View allAll Photos Tagged Language
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, California -- The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center suspended classes on June 16 for a Resiliency Day held on Presidio's Soldier Field. Service members were treated to a variety of culinary options from food vendors while the 517th Training Group Rifle Drill Team performed, followed by a flag-football tournament. Coins and awards were presented to recipients by visiting TRADOC Command Sgt. Maj., David Davenport. The day was capped by a parachute demonstration jump from the U.S. Army Special Operations Command Black Daggers parachute team.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. - The eighth presentation of the Big Sur Mud Run was held March 23 at the former Fort Ord. The sold-out run attracted 2,000 individual runners and 400 teams, with many participating in colorful costumes. The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language provided 127 volunteers for the event including "drill sergeants" strategically placed at mud pits to lead exercises and provide motivation. Proceeds from the annual Mud Run benefit youth and athletic programs of the Presidio's Morale, Welfare and Recreation Department, the Athletic Department of CSUMB, and the Big Sur International Marathon’s youth fitness program, JUST RUN.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
This billboard for Verizon/Google Droid phone has HAL's eye on screen.
I'm not sure "homicidal maniac supercomputer" is the ideal marketing message here.
But what do I know?
* * * * *
This photo appeared on this language blog, which brings up a point I hadn't considered: would "a bare-knuckled bucket of does" be a reference to female deer that have knuckles instead of hooves?
This photo also appeared on the blog Voyces: Tick, Tock, Core, Edge on 18 May 2010.
www.exchangelanguages.org/ french language learning, french language software, french learning, french lessons, french lessons online, french study, german language, german language courses
Why Body language?
More than 90% of our communication is conveyed by non-verbal means. Body language is the main factor in such communication. This is an ancient form of interaction that is even more evident in the animal world. The non-verbal messages are mostly perceived in our unconsciousness leading us to a hunch or a feeling regarding a person or a situation: “I don’t like him, I can feel he is lying” or on the positive side, “I immediately felt connected to her”.
Body language can be used to improve your negotiation skills, your presentation ability and in different social interactions, including a romantic date.
If it is a natural form of communication, why do I need to learn it?
Only a small percentage of the population perceive the non-verbal signs at the consciousness level and can use body language as a tool to “read” others and to present themselves and their messages in a reliable way. These people can create empathy, detect lies within seconds, and feel immediately when it’s the right time to close a deal. Others can learn it; many politicians practice body language techniques and use personal training for these purposes. Similarly, police and security experts are trained to understand body language as a tool to detect lies. In the corporate world, body language interpretation is a key tool in the interview and hiring process of new employees. Some companies even have a body language expert present during interviews and as part of a negotiation team for large-scale deals.
Why cards?
Mastering the secrets of the body language might be complicated. Body Language is a visual mode of communication- you cannot learn it just from reading- you need to see it. Body Language Cards do just that; they flood your consciousness with the visual gesture and connect it to its meaning.
Most important: It works!!!
Body Language Cards are used as an integral part on professional body language courses; they are practiced as an educational devise in corporations; Body Language Cards are even used in psychology courses in colleges all over the world as they were recently translated in 4 additional languages
Islamabad, May 22, 2013 – U.S. Ambassador Richard Olson joined staff of the SOS Children’s Village of Islamabad to inaugurate a new English language laboratory at SOS today. Established with a grant from the U.S. Ambassador’s Fund, the new lab will enable the children living at the SOS Children’s Village to improve their English-language skills.
To furnish the lab, the U.S. government bought 22 computers, furniture, a printer, and special English-language software. “The U.S. government funds comprehensive education programs that will help millions of Pakistani children. Our funding of the new English-language lab for the SOS Children’s Village is an example of this assistance. It shows how the United States and Pakistan can work together to improve the lives of Pakistan’s children,” said Ambassador Olson at the inauguration of the English lab.
When asked about the impact of this English language lab, SOS Children’s Village of Islamabad Chairperson, Ms. Naznin Murtaza, said, “English has become the common language of business and education throughout the world. However, most of the SOS children are from backgrounds that have not afforded them the opportunities to learn English. The new U.S.-funded English Language Lab will help these children overcome that challenge and equip them with English-language skills so they can rise as far as their talent and hard work will take them.”
The SOS Children’s Village of Islamabad was established in July 2011, and is currently supporting 92 boys and girls, along with 13 mothers. Most of these children are from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and were orphaned by the devastating 2005 earthquake.
This initiative is one part of a comprehensive U.S. education assistance program, which includes building or rehabilitating nearly 800 schools; launching new degree programs in education at 90 teacher colleges and universities; providing scholarships for 12,000 students to study in Pakistan; and operating the largest Fulbright academic exchange program in the world.
The U.S. Ambassador’s Fund is a $15 million grant program managed by USAID and implemented under a contract with the National Rural Support Program (NRSP). The fund provides opportunities for Pakistani NGOs, civil society groups, private sector organizations, and communities to apply for and receive funding assistance to improve basic economic or social conditions at the local community level and support high-impact, quick-implementation activities. Interested parties should visit NRSP’s website at sgafp.org.pk.
To learn more about many other U.S.-Pakistan initiatives that are making a positive impact on the lives of Pakistanis – in energy, economic development, and health – please visit transition.usaid.gov/pk/ or email us at uspakassistance@state.gov.
Dunk Island, known as Coonanglebah in the Warrgamay and Dyirbal languages, is an island within the locality of Dunk in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It lies 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) off the Australian east coast, opposite the town of Mission Beach. The island forms part of the Family Islands National Park and is in the larger Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.
The island is surrounded by reefs and has a diverse population of birds. The Bandjin and Djiru peoples once used the island as a source for food. Europeans first settled on the island in 1897. Dunk Island was used by the Royal Australian Air Force during World War II. In recent years the island and its resort facilities have been adversely affected by both Cyclone Larry and Cyclone Yasi.
The traditional Aboriginal owners of Dunk Island are the Bandjin and Djiru people, who have lived in this area for tens of thousands of years. After the sea level rise, they paddled to the islands in bark canoes to gather food and materials. The Warrgamay and Dyirbal name for Dunk Island is Coonanglebah, meaning "The Island of Peace and Plenty". It received its European name from Captain Cook, who sailed past it on 8 June 1770, remarked that it was a "tolerable high island" and named it after George Montague-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax (a former First Lord of the Admiralty).
Europeans settled the nearby mainland during the 1800s, seeking gold, timber and grazing land. In 1848, John MacGillivray studied the fauna and flora of the island while HMS Rattlesnake was anchored off the island for ten days. He subsequently wrote of its natural features in the Narrative of the Voyage of HMS Rattlesnake, published in England in 1852.
Dunk Island, eight or nine miles in circumference, is well wooded—it has two conspicuous peaks, one of which (the North-West one) is 857 feet in height. Our excursions were confined to the vicinity of the watering place and the bay in which it is situated. The shores are rocky on one side and sandy on the other, where a low point runs out to the westward. At their junction, and under a sloping hill with large patches of brush, a small stream of fresh water, running out over the beach, furnished a supply for the ship, although the boats could approach the place closely only at high-water. — John MacGillivray, Narrative of the Voyage of HMS Rattlesnake
Edmund Banfield
In 1897, suffering from work anxiety and exhaustion, and advised by doctors that he had just six months to live, writer Edmund James Banfield moved to Dunk Island with his wife Bertha – so becoming the island's first white settlers. Previously a journalist and senior editor with the Townsville Daily Bulletin for fifteen years, Banfield let the tranquillity of this unspoilt tropical paradise weave its magic and he lived on Dunk Island for the remaining 26 years of his life until his death in 1923.
A small hut built with the assistance of an Aborigine called Tom was the Banfields' first home. Over a period of time they cleared four acres of land for a plantation of fruit and vegetables. Combined with their chickens, cows and goats as well as the abundance of seafood and mangrove vegetation, they lived very self-sufficiently. Fascinated by Dunk Island's flora and fauna Banfield meticulously recorded his observations and went on to write a series of articles about island life under the pseudonym Rob Krusoe. He was further inspired to write a full-length book entitled Confessions of a Beachcomber (1908). The book became a celebrated text for romantics and escapists and established Dunk Island's reputation as an exotic island paradise.
In the ensuing years, Banfield wrote several other books about Dunk including My Tropical Isle (1911) and Tropic Days (1918). In these he shared the secrets of nature that he had uncovered and described the customs and legends of the Aboriginal people on the island. E. J. Banfield died on 2 June 1923 and his final book Last Leaves from Dunk Island was published posthumously in 1925. His widow remained on the island for another year before moving to Brisbane where she died, ten years after her husband. Today both are buried on the trail to Mt Kootaloo.
Commencement of the resort and World War II
The island was bought in 1934 by Captain Brassey and Banfield's bungalow provided the basis for the beginnings of a resort. The resort was commenced in 1936. The Royal Australian Air Force occupied Dunk Island during World War II, building its airstrip in 1941. They installed a radar station on the island's highest point a year later, which was then dismantled when the war ended in 1945.
Post-war development of the resort
The Brassey family returned to run the resort for a period at the end of the war. The island then went through a succession of owners. In 1956, Gordon & Kathleen Stynes purchased it and relocated their family there from Victoria. They then redeveloped and upgraded the resort's facilities to establish the island as a tourist destination. As a result, Dunk Island became a popular destination for celebrities[11] including Sean Connery, Henry Ford II, and Australian Prime Ministers Harold Holt and Gough Whitlam. The Stynes Family owned and operated the island and resort until 1964, when it was sold to Eric McIlree, founder of Avis Rent-A-Car.
In 1976, Trans Australia Airlines purchased Dunk Island. Ownership passed to Qantas in 1992, following its merger with Australian Airlines. On 24 December 1997, the island was purchased by P&O Australian Resorts, which was acquired by Voyages in July 2004. In September 2009, both Dunk and Bedarra island resorts were purchased by Hideaway Resorts, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pamoja Capital.
