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Newcastle Civic Centre is a municipal building in the Haymarket area of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Designed by George Kenyon, the centre was built for Newcastle City Council in 1967 and formally opened by King Olav V of Norway on 14 November 1968. It is a listed building with Grade II* status and is the joint-eighth tallest building in the city, standing at a total of 200 feet (61 m).
History
Plans to build a new city hall on the site at Barras Bridge had been proposed prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, to the point of holding an architectural competition, although these were halted by the war; and due to post-war restrictions on capital expenditure, it was not until August 1956 that authorisation to begin construction was granted. During the interim period, the demolition of houses and a former Eye Hospital on the intended site was implemented. The building was designed by the city architect, George Kenyon.
The construction work, which was undertaken by Sir Robert McAlpine, commenced on the building in May 1960, and the foundation stone was laid by the Lord Mayor, Alderman Mrs Gladys Robson, on 30 November 1960. The total construction cost was £4,855,000. The building was completed in 1967 and was formally opened by King Olav V of Norway on 14 November 1968. Newcastle's Victorian Town Hall which stood in St Nicholas Square (between the Bigg Market and the Cloth Market) was demolished in 1973. On 6 May 1977, the Civic Centre was visited by the 39th President of the United States Jimmy Carter, who delivered a speech famously containing the Geordie phrase "Howay the lads!" A stone commemorating the event was placed in the Civic Centre grounds.
The council leader's office was used as a filming location by a Japanese production team in 2014 for a drama set in 1960s Tokyo.
Sculpture and art works
The Civic Centre is also notable for its modern sculptures, in particular the "River God Tyne" and "Swans in Flight", both by David Wynne and the seahorses on the top of the tower by John Robert Murray McCheyne. The cashiers reception of the former rates hall, now the Customer Service Centre, has two abstract murals by Victor Pasmore.
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle is a cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is located on the River Tyne's northern bank, opposite Gateshead to the south. It is the most populous settlement in the Tyneside conurbation and North East England.
Newcastle developed around a Roman settlement called Pons Aelius, the settlement became known as Monkchester before taking on the name of a castle built in 1080 by William the Conqueror's eldest son, Robert Curthose. It was one of the world's largest ship building and repair centres during the industrial revolution. Newcastle was part of the county of Northumberland until 1400, when it separated and formed a county of itself. In 1974, Newcastle became part of Tyne and Wear. Since 2018, the city council has been part of the North of Tyne Combined Authority.
The history of Newcastle upon Tyne dates back almost 2,000 years, during which it has been controlled by the Romans, the Angles and the Norsemen amongst others. Newcastle upon Tyne was originally known by its Roman name Pons Aelius. The name "Newcastle" has been used since the Norman conquest of England. Due to its prime location on the River Tyne, the town developed greatly during the Middle Ages and it was to play a major role in the Industrial Revolution, being granted city status in 1882. Today, the city is a major retail, commercial and cultural centre.
Roman settlement
The history of Newcastle dates from AD 122, when the Romans built the first bridge to cross the River Tyne at that point. The bridge was called Pons Aelius or 'Bridge of Aelius', Aelius being the family name of Roman Emperor Hadrian, who was responsible for the Roman wall built across northern England along the Tyne–Solway gap. Hadrian's Wall ran through present-day Newcastle, with stretches of wall and turrets visible along the West Road, and at a temple in Benwell. Traces of a milecastle were found on Westgate Road, midway between Clayton Street and Grainger Street, and it is likely that the course of the wall corresponded to present-day Westgate Road. The course of the wall can be traced eastwards to the Segedunum Roman fort at Wallsend, with the fort of Arbeia down-river at the mouth of the Tyne, on the south bank in what is now South Shields. The Tyne was then a wider, shallower river at this point and it is thought that the bridge was probably about 700 feet (210 m) long, made of wood and supported on stone piers. It is probable that it was sited near the current Swing Bridge, due to the fact that Roman artefacts were found there during the building of the latter bridge. Hadrian himself probably visited the site in 122. A shrine was set up on the completed bridge in 123 by the 6th Legion, with two altars to Neptune and Oceanus respectively. The two altars were subsequently found in the river and are on display in the Great North Museum in Newcastle.
The Romans built a stone-walled fort in 150 to protect the river crossing which was at the foot of the Tyne Gorge, and this took the name of the bridge so that the whole settlement was known as Pons Aelius. The fort was situated on a rocky outcrop overlooking the new bridge, on the site of the present Castle Keep. Pons Aelius is last mentioned in 400, in a Roman document listing all of the Roman military outposts. It is likely that nestling in the shadow of the fort would have been a small vicus, or village. Unfortunately, no buildings have been detected; only a few pieces of flagging. It is clear that there was a Roman cemetery near Clavering Place, behind the Central station, as a number of Roman coffins and sarcophagi have been unearthed there.
Despite the presence of the bridge, the settlement of Pons Aelius was not particularly important among the northern Roman settlements. The most important stations were those on the highway of Dere Street running from Eboracum (York) through Corstopitum (Corbridge) and to the lands north of the Wall. Corstopitum, being a major arsenal and supply centre, was much larger and more populous than Pons Aelius.
Anglo-Saxon development
The Angles arrived in the North-East of England in about 500 and may have landed on the Tyne. There is no evidence of an Anglo-Saxon settlement on or near the site of Pons Aelius during the Anglo-Saxon age. The bridge probably survived and there may well have been a small village at the northern end, but no evidence survives. At that time the region was dominated by two kingdoms, Bernicia, north of the Tees and ruled from Bamburgh, and Deira, south of the Tees and ruled from York. Bernicia and Deira combined to form the kingdom of Northanhymbra (Northumbria) early in the 7th century. There were three local kings who held the title of Bretwalda – 'Lord of Britain', Edwin of Deira (627–632), Oswald of Bernicia (633–641) and Oswy of Northumbria (641–658). The 7th century became known as the 'Golden Age of Northumbria', when the area was a beacon of culture and learning in Europe. The greatness of this period was based on its generally Christian culture and resulted in the Lindisfarne Gospels amongst other treasures. The Tyne valley was dotted with monasteries, with those at Monkwearmouth, Hexham and Jarrow being the most famous. Bede, who was based at Jarrow, wrote of a royal estate, known as Ad Murum, 'at the Wall', 12 miles (19 km) from the sea. It is thought that this estate may have been in what is now Newcastle. At some unknown time, the site of Newcastle came to be known as Monkchester. The reason for this title is unknown, as we are unaware of any specific monasteries at the site, and Bede made no reference to it. In 875 Halfdan Ragnarsson, the Danish Viking conqueror of York, led an army that attacked and pillaged various monasteries in the area, and it is thought that Monkchester was also pillaged at this time. Little more was heard of it until the coming of the Normans.
Norman period
After the arrival of William the Conqueror in England in 1066, the whole of England was quickly subjected to Norman rule. However, in Northumbria there was great resistance to the Normans, and in 1069 the newly appointed Norman Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Comines and 700 of his men were killed by the local population at Durham. The Northumbrians then marched on York, but William was able to suppress the uprising. That same year, a second uprising occurred when a Danish fleet landed in the Humber. The Northumbrians again attacked York and destroyed the garrison there. William was again able to suppress the uprising, but this time he took revenge. He laid waste to the whole of the Midlands and the land from York to the Tees. In 1080, William Walcher, the Norman bishop of Durham and his followers were brutally murdered at Gateshead. This time Odo, bishop of Bayeux, William's half brother, devastated the land between the Tees and the Tweed. This was known as the 'Harrying of the North'. This devastation is reflected in the Domesday Book. The destruction had such an effect that the North remained poor and backward at least until Tudor times and perhaps until the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle suffered in this respect with the rest of the North.
In 1080 William sent his eldest son, Robert Curthose, north to defend the kingdom against the Scots. After his campaign, he moved to Monkchester and began the building of a 'New Castle'. This was of the "motte-and-bailey" type of construction, a wooden tower on top of an earthen mound (motte), surrounded by a moat and wooden stockade (bailey). It was this castle that gave Newcastle its name. In 1095 the Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Mowbray, rose up against the king, William Rufus, and Rufus sent an army north to recapture the castle. From then on the castle became crown property and was an important base from which the king could control the northern barons. The Northumbrian earldom was abolished and a Sheriff of Northumberland was appointed to administer the region. In 1091 the parish church of St Nicholas was consecrated on the site of the present Anglican cathedral, close by the bailey of the new castle. The church is believed to have been a wooden building on stone footings.
Not a trace of the tower or mound of the motte and bailey castle remains now. Henry II replaced it with a rectangular stone keep, which was built between 1172 and 1177 at a cost of £1,444. A stone bailey, in the form of a triangle, replaced the previous wooden one. The great outer gateway to the castle, called 'the Black Gate', was built later, between 1247 and 1250, in the reign of Henry III. There were at that time no town walls and when attacked by the Scots, the townspeople had to crowd into the bailey for safety. It is probable that the new castle acted as a magnet for local merchants because of the safety it provided. This in turn would help to expand trade in the town. At this time wool, skins and lead were being exported, whilst alum, pepper and ginger were being imported from France and Flanders.
Middle Ages
Throughout the Middle Ages, Newcastle was England's northern fortress, the centre for assembled armies. The Border war against Scotland lasted intermittently for several centuries – possibly the longest border war ever waged. During the civil war between Stephen and Matilda, David 1st of Scotland and his son were granted Cumbria and Northumberland respectively, so that for a period from 1139 to 1157, Newcastle was effectively in Scottish hands. It is believed that during this period, King David may have built the church of St Andrew and the Benedictine nunnery in Newcastle. However, King Stephen's successor, Henry II was strong enough to take back the Earldom of Northumbria from Malcolm IV.
The Scots king William the Lion was imprisoned in Newcastle, in 1174, after being captured at the Battle of Alnwick. Edward I brought the Stone of Scone and William Wallace south through the town and Newcastle was successfully defended against the Scots three times during the 14th century.
Around 1200, stone-faced, clay-filled jetties were starting to project into the river, an indication that trade was increasing in Newcastle. As the Roman roads continued to deteriorate, sea travel was gaining in importance. By 1275 Newcastle was the sixth largest wool exporting port in England. The principal exports at this time were wool, timber, coal, millstones, dairy produce, fish, salt and hides. Much of the developing trade was with the Baltic countries and Germany. Most of the Newcastle merchants were situated near the river, below the Castle. The earliest known charter was dated 1175 in the reign of Henry II, giving the townspeople some control over their town. In 1216 King John granted Newcastle a mayor[8] and also allowed the formation of guilds (known as Mysteries). These were cartels formed within different trades, which restricted trade to guild members. There were initially twelve guilds. Coal was being exported from Newcastle by 1250, and by 1350 the burgesses received a royal licence to export coal. This licence to export coal was jealously guarded by the Newcastle burgesses, and they tried to prevent any one else on the Tyne from exporting coal except through Newcastle. The burgesses similarly tried to prevent fish from being sold anywhere else on the Tyne except Newcastle. This led to conflicts with Gateshead and South Shields.
In 1265, the town was granted permission to impose a 'Wall Tax' or Murage, to pay for the construction of a fortified wall to enclose the town and protect it from Scottish invaders. The town walls were not completed until early in the 14th century. They were two miles (3 km) long, 9 feet (2.7 m) thick and 25 feet (7.6 m) high. They had six main gates, as well as some smaller gates, and had 17 towers. The land within the walls was divided almost equally by the Lort Burn, which flowed southwards and joined the Tyne to the east of the Castle. The town began to expand north of the Castle and west of the Lort Burn with various markets being set up within the walls.
In 1400 Henry IV granted a new charter, creating a County corporate which separated the town, but not the Castle, from the county of Northumberland and recognised it as a "county of itself" with a right to have a sheriff of its own. The burgesses were now allowed to choose six aldermen who, with the mayor would be justices of the peace. The mayor and sheriff were allowed to hold borough courts in the Guildhall.
Religious houses
During the Middle Ages a number of religious houses were established within the walls: the first of these was the Benedictine nunnery of St Bartholomew founded in 1086 near the present-day Nun Street. Both David I of Scotland and Henry I of England were benefactors of the religious house. Nothing of the nunnery remains now.
The friary of Blackfriars, Newcastle (Dominican) was established in 1239. These were also known as the Preaching Friars or Shod Friars, because they wore sandals, as opposed to other orders. The friary was situated in the present-day Friars Street. In 1280 the order was granted royal permission to make a postern in the town walls to communicate with their gardens outside the walls. On 19 June 1334, Edward Balliol, claimant to be King of Scotland, did homage to King Edward III, on behalf of the kingdom of Scotland, in the church of the friary. Much of the original buildings of the friary still exist, mainly because, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries the friary of Blackfriars was rented out by the corporation to nine of the local trade guilds.
The friary of Whitefriars (Carmelite) was established in 1262. The order was originally housed on the Wall Knoll in Pandon, but in 1307 it took over the buildings of another order, which went out of existence, the Friars of the Sac. The land, which had originally been given by Robert the Bruce, was situated in the present-day Hanover Square, behind the Central station. Nothing of the friary remains now.
The friary of Austinfriars (Augustinian) was established in 1290. The friary was on the site where the Holy Jesus Hospital was built in 1682. The friary was traditionally the lodging place of English kings whenever they visited or passed through Newcastle. In 1503 Princess Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII of England, stayed two days at the friary on her way to join her new husband James IV of Scotland.
The friary of Greyfriars (Franciscans) was established in 1274. The friary was in the present-day area between Pilgrim Street, Grey Street, Market Street and High Chare. Nothing of the original buildings remains.
The friary of the Order of the Holy Trinity, also known as the Trinitarians, was established in 1360. The order devoted a third of its income to buying back captives of the Saracens, during the Crusades. Their house was on the Wall Knoll, in Pandon, to the east of the city, but within the walls. Wall Knoll had previously been occupied by the White Friars until they moved to new premises in 1307.
All of the above religious houses were closed in about 1540, when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries.
An important street running through Newcastle at the time was Pilgrim Street, running northwards inside the walls and leading to the Pilgrim Gate on the north wall. The street still exists today as arguably Newcastle's main shopping street.
Tudor period
The Scottish border wars continued for much of the 16th century, so that during that time, Newcastle was often threatened with invasion by the Scots, but also remained important as a border stronghold against them.
During the Reformation begun by Henry VIII in 1536, the five Newcastle friaries and the single nunnery were dissolved and the land was sold to the Corporation and to rich merchants. At this time there were fewer than 60 inmates of the religious houses in Newcastle. The convent of Blackfriars was leased to nine craft guilds to be used as their headquarters. This probably explains why it is the only one of the religious houses whose building survives to the present day. The priories at Tynemouth and Durham were also dissolved, thus ending the long-running rivalry between Newcastle and the church for control of trade on the Tyne. A little later, the property of the nunnery of St Bartholomew and of Grey Friars were bought by Robert Anderson, who had the buildings demolished to build his grand Newe House (also known as Anderson Place).
With the gradual decline of the Scottish border wars the town walls were allowed to decline as well as the castle. By 1547, about 10,000 people were living in Newcastle. At the beginning of the 16th century exports of wool from Newcastle were more than twice the value of exports of coal, but during the century coal exports continued to increase.
Under Edward VI, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, sponsored an act allowing Newcastle to annexe Gateshead as its suburb. The main reason for this was to allow the Newcastle Hostmen, who controlled the export of Tyne coal, to get their hands on the Gateshead coal mines, previously controlled by the Bishop of Durham. However, when Mary I came to power, Dudley met his downfall and the decision was reversed. The Reformation allowed private access to coal mines previously owned by Tynemouth and Durham priories and as a result coal exports increase dramatically, from 15,000 tons in 1500 to 35,000 tons in 1565, and to 400,000 tons in 1625.
The plague visited Newcastle four times during the 16th century, in 1579 when 2,000 people died, in 1589 when 1700 died, in 1595 and finally in 1597.
In 1600 Elizabeth I granted Newcastle a charter for an exclusive body of electors, the right to elect the mayor and burgesses. The charter also gave the Hostmen exclusive rights to load coal at any point on the Tyne. The Hostmen developed as an exclusive group within the Merchant Adventurers who had been incorporated by a charter in 1547.
Stuart period
In 1636 there was a serious outbreak of bubonic plague in Newcastle. There had been several previous outbreaks of the disease over the years, but this was the most serious. It is thought to have arrived from the Netherlands via ships that were trading between the Tyne and that country. It first appeared in the lower part of the town near the docks but gradually spread to all parts of the town. As the disease gained hold the authorities took measures to control it by boarding up any properties that contained infected persons, meaning that whole families were locked up together with the infected family members. Other infected persons were put in huts outside the town walls and left to die. Plague pits were dug next to the town's four churches and outside the town walls to receive the bodies in mass burials. Over the course of the outbreak 5,631 deaths were recorded out of an estimated population of 12,000, a death rate of 47%.
In 1637 Charles I tried to raise money by doubling the 'voluntary' tax on coal in return for allowing the Newcastle Hostmen to regulate production and fix prices. This caused outrage amongst the London importers and the East Anglian shippers. Both groups decided to boycott Tyne coal and as a result forced Charles to reverse his decision in 1638.
In 1640 during the Second Bishops' War, the Scots successfully invaded Newcastle. The occupying army demanded £850 per day from the Corporation to billet the Scottish troops. Trade from the Tyne ground to a halt during the occupation. The Scots left in 1641 after receiving a Parliamentary pardon and a £4,000,000 loan from the town.
In 1642 the English Civil War began. King Charles realised the value of the Tyne coal trade and therefore garrisoned Newcastle. A Royalist was appointed as governor. At that time, Newcastle and King's Lynn were the only important seaports to support the crown. In 1644 Parliament blockaded the Tyne to prevent the king from receiving revenue from the Tyne coal trade. Coal exports fell from 450,000 to 3,000 tons and London suffered a hard winter without fuel. Parliament encouraged the coal trade from the Wear to try to replace that lost from Newcastle but that was not enough to make up for the lost Tyneside tonnage.
In 1644 the Scots crossed the border. Newcastle strengthened its defences in preparation. The Scottish army, with 40,000 troops, besieged Newcastle for three months until the garrison of 1,500 surrendered. During the siege, the Scots bombarded the walls with their artillery, situated in Gateshead and Castle Leazes. The Scottish commander threatened to destroy the steeple of St Nicholas's Church by gunfire if the mayor, Sir John Marley, did not surrender the town. The mayor responded by placing Scottish prisoners that they had captured in the steeple, so saving it from destruction. The town walls were finally breached by a combination of artillery and sapping. In gratitude for this defence, Charles gave Newcastle the motto 'Fortiter Defendit Triumphans' to be added to its coat of arms. The Scottish army occupied Northumberland and Durham for two years. The coal taxes had to pay for the Scottish occupation. In 1645 Charles surrendered to the Scots and was imprisoned in Newcastle for nine months. After the Civil War the coal trade on the Tyne soon picked up and exceeded its pre-war levels.
A new Guildhall was completed on the Sandhill next to the river in 1655, replacing an earlier facility damaged by fire in 1639, and became the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council. In 1681 the Hospital of the Holy Jesus was built partly on the site of the Austin Friars. The Guildhall and Holy Jesus Hospital still exist.
Charles II tried to impose a charter on Newcastle to give the king the right to appoint the mayor, sheriff, recorder and town clerk. Charles died before the charter came into effect. In 1685, James II tried to replace Corporation members with named Catholics. However, James' mandate was suspended in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution welcoming William of Orange. In 1689, after the fall of James II, the people of Newcastle tore down his bronze equestrian statue in Sandhill and tossed it into the Tyne. The bronze was later used to make bells for All Saints Church.
In 1689 the Lort Burn was covered over. At this time it was an open sewer. The channel followed by the Lort Burn became the present day Dean Street. At that time, the centre of Newcastle was still the Sandhill area, with many merchants living along the Close or on the Side. The path of the main road through Newcastle ran from the single Tyne bridge, through Sandhill to the Side, a narrow street which climbed steeply on the north-east side of the castle hill until it reached the higher ground alongside St Nicholas' Church. As Newcastle developed, the Side became lined with buildings with projecting upper stories, so that the main street through Newcastle was a narrow, congested, steep thoroughfare.
In 1701 the Keelmen's Hospital was built in the Sandgate area of the city, using funds provided by the keelmen. The building still stands today.
