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The Story of Prisoners of War in Former Portuguese state of India - which for 43 years was never told the Portuguese.
Marketing of DVD on the streets of Lisbon in 2005 by former soldiers of Portuguese/ Goa
A História dos Prisioneiros de Guerra do Ex-Estado Português da India - Que durante 43 anos nunca foi contada aos portuguese...
Venda de DVD e Vídeo nas ruas de Lisboa em 2005, por parte de soldados portugueses que estavam em Goa quando da invasão por parte da União Indiana.
Top: Dedicated to the memory of James Schuyler, Poet and Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Morning of the Poem among other works who lived at the Chelsea Hotel from 1979 until his death in 1991. Presented by Farrar, Straus & Giroux, July 1993.
Middle: In Memory of Brendan Behan, 1923-1964. "To America, my new found land: The man that hates you hates the human race." Dedication from "Brendan Behan's New York", written in the Chelsea Hotel in the Spring of 1963.
The Frank Sinatra Starkey Hearing Technologies Celebrity Invitational is dedicated to the memory and music of Frank Sinatra and benefits the Barbara Sinatra Center for Abused Children. The Frank Sinatra Starkey Hearing Technologies Celebrity Invitational enjoys a rich history as one of the marquee golf and fundraising events in the Palm Springs, California desert. Each year, celebrities, amateur contestants, loyal sponsors and enthusiastic spectators from all over the country look forward to returning to this unique "celebrity friendly" event.
Known as "Frank's little party in the desert," Barbara and Frank Sinatra founded the Frank Sinatra Celebrity Invitational in 1988 to raise funds for the Barbara Sinatra Center for Abused Children at Eisenhower Medical Center, which opened in 1986. Through their efforts, and those of supporters throughout the world, the Frank Sinatra Starkey Hearing Technologies Celebrity Invitational is now one of the most successful events of it's kind.
The mission of the Barbara Sinatra Center for Abused Children is to provide counseling for victims of physical, sexual and emotional abuse and to focus on prevention, community education and breaking the generational cycle of abuse. Barbara Sinatra is quick to thank supporters of the "Frank Sinatra Starkey Hearing Technologies Celebrity Invitational, and she is proud to say "The children who come to us for help continue to receive the therapy they need and deserve; no child is turned away due to a family's inability to pay."
The Frank Sinatra Starkey Hearing Technologies Celebrity Invitational is a five (5) player team gross and net scramble golf tournament held at Eagle Falls Golf Course in Indio, California. The Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, also in Indio, is the tournament's hotel and venue for three nights of parties and a spectacular luncheon and fashion show.
One (1) celebrity and four (4) contestants are a team. The team of four (4) amateur players remains together for two (2) consecutive days. The celebrity contestant changes teams for the second day. Current USGA handicaps are verified and applied to all contestants.
Dedicated to my friend Carlos AGM.
(Pelas gargalhadas que dei com o seu pipi turbo de há uns tempos.)
From 1990 until an injury ended their stage careers on October 3, 2003, the duo formed the show "Siegfried & Roy at the The Mirage Resort and Casino", which was regarded as the most-visited show in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
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The church dedicated to Saint-Jacques le Mineur and St. Philip is a religious building in Paris.
Far from the fortifications made by the King Philip II Augustus to defend Paris, on a lonely hill in the middle of fields along an ancient road in 1180 "brothers" of the Diocese of Saint-Jacques Altopascio just moved. This order, from Tuscany (Italy) will base a hospital, a chapel, will build hostels and structures to help the poor and pilgrims in their travels. Their name will be given later to the neighborhood "Saint-Jacques du Haut-Pas" (Altopascio).
Pope Pius II (pontiff from 1458 to 1464) suppressed the order in 1459, their places in 1572 Catherine de Medici install the "Benedictines of Saint-Magloire" The area which over time becomes denser see the need to build a new church, they will acquire this right in 1584 when a church will be built. The church of small dimensions will be transformed from 1630 under the leadership of Gaston d'Orléans.
Gaston of Orleans was the brother of King Louis XIII, a rich man with a taste for the construction, it is also responsible for the construction of a new wing in the classic style at Blois Castle. Under him, the church is made until the current form, with the expansion of the central nave and the creation of the current entry on the Rue Saint-Jacques. The church is dedicated to St. Jacques le Mineur and St. Philip. Saint-Jacques le Mineur is not the Saint-Jacques patron of Compostela because at the time Paris already has a church dedicated to this saint. In our days, from that church remains only a bell tower called "Tour Saint-Jacques."
With the name, location (on the ancient Roman Cardo) and the fact that it is possible to stay there, the church become an important stop on the pilgrimage to Compostela. The pilgrimage to Compostela (after the Reconquista in 1492) is one of three pilgrimages enshrined in the church with Rome and Jerusalem.
Following the French Revolution the church was looted, Catholic worship forbidden, yet in 1795 it opens partially but it must be shared with another organization until 1810 when due to the Concordat of 1801 the Catholic Church takes possession of his property confiscated.
Architectural description
Daniel Gittard is the architect who prepared the plans of the main body, he made the entrance porch, narthex, nave, transept and the altar. Gittard was the architect of the king, founding member of the Royal Academy of Architecture in 1671, also worked at St. Sulpice.
The entrance is a porch with four doric columns surmounted by a fronton, a large rose window in the axis of the porch runs the central part of the facade, rigor and sobriety can be seen in the composition and the lack of decoration. The bell tower is divided into three stages, the first is the narthex and has an access door and a window, the two funds designed identically contains only windows with louvre.
Classical style building, notice by the asymmetry of the facade caused by the absence of a bell tower, due to lack of money. In the initial project was also planned decorations on the walls, the statues of two saints on the front and ornaments all over the facade.
En français
L'église consacrée aux Saint-Jacques le Mineur et saint Philippe est un édifice religieux à Paris.
Loin des fortifications du roi Philippe Auguste II faites pour défendre Paris, sur une colline déserte, au milieu des champs bordant une route antique, en 1180 des « frères » de la diocèse Saint-Jacques d'Altopascio vient de s'installer. Cet ordre, originaire de la Toscane (Italie) fondera un hôpital, une chapelle, bâtira des héberges et d'autres constructions pour aider les pauvres et les pèlerins dans leur voyages. Leur nom sera donné par la suite au quartier « Saint-Jacques du Haut-Pas » (Altopascio).