Artists' colony
Dunk Island was also home to a small community of artists who lived, worked and showcased their work to many international and local visitors on a property on the southern side of the island. The Colony was established in 1974 by former Olympic wrestler Bruce Arthur, who died at his home on Island in March 1998 and continued to operate under resident metalsmith Susi Kirk until Cyclone Larry damaged much of the colony. Kirk continued to live at the colony until Cyclone Yasi destroyed her home in 2011, and has subsequently continued to live and work on Dunk Island as the last member of the artist colony.
After Cyclone Yasi, 2011–2020
After Cyclone Yasi, Dunk Island was bought by Australian entrepreneur Peter Bond and redevelopment of the resort commenced in 2014. This redevelopment never took place.
In September 2019 Mayfair 101, an Australian family-owned investment conglomerate led by James Mawhinney, purchased Dunk Island. Mayfair 101 also secured over 250 properties on mainland Mission Beach as part of its estimated AUD1.6 billion 10-15-year plan to restore the region. Mayfair 101 was awarded the Dunk Island Spit tender on 14 November 2019 by the Cassowary Coast Regional Council, providing the opportunity for Mayfair 101 to negotiate a 30-year lease over the iconic Dunk Island Spit. The island's redevelopment is being undertaken by Mayfair 101's property division, Mayfair Iconic Properties, which has established a team based at Mission Beach to undertake the significant rejuvenation of the region.
In August 2020, the previous owners of the island, Family Islands Operations, owned by the family of Australian businessman Peter Bond repossessed the island after the owners Mayfair 101 failed to meet their payment obligations.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunk_Island
Image source: Queensland State Archives Item ID ITM435811 Islands - Barrier Reef
The Walk, Ipswich
By Barefoot and Cautley, 1938.
There is nothing else in England quite like The Walk. It links Tavern Street and the Butter Market, a sloping site which he planned as a kind of Elizabethan shambles. Cautley was an avowed medievalist who understood exactly the language of the style. The Walk consists of a winding alley of two storey shops, with a concealed third storey, Cornhill Chambers, intended to provide accomodation for the legal profession. It links in with an older alley called The Thoroughfare.
All the shops have exquisite mock-Tudor details, ornate carvings which Cautley had learned from medieval bench ends, and the wide, Perpendicular arches familiar from Norfolk and Suffolk churches. Cautley used the shell motif of St James throughout the arcade. This was intended as a pun - St James is the patron Saint of pilgrimage, and how could Cautley resist his patronage of an arcade called The Walk?
Henry Munro Cautley (1876-1959) was an Ipswich-based architect. He designed a number of churches in the Ipswich area, and was also responsible for a number of secular buildings, the most memorable of which is a shopping arcade called The Walk, which he designed with his colleague Leslie Barefoot for Ipswich Borough Council, and which was built 1937-38. Barefoot designed the overall structure, and Cautley designed the exquisite neo-medieval detailing. Cautley's best building in Ipswich is probably Ipswich Central Library in Northgate Street. He was also responsible for several Lloyds Banks, including branches in Cambridge, Colchester, Norwich and Kings Lynn.
Henry Munro Cautley, always known as Munro Cautley or simply Cautley, was born at Bridge in Kent in 1876, but when he was very young his parents moved to Ipswich, for his father to take up the post of the Curate-in-Charge of the new All Saints church in Chevalier Street. His father later became Rector of Westerfield on the outskirts of Ipswich, and Munro Cautley would live in and around Ipswich for the rest of his life.
At the start of the 20th Century, Cautley was still living with his parents in Westerfield rectory, but In 1904 he married the widow Mabel Turner née Flick, and they lived in her house, Swan's Nest, a large 17th Century house in Westerfield. There were considerable extensions to the house in the first decade of the 20th Century, and this may well have been Cautley's first work. After 1911, they moved to the house he designed from scratch, Drumbeg, at 4 Constitution Hill in north Ipswich. Both houses survive today.
Cautley was Diocesan architect for the Anglican Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich from its formation in 1911 until the early 1950s. This was a time when not many churches were built in Suffolk, and Cautley designed only three for them. These were St Augustine on Felixstowe Road, St Andrew on Britannia Road, and All Hallows on Landseer Road, all on the east side of Ipswich. He also designed the Bishop's Chapel on Park Road in north Ipswich. However, he was also responsible for overseeing all other architects' designs for restorations and new buildings. He was a strong medievalist, and all his work shows his passion for 15th Century art and architecture.
Cautley's best church is All Hallows, Ipswich, which was built in the Art Deco style. But it is very traditional in structure, a Suffolk medieval church translated into jazz modern which still survives with its furnishings intact, an extraordinary survival. He also designed Ipswich County Library in the 1920s, now a Grade 2* listed building, one of the most distinctive buildings in the Borough.
Cautley designed his own typeface. Cautley and Barefoot's practice was based at Cornhill Chambers in the Thoroughfare, and the building survives today with Cautley's lettering above the entrance. The same lettering can be seen on the war memorials he designed, of which about half a dozen can be traced in parish churches in the Ipswich area.
Munro Cautley died at home in Ipswich in 1959. His gravestone is in Westerfield churchyard - he designed it himself. His wife, who died the previous year, is buried in the same grave. There is also a memorial to him inside Westerfield church, which includes a portrait, and a memorial to them both at Mildenhall, where the furnishings, designed by Cautley, were given in Mabel's memory.
But Cautley is best known today not as an architect but as a writer. His two books on Norfolk Churches and Suffolk Churches, published in the 1940s and 1950s, are still standard works on the subject.
Yellow Admiral
(Vanessa itea)
Aldinga Conservation Park, Kaurna Country, South Australia
'Pilyapilya' - Kaurna language for butterfly
Keynote Speaker Poet Richard Blanco talks about differences in culture, language, and his childhood, with the audience gathered and viewing the 2013 National Hispanic Heritage Month ”Hispanics: Serving and Leading our Nation with Pride and Honor,” on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013, in the Jefferson Auditorium, USDA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. Mr. Blanco stands as the youngest, first Latino, and first openly gay person to serve as the Presidential inaugural poet, on January 21 of this year. USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. - The quarterly running of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center Commander's Cup races was held at the Price Fitness Center Field on Nov. 2. The two-mile run features a men's and women's team representing each military service branch with the best combined times being awarded the coveted Commander's Cup trophy. The Air Force’s winning streak continues as they claimed first place in both the men's and women's division and were presented with the Commander’s Cup.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
Nokia N900 Tech specs
Display•3.5 inch touch-sensitive widescreen display
•800 × 480 pixel resolution
Language supportBritish English, American English, Canadian French, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Latin American Spanish, Swedish, Russian
Connectivity•3.5mm AV connector
•TV out (PAL/NTSC) with Nokia Video Connectivity Cable
•Micro-USB connector, High-Speed USB 2.0
•Bluetooth v2.1 including support for stereo headsets
•Integrated FM transmitter
•Integrated GPS with A-GPS
BatteryBL-5J 1320mAh
Processor and 3D acceleratorTI OMAP 3430: ARM Cortex-A8 600 MHz, PowerVR SGX with OpenGL ES 2.0 support
MemoryUp to 1GB of application memory (256 MB RAM, 768 MB virtual memory)
Size and weightVolume:Approx 113ccDimensions:110.9 × 59.8 × 18 (19.55 at thickest part) mmWeight:Approx 181gMass memory•32 GB internal storage
•Store up to 7000 MP3 songs or 40 hours of high-quality video
•Up to 16 GB of additional storage with an external microSD card
Keys and input method•Full QWERTY tactile keyboard
•Full QWERTY onscreen keyboard
ColourBlack
Operating frequency•Quad-band GSM EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
•WCDMA 900/1700/2100 MHz
Data networkGPRS class A, multislot class 32, maximum speed 107/64.2 kbps (DL/UL) EDGE class A, multislot class 32, maximum speed 296/177.6 kbps (DL/UL) WCDMA 900/1700/2100. Maximum speed PS 384/384 kbps (DL/UL) HSPA 900/1700/2100. Maximum speed PS 10/2 Mbps (DL/UL) WLAN IEEE 802.11b/g
Call features•Integrated hands-free stereo speakers
•Call waiting, call hold, call divert
•Call timer
•Logging of dialed, received and missed calls
•Speed dialing via contact widget
•Virbrating alert (internal)
•Side volume keys
•Mute/unmute
•Contacts with images
•Conference calling with up to 3 participants
•Internet calling
Email & Messaging•Supported protocols: Mail for Exchange, IMAP, POP3, SMTP
•Support for email attachments
•Support for rich HTML
•SMS and Instant Messages as conversations
•Support for Nokia Messaging service
•Instant messaging and presence enhanced contacts
•Multiple number, email and Instant Messaging details per contact, contacts with images
•Support for assigning images to contacts
Web browsing•Maemo browser powered by Mozilla technology
•Adobe Flash™ 9.4 support
•Full screen browsing
GPS and navigation•Integrated GPS, Assisted-GPS, and Cell-based receivers
•Pre-loaded Ovi Maps application
•Automatic geotagging
Camera•5 megapixel camera (2584 × 1938 pixels)
•Image formats: JPEG
•CMOS sensor, Carl Zeiss optics, Tessar lens
•3 × digital zoom
•Autofocus with assist light and two-stage capture key
•Dual LED flash
•Full-screen viewfinder
•Photo editor on device
•TV out (PAL/NTSC) with Nokia Video Connectivity Cable (CA-75U, included in box) or WLAN/UPnP
•Landscape (horizontal) orientation
•Capture modes: Automatic, portrait, video, macro, landscape, action
Video•Wide aspect ratio 16:9 (WVGA)
•Video recording file format: .mp4; codec: MPEG-4
•Video recording at up to 848 × 480 pixels (WVGA) and up to 25fps
•Video playback file formats: .mp4, .avi, .wmv, .3gp; codecs: H.264, MPEG-4, Xvid, WMV, H.263
Music and audio playback•Maemo media player
•Music playback file formats: .wav, .mp3, .AAC, .eAAC, .wma, .m4a
•Built-in FM transmitter
•Ring tones: .wav, .mp3, .AAC, .eAAC, .wma, .m4a
•FR, EFR, WCDMA, and GSM AMR
•Digital stereo microphone
•DLNA
Personalisation•Background pictures
•Widgets on your desktops
•Intelligent contact shortcuts
•Shortcuts to your favourite websites
•Shortcuts to applications
•Themes
Operating systemMaemo 5 software on Linux
Applications•Maemo Browser
•Phone
•Conversations
•Contacts
•Camera
•Photos
•Media player
•Calendar
•Ovi Maps
•Clock
•Notes
•Calculator
•PDF reader
•File manager
•RSS reader
•Sketch
•Games
•Widgets
•Application manager for downloads
Gaming•Bounce
•Chess
•Mahjong
What´s in the box•Nokia N900
•Nokia Battery (BL-5J)
•Nokia High Efficiency Charger (AC-10)
•Nokia Stereo Headset (WH-205)
•Video out cable (CA-75U)
•Nokia charger adaptor (CA-146C)
•Cleaning cloth
Deva is the Hindu term for deity; devatas (Devanagari: देवता, Khmer: tevoda (ទេវតា), Javanese, Balinese, Sundanese, Malay and Indonesian: dewata; Philippine languages: diwata), are a kind of smaller more focused devas. The term "devata" also means devas (deva in plural form or the gods). They are male and female devata. There are many kinds of devatas: vanadevatas (forest spirits, perhaps descendants of early nature-spirit cults), gramadevata (village gods), devata of river crossings, caves, mountains, and so on. In Hinduism, the devatas that guard the nine cardinal points are called Devata Lokapala (Guardians of the Directions) or in ancient Java called Dewata Nawa Sanga (Nine guardian gods). Every human activity has its devata, its spiritual counterpart or aspect.
