, monumental and grand, to which every newcomer in Calcutta will turn, to which all the resident population, European and Native, will flock, where all classes will learn the lessons of history, and see revived before their eyes the marvels of the past."

 

The Prince of Wales, later King George V, laid the foundation stone on 4 January 1906 and it was formally opened to the public in 1921. In 1912, before the construction of the Victoria Memorial was finished, King George V announced the transfer of the capital of India from Calcutta to New Delhi. Thus, the Victoria Memorial was built in what would be a provincial city rather than a capital.

 

FINANCE

The Victoria Memorial was funded by many Indian states, individuals of the British Raj and the British government in London. The princes and people of India responded generously to Curzon's appeal for funds and the total cost of construction of this monument amounting to one crore, five lakhs of rupees, was entirely derived from their voluntary subscriptions.

 

DESIGN

The Victoria Memorial's architect was William Emerson (1843–1924), president of the Royal Institute of British Architects. The design is in the Indo-Saracenic revivalist style. This style uses a mixture of British and Mughal elements as well as Venetian, Egyptian, Deccani and Islamic architectural influences. The building is 103 m by 69 m and rises to a height of 56 m. It is constructed of white Makrana marble. The gardens of the Victoria Memorial were designed by Lord Redesdale and David Prain. Emerson's assistant, Vincent J. Esch designed the bridge of the north aspect and the garden gates.

 

WILLIAM EMERSON

Emerson was a pupil of William Burges and an architectural theorist. He first visited India in about 1860. Emerson designed the Crawford Market, Mumbai (1865); the All Saints Cathedral, Allahabad (1871); and Muir College (1873) Emerson moved to the princely state of Bhavnagar, Gujrat and designed the Takhtsingji Hospital and the Nilambagh Palace. There, he learned to include Hindu architectural elements in his works.

 

VINCENT J. ESCH

In 1899, Esch was appointed assistant engineer at the Bengal Nagpur Railway, a job which gave him much practical experience in large-scale construction and costings. In 1902, Emerson engaged Esch to sketch his original design for the Victoria Memorial. After designing the temporary exhibition building for the Delhi Durbar of 1903, Curzon found Esch to be a suitable assistant for Emerson. Esch had also won a competition to design the Bengal Club building at Chowringhee and the Bengal-Napur Railway head office building at Garden Reach.

 

CONSTRUCTION

The construction of the Victoria Memorial was delayed by Curzon's departure from India in 1905 with a subsequent loss of local enthusiasm for the project and by the need for testing of the foundations. The Victoria Memorial's foundation stone was set in 1906 and the building opened in 1921. The work of construction was entrusted to Messrs. Martin & Co. of Calcutta. Work on the superstructure began in 1910. After 1947, when India gained independence, additions were made.

 

EXTERNAL DECORATIVE FEATURES

Atop the central dome of the Victoria Memorial is the 4.9 m figure of the Angel of Victory. Surrounding the dome are allegorical sculptures including Art, Architecture, Justice, and Charity and above the North Porch are Motherhood, Prudence and Learning.

 

TAJ MAHAL

Emerson may not have taken, literally, from the Taj Mahal but there is a reminiscence. Like the Taj Mahal, the Victoria Memorial is built of white Makrana marble and is a memorial to an empress. In design, it echos the Taj Mahal with its dome, four subsidiaries, octagonal domed chattris, high portals, terrace, and domed corner towers.

 

EXHIBITIONS

The Victoria Memorial has a number of galleries, 25 in all. These include the royal gallery, the national leaders gallery, the portrait gallery, central hall, the sculpture gallery, the arms and armoury gallery and the newer, Calcutta gallery. The Victoria Memorial has the largest single collection of the works of Thomas Daniell (1749–1840) and his nephew, William Daniell (1769–1837). The Victoria Memorial also has a collection of rare and antiquarian books such as the illustrated works of William Shakespeare, the Arabian Nights and the Rubaiyat by Omar Khayyam as well as books about kathak dance and thumri music by Wazid Ali Shah. However, the galleries and their exhibitions, the programmatic elements of the Memorial do not compete with the purely architectural spaces or voids.