Eighteenth century
In the 18th century, Newcastle was the country's largest print centre after London, Oxford and Cambridge, and the Literary and Philosophical Society of 1793, with its erudite debates and large stock of books in several languages predated the London Library by half a century.
In 1715, during the Jacobite rising in favour of the Old Pretender, an army of Jacobite supporters marched on Newcastle. Many of the Northumbrian gentry joined the rebels. The citizens prepared for its arrival by arresting Jacobite supporters and accepting 700 extra recruits into the local militia. The gates of the city were closed against the rebels. This proved enough to delay an attack until reinforcements arrived forcing the rebel army to move across to the west coast. The rebels finally surrendered at Preston.
In 1745, during a second Jacobite rising in favour of the Young Pretender, a Scottish army crossed the border led by Bonnie Prince Charlie. Once again Newcastle prepared by arresting Jacobite supporters and inducting 800 volunteers into the local militia. The town walls were strengthened, most of the gates were blocked up and some 200 cannon were deployed. 20,000 regulars were billeted on the Town Moor. These preparations were enough to force the rebel army to travel south via the west coast. They were eventually defeated at Culloden in 1746.
Newcastle's actions during the 1715 rising in resisting the rebels and declaring for George I, in contrast to the rest of the region, is the most likely source of the nickname 'Geordie', applied to people from Tyneside, or more accurately Newcastle. Another theory, however, is that the name 'Geordie' came from the inventor of the Geordie lamp, George Stephenson. It was a type of safety lamp used in mining, but was not invented until 1815. Apparently the term 'German Geordie' was in common use during the 18th century.
The city's first hospital, Newcastle Infirmary opened in 1753; it was funded by public subscription. A lying-in hospital was established in Newcastle in 1760. The city's first public hospital for mentally ill patients, Wardens Close Lunatic Hospital was opened in October 1767.
In 1771 a flood swept away much of the bridge at Newcastle. The bridge had been built in 1250 and repaired after a flood in 1339. The bridge supported various houses and three towers and an old chapel. A blue stone was placed in the middle of the bridge to mark the boundary between Newcastle and the Palatinate of Durham. A temporary wooden bridge had to be built, and this remained in use until 1781, when a new stone bridge was completed. The new bridge consisted of nine arches. In 1801, because of the pressure of traffic, the bridge had to be widened.
A permanent military presence was established in the city with the completion of Fenham Barracks in 1806. The facilities at the Castle for holding assizes, which had been condemned for their inconvenience and unhealthiness, were replaced when the Moot Hall opened in August 1812.
Victorian period
Present-day Newcastle owes much of its architecture to the work of the builder Richard Grainger, aided by architects John Dobson, Thomas Oliver, John and Benjamin Green and others. In 1834 Grainger won a competition to produce a new plan for central Newcastle. He put this plan into effect using the above architects as well as architects employed in his own office. Grainger and Oliver had already built Leazes Terrace, Leazes Crescent and Leazes Place between 1829 and 1834. Grainger and Dobson had also built the Royal Arcade at the foot of Pilgrim Street between 1830 and 1832. The most ambitious project covered 12 acres 12 acres (49,000 m2) in central Newcastle, on the site of Newe House (also called Anderson Place). Grainger built three new thoroughfares, Grey Street, Grainger Street and Clayton Street with many connecting streets, as well as the Central Exchange and the Grainger Market. John Wardle and George Walker, working in Grainger's office, designed Clayton Street, Grainger Street and most of Grey Street. Dobson designed the Grainger Market and much of the east side of Grey Street. John and Benjamin Green designed the Theatre Royal at the top of Grey Street, where Grainger placed the column of Grey's Monument as a focus for the whole scheme. Grey Street is considered to be one of the finest streets in the country, with its elegant curve. Unfortunately most of old Eldon Square was demolished in the 1960s in the name of progress. The Royal Arcade met a similar fate.
In 1849 a new bridge was built across the river at Newcastle. This was the High Level Bridge, designed by Robert Stephenson, and slightly up river from the existing bridge. The bridge was designed to carry road and rail traffic across the Tyne Gorge on two decks with rail traffic on the upper deck and road traffic on the lower. The new bridge meant that traffic could pass through Newcastle without having to negotiate the steep, narrow Side, as had been necessary for centuries. The bridge was opened by Queen Victoria, who one year later opened the new Central Station, designed by John Dobson. Trains were now able to cross the river, directly into the centre of Newcastle and carry on up to Scotland. The Army Riding School was also completed in 1849.
In 1854 a large fire started on the Gateshead quayside and an explosion caused it to spread across the river to the Newcastle quayside. A huge conflagration amongst the narrow alleys, or 'chares', destroyed the homes of 800 families as well as many business premises. The narrow alleys that had been destroyed were replaced by streets containing blocks of modern offices.
In 1863 the Town Hall in St Nicholas Square replaced the Guildhall as the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council.
In 1876 the low level bridge was replaced by a new bridge known as the Swing Bridge, so called because the bridge was able to swing horizontally on a central axis and allow ships to pass on either side. This meant that for the first time sizeable ships could pass up-river beyond Newcastle. The bridge was built and paid for by William Armstrong, a local arms manufacturer, who needed to have warships access his Elswick arms factory to fit armaments to them. The Swing Bridge's rotating mechanism is adapted from the cannon mounts developed in Armstrong's arms works. In 1882 the Elswick works began to build ships as well as to arm them. The Barrack Road drill hall was completed in 1890.
Industrialisation
In the 19th century, shipbuilding and heavy engineering were central to the city's prosperity; and the city was a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle's development as a major city owed most to its central role in the production and export of coal. The phrase "taking coals to Newcastle" was first recorded in 1538; it proverbially denotes bringing a particular commodity to a place that has more than enough of it already.
Innovation in Newcastle and surrounding areas included the following:
George Stephenson developed a miner's safety lamp at the same time that Humphry Davy developed a rival design. The lamp made possible the opening up of ever deeper mines to provide the coal that powered the industrial revolution.
George and his son Robert Stephenson were hugely influential figures in the development of the early railways. George developed Blücher, a locomotive working at Killingworth colliery in 1814, whilst Robert was instrumental in the design of Rocket, a revolutionary design that was the forerunner of modern locomotives. Both men were involved in planning and building railway lines, all over this country and abroad.
Joseph Swan demonstrated a working electric light bulb about a year before Thomas Edison did the same in the USA. This led to a dispute as to who had actually invented the light bulb. Eventually the two rivals agreed to form a mutual company between them, the Edison and Swan Electric Light Company, known as Ediswan.
Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine, for marine use and for power generation. He used Turbinia, a small, turbine-powered ship, to demonstrate the speed that a steam turbine could generate. Turbinia literally ran rings around the British Fleet at a review at Spithead in 1897.
William Armstrong invented a hydraulic crane that was installed in dockyards up and down the country. He then began to design light, accurate field guns for the British army. These were a vast improvement on the existing guns that were then in use.
The following major industries developed in Newcastle or its surrounding area:
Glassmaking
A small glass industry existed in Newcastle from the mid-15th century. In 1615 restrictions were put on the use of wood for manufacturing glass. It was found that glass could be manufactured using the local coal, and so a glassmaking industry grew up on Tyneside. Huguenot glassmakers came over from France as refugees from persecution and set up glasshouses in the Skinnerburn area of Newcastle. Eventually, glass production moved to the Ouseburn area of Newcastle. In 1684 the Dagnia family, Sephardic Jewish emigrants from Altare, arrived in Newcastle from Stourbridge and established glasshouses along the Close, to manufacture high quality flint glass. The glass manufacturers used sand ballast from the boats arriving in the river as the main raw material. The glassware was then exported in collier brigs. The period from 1730 to 1785 was the highpoint of Newcastle glass manufacture, when the local glassmakers produced the 'Newcastle Light Baluster'. The glassmaking industry still exists in the west end of the city with local Artist and Glassmaker Jane Charles carrying on over four hundred years of hot glass blowing in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Locomotive manufacture
In 1823 George Stephenson and his son Robert established the world's first locomotive factory near Forth Street in Newcastle. Here they built locomotives for the Stockton and Darlington Railway and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, as well as many others. It was here that the famous locomotive Rocket was designed and manufactured in preparation for the Rainhill Trials. Apart from building locomotives for the British market, the Newcastle works also produced locomotives for Europe and America. The Forth Street works continued to build locomotives until 1960.
Shipbuilding
In 1296 a wooden, 135 ft (41 m) long galley was constructed at the mouth of the Lort Burn in Newcastle, as part of a twenty-ship order from the king. The ship cost £205, and is the earliest record of shipbuilding in Newcastle. However the rise of the Tyne as a shipbuilding area was due to the need for collier brigs for the coal export trade. These wooden sailing ships were usually built locally, establishing local expertise in building ships. As ships changed from wood to steel, and from sail to steam, the local shipbuilding industry changed to build the new ships. Although shipbuilding was carried out up and down both sides of the river, the two main areas for building ships in Newcastle were Elswick, to the west, and Walker, to the east. By 1800 Tyneside was the third largest producer of ships in Britain. Unfortunately, after the Second World War, lack of modernisation and competition from abroad gradually caused the local industry to decline and die.
Armaments
In 1847 William Armstrong established a huge factory in Elswick, west of Newcastle. This was initially used to produce hydraulic cranes but subsequently began also to produce guns for both the army and the navy. After the Swing Bridge was built in 1876 allowing ships to pass up river, warships could have their armaments fitted alongside the Elswick works. Armstrong's company took over its industrial rival, Joseph Whitworth of Manchester in 1897.
Steam turbines
Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine and, in 1889, founded his own company C. A. Parsons and Company in Heaton, Newcastle to make steam turbines. Shortly after this, he realised that steam turbines could be used to propel ships and, in 1897, he founded a second company, Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company in Wallsend. It is there that he designed and manufactured Turbinia. Parsons turbines were initially used in warships but soon came to be used in merchant and passenger vessels, including the liner Mauretania which held the blue riband for the Atlantic crossing until 1929. Parsons' company in Heaton began to make turbo-generators for power stations and supplied power stations all over the world. The Heaton works, reduced in size, remains as part of the Siemens AG industrial giant.
Pottery
In 1762 the Maling pottery was founded in Sunderland by French Huguenots, but transferred to Newcastle in 1817. A factory was built in the Ouseburn area of the city. The factory was rebuilt twice, finally occupying a 14-acre (57,000 m2) site that was claimed to be the biggest pottery in the world and which had its own railway station. The pottery pioneered use of machines in making potteries as opposed to hand production. In the 1890s the company went up-market and employed in-house designers. The period up to the Second World War was the most profitable with a constant stream of new designs being introduced. However, after the war, production gradually declined and the company closed in 1963.
Expansion of the city
Newcastle was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835: the reformed municipal borough included the parishes of Byker, Elswick, Heaton, Jesmond, Newcastle All Saints, Newcastle St Andrew, Newcastle St John, Newcastle St Nicholas, and Westgate. The urban districts of Benwell and Fenham and Walker were added in 1904. In 1935, Newcastle gained Kenton and parts of the parishes of West Brunton, East Denton, Fawdon, Longbenton. The most recent expansion in Newcastle's boundaries took place under the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974, when Newcastle became a metropolitan borough, also including the urban districts of Gosforth and Newburn, and the parishes of Brunswick, Dinnington, Hazlerigg, North Gosforth and Woolsington from the Castle Ward Rural District, and the village of Westerhope.
Meanwhile Northumberland County Council was formed under the Local Government Act 1888 and benefited from a dedicated meeting place when County Hall was completed in the Castle Garth area of Newcastle in 1910. Following the Local Government Act 1972 County Hall relocated to Morpeth in April 1981.
Twentieth century
In 1925 work began on a new high-level road bridge to span the Tyne Gorge between Newcastle and Gateshead. The capacity of the existing High-Level Bridge and Swing Bridge were being strained to the limit, and an additional bridge had been discussed for a long time. The contract was awarded to the Dorman Long Company and the bridge was finally opened by King George V in 1928. The road deck was 84 feet (26 m) above the river and was supported by a 531 feet (162 m) steel arch. The new Tyne Bridge quickly became a symbol for Newcastle and Tyneside, and remains so today.
During the Second World War, Newcastle was largely spared the horrors inflicted upon other British cities bombed during the Blitz. Although the armaments factories and shipyards along the River Tyne were targeted by the Luftwaffe, they largely escaped unscathed. Manors goods yard and railway terminal, to the east of the city centre, and the suburbs of Jesmond and Heaton suffered bombing during 1941. There were 141 deaths and 587 injuries, a relatively small figure compared to the casualties in other industrial centres of Britain.
In 1963 the city gained its own university, the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, by act of parliament. A School of Medicine and Surgery had been established in Newcastle in 1834. This eventually developed into a college of medicine attached to Durham University. A college of physical science was also founded and became Armstrong College in 1904. In 1934 the two colleges merged to become King's College, Durham. This remained as part of Durham University until the new university was created in 1963. In 1992 the city gained its second university when Newcastle Polytechnic was granted university status as Northumbria University.
Newcastle City Council moved to the new Newcastle Civic Centre in 1968.
As heavy industries declined in the second half of the 20th century, large sections of the city centre were demolished along with many areas of slum housing. The leading political figure in the city during the 1960s was T. Dan Smith who oversaw a massive building programme of highrise housing estates and authorised the demolition of a quarter of the Georgian Grainger Town to make way for Eldon Square Shopping Centre. Smith's control in Newcastle collapsed when it was exposed that he had used public contracts to advantage himself and his business associates and for a time Newcastle became a byword for civic corruption as depicted in the films Get Carter and Stormy Monday and in the television series Our Friends in the North. However, much of the historic Grainger Town area survived and was, for the most part, fully restored in the late 1990s. Northumberland Street, initially the A1, was gradually closed to traffic from the 1970s and completely pedestrianised by 1998.
In 1978 a new rapid transport system, the Metro, was built, linking the Tyneside area. The system opened in August 1980. A new bridge was built to carry the Metro across the river between Gateshead and Newcastle. This was the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, commonly known as the Metro Bridge. Eventually the Metro system was extended to reach Newcastle Airport in 1991, and in 2002 the Metro system was extended to the nearby city of Sunderland.
As the 20th century progressed, trade on the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides gradually declined, until by the 1980s both sides of the river were looking rather derelict. Shipping company offices had closed along with offices of firms related to shipping. There were also derelict warehouses lining the riverbank. Local government produced a master plan to re-develop the Newcastle quayside and this was begun in the 1990s. New offices, restaurants, bars and residential accommodation were built and the area has changed in the space of a few years into a vibrant area, partially returning the focus of Newcastle to the riverside, where it was in medieval times.
The Gateshead Millennium Bridge, a foot and cycle bridge, 26 feet (7.9 m) wide and 413 feet (126 m) long, was completed in 2001. The road deck is in the form of a curve and is supported by a steel arch. To allow ships to pass, the whole structure, both arch and road-deck, rotates on huge bearings at either end so that the road deck is lifted. The bridge can be said to open and shut like a human eye. It is an important addition to the re-developed quayside area, providing a vital link between the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides.
Recent developments
Today the city is a vibrant centre for office and retail employment, but just a short distance away there are impoverished inner-city housing estates, in areas originally built to provide affordable housing for employees of the shipyards and other heavy industries that lined the River Tyne. In the 2010s Newcastle City Council began implementing plans to regenerate these depressed areas, such as those along the Ouseburn Valley.
Paul Troubetzkoy (Italian 1866-1938)
Patinated plaster
Petit Palais inv.PPS1721
Paris 1900
Portland Art Museum
Travel back to Paris at the dawn of the 20th century and experience the splendor of the sparkling French capital as it hosted the world for the International Exposition of 1900.
This was the height of the Belle Époque, a period of peace and prosperity in France when fine art, fashion, and entertainment flourished as never before. Fifty-one million visitors from around the world attended the Exposition and flooded the city, where they enjoyed its posh restaurants, opulent opera house, artistic cabarets, and well-tended parks. For the French, it was an opportunity to show off their prowess in the arts, sciences, and new technology, and to highlight what made Paris unique from rivals London and Berlin.
Inspired by an exhibition originally presented in 2014 at the Petit Palais in Paris, Paris 1900 re-creates the look and feel of the era through more than 200 paintings, decorative art objects, textiles, posters, photographs, jewelry, sculpture, and film, and will plunge visitors into the atmosphere of the Belle Époque.
These objects, drawn from several City of Paris museums—including the Petit Palais, the Musée Carnavalet, the Palais Galliera, the Musée Bourdelle, and the Maison de Victor Hugo—form a portrait of a vibrant and swiftly changing city.
The splendor of Paris unfolds in six sections or vignettes. The visitor enters “Paris: The World’s Showcase,” which highlights the International Exposition of 1900 and the sweeping architectural and technological changes made to the cityscape to welcome the new century.
As Paris was also the self-proclaimed “Capital of the Arts,” the second section of the exhibition examines the vast range of styles and talent present in the city in the form of sculpture, painting, and prints. Viewers will delight to work by well-known artists such as Camille Pissarro and Berthe Morisot and will discover compelling paintings and sculpture by lesser-known masters of the time.
The seductive Art Nouveau style, so popular in the decorative arts, is the focus of the next vignette, which features furniture, jewelry, pottery, posters, ironwork, and fans that exhibit the whiplash curve and natural inspiration of this international style.
French fashion and style were at the heart of Parisian pride, and the next section examines the cult and myth of la Parisienne—the ideal French woman—through textiles, paintings, prints, and decorative arts. Strolling through the city was considered one of the great Parisian pastimes and is explored in “A Walk in Paris.”
New modes of transport, such as the omnibus and the newly invented bicycle, competed with horses, pedestrians, and automobiles as the 20th century unfolded.
The final vignette, “Paris by Night,” features a selection of the vast amusements that made Paris the center of European entertainment, from lowly cabarets to the most refined theaters and restaurants.
The exhibition concludes with a look at a great French invention of the Belle Époque: the moving picture. Clips from early film animate the exhibition and allow the viewer to rediscover the dawn of cinema.
ÓTIMAS NOTÍCIAS!
Nossas orações e pensamentos positivos por nosso querido amigo Domi!
Conforme nossa querida amiga Luiza, Joli
www.flickr.com/photos/56686027@N03/
nosso querido amigo Domi está se recuperando bem e estará voltando para casa ESTA SEMANA!
www.flickr.com/photos/69642831@N02/8303670582/in/photostream
Graças a Deus!
Muito obrigada por nos manter informados querida Luiza!
Muito obrigada a todos os queridos amigos que oraram e vibraram positivamente por nosso Domi!
Beijos em seus corações,
Celisa
***
GREAT NEWS!
Our prayers and positive thoughts for our dear friend Domi!
As our dear friend Luiza, Joli
www.flickr.com/photos/56686027@N03/
our dear friend Domi is recovering well and will be coming home THIS WEEK!
www.flickr.com/photos/69642831@N02/8303670582/in/photostream
Thank God!
Thank you for keeping us informed dear Luiza!
Thank you to all the dear friends who prayed and cheered positively by our Domi!
Kisses in your hearts,
Celisa
***
BONNES NOUVELLES!
Nos prières et nos pensées positives pour notre cher ami Domi!
Comme notre cher ami Luiza, Joli
www.flickr.com/photos/56686027@N03/
notre cher ami Domi se remet bien et rentrer à la maison CETTE SEMAINE!
www.flickr.com/photos/69642831@N02/8303670582/in/photostream
Dieu merci!
Nous vous remercions de nous tenir informés chère Luiza!
Merci à tous les chers amis qui ont prié et ont encouragé positivement par notre Domi!
Bisous dans vos cœurs,
Celisa
***
BUENAS NOTICIAS!
Nuestras oraciones y pensamientos positivos para nuestro querido amigo Domi!
A medida que nuestra querida amiga Luisa, Joli
www.flickr.com/photos/56686027@N03/
nuestro querido amigo Domi está recuperando bien y vendrá a casa esta semana!
www.flickr.com/photos/69642831@N02/8303670582/in/photostream
¡Gracias a Dios!
Gracias por mantenernos informados querida Luisa!
Gracias a todos los queridos amigos que oraron y vitorearon positivamente por nuestro Domi!
Besos en sus corazones,
Celisa
***
GRANDE NOVITA '!
Le nostre preghiere e pensieri positivi per il nostro Domi caro amico!
Come il nostro caro amico Luiza, Joli
www.flickr.com/photos/56686027@N03/
il nostro caro amico Domi sta recuperando bene e tornerà a casa QUESTA SETTIMANA!
www.flickr.com/photos/69642831@N02/8303670582/in/photostream
Grazie a Dio!