Hindu devatas in the Konkan region are often divided into five categories: 1. Grama devatas - or village deities, for example, Hanuman, Kalika, Amba, Bhairava. 2. Sthana devatas - or local deities, for example, those in certain places of pilgrimage like Rama in Nasik, Vithoba in Pandharpur or Krishna at Dwarka. 3. Kula devatas - or family deities, like Khanderai. 4. Ishta devatas - or Chosen deities, 5. Wastu devatas or Gruha devatas - or a class of deities that preside over the house.
Some of well-known Hindu-Buddhist heavenly beings belong to the group of devatas, such as apsara or vidhyadari; heavenly maiden that sent by Indra from svarga to seduces the meditating ascetics, and her male counterparts; gandharvas; the heavenly musicians. Devatas often occurred in Hindu epics such as Ramayana and Mahabharata, and also some Buddhist holy scriptures. The island of Bali is nicknamed as Pulau Dewata (Indonesian: "islands of devata or island of gods"), because of its vivid Hindu culture and traditions. In Bali, there are many offerings dedicated to hyang, the guardian spirits associated with devata._
______________________
Banteay Kdei (Khmer: ប្រាសាទបន្ទាយក្តី; Prasat Banteay Kdei), meaning "A Citadel of Chambers", also known as "Citadel of Monks' cells", is a Buddhist temple in Angkor, Cambodia. It is located southeast of Ta Prohm and east of Angkor Thom. Built in the mid-12th to early 13th centuries AD during the reign of Jayavarman VII (who was posthumously given the title "Maha paramasangata pada"), it is in the Bayon architectural style, similar in plan to Ta Prohm and Preah Khan, but less complex and smaller. Its structures are contained within two successive enclosure walls, and consist of two concentric galleries from which emerge towers, preceded to the east by a cloister.
This Buddhist monastic complex is currently dilapidated due to faulty construction and poor quality of sandstone used in its buildings, and is now undergoing renovation. Banteay Kdei had been occupied by monks at various intervals over the centuries until the 1960s.
GEOGRAPHY
The Banteay Kdei, one of the many Angkor temples, is located in the Angkor Archaeological Park of 400 square kilometres area. The ancient city of Angkor during the Khmer Empire extended from Tonle Sap to the Kulen hills covering a vast area of 1,000 square kilometres. The temple is approached from the east gopura of Ta Prohm along a 600 metres path. This path leads to the west gate entrance gopura of Banteay Kdei. It is 3 kilometres east of Angkor Thom.
HISTORY
The Khmer Empire lasted from 802 to 1431, initially under Hindu religious beliefs up to the end of the 12th century and later under Buddhist religious practices. It was a time when temples of grandeur came to be built and reached a crescendo during the reign of Suryavarman II until 1191, and later in the 12th–13th centuries, under Jayavarman VII. Many Buddhist temples were built, including the Banteay Kdei, from middle of the 12th century to early 13th century. Though Jayavarman VII was credited with building many temples, he was also accused of squandering money on extravagant temple building projects at the expense of society and other duties. He built Buddhist temples in which Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara was the main deity. This temple built, conforming to the style of the Ta Prohm and Preah Khan temples in the vicinity during the same period by Jayavarman VII, but of a smaller size, was built as a Buddhist monastic complex on the site of a 10th-century temple built by Rajendravarman. Some small inscriptions attest to the building of this temple by Jayavarman VII and the royal architect, Kavindrarimathana.
Jayavarman VII had come to power at the age of 55 after defeating Chams who had invaded Angkor and subjected it to devastation. His "prodigious activity" resulted in the restoration of Cambodia from its ruins. He was chiefly the architect of the rebuilt capital at Angkor Thom and was called a "Great Builder". He was responsible for building many temples, which apart from Banteay Kdei, included the central temple of the Bayon, Prah Khan, Ta Prohm and many others, and also many rest houses for pilgrims. The reasons for building this temple at its present site is not known. However, it is established that the temple is a contemporary of the Angkor Wat as many similarities have been identified between the two, and also with Phimai temple in Thailand. It is reported to be the first temple built by Jayavarman VII in 1181 AD, opposite to the Srah Srang reservoir.
In the 13th century, most of the temples built by Jayavarman were vandalised. However, some of the Mahayana Buddhist frontons and lintels are still seen in good condition. It is also the view of some archaeologists that the temple was built by Jayavarman II in honour of his religious teacher.
The temple, which for several centuries after the Khmer reign ended, remained neglected and covered with vegetation. It was exposed after clearing the surrounding overgrowth of vegetation in 1920–1922. This work was carried out under the guidance of Henri Marchal (then Conservator of Angkor) and Ch. Battuer, by adopting a conservation principle which was known as "the principle of anastylosis, which was being employed very effectively by the Dutch authorities in Indonesia". It was partially occupied by Buddhist monks till the 1960s.
For ten years till March 2002, Sophia University Mission or the Sophia Mission of Japan carried out several Archaeological research at the Banteay Kdei temple. During these investigations, a cache of fragments of 274 Buddhist statues made in sandstone, along with a few metal art pieces, were unearthed, in 2001. Plans to build a storage room to house the statues was also planned.
LAYOUT
The sacred temple complex is cloistered and packed in a space of 65×50 m with three enclosures within a large compound wall of size 700×300 m, made of laterite stones. The entry is from the east facing gopura, which is in a cruciform embellished with Lokesvara images. The temple is a treasure house of sculptures in the architectural styles of the Bayon and also of the Angkor Wat. The complex is on a single level.
EXTERNAL ENCLOSURE
The external enclosure with four concentric walls, has four gopuras similar to the Ta Brahm temple, and all are in some degree of preserved status. At the four corners, the gopuras have a fascia of Lokesvara (Buddhist deity, Avalokitesvara) mounted over Garuda images (it is also mentioned that the smiling faces are of King Jayavarman II, similar to those seen in the Beyan temple). The east facing gopura, in particular, has well-preserved garuda images on its corners. Two hundred meters from the west entrance of this enclosure leads to a moat, which is decorated with statues of lions and naga-balustrades mounted on garudas. The moat itself has in its precincts the third enclosure which measures 320×300 m, also enclosed with laterite walls. The Buddha image at the entrance to the moat, near the second interior gate, is well preserved, considering the fact that most of the other statues have been destroyed or stolen.
THIRD ENCLOSURE
The third enclosure has a gopura which has a cruciform plan. It has pillars which are crossed by vaults. There are three passages in this enclosure, two on either side are independent, with laterite walls. The niches here have small figurines, and large apsara devatas in single poses or in pairs of dancing poses. Large Buddha images, in an internal courtyard of this enclosure, have been defaced by vandals. A paved access from here leads to the main shrine, which comprises two galleried enclosures. At the entrance to these enclosures, from the eastern end, is the "Hall of Dancers", which has four open courtyards and the pillars have fine carvings of apsaras.
SECOND ENCLOSURE
The second enclosure, which is part of the main temple, measures 58×50 m. It has a gopura on its eastern side and also subsidiary gopura on the west. Entrance doors are at the northern and southern ends. The gopura is built like a gallery with one exterior wall and double row of pillars which open into a courtyard and which has mostly shored up walls with small openings at the bottom to allow air circulation. The niches here are decorated with images of apsaras, and a Buddha statue in the central hall has been defaced by vandals. Bayon style architectural features built-in are the "balustered false windows with lowered blinds and devatas with headdresses in the form of small flaming discs set in a triangle." The vaults built in sandstone and laterite have collapsed at several locations of the gallery. The inner enclosures contain library building to its north and south and also a central sanctuary.
INNER ENCLOSURE
The inner enclosure of the main temple is built on a 36×30 m layout plan. This enclosure has four corner towers abutted by small gopuras. Galleries running along an axis link these towers to the main sanctuary. The towers at the north-east and south-east are linked with the second gallery where a Buddha statue in a sitting posture is seen, in the backdrop of an open sky line. The sanctum which is 2.75 m square enclosure has some traces of statues of deities. This entire enclosure, however, is not built in Bayon style and hence conjectured to be of an earlier period. Remnants of wooden ceiling are also seen here. The entrance to the sanctum is flanked by dvarapalas surrounded by apsaras.