 

ROYAL GALLERY

The Royal Gallery displays a number of portraits of Victoria and Prince Albert and, paintings illustrating their lives, by Jansen and Winterhalter. The oil paintings are copies of those in London. They include Victoria receiving the sacrament at her coronation in Westminster Abbey (June 1838); Victoria's marriage to Albert in the Chapel Royal at St. James' Palace (1840); the christening of the Prince of Wales in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle (1842); the marriage of the Prince of Wales (Edward VII) to Princess Alexandra (1863); Victoria at the First Jubilee service at Westminster Abbey (1887) and the Second Jubilee service at St. Paul's Cathedral (June 1897). Victoria's childhood rosewood pianoforte and her correspondence desk from Windsor Castle stand in the centre of the room. Edward VII presented these items to the Victoria Memorial. On the south wall hangs the Russian artist, Vasily Vereshchagin's oil painting of the state entry of Edward VII, (then Prince of Wales), into Jaipur in 1876.

 

CALCUTTA GALLERY

In the mid 1970s, the matter of a new gallery devoted to the visual history of Calcutta was promoted by Saiyid Nurul Hasan, the minister for education. In 1986, Hasan became the governor of West Bengal and chairman of the board of trustees of the Victoria Memorial. In November, 1988, Hasan hosted an international seminar on the Historical perspectives for the Calcutta tercentenary. The Calcutta gallery concept was agreed and a design was developed leading to the opening of the gallery in 1992. The Calcutta gallery houses a visual display of the history and development of Calcutta from Job Charnock (1630–1692) of the English East India company to 1911, when the capital of India was transferred to New Delhi. The gallery also has a life size diorama of Chitpur road in the late 1800s.

 

GARDENS

The gardens cover an area of 64 acres (260,000 m2). They are maintained by a team of 21 gardeners. They were designed by Redesdale and David Prain. On Esch's bridge, between narrative panels by Gascombe John, there is a bronze statue of Victoria, by George Frampton. Victoria is seated on her throne. She is wearing the robes of the Star of India. In the paved quadrangles and elsewhere around the building, other statues commemorate Hastings, Cornwallis, Clive, Wellesley, and Dalhousie. Approaching the Victoria Memorial building from the south, visitors pass the Edward VII memorial arch. Upon the arch is a bronze equestrian statue of Edward VII by Bertram Mackennal and, a marble statue of Curzon by Frederic William Pomeroy. The garden contains statues of dignitaries such as Bentinck, governor-general of India (1828–1835); Ripon, governor-general of India (1880–84); and Rajendra Nath Mookerjee, a pioneer industrialist of Bengal.

 

WIKIPEDIA

DAY 1 of the FINALE to the 2021 Motorsport Season and the end of the Season Brings us once again Back to Brands Hatch for a weekend Dedicated to the Enduro KA Series with Many Ford KA'S Ready to do Battle on the Track along with other Support Races such as Champion of Brands MSVT Track Day Trophy and MSV Super Cup Championship to name Just a Few.

 

With a Full Day of Motorsport on the Circuit Each Driver was Getting their Car Ready and making sure they had a Really Hardy Breakfast Before Getting into their Cars to Begin their Respective Qualifying Sessions for the Day.

 

Lets Get to it and See what The Last Event of the Motorsport Season Brings and who has Taken the First Pole of the Weekend.

 

Champion Of Brands-(Qualifying)

 

First Up onto the Circuit was The Champion of Brands and these Cars are Formula Ford Based and can be Very Quick in a Straight Line and through the Corner. With Cars such as the Van Diemen JL13 and the Ray GR16 Thease Cars and Drivers know how to Really Push Hard and Get Superb Results.

 

Lets Find Out who Took Pole and By How Much

 

In First Place Taking the First Pole Position of the Weekend was (Morgan Quinn) in his Formula Ford 1600 Kent with a Best Lap Time of 50.561 and a Top Speed of 86.00mph. Brilliant Work there Morgan Fantastic Lap to Start the Weekend of with a Bang.