Le pape Pie II (pontificat 1458-1464) supprima l'ordre en 1459, sur leurs lieux en 1572 Cathérine de Médicis installera les « Bénédictins de Saint-Magloire » Le quartier qui au fil du temps se densifie vois la nécessité de construire une nouvelle église, ils vont acquérir ce droit en 1584 quand une petite église sera construite. L'église de petites dimensions sera transformé à partir de 1630 sous l'impulsion de Gaston d'Orléans.
Gaston d'Orléans était le frère du roi Louis XIII, un homme riche ayant le goût pour la construction, à lui on doit également la construction d'une nouvelle aile de style classique au château de Blois. Sous ses ordres, l'église est faite jusqu'à la forme actuelle, avec l'agrandissement de la nef centrale et la création de l'entrée actuelle sur la rue Saint-Jacques. L'église est consacré aux Saint-Jacques le Mineur et saint Philippe. Saint-Jacques le Mineur n'est par le Saint-Jacques patron de Compostelle car à l'époque Paris possède déjà une église consacré à ce saint. De cette église, aujourd'hui ne reste qu'une tour clocher nommée « la Tour Saint-Jacques ».
Grâce au nom, à son emplacement (sur l'ancien cardo romain) et au fait qu'il est possible de s'y loger, l'église deviens une halte importante dans le chemin du pèlerinage à Compostelle. Le pèlerinage à Compostelle (après la Reconquista en 1492) étant l'un des trois pèlerinages consacrés par l’Église à coté de Rome et Jérusalem.
A la suite de la Révolution Française l'église est pillé, le culte catholique interdit, pourtant en 1795 elle ouvre partiellement, en plus elle dois partager son siège avec une autre organisation jusqu'en 1810 quand grâce au Concordat de 1801 l'église Catholique reprend la possession de ses biens confisqués.
Description architecturale
Daniel Gittard est l'architecte qui a établi les plans du corps principal, c'est qui lui a fait le porche d'entrée, le narthex, la nef, le transept et l'autel. Gittard a été l'architecte du roi, membre fondateur du l'Académie Royale d'Architecture en 1671, a travaillé aussi à l'église Saint Sulpice.
L'entrée se fait sous un porche comportant 4 colonnes doriques surmonté d'un fronton, une grande rosace dans l'axe du porche anime la partie centrale de la façade, on remarque la rigueur et la sobriété de la composition ainsi que la manque de décoration. La tour clocher est divisé en 3 étages, le premier correspond au narthex et comporte une porte d'accès et un fenêtre, les deux deniers conçus à l'identique comporte uniquement des fenêtres avec des abat-son.
De style classique, la construction se remarque par la dissymétrie de la façade causée par l'absence d'une tour clocher, due à la manque d'argent. Dans le projet initial il était prévue aussi des décorations sur la façades, les statues de deux saints sur le fronton et divers ornements sur toute la façade.
Auf Deutsch
Die Kirche Saint-Jacques le Mineur und St. Philip gewidmet ist ein religiöses Gebäude in Paris.
Weit entfernt von den Befestigungsanlagen von der König Philip II Augustus nach Paris auf einem einsamen Hügel in der Mitte der Felder auf der alten Strasse in 1180 "Brüder" der Diözese Saint-Jacques Altopascio gerade bewegt verteidigen. Die Bestellung, aus der Toskana (Italien) wird ein Krankenhaus, eine Kapelle stützen wird Hostels und Strukturen aufbauen, um den Armen und Pilger auf ihren Reisen helfen. Ihr Name wird später in der Nachbarschaft "Saint-Jacques du Haut-Pas" (Altopascio) angegeben werden.
Papst Pius II (Papst von 1458 bis 1464) unterdrückt die Reihenfolge, in 1459, ihre Plätze im Jahre 1572 Katharina von Medici installieren Sie die "Benediktiner von Saint-Magloire" Der Bereich, der mit der Zeit dichter sehen die Notwendigkeit, eine neue Kirche zu bauen, werden sie dieses Recht zu erwerben im Jahr 1584, als eine Kirche errichtet. Die Kirche von kleinen Abmessungen werden aus dem Jahre 1630 unter der Führung von Gaston d'Orléans umgewandelt werden.
Gaston von Orleans war der Bruder von König Ludwig XIII, ein reicher Mann mit einer Vorliebe für den Bau, sondern auch für den Bau eines neuen Flügels im klassischen Stil in Blois Schloss verantwortlich. Unter ihm ist die Kirche bis zum heutigen Form, mit dem Ausbau des Mittelschiffs und der Erstellung des aktuellen Eintrags auf der Rue Saint-Jacques. Die Kirche ist St. Jacques le Mineur und St. Philip gewidmet. Saint-Jacques le Mineur ist nicht die Saint-Jacques Schirmherr Compostela weil zum Zeitpunkt Paris bereits über eine Kirche auf diesem Heiligen gewidmet. In unserer Zeit, aus dieser Kirche bleibt nur noch der Glockenturm als "Tour Saint-Jacques."
Mit dem Namen, Ort (auf dem alten römischen Cardo) und der Tatsache, dass es möglich ist, dort zu bleiben, die Kirche zu einer wichtigen Station auf der Pilgerfahrt nach Santiago de Compostela. Die Wallfahrt nach Compostela (nach der Reconquista im Jahr 1492) ist eine der drei Wallfahrten in der Kirche mit Rom und Jerusalem verankert.
Nach dem Französisch Revolution wurde die Kirche geplündert, katholische Gottesdienst verboten, aber im Jahre 1795 es teilweise geöffnet, aber es muss mit einer anderen Organisation genutzt werden, bis 1810, als aufgrund des Konkordats von 1801 die katholische Kirche in Besitz seines Eigentums beschlagnahmt.
Architekturbeschreibung
Daniel Gittard ist der Architekt, der die Pläne des Hauptkörpers, machte er die Eingangshalle, Vorhalle, Kirchenschiff, Querschiff und der Altar vorbereitet. Gittard war der Architekt des Königs, Gründungsmitglied der Royal Academy of Architecture 1671, auch in St. Sulpice gearbeitet.