SRAH SRANG
Srah Srang or "The royal bathing pool" or "pool of ablutions" to the east of Banteay Kdei, which was dug to dimensions of 700x300 m during the reign of Rajendraverman in the 10th century, was beautified by Jayavarman VII with well laid out steps of laterite stones with external margin of sandstone, on the banks of the pond facing the Sun. It is set amidst large trees and has turquoise blue waters all the year round. The approaching steps to the water edge are flanked by two stone statues of lions with ornamented Nāga-balustrades. The pond was reserved for use by the king and his wives. A stone base seen at an island in the centre of the pond once housed a wooden temple where the king did meditation. At the lily filled lake, watching sunset reflections in the lake is quite an experience. The water from the lake is now used for rice cultivation by farmers of the area.
ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES
Some specific architectural features which evolved with the Bayon style are clearly discerned in this temple. The roof is supported on free-standing pillars in the eastern and western pavilions in the third enclosure, built in a cruciform plan with the inner row of pillars supporting the roof. The pillars are also tied to the wall by a tie beam using a "mortise–and–tenon join" patterned on wooden structures. Other features noted are of the four central pillars in the western pavilion which have been strengthened with temporary supports of laterite stone block pillars. Carvings of Buddha are seen on all these pillars but mostly defaced. The temporary support system provided to the roof built on free standing pillars is indicative of problems of design seen in the temples built during this period.
RESTAURATION
Laser scans and imaging of the Banteay Kdei and Angkor Wat Western Causeway were performed within a project launched in March 2004 by the University of California and Sophia University of Tokyo, in partnership with the nonprofit CyArk. The obtained information has facilitated restoration and reconstruction of these structures, which is funded by the Sophia University, and much publicly accessible data from the project is hosted on the CyArk Website. The APSARA Authority has achieved significant improvements in conservation and preservation of monuments in Angkor. Some of the towers and corridors are under restoration and as a result some locations have been cordoned off. Strengthening measures are seen in some parts of the interior temple area where structures in danger are tied together with cables.
WIKIPEDIA
I never realized how important words are... they can make you or break you. That's why I love photographing words. Language/communication is so important... words have the power to tell people you you are; they can represent or misrepresent. Lack of words can leave people in the dark or searching; too many words can leave people feeling overwhelmed. Words can be daggers to your heart or they can uplift your soul. It's important to tell people whom you care about how important they are in your lives and to effectively express to them specifically just what they mean to you.. always communicate to the fullest extent. Ask the important questions and also learn to listen and try not to hurt the ones you love with ugly words. Otherwise you might find that you lose the people who are most important in your life. I have learned this the hard way and it was not fun. Treat people the way you would want to be treated and at the end of the day --- hello, we are all only human, so forgive, forgive, forgive. Life is too short to do otherwise.
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, California -- Family members of Staff Sgt. Kenneth R. Hobson II visited the building on the Presidio named in his honor. Hobson's widow, Deborah Hobson-Bird, accompanied by their daughter Abbie, arrived at the Hobson Student Activity Center on Aug. 4, almost 19 years to the day that Staff Sgt. Hobson lost his life along with 247 others when terrorists bombed the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya on Aug. 7, 1998. After being greeted by Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center Commandant Col. Phil Deppert and Presidio of Monterey Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Roberto Marshall, family members laid a wreath at the plaque by the Student Center entrance that bears the image of Hobson and details his military service. They were then given a private tour of the facility, which is used as a central meeting place for DLIFLC students after language classes and offers a variety of recreational activities in a relaxing atmosphere, and presented with the original pencil drawing that was used for the plaque.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTOS by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs
It is often difficult for ethnic minority children in Laos to start their school because they do not understand Lao and because government teachers seldom speak ethnic minority languages.
A map of languages and language families from notes for a conspecies I've been working on for a while. You can see the full version here.
Photographer
I’m student of the University of Hamburg. I do my Master degree in Hungarian Language. I live in Hamburg but I’m from Hungary. I was for the first time electoral assistant and it was an amazing experience. To be an electoral assistant and vote made me very happy and I felt me be a part of the EU.
Description of the photo:
Hamburg in EU-Election fever
____________________________________________________
Read our article about the EP Guest Photographer campaign here:
www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/content/20140602...!
Take a look at the best images of the 5 month of our whole competition and vote ("like") your favourite one!
www.flickr.com/photos/european_parliament/sets/7215763962...
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. --
Military service members of the color guard from the Presidio of Monterey march into position to display the colors during the playing of the national anthem at the Santa Cruz Warriors Basketball Team's Military Appreciation Night April 1, 2014, at the Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz. The service members who make up the color guard are students at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, located on the Presidio of Monterey. The evening was coordinated by the Presidio of Monterey Family Morale, Welfare and Recreation Office and the Santa Cruz Warriors, a popular NBA affiliate who plays in its development league. Working together, the two organizations regularly provide free tickets to military members stationed at the Presidio to honor and thank them for their military service. To learn more about the people and facilities of the Presidio of Monterey visit www.monterey.army.mil
Photo by Michael Beaton, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
Title in other languages:
Deutsch: Wurzeln eines großen Baumes
English: Roots of a big tree
English:
Welcome and thank you for being here! This image forms part of a collection of photographs of moments on Planet Earth.
If you enjoy this work and want to support me financially, I’m glad to receive your donation via Paypal: paypal.me/jankohoener
If you intend to use this picture for your own purposes, please credit me with the following attribution line: Janko Hoener / CC-BY-SA-4.0. This is required by the license terms. A link back to this page and informing me about your usage via FlickrMail is appreciated.
Deutsch:
Willkommen und vielen Dank, dass Sie hier sind! Dieses Bild stellt Teil einer Sammlung von Fotografien von Augenblicken auf dem Planet Erde dar.
Wenn Ihnen diese Arbeit zusagt und Sie mich finanziell dabei unterstützen möchten, so freue ich mich über Ihre Spende via Paypal: paypal.me/jankohoener
Wenn Sie dieses Foto für eigene Zwecke nutzen möchten, geben Sie bitte Janko Hoener / CC-BY-SA-4.0 in der Bildunterschrift an. Dies ist per Lizenz gefordert. Über einen Link auf diese Seite und eine Benachrichtigung über die Nutzung via FlickrMail freue ich mich.
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. - Service members, civilian personnel and family members of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center and Army Garrison Presidio of Monterey paid tribute to those who have died serving our Nation during the DLIFLC and POM Memorial Day Ceremony held on Soldier Field, May 23.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. – More than 3,000 students from across California visited the Presidio of Monterey on May 13 for DLIFLC’s Language Day. Students, educators and other participants were treated to stage performances, classroom displays and ethnic cuisine, highlighting the cultures of the many foreign languages taught here.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
A German language timetable and fares leaflet issued by the "Marineverwaltung" or the state owned Regie voor Maritiem Transport who, from 1846 until 1997, operated ferries across the Channel. The Mercury helmet design, superimposed with a stylised compass, car and vessel at sea, is by Miessen; René Miessen (1911 – 2000) was a Belgian advertising artist and designer who, in his later years, moved to Paris where he practised as an artist under the name Bellor.
The title translates as "To Great Britain with your car via Ostend - Dover" and is for services operated during the 1959 season.
. . . 10. 3. 2007 - this is the fourth day of a funeral ceremony in Bori for a High Class Woman. She died on 18. 1. 2007 at the age of 85 years. The ceremony will last for one week. Today we will see buffalo fighting, cock fighting, the killing of the buffalos, the horse and the deer. The photos of the killing might look strange to you, to the torajian they are common. The souls of the killed buffalos are the servants of the deads. The more buffalos are killed the better life for the dead.
If you wonder why the quality of the pictures is a little less: these are no photographs - it all are snapshots of my videos! So sorry for the less resolution, but I think, they are worth to be shown.
_____________________________________
The Toraja are an ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their population is approximately 1,100,000, of whom 450,000 live in the regency of Tana Toraja ("Land of Toraja"). Most of the population is Christian, and others are Muslim or have local animist beliefs known as aluk ("the way"). The Indonesian government has recognized this animist belief as Aluk To Dolo ("Way of the Ancestors").
The word toraja comes from the Bugis Buginese language term to riaja, meaning "people of the uplands". The Dutch colonial government named the people Toraja in 1909. Torajans are renowned for their elaborate funeral rites, burial sites carved into rocky cliffs, massive peaked-roof traditional houses known as tongkonan, and colorful wood carvings. Toraja funeral rites are important social events, usually attended by hundreds of people and lasting for several days.
Before the 20th century, Torajans lived in autonomous villages, where they practised animism and were relatively untouched by the outside world. In the early 1900s, Dutch missionaries first worked to convert Torajan highlanders to Christianity. When the Tana Toraja regency was further opened to the outside world in the 1970s, it became an icon of tourism in Indonesia: it was exploited by tourism developers and studied by anthropologists. By the 1990s, when tourism peaked, Toraja society had changed significantly, from an agrarian model - in which social life and customs were outgrowths of the Aluk To Dolo - to a largely Christian society. Today, tourism and remittances from migrant Torajans have made for major changes in the Toraja highland, giving the Toraja a celebrity status within Indonesia and enhancing Toraja ethnic group pride.
ETHNIC IDENTITY
The Torajan people had little notion of themselves as a distinct ethnic group before the 20th century. Before Dutch colonization and Christianization, Torajans, who lived in highland areas, identified with their villages and did not share a broad sense of identity. Although complexes of rituals created linkages between highland villages, there were variations in dialects, differences in social hierarchies, and an array of ritual practices in the Sulawesi highland region. "Toraja" (from the coastal languages' to, meaning people; and riaja, uplands) was first used as a lowlander expression for highlanders. As a result, "Toraja" initially had more currency with outsiders - such as the Bugis and Makassarese, who constitute a majority of the lowland of Sulawesi - than with insiders. The Dutch missionaries' presence in the highlands gave rise to the Toraja ethnic consciousness in the Sa'dan Toraja region, and this shared identity grew with the rise of tourism in the Tana Toraja Regency. Since then, South Sulawesi has four main ethnic groups - the Bugis (the majority, including shipbuilders and seafarers), the Makassarese (lowland traders and seafarers), the Mandarese (traders and fishermen), and the Toraja (highland rice cultivators).