 

In Second Place was (Lucas Romanek) in his Van Diemen JL13 with a Best Lap Time of 50.594 and a Top Speed of 85.95mph. Amazing Drive there Lucas Fantastic Work and a Very Good Spot on the Front Row for Race 1.

 

In Third Place was (Johnny Cochran) in his Formula Ford LA10 with a Best Lap Time of 51.250 and a Top Speed of 84.85mph. Great Drive there Johnny Fantastic Car Control and a Brilliant Lap to Complete The Top Three.

 

A Really Great First Qualifying Session of the Day with the Likes of Morgan Lucas and Johnny all taking the Top Three Spots in Qualifying but will anyone Else in the Field be able to Beat them off the Line into the First Corner at Paddock Hill Bend?

 

Lets Find Out

  

Champion Of Brands-(Race 1 Results)

 

After a Thrilling Qualifying Session which saw the likes of Morgan Quinn take Pole Position from Second Place Lucas Romanek with Johnny Cochran in Third Position in a Very Close Battle at the Top, it was Now Time to see which of thease Top Three Drivers could Defend their Positions thought the Race and who would be Brave Enough to make a Challenge for the Podium.

 

In First Place Taking the Victory was (Lucas Romanek) in his Van Diemen JL13 with a Best Lap Time of 50.711 and an Average Speed of 84.44mph. Congratulations Lucas a Really Well Deserved Win Under Immense Pressure Thought The Entire Race from Morgan Quinn. Brilliant Drive.

 

In Second Place was (Morgan Quinn) in his FF 1600 Kent with a Best Lap Time of 50.564 and an Average Speed of 84.42mph. Super Job out there Morgan Only 0.131 Seconds Behind Lucas and Some Really Good Defending and Battling From both of You Thought the Race. Fantastic Drive and Well Deserved.

 

In Third Place was (Benjamin Cochran) in his Formula Ford LA10 with a Best Lap Time of 51.095 and an Average Speed of 83.99mph. Great Work there Benjamin Keeping Hold of that P3 Position and Doing some Incredible work to Keep that Car on the Tarmac in Conditions that were Already Quite Dark.

 

A Really Thrilling Race to Open up the Weekend with the Likes of Lucas, Morgan and Benjamin all Taking Superb Victories in Race 1 as Well As Proving Thrilling Battles at The Top End of the Field.

 

Really Well Done to (Morgan Quinn) who also Took the Fastest Lap of the Race an Incredible (50.564) Second Lap Around The Famous Indy Circuit. Amazing Driving from Morgan.

 

A Big Congratulations to All of the other Drivers who also Took Part Your Passion and Dedication is Immense.

 

With One Last Race to Go will the likes of Lucas Romanek be able to Make it 2 out of 2 Wins for Champion of Brands or will the likes of both Benjamin and Morgan try to take that Last Victory Away from Him?

 

Lets Find Out

  

Champion Of Brands-(Race 2 Results FINAL)

 

In First Place taking the Last Victory for Champion of Brands Is (Lucas Romanek) in his Van Diemen JL13 with a Best Lap Time of 50.825 and an Average Speed of 83.45mph. Congratulations Once Again Lucas Two out of Two Wins and no Doubt a Very Happy Team and Family Awaiting You Before and After the Podium Fantastic Driving All Weekend.

 

In Second Place was (Morgan Quinn) in his FF 1600 Kent with a Best Lap Time of 50.754 and an Average Speed of 82.99mph. Very Well Driven there Morgan Great to See Such an Intense Battle Between you and Lucas for Victory in Conditions that were Almost Impossible to see anything in. Incredible Dedication and Drive.

 

In Third Place was (Benjamin Cochran) in his Formula Ford LA10 with a Best Lap Time of 51.862 and an Average Speed of 81.70mph. Nice Work there Benjamin Fantastic Driving in both Qualifying and The Two Races with a Brilliant P3 Finnish to Round off The Weekend for Champion of Brands.