Der Eingang befindet sich eine Veranda mit vier dorischen Säulen von einem Giebel überragt, eine große Fensterrose in der Achse der Veranda läuft der zentrale Teil der Fassade, Strenge und Nüchternheit in der Zusammensetzung und der Mangel an Dekoration zu sehen. Der Glockenturm ist in drei Phasen unterteilt, die erste ist die Vorhalle und hat eine Zugangstür und ein Fenster, die beiden Fonds konzipiert enthält gleich nur Fenster mit Raster.
Klassizistischen Gebäude, Ankündigung durch die Asymmetrie der Fassade durch das Fehlen von einem Glockenturm verursacht, wegen des Mangels an Geld. In der ersten Projekt wurde geplant Dekorationen an den Wänden, die Statuen der beiden Heiligen auf der Vorderseite und Verzierungen auf der ganzen Fassade.
Nemo super-sized. You can't tell from this photo, but he is a great big stuffed animal. So cute!
This was a present from my brother and his girlfriend quite a few years ago. Sad to say he lives in my closet, lol =-).
Kantara monastery (Greek: Μονή Καντάρας, or Greek: Ιερά Μονή Παναγίας Κανταριώτισσας) is a monastery in Cyprus dedicated to Panagia Kantariotissa, or Our Lady of Kantara. It lies on the southern slopes of the Northern Range Cyprus at an altitude of 550 m near the villages of Davlos and Ardana and is also near Kantara Castle, from which it took its name. The name is of Arabic origin.
The monastery was probably established in the 11th or 12th century AD. It was first mentioned in the 13th century in connection to the martyrdom of its thirteen monks. In the year 1221 AD two monks, Ioannis and Konon came to Cyprus from Asia Minor . They eventually settled in Kantara, where they acquired fame and were joined by eleven other monks from Cyprus and elsewhere. It was at this period that the Latin Church tried to subjugate the Orthodox Church of Cyprus. The thirteen monks were accused of heresy, imprisoned in 1228 and finally burned at the stake on the riverbed of the Pedieos in Nicosia on 19 May 1231.
The monastery ceased to exist until probably the middle of the 17th century when Archbishop Nikiforos built a new monastery as it is testified by the icon of Panagia Kantariotissa painted by icon painter Leontion in that period. Later Archbishop Chrysanthos completely rebuilt the church and its surrounding buildings in 1773. Abbott Makarios commissioned in 1783 icon painter Laurentios to paint the icons of the 'Iconostasis'. The monastery at this period thrived, it had 14 monks and sizable property in land and animals. It belonged to the diocese of the archbishopric.
It seems that the monastery declined by the mid-19th century and was finally abandoned, save a hermit called Symeon late in the 19th century. It was visited by George Jeffery in the 1910s describing it as a small monotholos church surrounded by monastic buildings.
Early in the 20th century, the monastic property was rented out to villagers, and minor repairs were made, including a bell tower. In 1925 a number of Famagustan families managed to buy land from the Monastery and with the help of the British District Commissioner, established a small mountain resort. Hence the church of the monastery became a 'parish church', celebrating every 15 August Our Lady's Assumption, as well as, on 19 May, the thirteen monks martyrdom.
On August 14, 1974 the Turkish Army captured Kantara. Soon all the Icons were taken by smugglers and all furniture and fittings disappeared. It was fortunate that Church Commissioner P. Ctorides had previously taken photos of each one of the church icons for people to remember, and perhaps one day some might be recovered.[1] The church building now is in need of urgent repairs.
Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all other states to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.
Northern Cyprus extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula in the northeast to Morphou Bay, Cape Kormakitis and its westernmost point, the Kokkina exclave in the west. Its southernmost point is the village of Louroujina. A buffer zone under the control of the United Nations stretches between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the island and divides Nicosia, the island's largest city and capital of both sides.
A coup d'état in 1974, performed as part of an attempt to annex the island to Greece, prompted the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This resulted in the eviction of much of the north's Greek Cypriot population, the flight of Turkish Cypriots from the south, and the partitioning of the island, leading to a unilateral declaration of independence by the north in 1983. Due to its lack of recognition, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic, political and military support.
Attempts to reach a solution to the Cyprus dispute have been unsuccessful. The Turkish Army maintains a large force in Northern Cyprus with the support and approval of the TRNC government, while the Republic of Cyprus, the European Union as a whole, and the international community regard it as an occupation force. This military presence has been denounced in several United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Northern Cyprus is a semi-presidential, democratic republic with a cultural heritage incorporating various influences and an economy that is dominated by the services sector. The economy has seen growth through the 2000s and 2010s, with the GNP per capita more than tripling in the 2000s, but is held back by an international embargo due to the official closure of the ports in Northern Cyprus by the Republic of Cyprus. The official language is Turkish, with a distinct local dialect being spoken. The vast majority of the population consists of Sunni Muslims, while religious attitudes are mostly moderate and secular. Northern Cyprus is an observer state of ECO and OIC under the name "Turkish Cypriot State", PACE under the name "Turkish Cypriot Community", and Organization of Turkic States with its own name.
Several distinct periods of Cypriot intercommunal violence involving the two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, marked mid-20th century Cyprus. These included the Cyprus Emergency of 1955–59 during British rule, the post-independence Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, and the Cyprus crisis of 1967. Hostilities culminated in the 1974 de facto division of the island along the Green Line following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The region has been relatively peaceful since then, but the Cyprus dispute has continued, with various attempts to solve it diplomatically having been generally unsuccessful.
Cyprus, an island lying in the eastern Mediterranean, hosted a population of Greeks and Turks (four-fifths and one-fifth, respectively), who lived under British rule in the late nineteenth-century and the first half of the twentieth-century. Christian Orthodox Church of Cyprus played a prominent political role among the Greek Cypriot community, a privilege that it acquired during the Ottoman Empire with the employment of the millet system, which gave the archbishop an unofficial ethnarch status.