HISTORY
From the 17th century, the Dutch established trade and political control on Sulawesi through the Dutch East Indies Company. Over two centuries, they ignored the mountainous area in the central Sulawesi, where Torajans lived, because access was difficult and it had little productive agricultural land. In the late 19th century, the Dutch became increasingly concerned about the spread of Islam in the south of Sulawesi, especially among the Makassarese and Bugis peoples. The Dutch saw the animist highlanders as potential Christians. In the 1920s, the Reformed Missionary Alliance of the Dutch Reformed Church began missionary work aided by the Dutch colonial government. In addition to introducing Christianity, the Dutch abolished slavery and imposed local taxes. A line was drawn around the Sa'dan area and called Tana Toraja ("the land of Toraja"). Tana Toraja was first a subdivision of the Luwu kingdom that had claimed the area. In 1946, the Dutch granted Tana Toraja a regentschap, and it was recognized in 1957 as one of the regencies of Indonesia.
Early Dutch missionaries faced strong opposition among Torajans, especially among the elite, because the abolition of their profitable slave trade had angered them. Some Torajans were forcibly relocated to the lowlands by the Dutch, where they could be more easily controlled. Taxes were kept high, undermining the wealth of the elites. Ultimately, the Dutch influence did not subdue Torajan culture, and only a few Torajans were converted. In 1950, only 10% of the population had converted to Christianity.
In the 1930s, Muslim lowlanders attacked the Torajans, resulting in widespread Christian conversion among those who sought to align themselves with the Dutch for political protection and to form a movement against the Bugis and Makassarese Muslims. Between 1951 and 1965 (following Indonesian independence), southern Sulawesi faced a turbulent period as the Darul Islam separatist movement fought for an Islamic state in Sulawesi. The 15 years of guerrilla warfare led to massive conversions to
CHRISTIANITY
Alignment with the Indonesian government, however, did not guarantee safety for the Torajans. In 1965, a presidential decree required every Indonesian citizen to belong to one of five officially recognized religions: Islam, Christianity (Protestantism and Catholicism), Hinduism, or Buddhism. The Torajan religious belief (aluk) was not legally recognized, and the Torajans raised their voices against the law. To make aluk accord with the law, it had to be accepted as part of one of the official religions. In 1969, Aluk To Dolo ("the way of ancestors") was legalized as a sect of Agama Hindu Dharma, the official name of Hinduism in Indonesia.
SOCIETY
There are three main types of affiliation in Toraja society: family, class and religion.
FAMILY AFFILIATION
Family is the primary social and political grouping in Torajan society. Each village is one extended family, the seat of which is the tongkonan, a traditional Torajan house. Each tongkonan has a name, which becomes the name of the village. The familial dons maintain village unity. Marriage between distant cousins (fourth cousins and beyond) is a common practice that strengthens kinship. Toraja society prohibits marriage between close cousins (up to and including the third cousin) - except for nobles, to prevent the dispersal of property. Kinship is actively reciprocal, meaning that the extended family helps each other farm, share buffalo rituals, and pay off debts.
Each person belongs to both the mother's and the father's families, the only bilateral family line in Indonesia. Children, therefore, inherit household affiliation from both mother and father, including land and even family debts. Children's names are given on the basis of kinship, and are usually chosen after dead relatives. Names of aunts, uncles and cousins are commonly referred to in the names of mothers, fathers and siblings.
Before the start of the formal administration of Toraja villages by the Tana Toraja Regency, each Toraja village was autonomous. In a more complex situation, in which one Toraja family could not handle their problems alone, several villages formed a group; sometimes, villages would unite against other villages. Relationship between families was expressed through blood, marriage, and shared ancestral houses (tongkonan), practically signed by the exchange of water buffalo and pigs on ritual occasions. Such exchanges not only built political and cultural ties between families but defined each person's place in a social hierarchy: who poured palm wine, who wrapped a corpse and prepared offerings, where each person could or could not sit, what dishes should be used or avoided, and even what piece of meat constituted one's share.
CLASS AFFILIATION
In early Toraja society, family relationships were tied closely to social class. There were three strata: nobles, commoners, and slaves (slavery was abolished in 1909 by the Dutch East Indies government). Class was inherited through the mother. It was taboo, therefore, to marry "down" with a woman of lower class. On the other hand, marrying a woman of higher class could improve the status of the next generation. The nobility's condescending attitude toward the commoners is still maintained today for reasons of family prestige.
Nobles, who were believed to be direct descendants of the descended person from heaven, lived in tongkonans, while commoners lived in less lavish houses (bamboo shacks called banua). Slaves lived in small huts, which had to be built around their owner's tongkonan. Commoners might marry anyone, but nobles preferred to marry in-family to maintain their status. Sometimes nobles married Bugis or Makassarese nobles. Commoners and slaves were prohibited from having death feasts. Despite close kinship and status inheritance, there was some social mobility, as marriage or change in wealth could affect an individuals status. Wealth was counted by the ownership of water buffaloes.
Slaves in Toraja society were family property. Sometimes Torajans decided to become slaves when they incurred a debt, pledging to work as payment. Slaves could be taken during wars, and slave trading was common. Slaves could buy their freedom, but their children still inherited slave status. Slaves were prohibited from wearing bronze or gold, carving their houses, eating from the same dishes as their owners, or having sex with free women - a crime punishable by death.
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION
Toraja's indigenous belief system is polytheistic animism, called aluk, or "the way" (sometimes translated as "the law"). In the Toraja myth, the ancestors of Torajan people came down from heaven using stairs, which were then used by the Torajans as a communication medium with Puang Matua, the Creator. The cosmos, according to aluk, is divided into the upper world (heaven), the world of man (earth), and the underworld. At first, heaven and earth were married, then there was a darkness, a separation, and finally the light. Animals live in the underworld, which is represented by rectangular space enclosed by pillars, the earth is for mankind, and the heaven world is located above, covered with a saddle-shaped roof. Other Toraja gods include Pong Banggai di Rante (god of Earth), Indo' Ongon-Ongon (a goddess who can cause earthquakes), Pong Lalondong (god of death), and Indo' Belo Tumbang (goddess of medicine); there are many more.
The earthly authority, whose words and actions should be cleaved to both in life (agriculture) and death (funerals), is called to minaa (an aluk priest). Aluk is not just a belief system; it is a combination of law, religion, and habit. Aluk governs social life, agricultural practices, and ancestral rituals. The details of aluk may vary from one village to another. One common law is the requirement that death and life rituals be separated. Torajans believe that performing death rituals might ruin their corpses if combined with life rituals. The two rituals are equally important. During the time of the Dutch missionaries, Christian Torajans were prohibited from attending or performing life rituals, but were allowed to perform death rituals. Consequently, Toraja's death rituals are still practised today, while life rituals have diminished.
CULTURE
TONGKONAN
Tongkonan are the traditional Torajan ancestral houses. They stand high on wooden piles, topped with a layered split-bamboo roof shaped in a sweeping curved arc, and they are incised with red, black, and yellow detailed wood carvings on the exterior walls. The word "tongkonan" comes from the Torajan tongkon ("to sit").
Tongkonan are the center of Torajan social life. The rituals associated with the tongkonan are important expressions of Torajan spiritual life, and therefore all family members are impelled to participate, because symbolically the tongkonan represents links to their ancestors and to living and future kin. According to Torajan myth, the first tongkonan was built in heaven on four poles, with a roof made of Indian cloth. When the first Torajan ancestor descended to earth, he imitated the house and held a large ceremony.
The construction of a tongkonan is laborious work and is usually done with the help of the extended family. There are three types of tongkonan. The tongkonan layuk is the house of the highest authority, used as the "center of government". The tongkonan pekamberan belongs to the family members who have some authority in local traditions. Ordinary family members reside in the tongkonan batu. The exclusivity to the nobility of the tongkonan is diminishing as many Torajan commoners find lucrative employment in other parts of Indonesia. As they send back money to their families, they enable the construction of larger tongkonan.
WOOD CARVINGS
To express social and religious concepts, Torajans carve wood, calling it Pa'ssura (or "the writing"). Wood carvings are therefore Toraja's cultural manifestation.
Each carving receives a special name, and common motifs are animals and plants that symbolize some virtue. For example, water plants and animals, such as crabs, tadpoles and water weeds, are commonly found to symbolize fertility. In some areas noble elders claim these symbols refer to strength of noble family, but not everyone agrees. The overall meaning of groups of carved motifs on houses remains debated and tourism has further complicated these debates because some feel a uniform explanation must be presented to tourists. The image to the left shows an example of Torajan wood carving, consisting of 15 square panels. The center bottom panel represents buffalo or wealth, a wish for many buffaloes for the family. The center panel represents a knot and a box, a hope that all of the family's offspring will be happy and live in harmony, like goods kept safe in a box. The top left and top right squares represent an aquatic animal, indicating the need for fast and hard work, just like moving on the surface of water. It also represents the need for a certain skill to produce good results.
Regularity and order are common features in Toraja wood carving (see table below), as well as abstracts and geometrical designs. Nature is frequently used as the basis of Toraja's ornaments, because nature is full of abstractions and geometries with regularities and ordering. Toraja's ornaments have been studied in ethnomathematics to reveal their mathematical structure, but Torajans base this art only on approximations. To create an ornament, bamboo sticks are used as a geometrical tool.
FUNERAL RITES
In Toraja society, the funeral ritual is the most elaborate and expensive event. The richer and more powerful the individual, the more expensive is the funeral. In the aluk religion, only nobles have the right to have an extensive death feast. The death feast of a nobleman is usually attended by thousands and lasts for several days. A ceremonial site, called rante, is usually prepared in a large, grassy field where shelters for audiences, rice barns, and other ceremonial funeral structures are specially made by the deceased family. Flute music, funeral chants, songs and poems, and crying and wailing are traditional Toraja expressions of grief with the exceptions of funerals for young children, and poor, low-status adults.