 

What a Fantastic Day it has been for Champion of Brands seeing some Incredible Racing Action and a huge amount of Competitiveness from the Likes of Lucas Morgan and Benjamin who All Drove Fantastically and Put on One Hell of a Good Show.

 

A Huge Congratulations to both Lucas and Morgan as Well Who were in a Class of their Own at The Front of the Field Racing in Deteriorating Lighting Conditions with no Front Headlights on their Formula Fords to Light their Way around The Indy Circuit they Both Drove Insanely Well.

 

MSV Super Cup-(Qualifying)

 

Next Up onto the Circuit for the Day was the MSV Super Cup Championship and with a Wide Range and Variety of Racing Cars on Display it will be Very Interesting to see how many different Battles will Develop thought Both Qualifying and The Race.

 

From BMW E36's to Seat Super Copa's and even a Peugeot 205 GTI This Series has a Huge Amount of Variety Racing Within it.

 

Lets Take a Look at Qualifying and See Who Came Where

 

In First Place taking Pole Position was (Darren Goes) in his Seat Cup Racer with a Best Lap Time of 52.257 and a Top Speed of 82.21mph. Great Work there Darren Really Pushing the Car Hard and Having to Extract Everything from both Car and Driver to take P1. Super Job.

 

In Second Place was the Pairing of (A Bradley and D Bradley) in their BMW E36 with a Best Lap Time of 52.621 and a Top Speed of 82.64mph. Really Well Driven Gentlemen Very Close to Darren looking Forward to a Competitive First Race Between you All.

 

In Third Place was (Gary Hufford) in his BMW E46 M3 with a Best Lap Time of 52.723 and a Top Speed of 82.48mph. Nice Work there Gary Keeping that Fast and Capable BMW on the Track Looked to be no Easy Task but what a Fantastic Position to Start the First Race in.

 

Another Really Close Qualifying Session Between the likes of Darren Goes and the Pairing of A Brandley and D Bradley at the Top with Third Place Gary Hufford Following Closely Behind them.

 

With Their Only Race of the Day Coming Up Next will Daren Be able to Fend off the Charging Pair of A Bradley and D Bradley to take Home Victory or Will the Likes of Gary Hufford Surprise them All and Take the Victory for Himself?

 

Let's Find Out!

 

MSV Super Cup-(Race 1 Results FINAL)

 

In First Place Taking Victory was (Darren Goes) in his Seat Cup Racer with a Best Lap Time of 52.891 and an Average Speed of 77.05mph. Congratulations Darren A Well Deserved Victory Under Immense Pressure the Entire Time and No Doubt a Very Proud and Happy Family Waiting for Him Back in the Paddock.

 

In Second Place was the Pairing of (Brytchta/Smith) in their Seat Super Copa with a Best Lap Time of 52.594 and an Average Speed of 77.04mph. Great Drive from Both of You and Keeping Right on the Heels of Darren All The Time as well as Putting up a Huge Fight for First Place. Superb Drive and a Well Deserved P2 Finnish.

 

In Third Place was the Pairing of (A Bradley and D Bradley) in their BMW E36 with a Best Lap Time of 52.680 and an Average Speed of 76.93mph. Great Work to the Both of You Putting Pressure on Second Place Brytchta and Smith.

 

What an Intense Finnish to the Super Cup Championship with the Likes of Darren Goes Brytchta/Smith and A Bradley and D Bradley All Taking Superb Podium Finishes and no Doubt Going Back Home to a Very Happy and Proud Family of Great People.

 

Congratulations to All of the Other Drivers who were Also Out there Giving it their All You Guys are What Brings to Sprit of Every Racing Series to Life. Keep Working Hard and I'm Sure your Time Will Come.

 

MSVT Trackday Championship-(Qualifying)

 

Next Up was the Track Day Championship and with Another Massive Grid of 32 Cars from All Different Makes such as BMW Volkswagen Renault Ford and Caterham it was Going to be a Dynamic Qualifying Session with Many Different Cars and Drivers All Battling for Positions thought the Qualifying Session.