Grazie per averci informato caro Luiza!
Grazie a tutti i cari amici che hanno pregato e rallegrato positivamente dal nostro Domi!
Baci nei vostri cuori,
Celisa
***
***
***
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pERGGxQyCkc
Queridos Amigos,
Feliz Ano Novo!!
Possa 2013 trazer boas novas, a grande riqueza que é a saúde e prosperidade a todos!
Eu agradeço a todos os meus tão Queridos Amigos por toda amizade, delicadeza, generosidade, bondade e paciência que me dedicaram!!
Jesus lhes abençoe e aos seus.
Beijos em seus corações com imenso carinho, amizade e gratidão!
Celisa
***
Dear Friends,
Happy New Year!!!!
May 2013 bring good tidings, great health wealth and prosperity to everyone!
I thank all my dear friends across as friendship, kindness, generosity, kindness and patience that you dedicated for me!
Jesus bless you and yours.
Kisses in your hearts with immense affection, friendship and gratitude!
Celisa
***
Chers Amis,
Happy New Year!
Mai 2013 apportent de bonnes nouvelles, la grande richesse est la santé et la prospérité à tous!
Je remercie tous mes chers amis à travers l'amitié, la bonté, la générosité, la gentillesse et la patience que j'ai passé!
Jésus vous bénisse et le vôtre.
Bisous dans votre cœur avec affection, d'amitié et de gratitude immense!
Celisa
***
Queridos amigos,
Feliz Año Nuevo!
Que 2013 traigo una buena noticia, la gran riqueza es la salud y prosperidad a todos!
Agradezco a todos mis queridos amigos a través de la amistad, la bondad, la generosidad, la bondad y la paciencia que he pasado!
Jesús los bendiga y los suyos.
Besos en tu corazón, con inmenso cariño amistad y gratitud!
Celisa
***
Cari amici,
Felice Anno Nuovo!
Maggio 2013 portare la buona novella, la grande ricchezza è la salute e prosperità a tutti!
Ringrazio tutti i miei cari amici attraverso l'amicizia, la gentilezza, la generosità, la gentilezza e la pazienza che ho passato!
Gesù vi benedica e la tua.
Baci nel tuo cuore con immenso affetto, amicizia e gratitudine!
Celisa
The God of Prosperity (or Fortune) is roughly analogous to Santa Claus for Christmas. Both icons arrive the night before the event, ie Christmas Eve, or the eve of Chinese New Year.
Seen the Dragon Boat Restaurant, Little Bourke Street, Melbourne.
Pass-along-thoughts a project we do every year at C3. I go tto illustrate this years cards printed with metallic silver ink.
Wishing You a Year Filled With Great Joy Peace
And Prosperity Have a Wonderful Year Ahead
Happy New Year!!! 2015 !!!
These ladies were posing for a photographer on my right, holding the back of the bull. Apparantly (as you can see on the marks on the statue), they were not the first who stood this way...
Fishing village with carp shaped lanterns lighted-up at the Dragonfly Lake for the Mid-Autumn Festival 2017 at the Gardens by the Bay.
Icon representing the Outcome: Greater prosperity
This icon is freely available for use in any library publicity or advocacy material. You can download it in a range of sizes using the down pointing arrow on the right hand side of the screen below the image.
Tania Goodine, Executive Vice President Engagement and Jennifer Dawson, Regional Manager Essex-Kent, engage attendees in a discussion of what prosperity means to each individual.
Photo by J. Amlin Photography
Wat Phra Kaew (Thai: วัดพระแก้ว, rtgs: Wat Phra Kaeo, IPA: [wát pʰráʔ kɛ̂ːw], Pronunciation, English: Temple of the Emerald Buddha; full official name Wat Phra Si Rattana Satsadaram, Thai: วัดพระศรีรัตนศาสดาราม, IPA: [wát pʰráʔ sǐː rát.ta.náʔ sàːt.sa.daː.raːm]) is regarded as the most sacred Buddhist temple (wat) in Thailand. The Emerald Buddha housed in the temple is a potent religio-political symbol and the palladium (protective image) of Thai society. It is located in Phra Nakhon District, the historic centre of Bangkok, within the precincts of the Grand Palace.
The main building is the central phra ubosot, which houses the statue of the Emerald Buddha. According to legend, this Buddha image originated in India where the sage Nagasena prophesized that the Emerald Buddha would bring "prosperity and pre-eminence to each country in which it resides", the Emerald Buddha deified in the Wat Phra Kaew is therefore deeply revered and venerated in Thailand as the protector of the country. Historical records however dates its finding to Chiang Rai in the 15th century where, after it was relocated a number of times, it was finally taken to Thailand in the 18th century. It was enshrined in Bangkok at the Wat Phra Kaew temple in 1782 during the reign of Phutthayotfa Chulalok, King Rama I (1782–1809). This marked the beginning of the Chakri Dynasty of Thailand, whose present sovereign is Bhumibol Adulyadej, King Rama IX.
The Emerald Buddha, a dark green statue, is in a standing form, about 66 centimetres tall, carved from a single jade stone ("emerald" in Thai means deep green colour and not the specific stone). It is carved in the meditating posture in the style of the Lanna school of the northern Thailand. Except for the Thai King and, in his stead, the Crown Prince, no other persons are allowed to touch the statue. The King changes the cloak around the statue three times a year, corresponding to the summer, winter, and rainy seasons, an important ritual performed to usher good fortune to the country during each season.
HISTORY
In 1767, the Kingdom of Ayutthaya fell to the Burmese, and King Taksin then moved the capital to Thonburi where he built the old palace beside Wat Arun on the west bank of Chao Phraya River. In 1778, Taksin's army under the command of Chao Phraya Chakri (who later became Rama I) captured Vientiane and took the Emerald Buddha back to Thonburi.
In 1782, King Rama I succeeded to the throne and founded the Chakri Dynasty, and he decided to move the capital across the river to Bangkok as it would be better protected from attack. The site chosen for the palace is situated between two old wats, Wat Pho and Wat Mahathat, an area inhabited by Chinese residents who were then moved to the present Chinatown. He started the construction of the Grand Palace so that the palace may be ready for his coronation in 1785. Wat Phra Kaew, which has its own compound within the precinct of the palace, was built to house the Emerald Buddha, which is considered a sacred object that provides protection for the kingdom. Wat Phra Kaew was completed in 1784. The formal name of Wat Phra Kaeo is Phra Sri Rattana Satsadaram, which means "the residence of the Holy Jewel Buddha."
Wat Phra Kaew has undergone a number of renovations, restoration and additions in its history, particularly during the reign of King Rama III and Rama IV. Rama III started the renovations and rebuilding in 1831 for the 50th Anniversary of BangkoK of 1832, while Rama IV's restoration was completed by Rama V in time for the Bangkok Centennial celebrations in 1882. Further restoration was undertaken by Rama VII on Bangkok's 150th Anniversary in 1932, and by Rama IX for the 200th Anniversary in 1982.
EMERALD BUDDHA
It is not known when the statue of the Emerald Buddha was made, but it is generally believed that it was crafted in 14th-century Thailand. However, there are also claims that the statue originated in India or Sri Lanka. None of these theories can be firmly established as none of the historians could get a close look at the statue.
According to one account, the Emerald Buddha was found in Chiang Rai, Lanna in 1434, after a lightning storm struck a temple. The Buddha statue fell down and later became chipped, and the monks, after removing the stucco around the statue, discovered that the image was a perfectly made Buddha image from a solid piece of green jade. The image was moved a few time to various temples, first to Lampang, then to Chiang Mai, from where it was removed by prince Chao Chaiyasetthathirat to Luang Prabang, when his father died and he ascended the throne of both Lanna and Lan Xang, in 1551. The statue remained the it to his new capital of Lan Xang in Vientiane in the 1560s. The statue remained there for twelve years. King Chaiyasetthathirat then shifted it to his new capital of Lan Xang in Vientiane in the 1560s. He took the Emerald Buddha with him and the image remained in Vientiane for 214 years until 1778.
In the reign of King Taksin, Chao Phya Chakri (who later became Rama I) defeated Vientiane and moved the Emerald Buddha from Vientiane to Thonburi where it was installed in a shrine close to Wat Arun. When Chao Phra Chakri took over the throne and founded the Chakri Dynasty of the Rattanakosin Kingdom, he shifted his capital across the river to its present location in Bangkok. The Emerald Buddha was also moved across the river with pomp and pageantry and installed in the temple of Wat Phra Keaw.
LEGENDS
There a number of legends associated with the Emerald Buddha. It was said the iconic image of the Emerald Buddha was made by Nagasena, a saint in Pataliputra (present day Patna), India, who, with the help of Hindu god Vishnu and demigod Indra, had the Emerald Buddha image made. Nagasena predicted that:
The image of the Buddha is assuredly going to give to religion the most brilliant importance in five lands, that is in Lankadvipa (Sri Lanka), Ramalakka, Dvaravati, Chieng Mai and Lan Chang (Laos).
The Emerald Buddha image was taken to Sri Lanka after three hundred years in Pataliputra to save it during a civil war. In 457, King Anuruth of Burma sent a mission to Ceylon with a request for Buddhist scriptures and the Emerald Buddha, in order to promote Buddhism in his country. These requests were granted, but the ship lost its way in a storm during the return voyage and landed in Cambodia. When the Thais captured Angkor Wat in 1432 (following the ravage of the bubonic plague), the Emerald Buddha was taken to Ayutthaya, Kamphaeng Phet, Laos and finally Chiang Rai, where the ruler of the city hid it, and was later found.
ARCHITECTURE
Wat Phra Kaeo has a plethora of buildings within the precincts of the Grand Palace, which covers a total area of over 94.5 hectares. It has over 100 buildings with “200 years royal history and architectural experimentation” linked to it. The architectural style is named as Rattanakosin style (old Bangkok style). The main temple of the Emerald Buddha is very elegantly decorated and similar to the temple in ancient capital of Ayudhya. The roof is embellished with polished orange and green tiles, the pillars are inlaid in mosaic and the pediments are made of rich marble, installed around 18th century. The Emerald Buddha is deified over an elevated altar surrounded by large gilded decorations. While the upper part of this altar was part of the original construction, the base was added by King Rama III. Two images of the Buddha, which represent the first two kings of the Chakri dynasty, flank the main image. Over the years, the temple has retained its original design. However, minor improvements have been effected after its first erection during Rama I's reign; wood-work of the temple was replaced by King Rama III and King Chulalongkorn; during King Mongkut's reign, the elegant doors and windows and the copper plates on the floor were additions, Rama III refurbished the wall painting (indicative of the universe according to Buddhist cosmology) and several frescoes that display the various stages of the Buddha's life; three chambers were added on the western side by King Mongkut; in the chamber known as 'Phra Kromanusorn' at the northern end, images of Buddha have been installed in honour of the kings of Ayutthaya; and in the 19th century, In Khong, a famous painter executed the wall murals. The entry to the temple is from the third gate from the river pier.The entrance is guarded by a pair of yakshis (mythical giants – 5 metres high statues). The eponymous image Buddha in brilliant green colour is 66 centimetres (26 in) in height with a lap width of 48.3 centimetres. It is carved in a yogic position, known as Virasana (a meditation pose commonly seen in images in Thailand and also in South India, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia). The pedestal on which the Emerald Buddha deified is decorated with Garuda (the mythical half-man half-bird form, a steed of Rama, who holds his mortal enemy Naga the serpent in his legs) motifs It is central to Thai Buddhism. The image made with a circular base has a smooth top-knot that is finished with a "dulled point marking at the top of the image". A third eye made in gold is inset over the elevated eyebrows of the image. The image appears divine and composed, with the eyes cast downward. The image has a small nose and mouth (mouth closed) and elongated ears. The hands are seen on the lap with palms facing upwards.
The entire complex, including the temples, is bounded by a compound wall which is one of the most prominent part of the wat is about 2 kilometres length. The compound walls are decorated with typically Thai murals, based on the Indian epic Ramayana. In Thai language these murals are known to form the Ramakian, the Thai national epic, which was written during the reign of Rama I. The epic stories formed the basic information to draw the paintings during the reign of King Rama I (1782–1809). These paintings are refurbished regularly. The murals, in 178 scenes, starting with the north gate of the temple illustrates the complete epic story of Ramayana sequentially, in a clockwise direction covering the entire compound wall. The murals serve to emphasise human values of honesty, faith, and devotion.
There are twelve salas that were built by Rama I, around the temple. They house interesting artefacts of regions such as Cambodia and Java. One of these salas had an inscription of Ramkamhaeng, which was shifted, in 1924, to the National Library. During the reign of King Mongkut, the Phra Gandharara – small chapel on the southwest corner – and a tall belfry were new additions.
WORSHIP AND CEREMONIES
Early in the Bangkok period, the Emerald Buddha used to be taken out of its temple and paraded in the streets to relieve the city and countryside of various calamities (such as plague and cholera). However, this practice was discontinued during Rama IV's reign as it was feared that the image could get damaged during the procession and also a practical line of thinking that Rama IV held "that diseases are caused by germs, not by evil spirits or the displeasure of the Buddha". The image also marks the changing of the seasons in Thailand, with the king presiding over the seasonal ceremonies.
Like many other Buddha statues in Thailand, the Emerald Buddha is dressed in a seasonal costume. It is a significant ritual held at this temple. In this ritual, dress of the deity is changed three times a year to correspond to the seasons. In summer it is a pointed crown of gold and jewels, and a set of jewelled ornaments that adorns the image from the shoulders to the ankles. In winter, a meshed dressing gown or drapery made of gold beads, which covered from the neck down like a poncho is used. During the rainy months, a top-knot headdress studded with gold, enamel and sapphires; the gold attire in the rainy season is draped over the left shoulder of the deity, only with the right shoulder left bare while gold ornaments embellish the image up to the ankles. The astrological dates for the ritual ceremonies, at the changing of the seasons, followed are in the 1st Waning Moon of Lunar Months 4, 8 and 12 (around March, July and November). The costume change ritual is performed by the Thai king who is the highest master of ceremonies for all Buddhist rites. On each occasion, the king himself "cleans the image by wiping away any dust that has collected and changing the headdress of the image". Then a king's royal attendant climbs up and performs the elaborate ritual of changing garments of the image as the king is chanting prayers to the deity. On this occasion, the king sprinkles water over the monks and the faithful who have assembled to witness the unique ritual and seeks blessings of the deity for good fortune during the upcoming season. The two sets of clothing not in use at any given time are kept on display in the nearby Pavilion of Regalia, Royal Decorations and Coins in the precincts of the Grand Palace. While Rama I initiated this ritual for the hot season and the rainy season, Rama III introduced the ritual for the winter season. The robes, which the image adorns, represents that of monks and King's depending on the season, a clear indication of highlighting its symbolic role "as Buddha and the King", which role is also enjoined on the Thai King who formally dresses the Emerald Buddha image.
A ceremony that is observed in the wat is the Chakri Day (begun on April 6, 1782), a national holiday to honour founding of the Chakri dynasty. On this day, the king attends the ceremony. The present king Rama IX, with his Queen, and entourage of the royal family, the Prime Minister, officials in the Ministry of Defence, and other government departments, first offer prayers at the Emerald Buddha temple. This is followed by visit to the pantheon to pay homage to the images of past Chakri rulers that are installed there.
The coronation ceremony, which marks the crowning of the king, is an important event of the Chakri dynasty. One such recent event took place when the present Rama IX was crowned the King. On this occasion, the King came to the Chapel Royal- the Wat Phra Keo – in a procession wearing a 'Great Crown'. After entering the chapel, the king made offerings of gold and silver flowers to the deity and also lighted candles. He also paid homage to the images of Buddha that represented the past kings of the dynasty. In the presence of assembled elite clergy of the kingdom, he took a formal vow of his religion and his steadfastness to 'Defend the Faith'.
RULES OF ENTRY AND CONDUCT
The sacred temples in Thailand follow a dress code, which is strictly followed. Men must wear long pants and sleeved shirts and shoes; women must wear long skirts. Visitors who arrive dressed otherwise may rent appropriate clothing items at the entry area of the temple. It is compulsory to remove the shoes before entering the temple, as a sign of respect of the Buddha, as is the practice in all other temples in Thailand. While offering prayers before the Buddha image, the sitting posture should avoid any offensive stretching of feet towards the deity; the feet should be tucked in towards the back.
OTHER MONUMENTS
While the surrounding portico of the shrine is an example of Thai craftsmanship, the perimeter of the temple complex has 12 open pavilions. These were built during the reign of Rama I. There is plethora of monuments in the temple complex. These are:Grand PalaceThe former residence of the King, the Grand Palace, adjoins the temple. The King makes use of this Grand Palace for ceremonial functions such as the Coronation Day. The King’s present residence is to the north of this Grand Palace and is known as the Chitlada Palace. The four structures surrounding the temple have history of their own. At the eastern end is the Borombhiman Hall (built in French architectural design), which was the residence of King Rama VI, now used as guest house for visiting foreign dignitaries. It has the dubious distinction of having been used as the operational headquarters and residence of General Chitpatima who attempted a coup, in 1981. The building to the west is the Amarindra hall, earlier a hall of Justice, now used for formal ceremonies. The Chakri Mahaprasat is the largest hall in the Grand Palace, built in 1882 by British architects, the architecture of which is fusion of Italian renaissance and Traditional Thai architecture. This style is called farang sai chada, (meaning: "Westerner wearing a Thai crown") as each wing has a shrine (mandap) crowned by a spire. Ashes of the Chakri kings (five ancestors) are enshrined in the largest of these shrines, also known as the pantheons, that were rebuilt after a fire in 1903 during Rama IV's reign. Ashes of the Chakri princess who could not become kings are enshrined in an adjoining hall. The throne room and the reception hall are on the first floor, while the ground floor houses a collection of weapons. The inner palace had the King’s harem (the practice was discontinued during King Rama VI's time who decreed the one wife rule), which was guarded by well trained female guards. Another hall in the palace is the 'Dusit hall' in Ratanokosin-style, which runs from east to west, which was initially an audience hall but now converted into a funerary hall for the Royal family. Royal family corpses are kept here for one year before they are cremated in a nearby field. There is also a garden which was laid during rama IV's reign. The garden depicts a "Thai mountain-and-woods-fable" mountain scenes where the coming of age ritual of shaving the topknot of the Prince is performed.PagodasThe temple grounds also depict three pagodas to its immediate north, which represent the changing centres of Buddhist influence. One such shrine to the west of the temple is the Phra Si Ratana Chedi, a 19th-century stupa built in Sri Lankan style enshrining ashes of the Buddha.Library
Rama I also built a library in Thai style, in the middle of the complex, known as the "Phra Mondop". The library houses an elegantly carved Ayutthaya-style mother-of-pearl doors, bookcases with the Tripitaka (sacred Buddhist manuscripts), human-and dragon-headed nagas (snakes), and images of Chakri kings.
During the 19th century, the Royal Pantheon was built in Khmer style to the east of the temple, which is kept open for only one day in year, in the month of October to commemorate the founding of the Chakri dynasty.
Model of Angkor WatThe temple complex also contains a model of Angkor Wat (the most sacred of all Cambodian shrines). In 1860, King Mongkut ordered his generals to lead 2,000 men to dismantle Angkor Wat and take it to Bangkok. Modern scholars suggested that the king wanted to show that Siam was still in control of Cambodia, as France was seeking to colonise Cambodia at that time. However, the king's order could not be fulfilled. A royal chronicle written by Lord Thiphakorawong (Kham Bunnag), then foreign minister, recorded that many Thai men fell ill after entering Cambodian wilderness. The chronicle also stated that forest-dwelling Khmer people ambushed the Thai army, killing many leading generals. King Mongkut then ordered the construction of the model within Wat Phra Kaew, instead of the real Angkor Wat that could not be brought to Bangkok. Mongkut died before he could see the model. Its construction was completed in the reign of his son, Chulalongkorn.Hermit statue
A hermit's bronze image, which is believed to have healing powers, is installed in a sala on the western side of the temple. It is near the entry gate. It is a black stone statue, considered a patron of medicine, before which relatives of the sick and infirm pay respects and make offerings of joss sticks, fruit, flowers, and candles.
EIGHT TOWERS
On the eastern side of the temple premises there are eight towers or prangs, each of a different colour. They were erected during the reign of Rama I and represent eight elements of Buddhism.