The repeated rejections by the British of Greek Cypriot demands for enosis, union with Greece, led to armed resistance, organised by the National Organization of Cypriot Struggle, or EOKA. EOKA, led by the Greek-Cypriot commander George Grivas, systematically targeted British colonial authorities. One of the effects of EOKA's campaign was to alter the Turkish position from demanding full reincorporation into Turkey to a demand for taksim (partition). EOKA's mission and activities caused a "Cretan syndrome" (see Turkish Resistance Organisation) within the Turkish Cypriot community, as its members feared that they would be forced to leave the island in such a case as had been the case with Cretan Turks. As such, they preferred the continuation of British colonial rule and then taksim, the division of the island. Due to the Turkish Cypriots' support for the British, EOKA's leader, Georgios Grivas, declared them to be enemies. The fact that the Turks were a minority was, according to Nihat Erim, to be addressed by the transfer of thousands of Turks from mainland Turkey so that Greek Cypriots would cease to be the majority. When Erim visited Cyprus as the Turkish representative, he was advised by Field Marshal Sir John Harding, the then Governor of Cyprus, that Turkey should send educated Turks to settle in Cyprus.
Turkey actively promoted the idea that on the island of Cyprus two distinctive communities existed, and sidestepped its former claim that "the people of Cyprus were all Turkish subjects". In doing so, Turkey's aim to have self-determination of two to-be equal communities in effect led to de jure partition of the island.[citation needed] This could be justified to the international community against the will of the majority Greek population of the island. Dr. Fazil Küçük in 1954 had already proposed Cyprus be divided in two at the 35° parallel.
Lindley Dan, from Notre Dame University, spotted the roots of intercommunal violence to different visions among the two communities of Cyprus (enosis for Greek Cypriots, taksim for Turkish Cypriots). Also, Lindlay wrote that "the merging of church, schools/education, and politics in divisive and nationalistic ways" had played a crucial role in creation of havoc in Cyprus' history. Attalides Michael also pointed to the opposing nationalisms as the cause of the Cyprus problem.
By the mid-1950's, the "Cyprus is Turkish" party, movement, and slogan gained force in both Cyprus and Turkey. In a 1954 editorial, Turkish Cypriot leader Dr. Fazil Kuchuk expressed the sentiment that the Turkish youth had grown up with the idea that "as soon as Great Britain leaves the island, it will be taken over by the Turks", and that "Turkey cannot tolerate otherwise". This perspective contributed to the willingness of Turkish Cypriots to align themselves with the British, who started recruiting Turkish Cypriots into the police force that patrolled Cyprus to fight EOKA, a Greek Cypriot nationalist organisation that sought to rid the island of British rule.
EOKA targeted colonial authorities, including police, but Georgios Grivas, the leader of EOKA, did not initially wish to open up a new front by fighting Turkish Cypriots and reassured them that EOKA would not harm their people. In 1956, some Turkish Cypriot policemen were killed by EOKA members and this provoked some intercommunal violence in the spring and summer, but these attacks on policemen were not motivated by the fact that they were Turkish Cypriots.
However, in January 1957, Grivas changed his policy as his forces in the mountains became increasingly pressured by the British Crown forces. In order to divert the attention of the Crown forces, EOKA members started to target Turkish Cypriot policemen intentionally in the towns, so that Turkish Cypriots would riot against the Greek Cypriots and the security forces would have to be diverted to the towns to restore order. The killing of a Turkish Cypriot policeman on 19 January, when a power station was bombed, and the injury of three others, provoked three days of intercommunal violence in Nicosia. The two communities targeted each other in reprisals, at least one Greek Cypriot was killed and the British Army was deployed in the streets. Greek Cypriot stores were burned and their neighbourhoods attacked. Following the events, the Greek Cypriot leadership spread the propaganda that the riots had merely been an act of Turkish Cypriot aggression. Such events created chaos and drove the communities apart both in Cyprus and in Turkey.
On 22 October 1957 Sir Hugh Mackintosh Foot replaced Sir John Harding as the British Governor of Cyprus. Foot suggested five to seven years of self-government before any final decision. His plan rejected both enosis and taksim. The Turkish Cypriot response to this plan was a series of anti-British demonstrations in Nicosia on 27 and 28 January 1958 rejecting the proposed plan because the plan did not include partition. The British then withdrew the plan.
In 1957, Black Gang, a Turkish Cypriot pro-taksim paramilitary organisation, was formed to patrol a Turkish Cypriot enclave, the Tahtakale district of Nicosia, against activities of EOKA. The organisation later attempted to grow into a national scale, but failed to gain public support.
By 1958, signs of dissatisfaction with the British increased on both sides, with a group of Turkish Cypriots forming Volkan (later renamed to the Turkish Resistance Organisation) paramilitary group to promote partition and the annexation of Cyprus to Turkey as dictated by the Menderes plan. Volkan initially consisted of roughly 100 members, with the stated aim of raising awareness in Turkey of the Cyprus issue and courting military training and support for Turkish Cypriot fighters from the Turkish government.
In June 1958, the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, was expected to propose a plan to resolve the Cyprus issue. In light of the new development, the Turks rioted in Nicosia to promote the idea that Greek and Turkish Cypriots could not live together and therefore any plan that did not include partition would not be viable. This violence was soon followed by bombing, Greek Cypriot deaths and looting of Greek Cypriot-owned shops and houses. Greek and Turkish Cypriots started to flee mixed population villages where they were a minority in search of safety. This was effectively the beginning of the segregation of the two communities. On 7 June 1958, a bomb exploded at the entrance of the Turkish Embassy in Cyprus. Following the bombing, Turkish Cypriots looted Greek Cypriot properties. On 26 June 1984, the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, admitted on British channel ITV that the bomb was placed by the Turks themselves in order to create tension. On 9 January 1995, Rauf Denktaş repeated his claim to the famous Turkish newspaper Milliyet in Turkey.
The crisis reached a climax on 12 June 1958, when eight Greeks, out of an armed group of thirty five arrested by soldiers of the Royal Horse Guards on suspicion of preparing an attack on the Turkish quarter of Skylloura, were killed in a suspected attack by Turkish Cypriot locals, near the village of Geunyeli, having been ordered to walk back to their village of Kondemenos.
After the EOKA campaign had begun, the British government successfully began to turn the Cyprus issue from a British colonial problem into a Greek-Turkish issue. British diplomacy exerted backstage influence on the Adnan Menderes government, with the aim of making Turkey active in Cyprus. For the British, the attempt had a twofold objective. The EOKA campaign would be silenced as quickly as possible, and Turkish Cypriots would not side with Greek Cypriots against the British colonial claims over the island, which would thus remain under the British. The Turkish Cypriot leadership visited Menderes to discuss the Cyprus issue. When asked how the Turkish Cypriots should respond to the Greek Cypriot claim of enosis, Menderes replied: "You should go to the British foreign minister and request the status quo be prolonged, Cyprus to remain as a British colony". When the Turkish Cypriots visited the British Foreign Secretary and requested for Cyprus to remain a colony, he replied: "You should not be asking for colonialism at this day and age, you should be asking for Cyprus be returned to Turkey, its former owner".