The ceremony is often held weeks, months, or years after the death so that the deceased's family can raise the significant funds needed to cover funeral expenses. Torajans traditionally believe that death is not a sudden, abrupt event, but a gradual process toward Puya (the land of souls, or afterlife). During the waiting period, the body of the deceased is wrapped in several layers of cloth and kept under the tongkonan. The soul of the deceased is thought to linger around the village until the funeral ceremony is completed, after which it begins its journey to Puya.
Another component of the ritual is the slaughter of water buffalo. The more powerful the person who died, the more buffalo are slaughtered at the death feast. Buffalo carcasses, including their heads, are usually lined up on a field waiting for their owner, who is in the "sleeping stage". Torajans believe that the deceased will need the buffalo to make the journey and that they will be quicker to arrive at Puya if they have many buffalo. Slaughtering tens of water buffalo and hundreds of pigs using a machete is the climax of the elaborate death feast, with dancing and music and young boys who catch spurting blood in long bamboo tubes. Some of the slaughtered animals are given by guests as "gifts", which are carefully noted because they will be considered debts of the deceased's family. However, a cockfight, known as bulangan londong, is an integral part of the ceremony. As with the sacrifice of the buffalo and the pigs, the cockfight is considered sacred because it involves the spilling of blood on the earth. In particular, the tradition requires the sacrifice of at least three chickens. However, it is common for at least 25 pairs of chickens to be set against each other in the context of the ceremony.
There are three methods of burial: the coffin may be laid in a cave or in a carved stone grave, or hung on a cliff. It contains any possessions that the deceased will need in the afterlife. The wealthy are often buried in a stone grave carved out of a rocky cliff. The grave is usually expensive and takes a few months to complete. In some areas, a stone cave may be found that is large enough to accommodate a whole family. A wood-carved effigy, called Tau tau, is usually placed in the cave looking out over the land. The coffin of a baby or child may be hung from ropes on a cliff face or from a tree. This hanging grave usually lasts for years, until the ropes rot and the coffin falls to the ground.
In the ritual called Ma'Nene, that takes place each year in August, the bodies of the deceased are exhumed to be washed, groomed and dressed in new clothes. The mummies are then walked around the village.
DANCE AND MUSIC
Torajans perform dances on several occasions, most often during their elaborate funeral ceremonies. They dance to express their grief, and to honour and even cheer the deceased person because he is going to have a long journey in the afterlife. First, a group of men form a circle and sing a monotonous chant throughout the night to honour the deceased (a ritual called Ma'badong). This is considered by many Torajans to be the most important component of the funeral ceremony. On the second funeral day, the Ma'randing warrior dance is performed to praise the courage of the deceased during life. Several men perform the dance with a sword, a large shield made from buffalo skin, a helmet with a buffalo horn, and other ornamentation. The Ma'randing dance precedes a procession in which the deceased is carried from a rice barn to the rante, the site of the funeral ceremony. During the funeral, elder women perform the Ma'katia dance while singing a poetic song and wearing a long feathered costume. The Ma'akatia dance is performed to remind the audience of the generosity and loyalty of the deceased person. After the bloody ceremony of buffalo and pig slaughter, a group of boys and girls clap their hands while performing a cheerful dance called Ma'dondan.
As in other agricultural societies, Torajans dance and sing during harvest time. The Ma'bugi dance celebrates the thanksgiving event, and the Ma'gandangi dance is performed while Torajans are pounding rice. There are several war dances, such as the Manimbong dance performed by men, followed by the Ma'dandan dance performed by women. The aluk religion governs when and how Torajans dance. A dance called Ma'bua can be performed only once every 12 years. Ma'bua is a major Toraja ceremony in which priests wear a buffalo head and dance around a sacred tree.
A traditional musical instrument of the Toraja is a bamboo flute called a Pa'suling (suling is an Indonesian word for flute). This six-holed flute (not unique to the Toraja) is played at many dances, such as the thanksgiving dance Ma'bondensan, where the flute accompanies a group of shirtless, dancing men with long fingernails. The Toraja have indigenous musical instruments, such as the Pa'pelle (made from palm leaves) and the Pa'karombi (the Torajan version of a jaw harp). The Pa'pelle is played during harvest time and at house inauguration ceremonies.
LANGUAGE
The ethnic Toraja language is dominant in Tana Toraja with the main language as the Sa'dan Toraja. Although the national Indonesian language is the official language and is spoken in the community, all elementary schools in Tana Toraja teach Toraja language.Language varieties of Toraja, including Kalumpang, Mamasa, Tae' , Talondo' , Toala' , and Toraja-Sa'dan, belong to the Malayo-Polynesian language from the Austronesian family. At the outset, the isolated geographical nature of Tana Toraja formed many dialects between the Toraja languages themselves. After the formal administration of Tana Toraja, some Toraja dialects have been influenced by other languages through the transmigration program, introduced since the colonialism period, and it has been a major factor in the linguistic variety of Toraja languages. A prominent attribute of Toraja language is the notion of grief. The importance of death ceremony in Toraja culture has characterized their languages to express intricate degrees of grief and mourning. The Toraja language contains many terms referring to sadness, longing, depression, and mental pain. Giving a clear expression of the psychological and physical effect of loss is a catharsis and sometimes lessens the pain of grief itself.
ECONOMY
Prior to Suharto's "New Order" administration, the Torajan economy was based on agriculture, with cultivated wet rice in terraced fields on mountain slopes, and supplemental cassava and maize crops. Much time and energy were devoted to raising water buffalo, pigs, and chickens, primarily for ceremonial sacrifices and consumption. Coffee was the first significant cash crop produced in Toraja, and was introduced in the mid 19th century, changing the local economy towards commodity production for external markets and gaining an excellent reputation for quality in the international market .
With the commencement of the New Order in 1965, Indonesia's economy developed and opened to foreign investment. In Toraja, a coffee plantation and factory was established by Key Coffee of Japan, and Torajan coffee regained a reputation for quality within the growing international specialty coffee sector Multinational oil and mining companies opened new operations in Indonesia during the 1970s and 1980s. Torajans, particularly younger ones, relocated to work for the foreign companies - to Kalimantan for timber and oil, to Papua for mining, to the cities of Sulawesi and Java, and many went to Malaysia. The out-migration of Torajans was steady until 1985. and has continued since, with remittances sent back by emigre Torajans performing an important role within the contemporary economy.
Tourism commenced in Toraja in the 1970s, and accelerated in the 1980s and 1990s. Between 1984 and 1997, a significant number of Torajans obtained their incomes from tourism, working in and owning hotels, as tour guides, drivers, or selling souvenirs. With the rise of political and economic instability in Indonesia in the late 1990s - including religious conflicts elsewhere on Sulawesi - tourism in Tana Toraja has declined dramatically. Toraja continues to be a well known origin for Indonesian coffee, grown by both smallholders and plantation estates, although migration, remittances and off-farm income is considered far more important to most households, even those in rural areas.
TOURISM AND CULTURAL CHANGE
Before the 1970s, Toraja was almost unknown to Western tourism. In 1971, about 50 Europeans visited Tana Toraja. In 1972, at least 400 visitors attended the funeral ritual of Puang of Sangalla, the highest-ranking nobleman in Tana Toraja and the so-called "last pure-blooded Toraja noble." The event was documented by National Geographic and broadcast in several European countries. In 1976, about 12,000 tourists visited the regency and in 1981, Torajan sculpture was exhibited in major North American museums. "The land of the heavenly kings of Tana Toraja", as written in the exhibition brochure, embraced the outside world.
In 1984, the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism declared Tana Toraja Regency the prima donna of South Sulawesi. Tana Toraja was heralded as "the second stop after Bali". Tourism was increasing dramatically: by 1985, a total number of 150,000 foreigners had visited the Regency (in addition to 80,000 domestic tourists), and the annual number of foreign visitors was recorded at 40,000 in 1989. Souvenir stands appeared in Rantepao, the cultural center of Toraja, roads were sealed at the most-visited tourist sites, new hotels and tourist-oriented restaurants were opened, and an airstrip was opened in the Regency in 1981.
Tourism developers have marketed Tana Toraja as an exotic adventure - an area rich in culture and off the beaten track. Western tourists expected to see stone-age villages and pagan funerals. Toraja is for tourists who have gone as far as Bali and are willing to see more of the wild, "untouched" islands. However, they were more likely to see a Torajan wearing a hat and denim, living in a Christian society. Tourists felt that the tongkonan and other Torajan rituals had been preconceived to make profits, and complained that the destination was too commercialized. This has resulted in several clashes between Torajans and tourism developers, whom Torajans see as outsiders.
A clash between local Torajan leaders and the South Sulawesi provincial government (as a tourist developer) broke out in 1985. The government designated 18 Toraja villages and burial sites as traditional tourist attractions. Consequently, zoning restrictions were applied to these areas, such that Torajans themselves were barred from changing their tongkonans and burial sites. The plan was opposed by some Torajan leaders, as they felt that their rituals and traditions were being determined by outsiders. As a result, in 1987, the Torajan village of Kété Kesú and several other designated tourist attractions closed their doors to tourists. This closure lasted only a few days, as the villagers found it too difficult to survive without the income from selling souvenirs.
Tourism has also transformed Toraja society. Originally, there was a ritual which allowed commoners to marry nobles (puang) and thereby gain nobility for their children. However, the image of Torajan society created for the tourists, often by "lower-ranking" guides, has eroded its traditional strict hierarchy. High status is not as esteemed in Tana Toraja as it once was. Many low-ranking men can declare themselves and their children nobles by gaining enough wealth through work outside the region and then marrying a noble woman.