ELEPHANT STATUES
Statues of elephants, which symbolize independence and power, are seen all around the complex. As Thai kings fought wars mounted on elephants, it has become customary for parents to make their children circumambulate the elephant three times with the belief that that it would bring them strength. The head of an elephant statue is also rubbed for good luck; this act of the people is reflected in the smoothness of the surface of elephant statues here.
WIKIPEDIA
Libro staff with United Way representative:
Rick Hoevenaars, Executive Vice President Finance and CFO, Shelley Wallace, Vice President Marketing and Communications, Jan Varner, United Way Kitchener-Waterloo, Martin Kihle, Regional Manager.
The Washington Transportation Company was incorporated was operated June 12, 1917. Originally operated out of Washington, Pa. to connect the eastern Pennsylvanian boroughs of Washington, Bentleyville, Beallsville, Claysville, Houston, Burgettstown, McDonald, and the villages of Amity and Prosperity, the bus line was expanded to Wheeling in January 1924, with buses leaving Wheeling for Washington at 7 am each morning with buses leaving each odd hour of the day until 9 o'clock at night. The Wheeling original office of the Washington Transportation Company was located at 12th and Market streets and later at the Union Bus Terminal, opened at the new Pythain Lodge Building at 16th and Market in August of 1928.
On July 2, 1929, the West Penn Electric Company of Pittsburgh gained a controlling interest in the company and the Washington Transportation Company of Wheeling, W. Va. and the White Star Lines, Inc., of Washington, Pa. The two companies at that point operated a bus service extending from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Wheeling, Morgantown, and Wellsburg, W. Va. and Wheeling to Uniontown, Pa. The merger of the two companies with the West Penn subsidiaries, which included the Blue Ridge Transporation Co. of Hagerstown, Md., Ohio Valley Transit Co. of Wheeling, and the Penn Bus Lines of Pittsburgh, Pa. extended the lines to Baltimore, Md. and Washington, D.C.
- image from "The Record," 1929 (Wheeling High School yearbook). From the collections of the Ohio County Public Library Archives. Additional copy available to view in the library's Wheeling Room.
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Tidjane Thiam, CEO, Credit Suisse Group AG
Jim Yong Kim, President, World Bank Group
Jane Harman, Director, President and CEO, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; Former Congresswoman
Michael Milken, Chairman, Milken Institute
***** 祝大家蛇年行大運， 新年快樂 *****
***** WISHING ALL MY FRIENDS A WONDERFUL YEAR OF SNAKE *****
The color Red is a symbol of celebration in Chinese tradition. It is commonly seen at festive seasons, weddings, baby shower, house-warming parties as well opening of new businesses.
Every ornaments has its own meaning - in this image the word "福" (which means "prosperous") is embroiled on to the shape of a traditional Chinese gold nugget.
For more colorful Chinese culture, please visit my set:
=====
If you are interested in purchasing this image, please visit Getty Images page at:
This porcelain statue from Singapore is a personification of Prosperity. He holds a ruyi sceptre which is a symbol of status.
恭喜發財 – Wishing you prosperity in the new year!
This is one of the three personifications often displayed in Chinese homes to express the three most desired aspects of the material life: wealth, health, and good fortune.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meets with Costa Rican Foreign Minister Gonzalez Sanz during the Conference for Prosperity and Security in Central America, at Florida International University, in Miami, Florida, on June 15, 2017. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]
The Chinese describe this day as one of auspiciousness and prosperity.
August 8th, 2008.
08/08/08.
I've known her only for a short while, and yet, we carry on like we are life-long companions.
She listens to me. She talks to me. She wags her tail furiously when I enter a room. She lifts her nose so I can rest mine against it.
She is fierce protector, unconditional lover, and relentless shedder.
When she was rescued from an abusive home, her name was Lucky. It was changed to Lucy, to remove any link to her traumatized past.
I think perhaps I am the lucky one, however.
Because I have a place to come home to where she exists.
And I am prosperous.
[ + ]
I'm reinstating a practice I feel is very important. Those of you
who have known me for a while will remember this:
As a way of returning the extraordinary generosity and support
you have all shown me in this great community, whenever I upload
a new pic or series of shots this year, I'll provide a link to another
flickr photographer whose work, personality, or spirit I feel you
should discover.
Visit and introduce yourself. Make a friend. Share the love.
Open your eyes to Extra Medium today.
PROSPERITY, facing North, a horn of plenty resting on her arm--- Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument --- East Rock Park, New Haven, Connecticut
United Nations Headquarters
New York, New York
10:18 A.M. EDT
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Mr. President, Mr. Secretary General, fellow delegates, ladies and gentlemen: Seventy years after the founding of the United Nations, it is worth reflecting on what, together, the members of this body have helped to achieve.
Out of the ashes of the Second World War, having witnessed the unthinkable power of the atomic age, the United States has worked with many nations in this Assembly to prevent a third world war -- by forging alliances with old adversaries; by supporting the steady emergence of strong democracies accountable to their people instead of any foreign power; and by building an international system that imposes a cost on those who choose conflict over cooperation, an order that recognizes the dignity and equal worth of all people.
That is the work of seven decades. That is the ideal that this body, at its best, has pursued. Of course, there have been too many times when, collectively, we have fallen short of these ideals. Over seven decades, terrible conflicts have claimed untold victims. But we have pressed forward, slowly, steadily, to make a system of international rules and norms that are better and stronger and more consistent.
It is this international order that has underwritten unparalleled advances in human liberty and prosperity. It is this collective endeavor that’s brought about diplomatic cooperation between the world’s major powers, and buttressed a global economy that has lifted more than a billion people from poverty. It is these international principles that helped constrain bigger countries from imposing our will on smaller ones, and advanced the emergence of democracy and development and individual liberty on every continent.
This progress is real. It can be documented in lives saved, and agreements forged, and diseases conquered, and in mouths fed. And yet, we come together today knowing that the march of human progress never travels in a straight line, that our work is far from complete; that dangerous currents risk pulling us back into a darker, more disordered world.
Today, we see the collapse of strongmen and fragile states breeding conflict, and driving innocent men, women and children across borders on an epic scale. Brutal networks of terror have stepped into the vacuum. Technologies that empower individuals are now also exploited by those who spread disinformation, or suppress dissent, or radicalize our youth. Global capital flows have powered growth and investment, but also increased risk of contagion, weakened the bargaining power of workers, and accelerated inequality.
How should we respond to these trends? There are those who argue that the ideals enshrined in the U.N. charter are unachievable or out of date -- a legacy of a postwar era not suited to our own. Effectively, they argue for a return to the rules that applied for most of human history and that pre-date this institution: the belief that power is a zero-sum game; that might makes right; that strong states must impose their will on weaker ones; that the rights of individuals don’t matter; and that in a time of rapid change, order must be imposed by force.
On this basis, we see some major powers assert themselves in ways that contravene international law. We see an erosion of the democratic principles and human rights that are fundamental to this institution’s mission; information is strictly controlled, the space for civil society restricted. We’re told that such retrenchment is required to beat back disorder; that it’s the only way to stamp out terrorism, or prevent foreign meddling. In accordance with this logic, we should support tyrants like Bashar al-Assad, who drops barrel bombs to massacre innocent children, because the alternative is surely worse.
The increasing skepticism of our international order can also be found in the most advanced democracies. We see greater polarization, more frequent gridlock; movements on the far right, and sometimes the left, that insist on stopping the trade that binds our fates to other nations, calling for the building of walls to keep out immigrants. Most ominously, we see the fears of ordinary people being exploited through appeals to sectarianism, or tribalism, or racism, or anti-Semitism; appeals to a glorious past before the body politic was infected by those who look different, or worship God differently; a politics of us versus them.
The United States is not immune from this. Even as our economy is growing and our troops have largely returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, we see in our debates about America’s role in the world a notion of strength that is defined by opposition to old enemies, perceived adversaries, a rising China, or a resurgent Russia; a revolutionary Iran, or an Islam that is incompatible with peace. We see an argument made that the only strength that matters for the United States is bellicose words and shows of military force; that cooperation and diplomacy will not work.
As President of the United States, I am mindful of the dangers that we face; they cross my desk every morning. I lead the strongest military that the world has ever known, and I will never hesitate to protect my country or our allies, unilaterally and by force where necessary.
But I stand before you today believing in my core that we, the nations of the world, cannot return to the old ways of conflict and coercion. We cannot look backwards. We live in an integrated world -- one in which we all have a stake in each other’s success. We cannot turn those forces of integration. No nation in this Assembly can insulate itself from the threat of terrorism, or the risk of financial contagion; the flow of migrants, or the danger of a warming planet. The disorder we see is not driven solely by competition between nations or any single ideology. And if we cannot work together more effectively, we will all suffer the consequences. That is true for the United States, as well.
No matter how powerful our military, how strong our economy, we understand the United States cannot solve the world’s problems alone. In Iraq, the United States learned the hard lesson that even hundreds of thousands of brave, effective troops, trillions of dollars from our Treasury, cannot by itself impose stability on a foreign land. Unless we work with other nations under the mantle of international norms and principles and law that offer legitimacy to our efforts, we will not succeed. And unless we work together to defeat the ideas that drive different communities in a country like Iraq into conflict, any order that our militaries can impose will be temporary.
Just as force alone cannot impose order internationally, I believe in my core that repression cannot forge the social cohesion for nations to succeed. The history of the last two decades proves that in today’s world, dictatorships are unstable. The strongmen of today become the spark of revolution tomorrow. You can jail your opponents, but you can’t imprison ideas. You can try to control access to information, but you cannot turn a lie into truth. It is not a conspiracy of U.S.-backed NGOs that expose corruption and raise the expectations of people around the globe; it’s technology, social media, and the irreducible desire of people everywhere to make their own choices about how they are governed.
Indeed, I believe that in today’s world, the measure of strength is no longer defined by the control of territory. Lasting prosperity does not come solely from the ability to access and extract raw materials. The strength of nations depends on the success of their people -- their knowledge, their innovation, their imagination, their creativity, their drive, their opportunity -- and that, in turn, depends upon individual rights and good governance and personal security. Internal repression and foreign aggression are both symptoms of the failure to provide this foundation.
A politics and solidarity that depend on demonizing others, that draws on religious sectarianism or narrow tribalism or jingoism may at times look like strength in the moment, but over time its weakness will be exposed. And history tells us that the dark forces unleashed by this type of politics surely makes all of us less secure. Our world has been there before. We gain nothing from going back.
Instead, I believe that we must go forward in pursuit of our ideals, not abandon them at this critical time. We must give expression to our best hopes, not our deepest fears. This institution was founded because men and women who came before us had the foresight to know that our nations are more secure when we uphold basic laws and basic norms, and pursue a path of cooperation over conflict. And strong nations, above all, have a responsibility to uphold this international order.
Let me give you a concrete example. After I took office, I made clear that one of the principal achievements of this body -- the nuclear non-proliferation regime -- was endangered by Iran’s violation of the NPT. On that basis, the Security Council tightened sanctions on the Iranian government, and many nations joined us to enforce them. Together, we showed that laws and agreements mean something.
But we also understood that the goal of sanctions was not simply to punish Iran. Our objective was to test whether Iran could change course, accept constraints, and allow the world to verify that its nuclear program will be peaceful. For two years, the United States and our partners -- including Russia, including China -- stuck together in complex negotiations. The result is a lasting, comprehensive deal that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, while allowing it to access peaceful energy. And if this deal is fully implemented, the prohibition on nuclear weapons is strengthened, a potential war is averted, our world is safer. That is the strength of the international system when it works the way it should.
That same fidelity to international order guides our responses to other challenges around the world. Consider Russia’s annexation of Crimea and further aggression in eastern Ukraine. America has few economic interests in Ukraine. We recognize the deep and complex history between Russia and Ukraine. But we cannot stand by when the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a nation is flagrantly violated. If that happens without consequence in Ukraine, it could happen to any nation gathered here today. That’s the basis of the sanctions that the United States and our partners impose on Russia. It's not a desire to return to a Cold War.
Now, within Russia, state-controlled media may describe these events as an example of a resurgent Russia -- a view shared, by the way, by a number of U.S. politicians and commentators who have always been deeply skeptical of Russia, and seem to be convinced a new Cold War is, in fact, upon us. And yet, look at the results. The Ukrainian people are more interested than ever in aligning with Europe instead of Russia. Sanctions have led to capital flight, a contracting economy, a fallen ruble, and the emigration of more educated Russians.
Imagine if, instead, Russia had engaged in true diplomacy, and worked with Ukraine and the international community to ensure its interests were protected. That would be better for Ukraine, but also better for Russia, and better for the world -- which is why we continue to press for this crisis to be resolved in a way that allows a sovereign and democratic Ukraine to determine its future and control its territory. Not because we want to isolate Russia -- we don't -- but because we want a strong Russia that’s invested in working with us to strengthen the international system as a whole.
Similarly, in the South China Sea, the United States makes no claim on territory there. We don't adjudicate claims. But like every nation gathered here, we have an interest in upholding the basic principles of freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce, and in resolving disputes through international law, not the law of force. So we will defend these principles, while encouraging China and other claimants to resolve their differences peacefully.
I say this, recognizing that diplomacy is hard; that the outcomes are sometimes unsatisfying; that it's rarely politically popular. But I believe that leaders of large nations, in particular, have an obligation to take these risks -- precisely because we are strong enough to protect our interests if, and when, diplomacy fails.
I also believe that to move forward in this new era, we have to be strong enough to acknowledge when what you’re doing is not working. For 50 years, the United States pursued a Cuba policy that failed to improve the lives of the Cuban people. We changed that. We continue to have differences with the Cuban government. We will continue to stand up for human rights. But we address these issues through diplomatic relations, and increased commerce, and people-to-people ties. As these contacts yield progress, I’m confident that our Congress will inevitably lift an embargo that should not be in place anymore. (Applause.) Change won’t come overnight to Cuba, but I’m confident that openness, not coercion, will support the reforms and better the life the Cuban people deserve, just as I believe that Cuba will find its success if it pursues cooperation with other nations.
Now, if it’s in the interest of major powers to uphold international standards, it is even more true for the rest of the community of nations. Look around the world. From Singapore to Colombia to Senegal, the facts shows that nations succeed when they pursue an inclusive peace and prosperity within their borders, and work cooperatively with countries beyond their borders.
That path is now available to a nation like Iran, which, as of this moment, continues to deploy violent proxies to advance its interests. These efforts may appear to give Iran leverage in disputes with neighbors, but they fuel sectarian conflict that endangers the entire region, and isolates Iran from the promise of trade and commerce. The Iranian people have a proud history, and are filled with extraordinary potential. But chanting “Death to America” does not create jobs, or make Iran more secure. If Iran chose a different path, that would be good for the security of the region, good for the Iranian people, and good for the world.
Of course, around the globe, we will continue to be confronted with nations who reject these lessons of history, places where civil strife, border disputes, and sectarian wars bring about terrorist enclaves and humanitarian disasters. Where order has completely broken down, we must act, but we will be stronger when we act together.
In such efforts, the United States will always do our part. We will do so mindful of the lessons of the past -- not just the lessons of Iraq, but also the example of Libya, where we joined an international coalition under a U.N. mandate to prevent a slaughter. Even as we helped the Libyan people bring an end to the reign of a tyrant, our coalition could have and should have done more to fill a vacuum left behind. We’re grateful to the United Nations for its efforts to forge a unity government. We will help any legitimate Libyan government as it works to bring the country together. But we also have to recognize that we must work more effectively in the future, as an international community, to build capacity for states that are in distress, before they collapse.
And that’s why we should celebrate the fact that later today the United States will join with more than 50 countries to enlist new capabilities -- infantry, intelligence, helicopters, hospitals, and tens of thousands of troops -- to strengthen United Nations peacekeeping. (Applause.) These new capabilities can prevent mass killing, and ensure that peace agreements are more than words on paper. But we have to do it together. Together, we must strengthen our collective capacity to establish security where order has broken down, and to support those who seek a just and lasting peace.
Nowhere is our commitment to international order more tested than in Syria. When a dictator slaughters tens of thousands of his own people, that is not just a matter of one nation’s internal affairs -- it breeds human suffering on an order of magnitude that affects us all. Likewise, when a terrorist group beheads captives, slaughters the innocent and enslaves women, that’s not a single nation’s national security problem -- that is an assault on all humanity.
I’ve said before and I will repeat: There is no room for accommodating an apocalyptic cult like ISIL, and the United States makes no apologies for using our military, as part of a broad coalition, to go after them. We do so with a determination to ensure that there will never be a safe haven for terrorists who carry out these crimes. And we have demonstrated over more than a decade of relentless pursuit of al Qaeda, we will not be outlasted by extremists.
But while military power is necessary, it is not sufficient to resolve the situation in Syria. Lasting stability can only take hold when the people of Syria forge an agreement to live together peacefully. The United States is prepared to work with any nation, including Russia and Iran, to resolve the conflict. But we must recognize that there cannot be, after so much bloodshed, so much carnage, a return to the pre-war status quo.
Let’s remember how this started. Assad reacted to peaceful protests by escalating repression and killing that, in turn, created the environment for the current strife. And so Assad and his allies cannot simply pacify the broad majority of a population who have been brutalized by chemical weapons and indiscriminate bombing. Yes, realism dictates that compromise will be required to end the fighting and ultimately stamp out ISIL. But realism also requires a managed transition away from Assad and to a new leader, and an inclusive government that recognizes there must be an end to this chaos so that the Syrian people can begin to rebuild.
We know that ISIL -- which emerged out of the chaos of Iraq and Syria -- depends on perpetual war to survive. But we also know that they gain adherents because of a poisonous ideology. So part of our job, together, is to work to reject such extremism that infects too many of our young people. Part of that effort must be a continued rejection by Muslims of those who distort Islam to preach intolerance and promote violence, and it must also a rejection by non-Muslims of the ignorance that equates Islam with terror. (Applause.)
This work will take time. There are no easy answers to Syria. And there are no simple answers to the changes that are taking place in much of the Middle East and North Africa. But so many families need help right now; they don’t have time. And that’s why the United States is increasing the number of refugees who we welcome within our borders. That’s why we will continue to be the largest donor of assistance to support those refugees. And today we are launching new efforts to ensure that our people and our businesses, our universities and our NGOs can help as well -- because in the faces of suffering families, our nation of immigrants sees ourselves.
Of course, in the old ways of thinking, the plight of the powerless, the plight of refugees, the plight of the marginalized did not matter. They were on the periphery of the world’s concerns. Today, our concern for them is driven not just by conscience, but should also be drive by self-interest. For helping people who have been pushed to the margins of our world is not mere charity, it is a matter of collective security. And the purpose of this institution is not merely to avoid conflict, it is to galvanize the collective action that makes life better on this planet.
The commitments we’ve made to the Sustainable Development Goals speak to this truth. I believe that capitalism has been the greatest creator of wealth and opportunity that the world has ever known. But from big cities to rural villages around the world, we also know that prosperity is still cruelly out of reach for too many. As His Holiness Pope Francis reminds us, we are stronger when we value the least among these, and see them as equal in dignity to ourselves and our sons and our daughters.
We can roll back preventable disease and end the scourge of HIV/AIDS. We can stamp out pandemics that recognize no borders. That work may not be on television right now, but as we demonstrated in reversing the spread of Ebola, it can save more lives than anything else we can do.
Together, we can eradicate extreme poverty and erase barriers to opportunity. But this requires a sustained commitment to our people -- so farmers can feed more people; so entrepreneurs can start a business without paying a bribe; so young people have the skills they need to succeed in this modern, knowledge-based economy.
We can promote growth through trade that meets a higher standard. And that’s what we’re doing through the Trans-Pacific Partnership -- a trade agreement that encompasses nearly 40 percent of the global economy; an agreement that will open markets, while protecting the rights of workers and protecting the environment that enables development to be sustained.
We can roll back the pollution that we put in our skies, and help economies lift people out of poverty without condemning our children to the ravages of an ever-warming climate. The same ingenuity that produced the Industrial Age and the Computer Age allows us to harness the potential of clean energy. No country can escape the ravages of climate change. And there is no stronger sign of leadership than putting future generations first. The United States will work with every nation that is willing to do its part so that we can come together in Paris to decisively confront this challenge.