 

Lets Find Out who Came Out on Top and Who will be Starting on the Front Row for what Promises to be a Very Exciting and Close Race Later on.

 

In First Place taking the Victory and The Fastest Lap was (Scott Parkin) in his VW Golf TDI with a Best Lap Time of 54.419 and a Top Speed of 79.90mph. Congratulations Scott a Brilliant Pole Lap and Fantastic Car Control thought Every Corner.

 

In Second Place was (Chris Payne) in his Caterham Supersport with a Best Lap Time of 54.540 and an Average Speed of 79.73mph. Awesome Drive there from Chris Keeping up at The Front with Scott and Trading Fastest Laps thought the Qualifying Session. I Think both of them are going to put on a Brilliant Display of Racing Later.

 

In Third Place was The Pairing of (Keen and Roberts) in their Honda Civic Type R with a Best Lap Time of 55.231 and a Top Speed of 78.73mph. Amazing Drive from Thease Two Both Pushing Hard and Securing a Brilliant P3 Position for The Race. Great Job.

 

What a Qualifying Session with the Likes of Scott Parkin and Chris Payne Both Looking to be Very Competitive and Ready to Take Each other Head On Come the Race. But Will the Pairing of Keen and Roberts Come in and Also do Battle with Them?

 

Lets Find Out!

 

MSVT Trackday Championship-(Race 1 Results FINAL)

 

In First Place taking the Victory was (Scott Parkin) in his VW Golf TDI with a Best Lap Time of 54.706 and an Average Speed of 70.47mph. Congratulations Scott what a Performance and a Really Dominant Display of Driving to take Home a Wonderful Victory.

 

In Second Place was (Chris Payne) in his Caterham Supersport with a Best Lap Time of 54.397 and an Average Speed of 70.35mph. Amazing Drive there Chris Really Working Hard to Keep that 2nd Position while Also Fighting Hard to take 1st away from Scott at the front during some Laps.

 

In Third Place was (John Lyne) in his BMW E36 328i with a Best Lap Time of 55.309 and an Average Speed of 68.87mph. Congratulations John P3 with a Very Clean and Perfectly Controlled Drive thought, Its so Great to See a New Face on the Podium and Taking Victory. His Family and Close Friends Will be Very Proud of Him Indeed.

 

Another Incredible Race Today with the Likes of Scott Chris and John All Taking Home Superb Victories and no Doubt some Fantastic Memories from the Days Events too.

 

A Big Congratulations to both the Pairing of Keen and Roberts too who also put in a Monstrous Qualifying Lap to Land P3 on the Gird. Finishing the Race in 8th is not too Bad but I'm sure they have a lot of Work to-do Back at the Workshop and Will Come Back Next Year with an even more Competitive Honda Ready to Go.

 

Finally Congratulations to the Many other Drivers who also Took Part in this Race You All Put in a Tone of Hard Work and Dedication and I'm Sure that Over Time We Will See Some of You also on the Podium Just like John Lyne Today.

 

MSVT Trackday Trophy-(Qualifying)

 

Now it was Time for The Penultimate Qualifying and Race of the Day for the Track Day Trophy. Just like with the Previous Track Day Championship Many of the Same cars that Competed Before Also Entered This Race Giving Some Drivers a Second change to Show their Skills and Talents on the Race Track.

 

Lets take a Look at Qualifying and See Who will be on Pole This Time.

 

In First Place Taking Pole Position and The Fastest Lap was The Pairing of (R. Parkin and S. Parkin) in their VW Golf with a Best Lap Time of 53.795 and a Top Speed of 80.83mph. Incredible Work by both of the Parkin Pair as Scott Parkin Previously Won in Super Cup and Now he takes His Second Pole Position of the Day! Brilliant Driving.

 

In Second Place was (Chris Kirby) in his Caterham 1.6 Super Sport with a Best Lap Time of 53.863 and a Top Speed of 80.73mph. Brilliant Driving there Chris Keeping the Two Parkins on their Toes and Almost Taking Away Pole Position from them by Just 0.068 at The Checkered Flag.