As Turkish Cypriots began to look to Turkey for protection, Greek Cypriots soon understood that enosis was extremely unlikely. The Greek Cypriot leader, Archbishop Makarios III, now set independence for the island as his objective.
Britain resolved to solve the dispute by creating an independent Cyprus. In 1959, all involved parties signed the Zurich Agreements: Britain, Turkey, Greece, and the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Makarios and Dr. Fazil Kucuk, respectively. The new constitution drew heavily on the ethnic composition of the island. The President would be a Greek Cypriot, and the Vice-President a Turkish Cypriot with an equal veto. The contribution to the public service would be set at a ratio of 70:30, and the Supreme Court would consist of an equal number of judges from both communities as well as an independent judge who was not Greek, Turkish or British. The Zurich Agreements were supplemented by a number of treaties. The Treaty of Guarantee stated that secession or union with any state was forbidden, and that Greece, Turkey and Britain would be given guarantor status to intervene if that was violated. The Treaty of Alliance allowed for two small Greek and Turkish military contingents to be stationed on the island, and the Treaty of Establishment gave Britain sovereignty over two bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia.
On 15 August 1960, the Colony of Cyprus became fully independent as the Republic of Cyprus. The new republic remained within the Commonwealth of Nations.
The new constitution brought dissatisfaction to Greek Cypriots, who felt it to be highly unjust for them for historical, demographic and contributional reasons. Although 80% of the island's population were Greek Cypriots and these indigenous people had lived on the island for thousands of years and paid 94% of taxes, the new constitution was giving the 17% of the population that was Turkish Cypriots, who paid 6% of taxes, around 30% of government jobs and 40% of national security jobs.
Within three years tensions between the two communities in administrative affairs began to show. In particular disputes over separate municipalities and taxation created a deadlock in government. A constitutional court ruled in 1963 Makarios had failed to uphold article 173 of the constitution which called for the establishment of separate municipalities for Turkish Cypriots. Makarios subsequently declared his intention to ignore the judgement, resulting in the West German judge resigning from his position. Makarios proposed thirteen amendments to the constitution, which would have had the effect of resolving most of the issues in the Greek Cypriot favour. Under the proposals, the President and Vice-President would lose their veto, the separate municipalities as sought after by the Turkish Cypriots would be abandoned, the need for separate majorities by both communities in passing legislation would be discarded and the civil service contribution would be set at actual population ratios (82:18) instead of the slightly higher figure for Turkish Cypriots.
The intention behind the amendments has long been called into question. The Akritas plan, written in the height of the constitutional dispute by the Greek Cypriot interior minister Polycarpos Georkadjis, called for the removal of undesirable elements of the constitution so as to allow power-sharing to work. The plan envisaged a swift retaliatory attack on Turkish Cypriot strongholds should Turkish Cypriots resort to violence to resist the measures, stating "In the event of a planned or staged Turkish attack, it is imperative to overcome it by force in the shortest possible time, because if we succeed in gaining command of the situation (in one or two days), no outside, intervention would be either justified or possible." Whether Makarios's proposals were part of the Akritas plan is unclear, however it remains that sentiment towards enosis had not completely disappeared with independence. Makarios described independence as "a step on the road to enosis".[31] Preparations for conflict were not entirely absent from Turkish Cypriots either, with right wing elements still believing taksim (partition) the best safeguard against enosis.
Greek Cypriots however believe the amendments were a necessity stemming from a perceived attempt by Turkish Cypriots to frustrate the working of government. Turkish Cypriots saw it as a means to reduce their status within the state from one of co-founder to that of minority, seeing it as a first step towards enosis. The security situation deteriorated rapidly.
Main articles: Bloody Christmas (1963) and Battle of Tillyria
An armed conflict was triggered after December 21, 1963, a period remembered by Turkish Cypriots as Bloody Christmas, when a Greek Cypriot policemen that had been called to help deal with a taxi driver refusing officers already on the scene access to check the identification documents of his customers, took out his gun upon arrival and shot and killed the taxi driver and his partner. Eric Solsten summarised the events as follows: "a Greek Cypriot police patrol, ostensibly checking identification documents, stopped a Turkish Cypriot couple on the edge of the Turkish quarter. A hostile crowd gathered, shots were fired, and two Turkish Cypriots were killed."
In the morning after the shooting, crowds gathered in protest in Northern Nicosia, likely encouraged by the TMT, without incident. On the evening of the 22nd, gunfire broke out, communication lines to the Turkish neighbourhoods were cut, and the Greek Cypriot police occupied the nearby airport. On the 23rd, a ceasefire was negotiated, but did not hold. Fighting, including automatic weapons fire, between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and militias increased in Nicosia and Larnaca. A force of Greek Cypriot irregulars led by Nikos Sampson entered the Nicosia suburb of Omorphita and engaged in heavy firing on armed, as well as by some accounts unarmed, Turkish Cypriots. The Omorphita clash has been described by Turkish Cypriots as a massacre, while this view has generally not been acknowledged by Greek Cypriots.
Further ceasefires were arranged between the two sides, but also failed. By Christmas Eve, the 24th, Britain, Greece, and Turkey had joined talks, with all sides calling for a truce. On Christmas day, Turkish fighter jets overflew Nicosia in a show of support. Finally it was agreed to allow a force of 2,700 British soldiers to help enforce a ceasefire. In the next days, a "buffer zone" was created in Nicosia, and a British officer marked a line on a map with green ink, separating the two sides of the city, which was the beginning of the "Green Line". Fighting continued across the island for the next several weeks.
In total 364 Turkish Cypriots and 174 Greek Cypriots were killed during the violence. 25,000 Turkish Cypriots from 103-109 villages fled and were displaced into enclaves and thousands of Turkish Cypriot houses were ransacked or completely destroyed.