And finally, our vision for the future of this Assembly, my belief in moving forward rather than backwards, requires us to defend the democratic principles that allow societies to succeed. Let me start from a simple premise: Catastrophes, like what we are seeing in Syria, do not take place in countries where there is genuine democracy and respect for the universal values this institution is supposed to defend. (Applause.)
I recognize that democracy is going to take different forms in different parts of the world. The very idea of a people governing themselves depends upon government giving expression to their unique culture, their unique history, their unique experiences. But some universal truths are self-evident. No person wants to be imprisoned for peaceful worship. No woman should ever be abused with impunity, or a girl barred from going to school. The freedom to peacefully petition those in power without fear of arbitrary laws -- these are not ideas of one country or one culture. They are fundamental to human progress. They are a cornerstone of this institution.
I realize that in many parts of the world there is a different view -- a belief that strong leadership must tolerate no dissent. I hear it not only from America’s adversaries, but privately at least I also hear it from some of our friends. I disagree. I believe a government that suppresses peaceful dissent is not showing strength; it is showing weakness and it is showing fear. (Applause.) History shows that regimes who fear their own people will eventually crumble, but strong institutions built on the consent of the governed endure long after any one individual is gone.
That's why our strongest leaders -- from George Washington to Nelson Mandela -- have elevated the importance of building strong, democratic institutions over a thirst for perpetual power. Leaders who amend constitutions to stay in office only acknowledge that they failed to build a successful country for their people -- because none of us last forever. It tells us that power is something they cling to for its own sake, rather than for the betterment of those they purport to serve.
I understand democracy is frustrating. Democracy in the United States is certainly imperfect. At times, it can even be dysfunctional. But democracy -- the constant struggle to extend rights to more of our people, to give more people a voice -- is what allowed us to become the most powerful nation in the world. (Applause.)
It's not simply a matter of principle; it's not an abstraction. Democracy -- inclusive democracy -- makes countries stronger. When opposition parties can seek power peacefully through the ballot, a country draws upon new ideas. When a free media can inform the public, corruption and abuse are exposed and can be rooted out. When civil society thrives, communities can solve problems that governments cannot necessarily solve alone. When immigrants are welcomed, countries are more productive and more vibrant. When girls can go to school, and get a job, and pursue unlimited opportunity, that’s when a country realizes its full potential. (Applause.)
That is what I believe is America’s greatest strength. Not everybody in America agrees with me. That's part of democracy. I believe that the fact that you can walk the streets of this city right now and pass churches and synagogues and temples and mosques, where people worship freely; the fact that our nation of immigrants mirrors the diversity of the world -- you can find everybody from everywhere here in New York City -- (applause) -- the fact that, in this country, everybody can contribute, everybody can participate no matter who they are, or what they look like, or who they love -- that's what makes us strong.
And I believe that what is true for America is true for virtually all mature democracies. And that is no accident. We can be proud of our nations without defining ourselves in opposition to some other group. We can be patriotic without demonizing someone else. We can cherish our own identities -- our religion, our ethnicity, our traditions -- without putting others down. Our systems are premised on the notion that absolute power will corrupt, but that people -- ordinary people -- are fundamentally good; that they value family and friendship, faith and the dignity of hard work; and that with appropriate checks and balances, governments can reflect this goodness.
I believe that’s the future we must seek together. To believe in the dignity of every individual, to believe we can bridge our differences, and choose cooperation over conflict -- that is not weakness, that is strength. (Applause.) It is a practical necessity in this interconnected world.
And our people understand this. Think of the Liberian doctor who went door-to-door to search for Ebola cases, and to tell families what to do if they show symptoms. Think of the Iranian shopkeeper who said, after the nuclear deal, “God willing, now we’ll be able to offer many more goods at better prices.” Think of the Americans who lowered the flag over our embassy in Havana in 1961 -- the year I was born -- and returned this summer to raise that flag back up. (Applause.) One of these men said of the Cuban people, “We could do things for them, and they could do things for us. We loved them.” For 50 years, we ignored that fact.
Think of the families leaving everything they’ve known behind, risking barren deserts and stormy waters just to find shelter; just to save their children. One Syrian refugee who was greeted in Hamburg with warm greetings and shelter, said, “We feel there are still some people who love other people.”
The people of our United Nations are not as different as they are told. They can be made to fear; they can be taught to hate -- but they can also respond to hope. History is littered with the failure of false prophets and fallen empires who believed that might always makes right, and that will continue to be the case. You can count on that. But we are called upon to offer a different type of leadership -- leadership strong enough to recognize that nations share common interests and people share a common humanity, and, yes, there are certain ideas and principles that are universal.
That's what those who shaped the United Nations 70 years ago understood. Let us carry forward that faith into the future -- for it is the only way we can assure that future will be brighter for my children, and for yours.
Thank you very much. (Applause.)
END 11:00 A.M. EDT
Is a country located in Central Africa. With an area of 28,000 km2 it is one of the smallest countries in continental Africa. It is also the most prosperous, with gross per capita income on the level of some EU countries, ahead even of Libya and South Africa, two traditionally most developed African countries; this prosperity is recent, though. It has a population of 1,014,999. It comprises two parts: a Continental Region (Río Muni), including several small offshore islands like Corisco, Elobey Grande and Elobey Chico; and an insular region containing Annobón island and Bioko island (formerly Fernando Po) where the capital Malabo is situated.
Annobón is the southernmost island of Equatorial Guinea and is situated just south of the equator. Bioko island is the northernmost point of Equatorial Guinea. Between the two islands and to the east is the mainland region. Equatorial Guinea is bordered by Cameroon on the north, Gabon on the south and east, and the Gulf of Guinea on the west, where the island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe is located between Bioko and Annobón. Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name is suggestive of its location near both the equator and the Gulf of Guinea. It is one of the few territories in mainland Africa where Spanish is an official language, besides the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.
Equatorial Guinea is the third smallest country in continental Africa in terms of population. It is also the second smallest United Nations (UN) member from continental Africa. The discovery of sizeable petroleum reserves in recent years is altering the economic and political status of the country. Equatorial Guinea has been cited as an example of the natural resource curse; its gross domestic product (GDP) per capita ranks 31st in the world; however, most of the country's considerable oil wealth actually lies in the hands of only a few people.
Out of 44 sub-Saharan countries, Equatorial Guinea ranks 9th in terms of the Human Development Index (HDI) and 115th overall, which is among the “medium” HDI countries.
Equatorial Guinea is in the process of becoming validated as an Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Compliant country, working toward transparency in reporting of oil revenues and the prudent use of natural resource wealth. The country is one of 30 Candidate countries and obtained Candidate status February 22, 2008. They met all required obligations to do so, including committing to working with civil society and companies on EITI implementation, appointing a senior individual to lead on EITI implementation, and publishing a fully costed Work Plan with measurable targets, a timetable for implementation and an assessment of capacity constraints. Equatorial Guinea held its 7th meeting of the EITI National Commission on January 30, 2010, during which time steps were taken for the advancement of the implementation process.
History
Please go to
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Equatorial_Guinea
Geography
The Republic of Equatorial Guinea is located in west central Africa. Bioko Island lies about 40 kilometers (24.9 mi) from Cameroon. Annobón Island lies about 595 kilometres (370 mi) southwest of Bioko Island. The larger continental region of Rio Muni lies between Cameroon and Gabon on the mainland; it includes the islands of Corisco, Elobey Grande, Elobey Chico, and adjacent islets.
Bioko Island, called Fernando Po until the 1970s, is the largest island in the Gulf of Guinea - 2,017 square kilometers (779 sq mi). It is shaped like a boot, with two large volcanic formations separated by a valley that bisects the island at its narrowest point. The 195-kilometer (121 mi) coastline is steep and rugged in the south but lower and more accessible in the north, with excellent harbors at Malabo and Luba, and several scenic beaches between those towns.
On the continent, Rio Muni covers 26,003 square kilometers (10,040 sq mi). The coastal plain gives way to a succession of valleys separated by low hills and spurs of the Crystal Mountains. The Rio Benito (Mbini) which divides Rio Muni in half, is unnavigable except for a 20-kilometer stretch at its estuary. Temperatures and humidity in Rio Muni are generally lower than on Bioko Island.
Annobon Island, named for its discovery on New Year's Day 1472, is a small volcanic island covering 18 square kilometers (6.9 sq mi). The coastline is abrupt except in the north; the principal volcanic cone contains a small lake. Most of the estimated 1,900 inhabitants are fisherman specializing in traditional, smallscale tuna fishing and whaling. The climate is tropical--heavy rainfall, high humidity, and frequent seasonal changes with violent windstorms.
Location: Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Biafra, between Cameroon and Gabon.
Other Info
Oficial Name:
République de Guinée Équatoriale
República de Guinea Ecuatorial
Independence:
October 12, 1968
Area:
28.051km2
Inhabitants:
504.200
Languages:
Batanga [bnm] 9,000 in Equatorial Guinea (2001 Johnstone and Mandryk). Population total all countries: 15,000. Also spoken in Cameroon. Alternate names: Banoho, Bano'o, Noho, Nohu, Noku, Banoo. Dialects: Bapuku (Puku, Naka, Bapuu). The Puku are one of the Ndowe coastal peoples. Classification: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Northwest, A, Bube-Benga (A.30)
More information.
Benga [bng] 3,000 in Equatorial Guinea (1995). Population includes 400 on Corisco Island. Rio Muni. Corisco Island. 80% have moved to Libreville, Gabon to Bata in EG. Also spoken in Gabon. Dialects: Related to Batanga. Classification: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Northwest, A, Bube-Benga (A.30)
More information.
Bube [bvb] 40,000 (1995 UBS). Fernando Po, Biombo Island. Alternate names: Boombe, Bobe, Bubi, Ediya, Adija, Adeeyah, Boobe, Fernandian. Dialects: North Bobe, Southwest Bobe, Southeast Bobe. Classification: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Northwest, A, Bube-Benga (A.30)
More information.
Fa D'ambu [fab] 2,500 in Equatorial Guinea (1999 SIL). Population total all countries: 3,100. Annobón Island, isolated from the mainland by 360 km of ocean (2,000), and in a community from Annobón living in Malabo on Bioko Island (500), a few on continental Equatorial Guinea. Also spoken in Spain. Alternate names: Annobonés, Annobonese, Annobonense. Dialects: Different from Fernando Po Krio and Crioulo of Guinea-Bissau and Kabuverdianu. Little variation between Annobonese in Annobón and Malabo. Lexical similarity 62.5% with São Tomense. 10% of the lexicon comes from Spanish. Classification: Creole, Portuguese based
More information.
Fang [fan] 258,722 in Equatorial Guinea (2000 WCD). Population total all countries: 450,586. Interior. Also spoken in Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, São Tomé e Príncipe. Alternate names: Pamue, Pahoun. Dialects: Make, Ntum (Ntumu). Intelligible with Bulu and Ewondo as part of the Beti language cluster. Classification: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Northwest, A, Yaunde-Fang (A.70)
More information.
Fernando Po Creole English [fpe] 5,000 (1998 SIL). North central Bioko Island (Fernando Po), 6 communities in or near Malabo: Musola, Las Palmas, Sampaca, Basupu, Fiston, Balveri de Cristo Rey. Alternate names: Pidginglis, Fernandino, Fernando Po Krio, Criollo. Dialects: Pidginglis may be a separate language from Krio. Classification: Creole, English based, Atlantic, Krio
More information.
French [fra] Known more in the cities. Classification: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Gallo-Romance, Gallo-Rhaetian, Oïl, French
More information.
Gyele [gyi] 29 in Equatorial Guinea (1998 govt.). Near the coast, northwest corner of Equatorial Guinea. Alternate names: Giele, Gieli, Gyeli, Bagyele, Bagiele, Bajeli, Bajele, Bogyeli, Bogyel, Bondjiel, Bako, Bekoe, Bakola, Bakuele, Likoya, Babinga. Classification: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Northwest, A, Makaa-Njem (A.80)
More information.
Molengue [bxc] 1,000 (2002 SIL). Southern, just inland from coast, about half of the way up, between the southern tip of the country and the Rio Benito. Alternate names: Molendji, Balengue. Classification: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Northwest, B, Unclassified
More information.
Ngumba [nmg] 8,500 in Equatorial Guinea (1982 SIL). Rio Muni. Alternate names: Mvumbo, Ngoumba, Mgoumba, Mabi, Mabea, Bujeba. Dialects: Kwasio (Bisio, Bissio, Bisiwo). Classification: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Northwest, A, Makaa-Njem (A.80)
More information.
Ngumbi [nui] 4,000 (1995). Rio Muni coast, including Ecuco village. Alternate names: Combe, Kombe. Dialects: Asonga, Bomudi, Moganda. In Yasa (Bongwe) cluster. May be a dialect of Yasa. One of the Ndowe coastal peoples. Classification: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Northwest, A, Bube-Benga (A.30), Yasa
More information.
Seki [syi] 11,000 in Equatorial Guinea (2001 Johnstone and Mandryk). Population total all countries: 14,690. Coastal. Also spoken in Gabon. Alternate names: Sekyani, Sekiani, Sekiyani, Sekiana, Shekiyana, Sheke, Seke, Beseki, Bulu. Dialects: Different from Bulu of Cameroon. One of 3 groups known as 'semi-playeros' because they function well on the coast and in the jungle. Classification: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Northwest, B, Kele (B.20)
More information.
Spanish [spa] 11,500 in Equatorial Guinea (1993 Johnstone). Mainly on Biombo Island. Classification: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Ibero-Romance, West Iberian, Castilian
More information.
Yasa [yko] 913 in Equatorial Guinea (2000 WCD). Rio Muni. Yasa dialect is in Cameroon and 1 village (Rio Ntem). Alternate names: Yassa, Lyassa, Maasa, Bongwe. Dialects: Iyasa, Bweko, Vendo, Bodele, Marry, One, Asonga, Bomui, Mogana, Mooma, Mapanga. Classification: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Northwest, A, Bube-Benga (A.30), Yasa
Capital City:
Malabo
Meaning country name:
From the Susu (Sousou) language meaning 'Women'. The first Europeans to arrive in the area would have heard Susu, the main language spoken by the inhabitants of coastal Guinea. The English form comes via Portuguese Guiné from a (presumed) indigenous African name. Or possibly from the Berber "Akal n-Iguinawen" meaning "land of the blacks". Then they put equatorial
Description Flag:
The flag of Equatorial Guinea was adopted on August 21, 1979.
The flag is a horizontal tricolor, with green, white and red stripes and a blue triangle at its left side.
Green symbolizes the natural resources and jungles of the country.
Blue symbolizes the sea, which connects the main country with the islands.
White symbolizes peace.
Red symbolizes the fight for independence.
In the middle of the flag, on the white stripe, there is the coat of arms of Equatorial Guinea, with the mangrove tree, six yellow stars and the motto: Unidad Paz Justicia - Unity, Peace, Justice.
Coat of arms:
The image displayed at the right has been the national coat of arms of Equatorial Guinea since 21 August 1979. This coat of arms introduced after independence shows a silver shield, which contains a tree. Underneath the shield the national motto of Equatorial Guinea is shown. Over the shield, there are six six-pointed stars.
Motto:
"Unidad, Paz, Justicia"
National Anthem: Caminemos pisando la senda
Caminemos pisando la senda
De nuestra inmensa felicidad.
En fraternidad, sin separación,
¡Cantemos Libertad!
Tras dos siglos de estar sometidos
Bajo la dominación colonial,
En fraterna unión, sin discriminar,
¡Cantemos Libertad!
¡Gritemos Viva, Libre Guinea,
Y defendamos nuestra Libertad.
Cantemos siempre, Libre Guinea,
Y conservemos siempre la unidad.
¡Gritemos Viva, Libre Guinea,
Y defendamos nuestra Libertad.
Cantemos siempre, Libre Guinea,
Y conservemos siempre la independencia nacional
Y conservemos, Y conservemos
La independencia nacional.
English translation
Let us walk the path
Of our immense happiness,
In brotherhood, without separation,
Let us sing Liberty!
After two centuries of being subjected
To colonial domination,
In fraternal union, without discrimination,
Let us sing Liberty!
Let us cry Long live free Guinea,
And let us always remain united..
Let us cry Long live free Guinea,
And let us always defend our liberty.
Let us cry Long live free Guinea,
And let us always conserve national independence
And let us conserve, and let us conserve,
National independence.