WIKIPEDIA
Kalkaji Mandir, कालकाजी मंदिर, दिल्ली , भारत , also known as Kalkaji Temple, is a Hindu mandir or temple, dedicated to the Hindu Goddess Kali. This temple is situated in the southern part of Delhi, India, in Kalkaji, a locality that has derived its name from the temple and is located opposite Nehru Place business centre. The temple is accessible by public transport on Kalkaji Mandir (Delhi Metro) and is near Bus Terminus-Nehru Place and Railway Station-Okhla.[1][2][3] The general belief is that the image of the Goddess Kalka here is a self-manifested one, and that the shrine dates back to Satya Yuga when the Goddess Kalika had incarnated and killed the demon Raktabija along with other giant demons.
General information
Kalka or Kalkaji Mandir is amongst the oldest and the most revered temples of India.[citation needed] The temple is dedicated to the goddess Kalka or Kali, an incarnation of Durga. It is also called 'Jayanti Peetha' or 'Manokamna Siddha Peetha'. 'Manokamna' literally means desire, 'Siddha' means fulfillment, and 'Peetha' means shrine. So, it is believed to be the holy shrine where one gets the blessings of Maa Kalika Devi (Goddess or Mother Kalika) for the fulfillment of one's desires.
The temple complex is situated on Kalkaji Mandir (Delhi Metro) between the Nehru Place bus terminus & business center and Okhla railway station & industrial area, and is right beside the Bahá'í Lotus Temple. Close by to the temple, on a hill in the East of Kailash neighbourhood and near the ISKCON temple, lies an Edict of Ashoka, dating 3rd century BC.
Devotees attend the Kalkaji temple throughout the year, but the culmination point of their prayers and celebration comes during the festival of Navratri twice a year. This is a nine-day Hindu festival, in Spring and Autumn during which a large fair is organized. Devotees gather and sing various hymns and songs praising the Goddess Durga.
History
While the Hindu scriptures have multiple references and legends regarding the birth and acts of the Goddess Kali, the legend which tells about the circumstances attending to the birth of Maa Kalika Devi at the Kalkaji Mandir is as below:
Millions of years ago, the gods who dwelt in the neighbourhood of the present temple were troubled by two giants and were compelled to prefer their complaint to Lord Brahma, 'the god of all'. But Lord Brahma declined to interfere, and referred them to the Goddess Parvati. Out of the mouth of Maa Parvati sprung Kaushki Devi, who attacked the two giants and slaughtered them, but it so happened, that as their blood fell on the dry earth thousands of giants came into life, and the battle was maintained by Kaushki Devi against great odds. Maa Parvati took compassion on her offspring and out of the eyebrows of Kaushki Devi came maa Kali Devi, 'whose lower lip rested on the hills below and the upper lip touched the sky above. She drank the blood of the slaughtered giants as it poured out of their wounds; and the goddess obtained a complete victory over their enemies. Maa Kali Devi then fixed her abode here, and she was worshipped as the chief divinity of the place.
It is believed that the Goddess Kalkaji, pleased with the prayers offered and rituals performed by the Gods on the advice of Lord Brahma, appeared on this mount, known as Surya Koota Parvata, and blessed them. Ever since, the Goddess took this holy place as her abode and has been fulfilling the wishes of her devotees. During the Mahabharata, Lord Krishna and the Pandavas are said to have worshipped this Goddess during the reign of Yudhisthir.
References in History
According to the Government records, the temple of Kalkaji is said to have a very ancient origin, but the oldest portions of the present building is believed to have been constructed not earlier than the 1764 AD by the Maratha rulers.[4] In 1816 A.D. Mirza Raja Kidar Nath, the Peshkar of Akbar II, is said to have made some additions to it. Over the last five to six decades, a considerable number of dharamshalas have been erected in the vicinity by the Hindu bankers and merchants of Delhi place. It is said that Baba Balak Nath of Nath Sampradaya, i.e. the Kanpata Yogis (who have rings pierced in the ears) visited this holy place hundreds of years ago. He is believed to have had the darshan of Goddess Kalika who asked him to stay here and get the temple reconstructed, which by then was completely ruined due to neglect. From that time onwards the yogis of Nath Sampradaya have been serving the Goddess and are enthroned as Mahant. Baba Sandhya Nath, Baba Sahaja Nath, Mahant Prithvi Nath, Mahant Rama Nath are remembered with great respect. They were renowned yogis of their time empowered with special spiritual powers and visions.
Modern Structure
The temple complex, as it stands today, is constructed of brick masonry, finished with plaster (now with marbles) and is surrounded by a pyramidal tower. The Central Chamber which is 12-sided in plan diam. (24' I.M.) with a doorway in each side is paved with marble and is surrounded by a verandah 8'9" wide and containing 36 arched openings (shown as the exterior doorways in the Parikrama). This verandah encloses the Central Chamber from all sides. About the middle of this arcade opposite the eastern doorway there are two red sandstone tigers sitting on a marble pedestal on which the inscription engraved on the marble railings is repeated. The language of the inscriptions is Urdu and the characters on the railings as well as on the pedestals are nastaliq without any pretensions to antiq mvbm,cuity. Between the tigers there is stone image of Kali Devi with her name engraved on it in Hindi, and a trident of stone standing before it.
Rituals
The major ritual consists of offering and bathing the idol (Mata Snanam) with milk followed by an Aarti every morning (6 AM) and evening (7:30 PM). This, in turn, is followed by hymn recitation. Offerings can be purchased just before the entrance of the temple. Visitors should be alert in the area as the place is very crowded and there can be Pickpockets. The Puja archana and other rituals are performed turn by turn (Monthly Basis) by Pujaris consisting of more than 1000 Nai families who are the descendants of 4 main clans (Thule's) of Brahmin pujaris and one clan of Jogis/Mahants.
The atmosphere around the temple is airy and bright with lights which stay during the whole night. Devotees also try to meditate there and a tantric aarti is held in the evening. BY KAILASH MANSAROVAR FOUNDATION SWAMI BILASH GIRI www.sumeruparvat.com , www.naturalitem.com
The Himalayas or Himalaya (/ˌhɪməˈleɪ.ə/ or /hɪˈmɑːləjə/) is a mountain range in the Indian subcontinent, which separates the Indo-Gangetic Plain from the Tibetan Plateau. Geopolitically, it covers the Himalayan states and regions. This range is home to nine of the ten highest peaks on Earth, including the highest above sea level, Mount Everest. The Himalayas have profoundly shaped the cultures of South Asia. Many Himalayan peaks are sacred in Dharmic religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism.
The Himalayas are bordered on the north by the Tibetan Plateau, on the south by the Indo-Gangetic Plain, on the northwest by the Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges and on the east by the Indian states of Sikkim, the Darjeeling district of West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. The Hindu Kush, Karakoram and Himalayas together form the "Hindu Kush Himalayan Region" (HKH). The western anchor of the Himalayas, Nanga Parbat, lies just south of the northernmost bend of the Indus River; the eastern anchor, Namcha Barwa, is just west of the great bend of the Yarlung Tsangpo River. The Himalayas span five countries: Nepal, India, Bhutan, China (Tibet), and Pakistan, the first three countries having sovereignty over most of the range.
Lifted by the collision of the Indian tectonic plate with the Eurasian Plate, the Himalayan range runs northwest to southeast in a 2,400-kilometre-long arc. The range varies in width from 400 kilometres in the west to 150 kilometres in the east. Besides the Greater Himalayas, there are several parallel lower ranges. The southernmost, along the northern edge of the Indian plains and reaching 1000 m in altitude, is the Sivalik Hills. Further north is a higher range, reaching 2000–3000 m, known as the Lower Himalayan Range.
Three of the world's major rivers (the Indus, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra) arise in the Himalayas. While the Indus and the Brahmaputra rise near Mount Kailash in Tibet, the Ganges rises in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Their combined drainage basin is home to some 600 million people.
ETYMOLOGY
The name Himālaya is from Sanskrit: hima (snow) + ālaya (dwelling), and literally means "abode of snow"
ECOLOGY
The flora and fauna of the Himalayas vary with climate, rainfall, altitude, and soils. The climate ranges from tropical at the base of the mountains to permanent ice and snow at the highest elevations. The amount of yearly rainfall increases from west to east along the southern front of the range. This diversity of altitude, rainfall and soil conditions combined with the very high snow line supports a variety of distinct plant and animal communities. The extremes of high altitude (low atmospheric pressure) combined with extreme cold favor extremophile organisms.
The unique floral and faunal wealth of the Himalayas is undergoing structural and compositional changes due to climate change. The increase in temperature is shifting various species to higher elevations. The oak forest is being invaded by pine forests in the Garhwal Himalayan region. There are reports of early flowering and fruiting in some tree species, especially rhododendron, apple and box myrtle. The highest known tree species in the Himalayas is Juniperus tibetica located at 4,900 metres in Southeastern Tibet.
GEOLOGY
The Himalayan range is one of the youngest mountain ranges on the planet and consists mostly of uplifted sedimentary and metamorphic rock. According to the modern theory of plate tectonics, its formation is a result of a continental collision or orogeny along the convergent boundary between the Indo-Australian Plate and the Eurasian Plate. The Arakan Yoma highlands in Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal were also formed as a result of this collision.
During the Upper Cretaceous, about 70 million years ago, the north-moving Indo-Australian plate (which has subsequently broken into the Indian Plate and the Australian plate) was moving at about 15 cm per year. About 50 million years ago this fast moving Indo-Australian plate had completely closed the Tethys Ocean, the existence of which has been determined by sedimentary rocks settled on the ocean floor, and the volcanoes that fringed its edges. Since both plates were composed of low density continental crust, they were thrust faulted and folded into mountain ranges rather than subducting into the mantle along an oceanic trench. An often-cited fact used to illustrate this process is that the summit of Mount Everest is made of marine limestone from this ancient ocean.
Today, the Indian plate continues to be driven horizontally below the Tibetan Plateau, which forces the plateau to continue to move upwards. The Indian plate is still moving at 67 mm per year, and over the next 10 million years it will travel about 1,500 km into Asia. About 20 mm per year of the India-Asia convergence is absorbed by thrusting along the Himalaya southern front. This leads to the Himalayas rising by about 5 mm per year, making them geologically active. The movement of the Indian plate into the Asian plate also makes this region seismically active, leading to earthquakes from time to time.