Contemporary newspapers also reported on the forceful exodus of the Turkish Cypriots from their homes. According to The Times in 1964, threats, shootings and attempts of arson were committed against the Turkish Cypriots to force them out of their homes. The Daily Express wrote that "25,000 Turks have already been forced to leave their homes". The Guardian reported a massacre of Turks at Limassol on 16 February 1964.
Turkey had by now readied its fleet and its fighter jets appeared over Nicosia. Turkey was dissuaded from direct involvement by the creation of a United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in 1964. Despite the negotiated ceasefire in Nicosia, attacks on the Turkish Cypriot persisted, particularly in Limassol. Concerned about the possibility of a Turkish invasion, Makarios undertook the creation of a Greek Cypriot conscript-based army called the "National Guard". A general from Greece took charge of the army, whilst a further 20,000 well-equipped officers and men were smuggled from Greece into Cyprus. Turkey threatened to intervene once more, but was prevented by a strongly worded letter from the American President Lyndon B. Johnson, anxious to avoid a conflict between NATO allies Greece and Turkey at the height of the Cold War.
Turkish Cypriots had by now established an important bridgehead at Kokkina, provided with arms, volunteers and materials from Turkey and abroad. Seeing this incursion of foreign weapons and troops as a major threat, the Cypriot government invited George Grivas to return from Greece as commander of the Greek troops on the island and launch a major attack on the bridgehead. Turkey retaliated by dispatching its fighter jets to bomb Greek positions, causing Makarios to threaten an attack on every Turkish Cypriot village on the island if the bombings did not cease. The conflict had now drawn in Greece and Turkey, with both countries amassing troops on their Thracian borders. Efforts at mediation by Dean Acheson, a former U.S. Secretary of State, and UN-appointed mediator Galo Plaza had failed, all the while the division of the two communities becoming more apparent. Greek Cypriot forces were estimated at some 30,000, including the National Guard and the large contingent from Greece. Defending the Turkish Cypriot enclaves was a force of approximately 5,000 irregulars, led by a Turkish colonel, but lacking the equipment and organisation of the Greek forces.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1964, U Thant, reported the damage during the conflicts:
UNFICYP carried out a detailed survey of all damage to properties throughout the island during the disturbances; it shows that in 109 villages, most of them Turkish-Cypriot or mixed villages, 527 houses have been destroyed while 2,000 others have suffered damage from looting.
The situation worsened in 1967, when a military junta overthrew the democratically elected government of Greece, and began applying pressure on Makarios to achieve enosis. Makarios, not wishing to become part of a military dictatorship or trigger a Turkish invasion, began to distance himself from the goal of enosis. This caused tensions with the junta in Greece as well as George Grivas in Cyprus. Grivas's control over the National Guard and Greek contingent was seen as a threat to Makarios's position, who now feared a possible coup.[citation needed] The National Guard and Cyprus Police began patrolling the Turkish Cypriot enclaves of Ayios Theodoros and Kophinou, and on November 15 engaged in heavy fighting with the Turkish Cypriots.
By the time of his withdrawal 26 Turkish Cypriots had been killed. Turkey replied with an ultimatum demanding that Grivas be removed from the island, that the troops smuggled from Greece in excess of the limits of the Treaty of Alliance be removed, and that the economic blockades on the Turkish Cypriot enclaves be lifted. Grivas was recalled by the Athens Junta and the 12,000 Greek troops were withdrawn. Makarios now attempted to consolidate his position by reducing the number of National Guard troops, and by creating a paramilitary force loyal to Cypriot independence. In 1968, acknowledging that enosis was now all but impossible, Makarios stated, "A solution by necessity must be sought within the limits of what is feasible which does not always coincide with the limits of what is desirable."
After 1967 tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots subsided. Instead, the main source of tension on the island came from factions within the Greek Cypriot community. Although Makarios had effectively abandoned enosis in favour of an 'attainable solution', many others continued to believe that the only legitimate political aspiration for Greek Cypriots was union with Greece.
On his arrival, Grivas began by establishing a nationalist paramilitary group known as the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston B or EOKA-B), drawing comparisons with the EOKA struggle for enosis under the British colonial administration of the 1950s.
The military junta in Athens saw Makarios as an obstacle. Makarios's failure to disband the National Guard, whose officer class was dominated by mainland Greeks, had meant the junta had practical control over the Cypriot military establishment, leaving Makarios isolated and a vulnerable target.
During the first Turkish invasion, Turkish troops invaded Cyprus territory on 20 July 1974, invoking its rights under the Treaty of Guarantee. This expansion of Turkish-occupied zone violated International Law as well as the Charter of the United Nations. Turkish troops managed to capture 3% of the island which was accompanied by the burning of the Turkish Cypriot quarter, as well as the raping and killing of women and children. A temporary cease-fire followed which was mitigated by the UN Security Council. Subsequently, the Greek military Junta collapsed on July 23, 1974, and peace talks commenced in which a democratic government was installed. The Resolution 353 was broken after Turkey attacked a second time and managed to get a hold of 37% of Cyprus territory. The Island of Cyprus was appointed a Buffer Zone by the United Nations, which divided the island into two zones through the 'Green Line' and put an end to the Turkish invasion. Although Turkey announced that the occupied areas of Cyprus to be called the Federated Turkish State in 1975, it is not legitimised on a worldwide political scale. The United Nations called for the international recognition of independence for the Republic of Cyprus in the Security Council Resolution 367.
In the years after the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus one can observe a history of failed talks between the two parties. The 1983 declaration of the independent Turkish Republic of Cyprus resulted in a rise of inter-communal tensions and made it increasingly hard to find mutual understanding. With Cyprus' interest of a possible EU membership and a new UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1997 new hopes arose for a fresh start. International involvement from sides of the US and UK, wanting a solution to the Cyprus dispute prior to the EU accession led to political pressures for new talks. The believe that an accession without a solution would threaten Greek-Turkish relations and acknowledge the partition of the island would direct the coming negotiations.