Internet Page: www.guinea-equatorial.com
www.ceiba-guinea-ecuatorial.org
Eq-guinea in diferent languages
eng: Equatorial Guinea
arg | ast | glg | spa: Guinea Ecuatorial
afr | fry: Ekwatoriaal-Guinee
cat | ina: Guinea Equatorial
ces | slk: Rovníková Guinea
crh | uzb: Ekvatorial Gvineya / Экваториаль Гвинея
deu | ltz: Äquatorialguinea / Äquatorialguinea
dsb | hsb: Runikowa Guineja
ind | msa: Guinea Khatulistiwa / ڬينيا خط الاستواء
aze: Ekvatorial Qvineya / Екваториал Гвинеја
bos: Ekvatorska Gvineja / Екваторска Гвинеја
bre: Ginea-ar-C’heheder
cor: Gyni Ekwadoriel
cym: Guinea Gyhydeddol
dan: Ækvatorialguinea
epo: Ekvatora Gvineo
est: Ekvatoriaal-Guinea
eus: Ekuatore Ginea
fao: Ekvator Guinea
fin: Päiväntasaajan Guinea
fra: Guinée équatoriale
frp: Guinê èquatoriâla
fur: Vuinee Ecuatoriâl
gla: Gini Mheadhan-Chriosach
gle: An Ghuine Mheánchriosach / An Ġuine Ṁeánċriosaċ
glv: Guinea Chryss ny Cruinney
hat: Gine ekwateryal
hrv: Ekvatorska Gvineja
hun: Egyenlítői Guinea
isl: Miðbaugs-Gínea
ita: Guinea Equatoriale
jav: Guinea Khatulistiwa
jnf: Dginnée d’l’Êquateur
kaa: Ekvatoriallıq Gvineya / Экваториальлық Гвинея
kmr: Gwînê ya Ekvatorê / Гwине йа Әкваторе / گوینێیا ئەکڤاتۆرێ; Gvînê ya Êkvatorê / Гвине йа Екваторе / گڤینێیا ئێکڤاتۆرێ; Gvînê ya Ekvatorê / Гвине йа Әкваторе / گڤینێیا ئەکڤاتۆرێ
kur: Gîneya Ekwator / گینەیا ئەکواتۆر
lat: Guinea Aequatorialis; Guinea Aequatorensis; Guinea Aequinoctialis
lav: Ekvatoriālā Gvineja
lim: Equatoriaol Guinee
lin: Gine-Ekwatoliáli; Gine-Ekwatorial
lit: Pusiaujo Gvinėja
lld-bad: Guinea Ecuatoriala
lld-grd: Guinea Ecuaturiela
mlg: Ginea Ekoatoriala
mlt: Ginea Ekwatorjali
mol: Guineea Ecuatorială / Гуйнея Екуаторялэ
nds: Äquatoriaal-Guinea / Äquatoriaal-Guinea
nld: Equatoriaal-Guinea
nor: Ekvatorial-Guinea
nrm: Gùinaee-du-Golfe
oci: Guinèa Eqüatoriala
pol: Gwinea Równikowa
por: Guiné Equatorial
que: Ikwaturyal Ghiniya
rmy: Ekuatorialni Guineya / एकुआतोरिआल्नी गुइनेया
roh: Guinea equatoriala
ron: Guineea Ecuatorială
rup: Guinea Equatorialã
scn: Guinìa Ecuaturiali
slo: Ekvatorju Gvinea / Екваторйу Гвинеа
slv: Ekvatorialna Gvineja
sme: Ekvatoriála Guinea
smg: Ekvatuorė Gvinėjė
sqi: Guineja Ekuatoriale
srd: Guinea Ecuadoriale
swa: Guinea ya Ikweta
swe: Ekvatorialguinea
szl: Gwinea Růwnikowa
tet: Giné Ekuatoriál
tuk: Ekwatorial Gwineýa / Экваториаль Гвинея; Ekwator Gwineýasy / Экватор Гвинеясы
tur: Ekvator Ginesi
vie: Ghi-nê Xích-đạo
vol: Kveatora-Gineyän
vor: Ekvatoriaal-Ginea
wln: Guinêye Ecwåtoriåle
wol: Ginne gu Yemoo
zza: Gineya Ekwatori
krc | kum: Экваториальный Гвинея (Ėkvatorial'nyj Gvineja)
abq: Экваториальна Гвинея (Ėkvatorialna Gvineja)
alt: Экватордогы Гвинея (Ėkvatordogy Gvineja)
bel: Экватарыяльная Гвінея / Ekvataryjalnaja Hvinieja; Экватарыяльная Гвінэя / Ekvataryjalnaja Hvineja
bul: Екваториална Гвинея (Ekvatorialna Gvineja)
che: Экваториальни Гвинея (Ėkvatorial'ni Gvineja)
chm: Экваториальной Гвинея (Ėkvatorial'noj Gvineja)
kaz: Экваторлық Гвинея / Ekvatorlıq Gvïneya / ەكۆاتورلىق گۆينەيا
kbd: Экваториальнэ Гвинея (Ăkvatorial'nă Gvineja)
kir: Экватордук Гвинея (Ėkvatorduk Gvineja)
kjh: Экваториальнай Гвинея (Ėkvatorial'naj Gvineja)
kom: Экваториальнӧй Гвинея (Ėkvatorial'nöj Gvineja)
mkd: Екваторска Гвинеја (Ekvatorska Gvineja)
mon: Экваторын Гвиней (Äkvatoryn Gvinej)
oss: Экваториалон Гвиней (Ėkvatorialon Gvinej)
rus: Экваториальная Гвинея (Ėkvatorial'naja Gvineja)
srp: Екваторијална Гвинеја / Ekvatorijalna Gvineja
tat: Экваторлы Гвинея / Ekvatorlı Gvineä
tgk: Гвинеяи Истивоӣ / گوینیۀ استوائی / Gvinejai Istivoī
tyv: Экватор Гвинея (Ėkvator Gvineja)
ukr: Екваторіальна Ґвінея (Ekvatorial'na Gvineja)
ara: غينيا الاستوائية (Ġīniyā l-Istiwāʾīyâ); جينيا الاستوائية (Gīniyā l-Istiwāʾīyâ)
fas: گینۀ استوائی (Gīne-ye Estevāʾī)
pus: د استوا کرښه ګيني (də Istiwā Karŝâ Gīnī); د استوا کرښه ګينيا (də Istiwā Karŝâ Gīniyā); د استوا کرښه ګينېا (də Istiwā Karŝâ Gīneā)
uig: ئېكۋاتور گۋىنېيىسى / Ékwator Gwinéyisi / Экватор Гвинейиси
urd: ایکواٹوریل گنی (Ækvāṫoriyal Ginī); استوائی گنی (Istivāʾī Ginī)
div: އިކްވިޓޯރިއަލް ގިނީ (Ikviṫōri'al Ginī)
heb: גינאה המשונית / גינאה המשוונית (Gîneʾah ha-Mašvanît); גיניאה המשוונית (Gînêʾah ha-Mašvanît)
lad: גיניאה איקואטוריאל / Ginea Ekuatorial
yid: עקװאַטאָריאַל-גװינײע (Ekvatoryal-Gvineye)
amh: ኢኳቶሪያል ጊኔ (Ikʷatoriyal Gine)
ell-dhi: Ισημερινή Γουινέα (Isīmerinī́ Goyinéa)
ell-kat: Ἰσημερινὴ Γουϊνέα (Isīmerinī̀ Goyïnéa)
hye: Հասարակածային Գվինեա (Hasarakacayin Gvinea); Էկվատորային Գվինեա (Ēkvatorayin Gvinea)
kat: ეკვატორული გვინეა (Ekvatoruli Gvinea)
hin: विषुवतीय गिनी (Viṣuvatīya Ginī)
ben: বিষুবীয় গিনি (Biṣubīyô Gini); ইকুয়েটরিয়াল গিনি (Ikuyeṭôriyāl Gini)
pan: ਭੂ-ਖੰਡੀ ਗਿਨੀ (Bʰū-Kʰaṁḍī Ginī)
kan: ಭೂಮಧ್ಯರೇಖೆಯ ಗಿನಿ (Bʰūmadʰyarēkʰeya Gini)
mal: ഇക്വറ്റോറിയല് ഗിനി (Ikvaṟṟōṟiyal Gini); ഇക്വറ്റോറിയല് ഗ്വിനിയ (Ikvaṟṟōṟiyal Gviniya)
tam: ஈக்குவிடோரியல் கினி (Īkkuviṭōriyal Kiṉi); ஈகுவாடோரியல் கினி (Īkuvāṭōriyal Kiṉi); ஈகுவாடோரியல் கினியா (Īkuvāṭōriyal Kiṉiyā)
tel: ఈక్వటోరియల్ గినియా (Īkvaṭōriyal Giniyā)
zho: 赤道幾內亞/赤道几内亚 (Chìdào Jīnèiyà)
jpn: 赤道ギニア (Sekidō Ginia)
kor: 적도기니 (Jeogdo Gini)
mya: အီက္ဝေတာဂီနီ (Ikweta Gini)
tha: อิเควทอเรียลกินี (Ikʰwētʰɔ̄riyan Kinī)
khm: ហ្គីណេអេក្វាទ័រ (Hkīṇe Ekvātŏr); អេក្វាទ័រហ្គីនី (Ekvātŏr Hkīnī)
Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs David Gilmour met with reporters at the New York Foreign Press Center, on behalf of Assistant Secretary of State Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who was called to another meeting. Some of his viewpoints expressed during today’s meeting are summarized below.
Secretary Gilmour started by mentioning extraordinary success of the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit the United States just hosted in Washington last month; emphasizing that it really surpassed all expectations, and, according to him, “as Africa continues to face great challenges, we’re also seeing more prosperity on the continent with rapidly growing economies and lots of investment opportunities, a burgeoning middle class, and a very dynamic young population” .
In Secretary Gilmour’s words, “one of the most pressing issues facing Africa right now, and particularly West Africa, is the Ebola outbreak, and it’s a virus that West Africans have not encountered before. And the health systems, particularly in Liberia, are breaking down under the demands placed on their very limited resources. The important thing about Ebola is that we know how to treat it and how to stop the spread of the disease, but no treatment can be effective if the patients cannot get to the facilities and if there’s no equipment and if there aren’t enough trained healthcare workers”.
He mentioned that “President Obama announced last Tuesday a major increase in the efforts to help the affected countries and the international community; that the United States has been involved in the response to Ebola since the very first cases were reported many months ago; and that, however, as the outbreak worsened and increased, we determined that this is a national security priority for the United States and we ramped up our response”.
One of the new components in the U.S. response to Ebola will be a joint force command that will coordinate a regional response on the ground. An estimated 4,000 U.S. forces will be involved in the staging and transporting of supplies, building additional treatment units, and setting up sites to train 500 healthcare providers per week.
Stopping Ebola will take more than just the efforts of the United States and we are mobilizing partners around the world to help, but we have to act fast. Last week, the UN Security Council resolution on Ebola had 134 co-sponsors, and that’s more than any other resolution in the Council’s history. As we move forward, we must turn that resolve into action to control the outbreak, prevent a humanitarian disaster, and to strengthen health systems for the future.
Another critical conversation that’s going on at UNGA this week is how the world is responding to the threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters. The President chaired a meeting at the UN Security Council on this topic, and raised it in his address to the General Assembly. Foreign terrorist fighters increase the brutality, intractability, and sectarian nature of the conflicts. And not only do these individuals threaten the states through which they transit, they return home radicalized to violence and possessing new military skills, increasing the risk of homegrown terrorist attacks.
We all know that the evil of terrorism is not just confined to the Middle East – it exists across Africa and throughout the world – and on Sunday we commemorated the solemn one-year anniversary of the al-Shabaab attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi. Recently, we’ve made progress in pushing back al-Shabaab. In recent weeks, al-Shabaab has lost additional territory to the renewed offensive by AMISOM and the Somali National Army, and it has suffered the loss of its co-founder, Ahmed Godane, and seen terrorist cells in Kampala disrupted by Ugandan security agencies. We must remain vigilant and understand that the fight is not over yet.
On the other side of the continent, we’re dealing with Boko Haram in Nigeria, and as an aside, I’d like to mention – I’d like to certainly commend the Government of Nigeria for its efforts to combat the spread of Ebola. Nigeria was one of the very first nations to respond when it donated $3.5 million two months ago to ECOWAS to fight Ebola, and Nigeria’s also been very active in training healthcare workers from all three affected countries in Lagos. So we certainly commend Nigeria’s efforts in responding to Ebola.
Back to Boko Haram, Boko Haram threatens not only the stability of Nigeria but the entire region. And long before the world’s attention was captured by the brutal kidnapping of hundreds of young women and girls in Chibok, we’d been working with Nigeria and its neighbors to address the growing threat from Boko Haram. Sadly, the Chibok girls and women are not the only victims of Boko Haram’s brutality and terrorism. More than 2,000 persons have been victimized by Boko Haram’s violence this year alone and recent events in Borno State and in Cameroon’s far north are evidence of this, and we’re deeply concerned about the security of Maiduguri in the near and in the long-term. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes, some into Cameroon, Chad, and Niger.
And just as we are stressing to our coalition partners in dealing with the threat posed by ISIL, the response in Africa cannot be exclusively military; it must be comprehensive. And that’s why we urge Nigeria and all the countries confronting this problem to invoke a comprehensive approach that brings both civilian and security tools to the fight. And we’re committed to supporting Nigeria in these efforts.
Let me turn for a moment to the Central African Republic. And I’m pleased to report that we’ve resumed operations at our Embassy in Bangui this week – or last week, I should say. And this coincides with the handover of authority for peacekeeping from the African Union-led mission MISCA to the new UN-led mission MINUSCA, which is the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission for the Central African Republic. And MINUSCA will continue to work alongside the French and European forces that are already there in place.
Unfortunately, the standing up of the UN mission does not mean that the humanitarian emergency is over. There’s still great need in that country. And in response to the urgent needs on the ground, the United States recently announced 28 million in additional funding for CAR last week and is providing over $145 million in humanitarian assistance for the crisis thus far. And we’re certainly continuing to support the Central African Republic as it moves toward the process of a national dialogue, reconciliation, and eventually free, fair, and peaceful elections – that its people certainly want and very much deserve.
Let me come back a moment to the African Leaders Summit, and I would comment that the feedback we’ve received from leaders this week that the assistant secretary’s had in her meetings has been overwhelmingly positive. The leaders were very pleased to have so much time to engage with President Obama and with the American private sector. Here in New York, we’ve seen what an infusion of positive energy the summit has brought to these relationships. Secretary Kerry is pleased about that, as is Assistant Secretary Thomas-Greenfield and all of us who work on U.S.-Africa relations day in and day out.
During the course of the summit, we announced $33 billion in commitments for new trade and investment from U.S. companies, and another 4 billion for Africa’s development, including maternal and child healthcare, delivery of vaccines and drugs. We launched a number of new programs from the Security Governance Initiative to the Global Resilience Partnership to the Doing Business in Africa Campaign, which will spur U.S. investment in Africa and increase African investment in the United States.
In addition, we’ve committed $110 million a year for the next three to five years for the new African Peacekeeping Rapid Response Partnership or what we call APRRP for short. And this program will help to build the capacity of African militaries to rapidly deploy peacekeepers to – in response to emerging conflicts.
We also hosted a very successful 13th AGOA ministerial, the African Growth and Opportunity Act on the eve of the summit. And President Obama has made it clear that he seeks a seamless renewal of the AGOA prior to its expiration next year, and we will work with Congress to achieve that goal.
Leading up to the summit, we were all talking about the fact that most of the world’s 10 fastest growing economies are in Africa. The African continent is home to a burgeoning middle class with an appetite for U.S. products. As African economies continue to grow, there’s an opportunity for job creation in the United States, and American CEOs recognize that.
Although much of our attention and energies at this moment have been diverted to dealing with Ebola, it does not define our relationship with Africa or with the affected countries. As the international community comes together to tackle the epidemic and to stop the further spread of Ebola, which I know we can and we will do, I’m confident that the – that Africa’s economic health will replace the other health headlines once again.
QUESTION: (Inaudible.) All eyes will be on Nigeria as the country prepares for the 2015 election. What advice would you give the government? And in view of already charged scenario, politicians are making provocative statements and charging the system. What advice do you have for the government?
MR. GILMOUR: Well, in terms of – as I mentioned, in terms of the security situation, what we advocate is certainly a comprehensive approach to the problem, that it’s not a problem that can be solved purely by military means or by – with security tools. The north of Nigeria is a region that’s been underdeveloped for a long time, so there needs to be a response by the whole of the Nigerian Government in terms of social services, in terms of economic development, in terms of investment. So that’s what we see as the kind of long-term solution to that problem, as well as a strong security response. So all of the tools have to be used.
And I think we see other examples around the world. You can look at countries like Colombia, where there have been successful campaigns against insurgencies using the broad range of tools, so that’s the approach that we advocate. So I think that’s an important part of the discussion.
Just in general, we certainly hope for a robust and broad political discussion in Nigeria and free and fair and open and credible elections.
QUESTION: One question on the foreign fighters story that was important yesterday. Are you seeing any movement of foreign fighters from African countries and from countries where you know that terrorism and particularly the Islamist terrorism is rife? Are you detecting any movement toward the likes of Iraq and Syria at the moment?
MR. GILMOUR: Well, I think we’re always concerned about the possibility of that, and certainly concerned about the possibility of movement within Africa between the conflicts that are going on in the different regions. And as we speak to the African leaders, we hear a constant concern about, particularly groups like Boko Haram potentially connecting up with extremists from East Africa or those in the Central African Republic.
I particularly look after the Central African region as my main portfolio, and speaking to leaders out there, they’re very concerned about this problem of fighters potentially moving across borders. So it’s something we all need to – all the governments need to work together on, in not only restricting the movement of potential fighters but also in restricting financial flows as well.
QUESTION: Been any movement so far toward particularly Iraq and Syria? I know you’ve been able to detect plenty of American citizens. Have you been able to detect citizens from other African countries that you’ve been looking at? Have they made their way to Iraq and Syria, do you know?
MR. GILMOUR: I don’t have any information on that. No.
QUESTION: Can I --
MR. GILMOUR: Yeah. Sorry.
QUESTION: Thank you. Thank you very much for being here with us. I’m curious to know about the – a little more about the joint forces command with 4,000 U.S. forces and how that is going to be implemented. Would you shed some light?
MR. GILMOUR: Well, the 4,000 number refers to all the personnel that would be involved kind of throughout the entire chain, both from the AFRICOM headquarters in Germany through – there are plans for intermediate staging areas in other countries to move supplies, and then finally the forces that would be on the ground, which would be primarily, as I understand it, engineers who would do construction. Because our main challenge is to – and particularly in Liberia – is to help construct as quickly as possible Ebola treatment centers. So there will be – so there are plans to construct a large number of these treatment centers. And then also there’s going to be – the Department of Defense has announced about a week ago that they would bring in a field hospital, so that will be set up. So it’s mainly personnel to help with logistics and bringing in supplies and doing construction.
QUESTION: And so the headquarters will be in Germany?
MR. GILMOUR: Yes.
QUESTION: So is there going to be --
MR. GILMOUR: It’s U.S. Africa Command.
QUESTION: -- a secondary managing center for the --
MR. GILMOUR: In Liberia.
QUESTION: In Liberia?
MR. GILMOUR: Yes.
QUESTION: What about – and from Liberia it will spring to other countries, or not necessarily?
MR. GILMOUR: Yes.
MR. FORD: There’s an intermediate base in Dakar, Senegal.
MR. GILMOUR: Is that? Okay. So that’s been – yes.
MR. FORD: Yeah. Dakar was going to be the intermediate base that they’re going to ship to and then they’re going to help feed the region.
QUESTION: On the U.S.-African Summit, I don’t know what mechanism has been put in place to monitor the implementation of the commitment that has been made by the leaders.
MR. GILMOUR: Well, that’s part of the idea this week with the discussions. That’s been a main focus with – in – the Assistant Secretary’s discussions with leaders this week are the follow-up exactly to that, how do we move forward on implementing these. And some of the initiatives, like the security governance initiative that I mentioned and the peacekeeping initiative – those are with particular countries. And so certainly, there are specific follow-up on those. But I think that’s been a topic of discussion with all the leaders this week, is how do we continue to move forward on those. And certainly, it’s a process that will continue with our embassies in each of the countries around the continent as well.
Heading back to Washington?
MODERATOR: We can go back to Washington.
QUESTION: Yeah. Same one, Philip Crowther with France 24 again. Just wanted to make sure on the question that I asked earlier what your answer was. I couldn’t hear it, whether it was an “I don’t know” or a “No comment” on whether you know whether African fighters or jihadists have made their way over to Iraq and Syria. And after that, I’d just ask one more question if I may.
MR. GILMOUR: Okay. Yeah, no, I don’t have any information on that. And perhaps we can get you something on that, but I don’t have any knowledge of that.
QUESTION: And then just finally on the coalition that the President asked yesterday at the Security Council that he wants the world to join him in this diplomatic and potentially wider-ranging military coalition against ISIL, have you – what kind of outreach have you done to African countries? Who is on board? And what might they potentially do? Are we looking at staging areas more than anything, the likes of – I don’t know – I think you use Djibouti, Eritrea, and Niger at this point in terms of airfields. Do you know what is being done in Africa for this diplomatic and military coalition against ISIL?
MR. GILMOUR: No, I don’t have any information on that as of yet. Okay.
STAFF: Please go ahead.
MR. GILMOUR: Okay.
QUESTION: Yeah. There was an appointment, I think, yesterday of the Ebola coordinator Ambassador Powell. I don’t know – is she going to be on a shuttle around – I’m sorry, West Africa, or she will be stationed in Washington?
MR. GILMOUR: In Washington – she’s just come on board. She’s just started the job. And I’m not aware yet of any travel – I don’t know if you are, Rodney, but – so as far as I’m aware for now, her job is going to be in Washington coordinating. That’s not to say that she may not travel later, but I’m not aware of any travel being planned at this point.
MR. FORD: Oh, I think she’s here in New York too. She’s had --
MR. GILMOUR: And she is here today in New York, yes.
MR. FORD: -- (inaudible) a couple of Ebola meetings here today.
QUESTION: Oh, okay, yeah (inaudible) Ebola today, high-level meeting today.
QUESTION: Would you please share with us some of the outcomes on the private sector side of the African Leaders Summit that was held in Washington?
MR. GILMOUR: Well, there’s tremendous interest, as you might know. We had this business forum, and there were 200 CEOs from major American companies and major African companies as well, and that the leaders had a chance to spend a full day interacting with them. So there was tremendous interest on the part both of African leaders and African business as well as American CEOs. And I think Americans see great opportunity for investment in Africa, just as companies in Brazil and India and China and many markets are looking at Africa as an investment opportunity.
So as I mentioned, there were some $33 billion worth of potential investments announced that came out of that deal. So yeah, as I say, there’s just tremendous interest, and I think we’ll certainly be seeing more of that.
There’s been some very successful joint ventures between American companies and South African – or – and African partners, I should say, and I think we’ll see more of that. There’s – particularly in the resource sector, in transportation, and in lots of different sectors. So there’s certainly great potential.
QUESTION: I know you mentioned China.
MR. GILMOUR: Mm-hmm.
QUESTION: I would like to ask you about – how do you perceive the presence of China in Africa?
MR. GILMOUR: Oh, people ask us about that all the time, of course, and we certainly see China’s role as a positive one. China has much to contribute, and China’s made many investments, particularly in terms of infrastructure, that have been sorely needed for Africa. Africa needs all kinds of infrastructure everywhere, and so it’s great that the Chinese are playing an important role there. And our only comment is that – to African governments is that when they work with any foreign partner, they should ensure that the investments that they make, the partnerships they make, are a good deal for their country, and that they look out for the interests of the African countries in those, but – yes, but by and large, a very positive role.
QUESTION: Back to the Nigerian – forthcoming Nigerian general election is next year, that’s 2015. Is there any support the United States is making towards assisting Nigeria in the conduct of the election, and maybe other issues that have been coming up, like the issue of the (inaudible)? The situation has been very hard, and all – what support the U.S. is doing towards that?
MR. GILMOUR: Well, we have ongoing programs in support of democratic institutions. That’s certainly our priority everywhere, is just – and this is – President Obama has defined that that’s our top priority for Africa is the strengthening of democratic institutions. And so we’re always ready to help bring in American experts to advise on democratic processes and things like the rule of law. So this is an ongoing effort of ours that we’re always doing. And we can get you some more details on what’s being done in particular in Nigeria. But yeah, certainly it’s something that we’re interested in supporting.