 

In Third Place was the Pair of (Palk and Pottinger) in their Reno Clio with a Best Lap Time of 54.757 and a Top Speed of 79.41mph. Very Well Done both Palk and Pottinger on a Well Deserved and Defended P3 Finish by Less than a Second to Start on the Second Row for The Race.

 

A Super Fast and Really Exciting Qualifying Session Once Again with the Pairing of R. Parkin and S. Parkin Taking Pole Position Followed Closely by Chris Kirby in Second Place and Finally The Pairing of Palk and Pottinger in Third Place.

 

With The Race Just Around the Corner Will it be the Pairing of R Parkin and Scott Parkin Taking Victory Once More or Will a New Challenger Appear to take the Fight right to the Front of the Field?

  

MSVT Trackday Trophy-(Race 1 Results FINAL)

 

In First Place Taking the Victory is (R.Parkin and S.Parkin) in their VW Golf with a Best Lap Time of 54.046 and an Average Speed of 74.44mph. What a Dominant Display of Driving from thease Two Drivers in a Class of their Own they Have Managed to Win in Both Trackday Championship and Trackday Trophy. Brilliant Driving Well Deserved.

 

In Second Place was (John Lyne) in his BMW E36 328 with a Best Lap Time of 55.415 and an Average Speed of 73.09mph. Congratulations Once Again John P2 Finish and a Lot of Smiles and Congratulations from the Family I'm sure when you Return to the Paddock. Great Driving All Weekend.

 

In Third Place was (Stewart Donavan) in his Toyota Celica with a Best Lap Time of 55.083 and an Average Speed of 73.08mph. Congratulations Stewart P3 and Another New Face on the Podium and a Brilliant Looking Celica too. Fantastic Driving Great Job.

 

What a Brilliant Race from the Trackday Trophy with the Likes of Scott Parkin and R Parkin Taking the Spoils on P1 Followed Closely by John Lyne in P2 and Finally Stewart Donavan in P3.

 

A Big Congratulations Once Again to All of the other Drivers who took Part and Fought their way Through the Field to Finnish at The Checkered Flag. Keep Racing and Keep Pushing.

 

Enduro KA -(Qualifying)

 

After a Long Days Racing and with Night Falling Fast The Headlights of The Enduro KA'S Began to Illuminate the Indy Circuit.

 

Every Part of the Track was a Wash with Darkness and The Only Thing Illuminating the Way for Each Driver was The Bright Headlights and LED'S Fitted to Each Car with some Teams and Driver Trying their Luck on the KA'S Standard Headlights to Brighten their Way to Victory.

 

A Silent Hum Came From the Engines as they Raced Around the Indy Circuit with Each Driver Pushing Hard to Set the Fastest Time Possible.

 

The Tension in the Air was Electrifying as Drivers Danced their Cars Through Traffic and Had Small Battles with One Another Trying to see what their Opponents Tactics were and How Brave each of Them Dare Go in Terms of Pace.

 

It Wasn't Long before Each Driver Began to Put their Right Foot Hard Down and Push their

73BHP KA To its Limits Trying Desperately to Grab Hold of Pole Position Ahead of Sundays Intense 8 Hour 500 Minute Race.

 

After a Really Hectic Day of Both Qualifying and Racing Lets Find Out Who Took The Last Pole of Today and Who Will be Starting on The Front Row for Tomorrow's 8 Hour Endurance Race.

 

In First Place Taking the Victory and pole Position was Team (IP Racings) (Adam Blair / Scott Parkin / Oliver Wilmot / Mark Witherington) in their Ford KA with a Best Lap Time of 1:02.845 and a Top Speed of 69.19mph. Congratulations IP Racing Fantastic Work and a Super Start to the Endurance Race at The Very Front of The Grid.

 

In Second Place Following Closely Behind by Just 0.261 Seconds was Team (JTR) Elliot Mason / Nick Tandy / David Mason / James Rhodes in their Ford KA with a Best Lap Time of 1:03.106 and a Top Speed of 68.90mph. Superb Job there JTR Fantastic Effort and Really Good Pace to Gain P2 on the Grid for Tomorrow.