Over the course of two years a concrete plan, the Annan plan was formulated. In 2004 the fifth version agreed upon from both sides and with the endorsement of Turkey, US, UK and EU then was presented to the public and was given a referendum in both Cypriot communities to assure the legitimisation of the resolution. The Turkish Cypriots voted with 65% for the plan, however the Greek Cypriots voted with a 76% majority against. The Annan plan contained multiple important topics. Firstly it established a confederation of two separate states called the United Cyprus Republic. Both communities would have autonomous states combined under one unified government. The members of parliament would be chosen according to the percentage in population numbers to ensure a just involvement from both communities. The paper proposed a demilitarisation of the island over the next years. Furthermore it agreed upon a number of 45000 Turkish settlers that could remain on the island. These settlers became a very important issue concerning peace talks. Originally the Turkish government encouraged Turks to settle in Cyprus providing transfer and property, to establish a counterpart to the Greek Cypriot population due to their 1 to 5 minority. With the economic situation many Turkish-Cypriot decided to leave the island, however their departure is made up by incoming Turkish settlers leaving the population ratio between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots stable. However all these points where criticised and as seen in the vote rejected mainly by the Greek Cypriots. These name the dissolution of the „Republic of Cyprus", economic consequences of a reunion and the remaining Turkish settlers as reason. Many claim that the plan was indeed drawing more from Turkish-Cypriot demands then Greek-Cypriot interests. Taking in consideration that the US wanted to keep Turkey as a strategic partner in future Middle Eastern conflicts.
A week after the failed referendum the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU. In multiple instances the EU tried to promote trade with Northern Cyprus but without internationally recognised ports this spiked a grand debate. Both side endure their intention of negotiations, however without the prospect of any new compromises or agreements the UN is unwilling to start the process again. Since 2004 negotiations took place in numbers but without any results, both sides are strongly holding on to their position without an agreeable solution in sight that would suit both parties.
Engraving dedicated to Lionel Cranfield Sackvill. Pollio celebrating the birth of his son, Salonius.
Works of Virgil, 1697, first edition, containing his Pastorals, Georgics & Aeneis. John Dryden translation.
With 100 large copperplate engravings to illustrate the poetry, individually dedicated to various subscribers, mainly members of the Government and Peerage, with included Coats of Arms.
Translated into English Verse by John Dryden. The first edition - the Subscribers Edition.
Printed for Jacob Tonson, London, 1697. Rebacked binding with fragments of original embossed leather covers. 690 pages 37cm x 22cm.
With signature of Richard Coalke (Lieutenant Hayter) on title page.
Dedicated on October 28, 1886.
* 300 riveted copper sheets (molded) make up Lady Liberty.
* A gift from the French to the American people
* 305 feet tall
* Statue is 225 tons
* Designed by sculpture Frederic Auguste Bartholdi with the frame designed by Gustave Eiffel (of Eiffel Tower fame)
* The new torch from 1986 is coated in 24-carat gold leaf
* 354 steps lead from the entrance to the crown
* Pedestal is set within the walls of a army fort
* The pedestal is the largest concrete mass ever poured
* Bartholdi's mother was the model for Lady Liberty
* Her crown represents the seven seas and seven continents
* It is the largest metal sculpture ever built
"Give me your tired, your poor,... your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." is based from an Emma Lazarus poem
A tree dedicated to fallen Capt. Jefferson Clifford Francis in the National Military Cemetery of the Canadian Forces in Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Capt. Francis was killed in Kandahar, Afghanistan on July 4, 2007 when his armored vehicle was destroyed by a large land mine.
Dedicated to Sussy.A.L.(Sussy Lombardía) to thank her for all her efforts and continuous support
- Jaune entouré de vert
This is a family dedicated channel to our beloved big lad Benji
We got Benji in 2007 when he was 4 years old as the owner was suffering from an illness and was no longer capable of looking after him
We got him on the 21st may 2007 so we used that date to celebrate his birthday
When Benji came to live with us he was a very independant lad and was always the boss especially over my two young sons and he stamped his authority quite quickly
He did test us at the beginning but soon knew that living here with us he was going to get nothing more than love and attention and he got that in abundance
He loved his home comforts as he would often take over the settee and would declare that space as his own
I myself have had health issues and Benji would always pop his head up to see if everything was alright with me and i would do the same with him everynight
We nearly lost Benji in 2013/2014 when we discovered a small lump on his groin and the vet at the time told us it was just a fatty lump and just ignore it
We knew something was not right and advised the vet that we wanted it removed and we would pay for the operation
We booked him in 2 weeks after that appointment and when we got him to the PDSA they told us that it was a good job that we ignored her colleagues advice and decided to go for the operation as it saved his life as this so called fatty lump was actually a growth that was cutting off his blood vessel, The operation was a success and it extended our time with Benji
There was times that we questioned some of the vets advice as for when we kept asking about all the lumps that was appearing on his body and again we were told that they were just fatty lumps
Over the past couple of years we were concerned of a few lumps under his chest and a few that would appear around his ribs etc and again we were told to ignore them as they were fatty lumps
Well those lumps turned out to be cancer and cost our baby boy his life as his liver had also became very enlarged and we had to make a decssion if we wanted to die in agony as we were informed or for the vet to give him that terrible injection
We took him home for a day so that he could say his goodbyes to my sons and we stayed awake with him all night
The following morning we gave him his favourite a tin of tuna and he had a good drink of water and at 10:15am on September 1st 2017 Benji was put to sleep
My wife held him in her arms as i cuddled his head and kept him from seeing the needles and he dropped into his deep sleep forever
The vet that dealt with Benji on his final moment was a wonderful and caring vet and we thank her from the bottom of our hearts for all she done
We love you Benji and we will walk together again one day soon
Forever your
Mammy, Daddy and Brothers
dedicated to my great friend Naleye, this friendly gentleman was passing bye. He didn't seem to bother about time nor age. Unfortunately, i was in a hurry, while getting older every second...
On 21 September 2021, APM Terminals Pipavav became the first Indian port to connect with the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC).
The port achieves this milestone with the completion of high-rise overhead electrification of the port rail yard. The electrification of DFC is envisaged to reduce the operation cost of Railways significantly.
The transit time from the port to the north west hinterland via DFC is expected to reduce by 50%; there by offering safe, reliable, and cost-effective solution to the customers. By switching to electrical loco, the port will be able to support environment friendly, long haul, high-volume freight rail transportation and reduction of Green House Gas emission. This is also expected to encourage a modal shift from road to rail towards sustainable development.