QUESTION: I’m curious to know if there is still an institutional memory at the State Department of a man that I much admired in the ’80s, Chester Crocker.
MR. GILMOUR: He’s still in Washington, yeah.
QUESTION: Meaning the work that he did in those days is still relevant as a backup for the – how do you deal – because he’s a very strong person in those – he was, he used to be in those days. And today, he’s still active there. And how – what is the – how would you compare the American foreign policy in Africa these days and --
MR. GILMOUR: Well, I think in – at that time, we were certainly focused on ending conflicts in Africa, and there were great conflicts going on in Southern Africa, and particularly in Portuguese-speaking countries in Southern Africa. And we’re very pleased that now – and I think we’ve just come on the 20th anniversary of some of those peace agreements, so that’s a very positive thing, that we can look back at these last 20 years and see Southern Africa in particular being at peace this whole time.
And I think the efforts are not that different. We’re focused on different areas of the continent now trying to resolve conflicts. But I think the prosperity and growth and success we’ve seen in Southern Africa is directly attributable to having – to our predecessors having solved those conflicts in the ’80s, and certainly the end of the Cold War played a major role in that as well, and the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa.
Now, we have different challenges today, but this – it’s the same idea. In order – Africa has such tremendous potential, and I’ve worked in and out of Africa for about 28 years my whole career, and in no time have I – in my career have I seen a greater sense of optimism and positive energy. And so these are really exciting, positive days, times to be working in Africa. And so I think all of us see the tremendous potential of so many countries, and then Africa has this fantastic youth population that’s growing so fast, and there’s so much talent and energy in Africa’s young people.
So in order to have Africa realize its potential through all those things, we have to have peace, and so solving these conflicts, particularly in West Africa and Northern Nigeria and that region and in East Africa, the conflict in Somalia and the extremism there – it’s really important to settle those so that these countries can realize their potential, in the same way that we’ve seen South Africa and Mozambique and Angola and the others that have been at peace for the last 20 years and how well they’ve done, so --
QUESTION: Thank you very much.
MS. STAVROPOULOS: Thank you, and if there are no other questions from Washington, we want to thank you very much for participating --
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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2014, 9:00 A.M. EDT
NEW YORK FOREIGN PRESS CENTER, 799 UNITED NATIONS PLAZA, 10TH FLOOR
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IT-Academy, a software development training business based at ololoHaus, Osh. For IT-Academy, a project of the Kyrgyz Software and Services Developers Association (KSSDA), whose slogan is “Live in Kyrgyzstan, work with the world”, ololo's regional expansion was a reason to change its office to a space in ololohausOsh to join a community sharing its values. Young people study programming and after graduating earn up to US $500, which is 2.3 times more than the average salary in the country.
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AP aims to inspire rising entrepreneurs in emerging regions to grow new markets, create sustainable employment, and strengthen communities.
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Ganesha, also spelled Ganesh, and also known as Ganapati and Vinayaka, is a widely worshipped deity in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations. Devotion to Ganesha is widely diffused and extends to Jains, Buddhists, and beyond India.
Although he is known by many attributes, Ganesha's elephant head makes him easy to identify. Ganesha is widely revered as the remover of obstacles, the patron of arts and sciences and the deva of intellect and wisdom. As the god of beginnings, he is honoured at the start of rituals and ceremonies. Ganesha is also invoked as patron of letters and learning during writing sessions. Several texts relate mythological anecdotes associated with his birth and exploits and explain his distinct iconography.
Ganesha emerged as a distinct deity in the 4th and 5th centuries CE, during the Gupta Period, although he inherited traits from Vedic and pre-Vedic precursors. He was formally included among the five primary deities of Smartism (a Hindu denomination) in the 9th century. A sect of devotees called the Ganapatya arose, who identified Ganesha as the supreme deity. The principal scriptures dedicated to Ganesha are the Ganesha Purana, the Mudgala Purana, and the Ganapati Atharvashirsa.
ETYMOLOGY AND OTHER NAMES
Ganesha has been ascribed many other titles and epithets, including Ganapati and Vighneshvara. The Hindu title of respect Shri is often added before his name. One popular way Ganesha is worshipped is by chanting a Ganesha Sahasranama, a litany of "a thousand names of Ganesha". Each name in the sahasranama conveys a different meaning and symbolises a different aspect of Ganesha. At least two different versions of the Ganesha Sahasranama exist; one version is drawn from the Ganesha Purana, a Hindu scripture venerating Ganesha.
The name Ganesha is a Sanskrit compound, joining the words gana, meaning a group, multitude, or categorical system and isha, meaning lord or master. The word gaņa when associated with Ganesha is often taken to refer to the gaņas, a troop of semi-divine beings that form part of the retinue of Shiva. The term more generally means a category, class, community, association, or corporation. Some commentators interpret the name "Lord of the Gaņas" to mean "Lord of Hosts" or "Lord of created categories", such as the elements. Ganapati, a synonym for Ganesha, is a compound composed of gaṇa, meaning "group", and pati, meaning "ruler" or "lord". The Amarakosha, an early Sanskrit lexicon, lists eight synonyms of Ganesha : Vinayaka, Vighnarāja (equivalent to Vighnesha), Dvaimātura (one who has two mothers), Gaṇādhipa (equivalent to Ganapati and Ganesha), Ekadanta (one who has one tusk), Heramba, Lambodara (one who has a pot belly, or, literally, one who has a hanging belly), and Gajanana; having the face of an elephant).
Vinayaka is a common name for Ganesha that appears in the Purāṇas and in Buddhist Tantras. This name is reflected in the naming of the eight famous Ganesha temples in Maharashtra known as the Ashtavinayak (aṣṭavināyaka). The names Vighnesha and Vighneshvara (Lord of Obstacles) refers to his primary function in Hindu theology as the master and remover of obstacles (vighna).
A prominent name for Ganesha in the Tamil language is Pillai. A. K. Narain differentiates these terms by saying that pillai means a "child" while pillaiyar means a "noble child". He adds that the words pallu, pella, and pell in the Dravidian family of languages signify "tooth or tusk", also "elephant tooth or tusk". Anita Raina Thapan notes that the root word pille in the name Pillaiyar might have originally meant "the young of the elephant", because the Pali word pillaka means "a young elephant".
In the Burmese language, Ganesha is known as Maha Peinne, derived from Pali Mahā Wināyaka. The widespread name of Ganesha in Thailand is Phra Phikhanet or Phra Phikhanesuan, both of which are derived from Vara Vighnesha and Vara Vighneshvara respectively, whereas the name Khanet (from Ganesha) is rather rare.
In Sri Lanka, in the North-Central and North Western areas with predominantly Buddhist population, Ganesha is known as Aiyanayaka Deviyo, while in other Singhala Buddhist areas he is known as Gana deviyo.
ICONOGRAPHY
Ganesha is a popular figure in Indian art. Unlike those of some deities, representations of Ganesha show wide variations and distinct patterns changing over time. He may be portrayed standing, dancing, heroically taking action against demons, playing with his family as a boy, sitting down or on an elevated seat, or engaging in a range of contemporary situations.
Ganesha images were prevalent in many parts of India by the 6th century. The 13th century statue pictured is typical of Ganesha statuary from 900–1200, after Ganesha had been well-established as an independent deity with his own sect. This example features some of Ganesha's common iconographic elements. A virtually identical statue has been dated between 973–1200 by Paul Martin-Dubost, and another similar statue is dated c. 12th century by Pratapaditya Pal. Ganesha has the head of an elephant and a big belly. This statue has four arms, which is common in depictions of Ganesha. He holds his own broken tusk in his lower-right hand and holds a delicacy, which he samples with his trunk, in his lower-left hand. The motif of Ganesha turning his trunk sharply to his left to taste a sweet in his lower-left hand is a particularly archaic feature. A more primitive statue in one of the Ellora Caves with this general form has been dated to the 7th century. Details of the other hands are difficult to make out on the statue shown. In the standard configuration, Ganesha typically holds an axe or a goad in one upper arm and a pasha (noose) in the other upper arm.
The influence of this old constellation of iconographic elements can still be seen in contemporary representations of Ganesha. In one modern form, the only variation from these old elements is that the lower-right hand does not hold the broken tusk but is turned towards the viewer in a gesture of protection or fearlessness (abhaya mudra). The same combination of four arms and attributes occurs in statues of Ganesha dancing, which is a very popular theme.
COMMON ATTRIBUTES
Ganesha has been represented with the head of an elephant since the early stages of his appearance in Indian art. Puranic myths provide many explanations for how he got his elephant head. One of his popular forms, Heramba-Ganapati, has five elephant heads, and other less-common variations in the number of heads are known. While some texts say that Ganesha was born with an elephant head, he acquires the head later in most stories. The most recurrent motif in these stories is that Ganesha was created by Parvati using clay to protect her and Shiva beheaded him when Ganesha came between Shiva and Parvati. Shiva then replaced Ganesha's original head with that of an elephant. Details of the battle and where the replacement head came from vary from source to source. Another story says that Ganesha was created directly by Shiva's laughter. Because Shiva considered Ganesha too alluring, he gave him the head of an elephant and a protruding belly.
Ganesha's earliest name was Ekadanta (One Tusked), referring to his single whole tusk, the other being broken. Some of the earliest images of Ganesha show him holding his broken tusk. The importance of this distinctive feature is reflected in the Mudgala Purana, which states that the name of Ganesha's second incarnation is Ekadanta. Ganesha's protruding belly appears as a distinctive attribute in his earliest statuary, which dates to the Gupta period (4th to 6th centuries). This feature is so important that, according to the Mudgala Purana, two different incarnations of Ganesha use names based on it: Lambodara (Pot Belly, or, literally, Hanging Belly) and Mahodara (Great Belly). Both names are Sanskrit compounds describing his belly. The Brahmanda Purana says that Ganesha has the name Lambodara because all the universes (i.e., cosmic eggs) of the past, present, and future are present in him. The number of Ganesha's arms varies; his best-known forms have between two and sixteen arms. Many depictions of Ganesha feature four arms, which is mentioned in Puranic sources and codified as a standard form in some iconographic texts. His earliest images had two arms. Forms with 14 and 20 arms appeared in Central India during the 9th and the 10th centuries. The serpent is a common feature in Ganesha iconography and appears in many forms. According to the Ganesha Purana, Ganesha wrapped the serpent Vasuki around his neck. Other depictions of snakes include use as a sacred thread wrapped around the stomach as a belt, held in a hand, coiled at the ankles, or as a throne. Upon Ganesha's forehead may be a third eye or the Shaivite sectarian mark , which consists of three horizontal lines. The Ganesha Purana prescribes a tilaka mark as well as a crescent moon on the forehead. A distinct form of Ganesha called Bhalachandra includes that iconographic element. Ganesha is often described as red in color. Specific colors are associated with certain forms. Many examples of color associations with specific meditation forms are prescribed in the Sritattvanidhi, a treatise on Hindu iconography. For example, white is associated with his representations as Heramba-Ganapati and Rina-Mochana-Ganapati (Ganapati Who Releases from Bondage). Ekadanta-Ganapati is visualized as blue during meditation in that form.
VAHANAS
The earliest Ganesha images are without a vahana (mount/vehicle). Of the eight incarnations of Ganesha described in the Mudgala Purana, Ganesha uses a mouse (shrew) in five of them, a lion in his incarnation as Vakratunda, a peacock in his incarnation as Vikata, and Shesha, the divine serpent, in his incarnation as Vighnaraja. Mohotkata uses a lion, Mayūreśvara uses a peacock, Dhumraketu uses a horse, and Gajanana uses a mouse, in the four incarnations of Ganesha listed in the Ganesha Purana. Jain depictions of Ganesha show his vahana variously as a mouse, elephant, tortoise, ram, or peacock.
Ganesha is often shown riding on or attended by a mouse, shrew or rat. Martin-Dubost says that the rat began to appear as the principal vehicle in sculptures of Ganesha in central and western India during the 7th century; the rat was always placed close to his feet. The mouse as a mount first appears in written sources in the Matsya Purana and later in the Brahmananda Purana and Ganesha Purana, where Ganesha uses it as his vehicle in his last incarnation. The Ganapati Atharvashirsa includes a meditation verse on Ganesha that describes the mouse appearing on his flag. The names Mūṣakavāhana (mouse-mount) and Ākhuketana (rat-banner) appear in the Ganesha Sahasranama.
The mouse is interpreted in several ways. According to Grimes, "Many, if not most of those who interpret Gaṇapati's mouse, do so negatively; it symbolizes tamoguṇa as well as desire". Along these lines, Michael Wilcockson says it symbolizes those who wish to overcome desires and be less selfish. Krishan notes that the rat is destructive and a menace to crops. The Sanskrit word mūṣaka (mouse) is derived from the root mūṣ (stealing, robbing). It was essential to subdue the rat as a destructive pest, a type of vighna (impediment) that needed to be overcome. According to this theory, showing Ganesha as master of the rat demonstrates his function as Vigneshvara (Lord of Obstacles) and gives evidence of his possible role as a folk grāma-devatā (village deity) who later rose to greater prominence. Martin-Dubost notes a view that the rat is a symbol suggesting that Ganesha, like the rat, penetrates even the most secret places.
ASSOCIATIONS
OBSTACLES
Ganesha is Vighneshvara or Vighnaraja or Vighnaharta (Marathi), the Lord of Obstacles, both of a material and spiritual order. He is popularly worshipped as a remover of obstacles, though traditionally he also places obstacles in the path of those who need to be checked. Paul Courtright says that "his task in the divine scheme of things, his dharma, is to place and remove obstacles. It is his particular territory, the reason for his creation."
Krishan notes that some of Ganesha's names reflect shadings of multiple roles that have evolved over time. Dhavalikar ascribes the quick ascension of Ganesha in the Hindu pantheon, and the emergence of the Ganapatyas, to this shift in emphasis from vighnakartā (obstacle-creator) to vighnahartā (obstacle-averter). However, both functions continue to be vital to his character.
BUDDHI (KNOWLEDGE)
Ganesha is considered to be the Lord of letters and learning. In Sanskrit, the word buddhi is a feminine noun that is variously translated as intelligence, wisdom, or intellect. The concept of buddhi is closely associated with the personality of Ganesha, especially in the Puranic period, when many stories stress his cleverness and love of intelligence. One of Ganesha's names in the Ganesha Purana and the Ganesha Sahasranama is Buddhipriya. This name also appears in a list of 21 names at the end of the Ganesha Sahasranama that Ganesha says are especially important. The word priya can mean "fond of", and in a marital context it can mean "lover" or "husband", so the name may mean either "Fond of Intelligence" or "Buddhi's Husband".
AUM
Ganesha is identified with the Hindu mantra Aum, also spelled Om. The term oṃkārasvarūpa (Aum is his form), when identified with Ganesha, refers to the notion that he personifies the primal sound. The Ganapati Atharvashirsa attests to this association. Chinmayananda translates the relevant passage as follows:
(O Lord Ganapati!) You are (the Trinity) Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesa. You are Indra. You are fire [Agni] and air [Vāyu]. You are the sun [Sūrya] and the moon [Chandrama]. You are Brahman. You are (the three worlds) Bhuloka [earth], Antariksha-loka [space], and Swargaloka [heaven]. You are Om. (That is to say, You are all this).
Some devotees see similarities between the shape of Ganesha's body in iconography and the shape of Aum in the Devanāgarī and Tamil scripts.
FIRST CHAKRA
According to Kundalini yoga, Ganesha resides in the first chakra, called Muladhara (mūlādhāra). Mula means "original, main"; adhara means "base, foundation". The muladhara chakra is the principle on which the manifestation or outward expansion of primordial Divine Force rests. This association is also attested to in the Ganapati Atharvashirsa. Courtright translates this passage as follows: "[O Ganesha,] You continually dwell in the sacral plexus at the base of the spine [mūlādhāra cakra]." Thus, Ganesha has a permanent abode in every being at the Muladhara. Ganesha holds, supports and guides all other chakras, thereby "governing the forces that propel the wheel of life".
FAMILY AND CONSORTS
Though Ganesha is popularly held to be the son of Shiva and Parvati, the Puranic myths give different versions about his birth. In some he was created by Parvati, in another he was created by Shiva and Parvati, in another he appeared mysteriously and was discovered by Shiva and Parvati or he was born from the elephant headed goddess Malini after she drank Parvati's bath water that had been thrown in the river.
The family includes his brother the war god Kartikeya, who is also called Subramanya, Skanda, Murugan and other names. Regional differences dictate the order of their births. In northern India, Skanda is generally said to be the elder, while in the south, Ganesha is considered the first born. In northern India, Skanda was an important martial deity from about 500 BCE to about 600 CE, when worship of him declined significantly in northern India. As Skanda fell, Ganesha rose. Several stories tell of sibling rivalry between the brothers and may reflect sectarian tensions.
Ganesha's marital status, the subject of considerable scholarly review, varies widely in mythological stories. One pattern of myths identifies Ganesha as an unmarried brahmacari. This view is common in southern India and parts of northern India. Another pattern associates him with the concepts of Buddhi (intellect), Siddhi (spiritual power), and Riddhi (prosperity); these qualities are sometimes personified as goddesses, said to be Ganesha's wives. He also may be shown with a single consort or a nameless servant (Sanskrit: daşi). Another pattern connects Ganesha with the goddess of culture and the arts, Sarasvati or Śarda (particularly in Maharashtra). He is also associated with the goddess of luck and prosperity, Lakshmi. Another pattern, mainly prevalent in the Bengal region, links Ganesha with the banana tree, Kala Bo.
The Shiva Purana says that Ganesha had begotten two sons: Kşema (prosperity) and Lābha (profit). In northern Indian variants of this story, the sons are often said to be Śubha (auspiciouness) and Lābha. The 1975 Hindi film Jai Santoshi Maa shows Ganesha married to Riddhi and Siddhi and having a daughter named Santoshi Ma, the goddess of satisfaction. This story has no Puranic basis, but Anita Raina Thapan and Lawrence Cohen cite Santoshi Ma's cult as evidence of Ganesha's continuing evolution as a popular deity.
WOSHIP AND FESTIVALS
Ganesha is worshipped on many religious and secular occasions; especially at the beginning of ventures such as buying a vehicle or starting a business. K.N. Somayaji says, "there can hardly be a [Hindu] home [in India] which does not house an idol of Ganapati. [..] Ganapati, being the most popular deity in India, is worshipped by almost all castes and in all parts of the country". Devotees believe that if Ganesha is propitiated, he grants success, prosperity and protection against adversity.
Ganesha is a non-sectarian deity, and Hindus of all denominations invoke him at the beginning of prayers, important undertakings, and religious ceremonies. Dancers and musicians, particularly in southern India, begin performances of arts such as the Bharatnatyam dance with a prayer to Ganesha. Mantras such as Om Shri Gaṇeshāya Namah (Om, salutation to the Illustrious Ganesha) are often used. One of the most famous mantras associated with Ganesha is Om Gaṃ Ganapataye Namah (Om, Gaṃ, Salutation to the Lord of Hosts).
Devotees offer Ganesha sweets such as modaka and small sweet balls (laddus). He is often shown carrying a bowl of sweets, called a modakapātra. Because of his identification with the color red, he is often worshipped with red sandalwood paste (raktacandana) or red flowers. Dūrvā grass (Cynodon dactylon) and other materials are also used in his worship.
Festivals associated with Ganesh are Ganesh Chaturthi or Vināyaka chaturthī in the śuklapakṣa (the fourth day of the waxing moon) in the month of bhādrapada (August/September) and the Gaṇeśa jayanti (Gaṇeśa's birthday) celebrated on the cathurthī of the śuklapakṣa (fourth day of the waxing moon) in the month of māgha (January/February)."
GANESH CHATURTI
An annual festival honours Ganesha for ten days, starting on Ganesha Chaturthi, which typically falls in late August or early September. The festival begins with people bringing in clay idols of Ganesha, symbolising Ganesha's visit. The festival culminates on the day of Ananta Chaturdashi, when idols (murtis) of Ganesha are immersed in the most convenient body of water. Some families have a tradition of immersion on the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, or 7th day. In 1893, Lokmanya Tilak transformed this annual Ganesha festival from private family celebrations into a grand public event. He did so "to bridge the gap between the Brahmins and the non-Brahmins and find an appropriate context in which to build a new grassroots unity between them" in his nationalistic strivings against the British in Maharashtra. Because of Ganesha's wide appeal as "the god for Everyman", Tilak chose him as a rallying point for Indian protest against British rule. Tilak was the first to install large public images of Ganesha in pavilions, and he established the practice of submerging all the public images on the tenth day. Today, Hindus across India celebrate the Ganapati festival with great fervour, though it is most popular in the state of Maharashtra. The festival also assumes huge proportions in Mumbai, Pune, and in the surrounding belt of Ashtavinayaka temples.