During the last ice age, there was a connected ice stream of glaciers between Kangchenjunga in the east and Nanga Parbat in the west. In the west, the glaciers joined with the ice stream network in the Karakoram, and in the north, joined with the former Tibetan inland ice. To the south, outflow glaciers came to an end below an elevation of 1,000–2,000 metres. While the current valley glaciers of the Himalaya reach at most 20 to 32 kilometres in length, several of the main valley glaciers were 60 to 112 kilometres long during the ice age. The glacier snowline (the altitude where accumulation and ablation of a glacier are balanced) was about 1,400–1,660 metres lower than it is today. Thus, the climate was at least 7.0 to 8.3 °C colder than it is today.
HYDROLOGY
The Himalayas contain the third-largest deposit of ice and snow in the world, after Antarctica and the Arctic. The Himalayan range encompasses about 15,000 glaciers, which store about 12,000 km3 of fresh water. Its glaciers include the Gangotri and Yamunotri (Uttarakhand) and Khumbu glaciers (Mount Everest region), Langtang glacier (Langtang region) and Zemu (Sikkim).
Owing to the mountains' latitude near the Tropic of Cancer, the permanent snow line is among the highest in the world at typically around 5,500 metres. In contrast, equatorial mountains in New Guinea, the Rwenzoris and Colombia have a snow line some 900 metres lower. The higher regions of the Himalayas are snowbound throughout the year, in spite of their proximity to the tropics, and they form the sources of several large perennial rivers, most of which combine into two large river systems:
- The western rivers, of which the Indus is the largest, combine into the Indus Basin. The Indus begins in Tibet at the confluence of Sengge and Gar rivers and flows southwest through India and then through Pakistan to the Arabian Sea. It is fed by the Jhelum, the Chenab, the Ravi, the Beas, and the Sutlej rivers, among others.
- Most of the other Himalayan rivers drain the Ganges-Brahmaputra Basin. Its main rivers are the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Yamuna, as well as other tributaries. The Brahmaputra originates as the Yarlung Tsangpo River in western Tibet, and flows east through Tibet and west through the plains of Assam. The Ganges and the Brahmaputra meet in Bangladesh, and drain into the Bay of Bengal through the world's largest river delta, the Sunderbans.
The easternmost Himalayan rivers feed the Irrawaddy River, which originates in eastern Tibet and flows south through Myanmar to drain into the Andaman Sea.
The Salween, Mekong, Yangtze and Huang He (Yellow River) all originate from parts of the Tibetan Plateau that are geologically distinct from the Himalaya mountains, and are therefore not considered true Himalayan rivers. Some geologists refer to all the rivers collectively as the circum-Himalayan rivers. In recent years, scientists have monitored a notable increase in the rate of glacier retreat across the region as a result of global climate change. For example, glacial lakes have been forming rapidly on the surface of debris-covered glaciers in the Bhutan Himalaya during the last few decades. Although the effect of this will not be known for many years, it potentially could mean disaster for the hundreds of millions of people who rely on the glaciers to feed the rivers during the dry seasons.
LAKES
The Himalayan region is dotted with hundreds of lakes. Most lakes are found at altitudes of less than 5,000 m, with the size of the lakes diminishing with altitude. Tilicho Lake in Nepal in the Annapurna massif is one of the highest lakes in the world. Pangong Tso, which is spread across the border between India and China, and Yamdrok Tso, located in central Tibet, are amongst the largest with surface areas of 700 km², and 638 km², respectively. Other notable lakes include She-Phoksundo Lake in the Shey Phoksundo National Park of Nepal, Gurudongmar Lake, in North Sikkim, Gokyo Lakes in Solukhumbu district of Nepal and Lake Tsongmo, near the Indo-China border in Sikkim.
Some of the lakes present a danger of a glacial lake outburst flood. The Tsho Rolpa glacier lake in the Rowaling Valley, in the Dolakha District of Nepal, is rated as the most dangerous. The lake, which is located at an altitude of 4,580 metres has grown considerably over the last 50 years due to glacial melting.
The mountain lakes are known to geographers as tarns if they are caused by glacial activity. Tarns are found mostly in the upper reaches of the Himalaya, above 5,500 metres.
IMPACT ON CLIMATE
The Himalayas have a profound effect on the climate of the Indian subcontinent and the Tibetan Plateau. They prevent frigid, dry winds from blowing south into the subcontinent, which keeps South Asia much warmer than corresponding temperate regions in the other continents. It also forms a barrier for the monsoon winds, keeping them from traveling northwards, and causing heavy rainfall in the Terai region. The Himalayas are also believed to play an important part in the formation of Central Asian deserts, such as the Taklamakan and Gobi.
RELIGIOUS OF THE REGION
In Hinduism, the Himalayas have been personified as the god Himavat, father of Ganga and Parvati.
Several places in the Himalayas are of religious significance in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism. A notable example of a religious site is Paro Taktsang, where Padmasambhava is said to have founded Buddhism in Bhutan. Padmasambhava is also worshipped as the patron saint of Sikkim.
A number of Vajrayana Buddhist sites are situated in the Himalayas, in Tibet, Bhutan and in the Indian regions of Ladakh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Spiti and Darjeeling. There were over 6,000 monasteries in Tibet, including the residence of the Dalai Lama. Bhutan, Sikkim and Ladakh are also dotted with numerous monasteries. The Tibetan Muslims have their own mosques in Lhasa and Shigatse.
RESOURCES
The Himalayas are home to a diversity of medicinal resources. Plants from the forests have been used for millennia to treat conditions ranging from simple coughs to snake bites. Different parts of the plants - root, flower, stem, leaves, and bark - are used as remedies for different ailments. For example, a bark extract from an abies pindrow tree is used to treat coughs and bronchitis. Leaf and stem paste from an arachne cordifolia is used for wounds and as an antidote for snake bites. The bark of a callicarpa arborea is used for skin ailments. Nearly a fifth of the gymnosperms, angiosperms, and pteridophytes in the Himalayas are found to have medicinal properties, and more are likely to be discovered.
Most of the population in some Asian and African countries depend on medicinal plants rather than prescriptions and such (Gupta and Sharma, vii). Since so many people use medicinal plants as their only source of healing in the Himalayas, the plants are an important source of income. This contributes to economic and modern industrial development both inside and outside the region (Gupta and Sharma, 5). The only problem is that locals are rapidly clearing the forests on the Himalayas for wood, often illegally (Earth Island Journal, 2). This means that the number of medicinal plants is declining and that some of them might become rarer or, in some cases, go extinct.
Although locals are clearing out portions of the forests in the Himalayas, there is still a large amount of greenery ranging from the tropical forests to the Alpine forests. These forests provide wood for fuel and other raw materials for use by industries. There are also many pastures for animals to graze upon (Mohita, sec. Forest and Wealth). The many varieties of animals that live in these mountains do so based on the elevation. For example, elephants and rhinoceros live in the lower elevations of the Himalayas, also called the Terai region. Also, found in these mountains are the Kashmiri stag, black bears, musk deer, langur, and snow leopards. The Tibetan yak are also found on these mountains and are often used by the people for transportation. However, the populations of many of these animals and still others are declining and are on the verge of going extinct (Admin, sec. Flora and Fauna).
The Himalayas are also a source of many minerals and precious stones. Amongst the tertiary rocks, are vast potentials of mineral oil. There is coal located in Kashmir, and precious stones located in the Himalayas. There is also gold, silver, copper, zinc, and many other such minerals and metals located in at least 100 different places in these mountains (Mohita, sec. Minerals).
CULTURE
There are many cultural aspects of the Himalayas. For the Hindus, the Himalayas are personified as Himavath, the father of the goddess Parvati (Gupta and Sharma, 4). The Himalayas is also considered to be the father of the river Ganges. The Mountain Kailash is a sacred peak to the Hindus and is where the Lord Shiva is believed to live (Admin, sec. Centre of Religion). Two of the most sacred places of pilgrimage for the Hindus is the temple complex in Pashupatinath and Muktinath, also known as Saligrama because of the presence of the sacred black rocks called saligrams (Zurick, Julsun, Basanta, and Birendra, 153).
The Buddhists also lay a great deal of importance on the mountains of the Himalayas. Paro Taktsang is the holy place where Buddhism started in Bhutan (Admin, sec. Centre of Religion). The Muktinath is also a place of pilgrimage for the Tibetan Buddhists. They believe that the trees in the poplar grove came from the walking sticks of eighty-four ancient Indian Buddhist magicians or mahasiddhas. They consider the saligrams to be representatives of the Tibetan serpent deity known as Gawo Jagpa (Zurick, Julsun, Basanta, and Birendra, 153).
The Himalayan people’s diversity shows in many different ways. It shows through their architecture, their languages and dialects, their beliefs and rituals, as well as their clothing (Zurick, Julsun, Basanta, and Birendra, 78). The shapes and materials of the people’s homes reflect their practical needs and the beliefs. Another example of the diversity amongst the Himalayan peoples is that handwoven textiles display unique colors and patterns that coincide with their ethnic backgrounds. Finally, some people place a great importance on jewelry. The Rai and Limbu women wear big gold earrings and nose rings to show their wealth through their jewelry (Zurick, Julsun, Basanta, and Birendra, 79).
WIKIPEDIA
On the Li Zheng Gate 麗正門, the name is written in Mongolian, Chagatai (an older, now extinct, form of Uighur), Han (ie. Chinese), Tibetan, and Manchu - the five main languages given more prominent recognition by the Qing Dynasty.
Chengde, December 2017
Feel free to use this image for your website or blog as long as you agree to the following -
You include photo credit with a clickable (hyperlinked) and do-follow link to -
No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. – More than 3,000 students from across California visited the Presidio of Monterey on May 13 for DLIFLC’s Language Day. Students, educators and other participants were treated to stage performances, classroom displays and ethnic cuisine, highlighting the cultures of the many foreign languages taught here.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.