GIUSEPPE GRECO 2008
CANON EOS 400D EF 50MM 1.8
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved
The Province is helping keep people safe by creating hubs of police, dedicated prosecutors and probation officers focused on tackling repeat violent offending in every region of the province. Learn more: news.gov.bc.ca/28552
The ‘Football Remembers’ memorial was dedicated by H.R.H. Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge, and the winning designer, ten-year-old Spencer Turner from Farne Primary School in Newcastle, in the presence of F.A. Chairman Greg Dyke, England manager Roy Hodgson and representatives from the Premier League, Football League and the British Council on 12.12.2014.
The memorial commemorates the centenary of one of the most iconic moments of the First World War - the 1914 Christmas Truce football match which took place between allied and German troops on Christmas Day 1914 in Flanders, Belgium. Soldiers from both sides put down their weapons and crossed into ‘no man’s land’ to share in an impromptu ceasefire. First-hand accounts from the time include references to football being played and photographs taken.
Ad hoc matches were played at St Yvon, Ploegsteert, Belgium. There was definitely a game involving the Royal Warwickshire C Company on Christmas Day with caps as goalposts. Lieutenant Zehmisch spoke of a couple of English who brought a football out of their trench and a vigorous match began.
Lt. Johannes Niemann of the German army wrote: "Suddenly a Tommy came with a football. Teams were quickly established for a match on the frozen mud, and the Fritzes beat the Tommies 3-2."
Other soldier's diaries and various reports also spoke of balls being kicked about in friendship.
Lt. Charles Brockbank of the Cheshire Regiment wrote in his diary: "A huge crowd was between the trenches. Someone produced a little rubber ball so of course a football match started".
Altar dedicated to St. Joseph, Westwego, Louisiana, circa 2002. The Feast of Saint Joseph, celebrated around March 19, by the construction of elaborate three-tiered altars displaying traditional foods--shaped hard-breads, whole fish, sweets, olive oil and fresh fruits. A Silcian legend credits St. Joseph as saint who sent rain to save starving peasants during Medieval times, and as thanks, ever since then, faithful Sicilians have offered the saint their crops and foodstuffs. During the festival, which can last up to three days, all those who come to view the altars are fed, and the altar displays are given over to feed the poor when the festival reaches its end. Altars in New Orleans are erected in private homes, as well at churches serving the Italian community.
Admin Fave - Unforgettable Flowers,
Award of Distinction - Unforgettable Flowers,
Super Photographer - Perfect Petals,
Admin Award - Perfect Petals,
Gold Award - The Best Of Unforgettable Flowers,
Master Photographer - Perfect Petals,
You're A Star Award - Perfect Petals,
Platinum Award - The Best Of Unforgettable Flowers
Last night I went to Barnes & Noble to pick up this DVD edition of "The Barber of Seville," which I had specially ordered a couple of weeks before. I'm a fan of opera in general, but Rossini is one of my favorite composers, and Cecilia Bartoli is my favorite mezzo-soprano, hands down. A couple of years ago I bought "La Cenerentola" on DVD, and of course she was the main character in that one, too, this being her signature role. Having seen her in "La Cenerentola," it's impossible now for me to imagine anyone else playing that part; it would be like trying to do a remake of "Patton" without the late George C. Scott available to perform the title role.
I have not yet watched this all the way through, but expect to do so soon. I was a little surprised to discover that this particular recording was made back in 1988, when Cecilia was about 22. She stars as Rosina, of course, with Gino Quilico performing as Figaro.
As I mentioned, I am a big Cecilia Bartoli fan, and eventually hope to acquire everything she ever recorded. This is my third DVD featuring her -- the other one is "Live in Italy" -- and I have most of her CD albums. (Incidentally, Cecilia loves her work and puts her entire heart and soul into it, which makes her every bit as much of a pleasure to watch as she is to listen to.) I took a couple of the CDs to Italy when I went there with my wife four years ago, and during most of a long train ride from Ravenna to Viterbo, I marked the train's progress on a map as I listened, on headphones, to Cecilia perform Rossini arias.
And one day during that trip, an inspired revelation of true and correct doctrine came to me, which I shared in a mass e-mail to friends and family back home in the States. It was this: When the wicked die, they are immediately consigned to everlasting torment in the dark and benighted dominion of Sheol; but the righteous, on the other hand, all get to go to Tuscany. I continued by saying that if I ended up making it into that eternal realm of the blessed, I figured on being greeted personally by Cecilia herself (in some kind of special appearance if I predecease her), who would serve me an exquisite meal, prepared by cooks at the Grotta Guelfa restaurant in Florence, while she sang one or more of my favorite arias. (Perhaps in this case "Nacqui all'affanno," from "La Cenerentola," would be the most appropriate.) The meal being concluded, I would spend the next 500,000 years or so wandering around Florence and seeing all the things I had to miss during that first trip. Moreover, in this version of the afterlife, gelato will be available in infinite quantities, maintaining precisely the same flavor and texture that it had on earth, but with all the fat and calories removed.
But until that time comes, I suppose I shall have to content myself with the traditional, fattening variety of gelato, and CDs and DVDs such as this one.
This photo is affectionately dedicated to h2okatcher, who appears to love Italy just about as much as I do, and to Georgia Meschini, who is one of the truly great opera enthusiasts among the Flickr crowd.
Dedicated to Lennaert Nijgh (textwriter for Boudewijn de Groot, etc)
By Marinus Boezem, 2005
HAARLEM 16March2016
Photo from archives: Large View On Black
For Natasha on her birthday www.flickr.com/photos/natashap/
Happy Birthday Natasha
Shaun Flack, Barry Parker, Eric Almeida, David Flack( Semper Fi), Shelly Prescod, Duane Nickerson, Brent Hines,( front)Jerry Moore, Vinnie Smith, and Carmen Sowers
The Brihadeshvara 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 Brihadeshvara 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 Brihadeshvara 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
This is dedicated to my new friend Tina, or artsy_T, as Flickrland knows her.
She took time out of her busy day to shoot a portrait of me for an upcoming photo show that I will be in.
Take a minute to check out her photostream. She is a very talented artist.
I can't thank you enough Tina, you are a doll ... and I ADORE your cosmo field ;-)
Russell Huiet, a pharmacist with the Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) from South Carolina, is working day and night in sweltering hot temperatures to help people in Puerto Rico get the care that they need. Huiet is hesitant to be too far from the action and he even found an innovative way to get a little sleep when he wasn’t on duty, setting up a makeshift cot just inches away from the pharmacy.