 

In Third Place was Team (Octane Junkies) (Adam Smith / Martyn Smith / Bazza Ward) in their Ford KA with a Best Lap Time of 1:03.110 and a Top Speed of 68.90mph. Great Work Octane Junkies Pushing Hard and Giving it Everything for P3.

 

After an Intense Qualifying Session the Likes of

 

Team IP Racings

 

(Adam Blair / Scott Parkin / Oliver Wilmot / Mark Witherington) Start the Endurance Race in First Place with

 

(JTR) Elliot Mason / Nick Tandy / David Mason / James Rhodes in Second Place Followed By

 

(Octane Junkies) (Adam Smith / Martyn Smith / Bazza Ward) in Third Place with the Top Three Very Closely Matched on Lap Times Thought Qualifying.

 

With Tomorrows Endurance Race being 8 Hours and The use of Driver Changes after 2 Hours in a Team with Four Drivers as Well as Pit Stops and a Whole Field of 45 Cars and Drivers Will the Likes of Team IP Racing Be able to Hold Out and Take Victory After 8 Gruelling Hours of Hard Racing.

 

Or Will JTR or Octane Junkies Try and Take that Thunder Away From Them? and Can Anyone Else Have a Go at Taking The Victory?

 

Only Time Will Tell!

 

See You All On Sunday.........!

 

Information On Race Results Found on TSL Timing Solutions

 

www.tsl-timing.com/Event/214651

                         

Dedicated to Angelina's Chocolat Chaud

dedicated in loving memory of Brian and Laura Birdsong, their spirit and love of animals will live on through the joy that all the children find in nature.

Brian: June 2nd 1981 – April 5th 1991.

Laura: May 30th 1984 – April 5th 1991.

Am currently in the Italian mode. No. I don't speak Italian and my heart really isn't in it.

 

Flickr is a dictatorship run by a bunch of buffoons that care little about the people that use it and most especially the serious photographer. I have absolutely no use for the lot of them. I wish they would find a nice black hole to crawl into…all of the tyrannical jerks at once.

Dedicated to my dear friend "EDA"

Clich here to hear the music "Nat-King-Cole -SMILE"

Will go in holidays tomorrow only return monday wish you a great time also Hugs and Kisses

Dedicated in May 1901 the monument survived the 1906 earthquake (see: www.flickr.com/photos/9405610@N02/2780430209/).

 

“Tilden was commissioned to create a memorial to industrialist Peter Donahue. The completed design included five semi-nude men. At the base are symbols of Donahue’s professions – the anvil (foundry), propeller (shipping), driving wheel and connecting rod (railroad). The debate over whether or not the semi-nude men should wear trousers continued in the newspapers for quite some time. Finally local artists drew up a petition and obtained enough signatures for the statue to remain as intended. The Mechanics Monument was dedicated on May 15, 1901.”

[source: Mildred Albronda, “Douglas Tilden, The Man and His Legacy”]

 

“Artist Douglas Tilden was inspired to create this monument as he watched a man operate a large level punch. The monument shows five men working together: two holding a sheet of metal, three working the lever press’ arm. The anvil, propeller and locomotive wheel that rest at the base of the monument are symbols of Peter Donahue’s blacksmith shop on First Street which became Union Iron Works. It was at Union Iron Works where California’s first iron casting was made and where the first printing press was manufactured.”

[source: www.marketstreetassociation.org/index.php?p=treasures]

 

Read more about this monument at:

www.artandarchitecture-sf.com/market-street-san-francisco...

 

Douglas Tilden (1860-1935)

California native, Douglas Tilden, became a deaf-mute at age four due to scarlet fever. His talent for sculpture was recognized as a student in Berkeley, California; and continued to develop in New York, New York; and the Salon des Artistes Français in Paris, France (1889, 1890, 1891, 1892, and 1894). After returning from Paris, Tilden was commissioned for many public sculptures and hailed as the “silent genius,” and also the “Michelangelo of the West”. He became the first deaf-mute teacher to instruct art students who could hear and speak at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art.