TEMPLES
In Hindu temples, Ganesha is depicted in various ways: as an acolyte or subordinate deity (pãrśva-devatã); as a deity related to the principal deity (parivāra-devatã); or as the principal deity of the temple (pradhāna), treated similarly as the highest gods of the Hindu pantheon. As the god of transitions, he is placed at the doorway of many Hindu temples to keep out the unworthy, which is analogous to his role as Parvati’s doorkeeper. In addition, several shrines are dedicated to Ganesha himself, of which the Ashtavinayak (lit. "eight Ganesha (shrines)") in Maharashtra are particularly well known. Located within a 100-kilometer radius of the city of Pune, each of these eight shrines celebrates a particular form of Ganapati, complete with its own lore and legend. The eight shrines are: Morgaon, Siddhatek, Pali, Mahad, Theur, Lenyadri, Ozar and Ranjangaon.
There are many other important Ganesha temples at the following locations: Wai in Maharashtra; Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh; Jodhpur, Nagaur and Raipur (Pali) in Rajasthan; Baidyanath in Bihar; Baroda, Dholaka, and Valsad in Gujarat and Dhundiraj Temple in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Prominent Ganesha temples in southern India include the following: Kanipakam in Chittoor; the Jambukeśvara Temple at Tiruchirapalli; at Rameshvaram and Suchindram in Tamil Nadu; at Malliyur, Kottarakara, Pazhavangadi, Kasargod in Kerala, Hampi, and Idagunji in Karnataka; and Bhadrachalam in Andhra Pradesh.
T. A. Gopinatha notes, "Every village however small has its own image of Vighneśvara (Vigneshvara) with or without a temple to house it in. At entrances of villages and forts, below pīpaḹa (Sacred fig) trees [...], in a niche [...] in temples of Viṣṇu (Vishnu) as well as Śiva (Shiva) and also in separate shrines specially constructed in Śiva temples [...]; the figure of Vighneśvara is invariably seen." Ganesha temples have also been built outside of India, including southeast Asia, Nepal (including the four Vinayaka shrines in the Kathmandu valley), and in several western countries.
RISE TO PROMINENCE
FIRST APEARANCE
Ganesha appeared in his classic form as a clearly recognizable deity with well-defined iconographic attributes in the early 4th to 5th centuries. Shanti Lal Nagar says that the earliest known iconic image of Ganesha is in the niche of the Shiva temple at Bhumra, which has been dated to the Gupta period. His independent cult appeared by about the 10th century. Narain summarizes the controversy between devotees and academics regarding the development of Ganesha as follows:
What is inscrutable is the somewhat dramatic appearance of Gaņeśa on the historical scene. His antecedents are not clear. His wide acceptance and popularity, which transcend sectarian and territorial limits, are indeed amazing. On the one hand there is the pious belief of the orthodox devotees in Gaņeśa's Vedic origins and in the Purāṇic explanations contained in the confusing, but nonetheless interesting, mythology. On the other hand there are doubts about the existence of the idea and the icon of this deity" before the fourth to fifth century A.D. ... [I]n my opinion, indeed there is no convincing evidence of the existence of this divinity prior to the fifth century.
POSSIBLE INFLUENCES
Courtright reviews various speculative theories about the early history of Ganesha, including supposed tribal traditions and animal cults, and dismisses all of them in this way:
In the post 600 BC period there is evidence of people and places named after the animal. The motif appears on coins and sculptures.
Thapan's book on the development of Ganesha devotes a chapter to speculations about the role elephants had in early India but concludes that, "although by the second century CE the elephant-headed yakṣa form exists it cannot be presumed to represent Gaṇapati-Vināyaka. There is no evidence of a deity by this name having an elephant or elephant-headed form at this early stage. Gaṇapati-Vināyaka had yet to make his debut."
One theory of the origin of Ganesha is that he gradually came to prominence in connection with the four Vinayakas (Vināyakas). In Hindu mythology, the Vināyakas were a group of four troublesome demons who created obstacles and difficulties but who were easily propitiated. The name Vināyaka is a common name for Ganesha both in the Purāṇas and in Buddhist Tantras. Krishan is one of the academics who accepts this view, stating flatly of Ganesha, "He is a non-vedic god. His origin is to be traced to the four Vināyakas, evil spirits, of the Mānavagŗhyasūtra (7th–4th century BCE) who cause various types of evil and suffering". Depictions of elephant-headed human figures, which some identify with Ganesha, appear in Indian art and coinage as early as the 2nd century. According to Ellawala, the elephant-headed Ganesha as lord of the Ganas was known to the people of Sri Lanka in the early pre-Christian era.
A metal plate depiction of Ganesha had been discovered in 1993, in Iran, it dated back to 1,200 BCE. Another one was discovered much before, in Lorestan Province of Iran.
First Ganesha's terracotta images are from 1st century CE found in Ter, Pal, Verrapuram and Chandraketugarh. These figures are small, with elephant head, two arms, and chubby physique. The earliest Ganesha icons in stone were carved in Mathura during Kushan times (2nd-3rd centuries CE).
VEDIC AND EPIC LITERATURE
The title "Leader of the group" (Sanskrit: gaṇapati) occurs twice in the Rig Veda, but in neither case does it refer to the modern Ganesha. The term appears in RV 2.23.1 as a title for Brahmanaspati, according to commentators. While this verse doubtless refers to Brahmanaspati, it was later adopted for worship of Ganesha and is still used today. In rejecting any claim that this passage is evidence of Ganesha in the Rig Veda, Ludo Rocher says that it "clearly refers to Bṛhaspati—who is the deity of the hymn—and Bṛhaspati only". Equally clearly, the second passage (RV 10.112.9) refers to Indra, who is given the epithet 'gaṇapati', translated "Lord of the companies (of the Maruts)." However, Rocher notes that the more recent Ganapatya literature often quotes the Rigvedic verses to give Vedic respectability to Ganesha .
Two verses in texts belonging to Black Yajurveda, Maitrāyaṇīya Saṃhitā (2.9.1) and Taittirīya Āraṇyaka (10.1), appeal to a deity as "the tusked one" (Dantiḥ), "elephant-faced" (Hastimukha), and "with a curved trunk" (Vakratuņḍa). These names are suggestive of Ganesha, and the 14th century commentator Sayana explicitly establishes this identification. The description of Dantin, possessing a twisted trunk (vakratuṇḍa) and holding a corn-sheaf, a sugar cane, and a club, is so characteristic of the Puranic Ganapati that Heras says "we cannot resist to accept his full identification with this Vedic Dantin". However, Krishan considers these hymns to be post-Vedic additions. Thapan reports that these passages are "generally considered to have been interpolated". Dhavalikar says, "the references to the elephant-headed deity in the Maitrāyaṇī Saṃhitā have been proven to be very late interpolations, and thus are not very helpful for determining the early formation of the deity".
Ganesha does not appear in Indian epic literature that is dated to the Vedic period. A late interpolation to the epic poem Mahabharata says that the sage Vyasa (Vyāsa) asked Ganesha to serve as his scribe to transcribe the poem as he dictated it to him. Ganesha agreed but only on condition that Vyasa recite the poem uninterrupted, that is, without pausing. The sage agreed, but found that to get any rest he needed to recite very complex passages so Ganesha would have to ask for clarifications. The story is not accepted as part of the original text by the editors of the critical edition of the Mahabharata, in which the twenty-line story is relegated to a footnote in an appendix. The story of Ganesha acting as the scribe occurs in 37 of the 59 manuscripts consulted during preparation of the critical edition. Ganesha's association with mental agility and learning is one reason he is shown as scribe for Vyāsa's dictation of the Mahabharata in this interpolation. Richard L. Brown dates the story to the 8th century, and Moriz Winternitz concludes that it was known as early as c. 900, but it was not added to the Mahabharata some 150 years later. Winternitz also notes that a distinctive feature in South Indian manuscripts of the Mahabharata is their omission of this Ganesha legend. The term vināyaka is found in some recensions of the Śāntiparva and Anuśāsanaparva that are regarded as interpolations. A reference to Vighnakartṛīṇām ("Creator of Obstacles") in Vanaparva is also believed to be an interpolation and does not appear in the critical edition.
PURANIC PERIOD
Stories about Ganesha often occur in the Puranic corpus. Brown notes while the Puranas "defy precise chronological ordering", the more detailed narratives of Ganesha's life are in the late texts, c. 600–1300. Yuvraj Krishan says that the Puranic myths about the birth of Ganesha and how he acquired an elephant's head are in the later Puranas, which were composed from c. 600 onwards. He elaborates on the matter to say that references to Ganesha in the earlier Puranas, such as the Vayu and Brahmanda Puranas, are later interpolations made during the 7th to 10th centuries.
In his survey of Ganesha's rise to prominence in Sanskrit literature, Ludo Rocher notes that:
Above all, one cannot help being struck by the fact that the numerous stories surrounding Gaṇeśa concentrate on an unexpectedly limited number of incidents. These incidents are mainly three: his birth and parenthood, his elephant head, and his single tusk. Other incidents are touched on in the texts, but to a far lesser extent.
Ganesha's rise to prominence was codified in the 9th century, when he was formally included as one of the five primary deities of Smartism. The 9th-century philosopher Adi Shankara popularized the "worship of the five forms" (Panchayatana puja) system among orthodox Brahmins of the Smarta tradition. This worship practice invokes the five deities Ganesha, Vishnu, Shiva, Devi, and Surya. Adi Shankara instituted the tradition primarily to unite the principal deities of these five major sects on an equal status. This formalized the role of Ganesha as a complementary deity.
SCRIPTURES
Once Ganesha was accepted as one of the five principal deities of Brahmanism, some Brahmins (brāhmaṇas) chose to worship Ganesha as their principal deity. They developed the Ganapatya tradition, as seen in the Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana.
The date of composition for the Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana - and their dating relative to one another - has sparked academic debate. Both works were developed over time and contain age-layered strata. Anita Thapan reviews comments about dating and provides her own judgement. "It seems likely that the core of the Ganesha Purana appeared around the twelfth and thirteenth centuries", she says, "but was later interpolated." Lawrence W. Preston considers the most reasonable date for the Ganesha Purana to be between 1100 and 1400, which coincides with the apparent age of the sacred sites mentioned by the text.
R.C. Hazra suggests that the Mudgala Purana is older than the Ganesha Purana, which he dates between 1100 and 1400. However, Phyllis Granoff finds problems with this relative dating and concludes that the Mudgala Purana was the last of the philosophical texts concerned with Ganesha. She bases her reasoning on the fact that, among other internal evidence, the Mudgala Purana specifically mentions the Ganesha Purana as one of the four Puranas (the Brahma, the Brahmanda, the Ganesha, and the Mudgala Puranas) which deal at length with Ganesha. While the kernel of the text must be old, it was interpolated until the 17th and 18th centuries as the worship of Ganapati became more important in certain regions. Another highly regarded scripture, the Ganapati Atharvashirsa, was probably composed during the 16th or 17th centuries.
BEYOND INDIA AND HINDUISM
Commercial and cultural contacts extended India's influence in western and southeast Asia. Ganesha is one of a number of Hindu deities who reached foreign lands as a result.
Ganesha was particularly worshipped by traders and merchants, who went out of India for commercial ventures. From approximately the 10th century onwards, new networks of exchange developed including the formation of trade guilds and a resurgence of money circulation. During this time, Ganesha became the principal deity associated with traders. The earliest inscription invoking Ganesha before any other deity is associated with the merchant community.
Hindus migrated to Maritime Southeast Asia and took their culture, including Ganesha, with them. Statues of Ganesha are found throughout the region, often beside Shiva sanctuaries. The forms of Ganesha found in Hindu art of Java, Bali, and Borneo show specific regional influences. The spread of Hindu culture to southeast Asia established Ganesha in modified forms in Burma, Cambodia, and Thailand. In Indochina, Hinduism and Buddhism were practiced side by side, and mutual influences can be seen in the iconography of Ganesha in the region. In Thailand, Cambodia, and among the Hindu classes of the Chams in Vietnam, Ganesha was mainly thought of as a remover of obstacles. Today in Buddhist Thailand, Ganesha is regarded as a remover of obstacles, the god of success.
Before the arrival of Islam, Afghanistan had close cultural ties with India, and the adoration of both Hindu and Buddhist deities was practiced. Examples of sculptures from the 5th to the 7th centuries have survived, suggesting that the worship of Ganesha was then in vogue in the region.
Ganesha appears in Mahayana Buddhism, not only in the form of the Buddhist god Vināyaka, but also as a Hindu demon form with the same name. His image appears in Buddhist sculptures during the late Gupta period. As the Buddhist god Vināyaka, he is often shown dancing. This form, called Nṛtta Ganapati, was popular in northern India, later adopted in Nepal, and then in Tibet. In Nepal, the Hindu form of Ganesha, known as Heramba, is popular; he has five heads and rides a lion. Tibetan representations of Ganesha show ambivalent views of him. A Tibetan rendering of Ganapati is tshogs bdag. In one Tibetan form, he is shown being trodden under foot by Mahākāla, (Shiva) a popular Tibetan deity. Other depictions show him as the Destroyer of Obstacles, and sometimes dancing. Ganesha appears in China and Japan in forms that show distinct regional character. In northern China, the earliest known stone statue of Ganesha carries an inscription dated to 531. In Japan, where Ganesha is known as Kangiten, the Ganesha cult was first mentioned in 806.
The canonical literature of Jainism does not mention the worship of Ganesha. However, Ganesha is worshipped by most Jains, for whom he appears to have taken over certain functions of Kubera. Jain connections with the trading community support the idea that Jainism took up Ganesha worship as a result of commercial connections. The earliest known Jain Ganesha statue dates to about the 9th century. A 15th-century Jain text lists procedures for the installation of Ganapati images. Images of Ganesha appear in the Jain temples of Rajasthan and Gujarat.
WIKIPEDIA
Lanterns themed-set display at the Gardens by the Bay during River Hongbao 2023 for the Chinese New Year festival.
The Taj Mahal (/ˌtɑːdʒ məˈhɑːl/, more often /ˈtɑːʒ/; from Persian and Arabic, "crown of palaces", pronounced [ˈt̪aːdʒ mɛˈɦɛl]) is a white marble mausoleum located on the southern bank of Yamuna River in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (reigned 1628–1658) to house the tomb of his favorite wife of three, Mumtaz Mahal.
Construction of the mausoleum was essentially completed in 1643 but work continued on other phases of the project for an additional ten years. The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around 32 million Indian rupees, which in 2015 would be valued at around 52.8 billion Indian rupees ($827 million US). The construction project employed around 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. The domed marble tomb is part of an integrated complex consisting of gardens and two red-sandstone buildings surrounded by a crenellated wall on three sides.
The Taj Mahal is regarded by many as the best example of Mughal architecture and is widely recognized as "the jewel of Muslim art in India". It is one of the world’s most celebrated structures and a symbol of India’s rich history. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, the Taj Mahal attracts some 3 million visitors a year.
INSPIRATION
In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal empire's period of greatest prosperity, was grief-stricken when his favorite of three wives and beloved companion, Mumtaz Mahal, a Persian princess, died during the birth of their 14th child, Gauhara Begum. Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632. The court chronicles of Shah Jahan's grief illustrate the love story traditionally held as an inspiration for Taj Mahal. The principal mausoleum was completed in 1643 and the surrounding buildings and garden were finished about five years later.
ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
The Taj Mahal incorporates and expands on design traditions of Persian and earlier Mughal architecture. Specific inspiration came from successful Timurid and Mughal buildings including; the Gur-e Amir (the tomb of Timur, progenitor of the Mughal dynasty, in Samarkand), Humayun's Tomb, Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb (sometimes called the Baby Taj), and Shah Jahan's own Jama Masjid in Delhi. While earlier Mughal buildings were primarily constructed of red sandstone, Shah Jahan promoted the use of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones. Buildings under his patronage reached new levels of refinement.
TOMB
The tomb is the central focus of the entire complex of the Taj Mahal. It is a large, white marble structure standing on a square plinth and consists of a symmetrical building with an iwan (an arch-shaped doorway) topped by a large dome and finial. Like most Mughal tombs, the basic elements are Persian in origin.
The base structure is a large multi-chambered cube with chamfered corners forming an unequal eight-sided structure that is approximately 55 metres on each of the four long sides. Each side of the iwan is framed with a huge pishtaq or vaulted archway with two similarly shaped arched balconies stacked on either side. This motif of stacked pishtaqs is replicated on the chamfered corner areas, making the design completely symmetrical on all sides of the building. Four minarets frame the tomb, one at each corner of the plinth facing the chamfered corners. The main chamber houses the false sarcophagi of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan; the actual graves are at a lower level.
The most spectacular feature is the marble dome that surmounts the tomb. The dome is nearly 35 metres high which is close in measurement to the length of the base, and accentuated by the cylindrical "drum" it sits on which is approximately 7 metres high. Because of its shape, the dome is often called an onion dome or amrud (guava dome). The top is decorated with a lotus design which also serves to accentuate its height. The shape of the dome is emphasized by four smaller domed chattris (kiosks) placed at its corners, which replicate the onion shape of the main dome. Their columned bases open through the roof of the tomb and provide light to the interior. Tall decorative spires (guldastas) extend from edges of base walls, and provide visual emphasis to the height of the dome. The lotus motif is repeated on both the chattris and guldastas. The dome and chattris are topped by a gilded finial which mixes traditional Persian and Hindustani decorative elements.
The main finial was originally made of gold but was replaced by a copy made of gilded bronze in the early 19th century. This feature provides a clear example of integration of traditional Persian and Hindu decorative elements. The finial is topped by a moon, a typical Islamic motif whose horns point heavenward.
The minarets, which are each more than 40 metres tall, display the designer's penchant for symmetry. They were designed as working minarets - a traditional element of mosques, used by the muezzin to call the Islamic faithful to prayer. Each minaret is effectively divided into three equal parts by two working balconies that ring the tower. At the top of the tower is a final balcony surmounted by a chattri that mirrors the design of those on the tomb. The chattris all share the same decorative elements of a lotus design topped by a gilded finial. The minarets were constructed slightly outside of the plinth so that in the event of collapse, a typical occurrence with many tall constructions of the period, the material from the towers would tend to fall away from the tomb.
EXTERIOR DECORATIONS
The exterior decorations of the Taj Mahal are among the finest in Mughal architecture. As the surface area changes, the decorations are refined proportionally. The decorative elements were created by applying paint, stucco, stone inlays or carvings. In line with the Islamic prohibition against the use of anthropomorphic forms, the decorative elements can be grouped into either calligraphy, abstract forms or vegetative motifs. Throughout the complex are passages from the Qur'an that comprise some of the decorative elements. Recent scholarship suggests that the passages were chosen by Amanat Khan.
The calligraphy on the Great Gate reads "O Soul, thou art at rest. Return to the Lord at peace with Him, and He at peace with you." The calligraphy was created in 1609 by a calligrapher named Abdul Haq. Shah Jahan conferred the title of "Amanat Khan" upon him as a reward for his "dazzling virtuosity". Near the lines from the Qur'an at the base of the interior dome is the inscription, "Written by the insignificant being, Amanat Khan Shirazi." Much of the calligraphy is composed of florid thuluth script made of jasper or black marble inlaid in white marble panels. Higher panels are written in slightly larger script to reduce the skewing effect when viewed from below. The calligraphy found on the marble cenotaphs in the tomb is particularly detailed and delicate.
Abstract forms are used throughout, especially in the plinth, minarets, gateway, mosque, jawab and, to a lesser extent, on the surfaces of the tomb. The domes and vaults of the sandstone buildings are worked with tracery of incised painting to create elaborate geometric forms. Herringbone inlays define the space between many of the adjoining elements. White inlays are used in sandstone buildings, and dark or black inlays on the white marbles. Mortared areas of the marble buildings have been stained or painted in a contrasting color which creates a complex array of geometric patterns. Floors and walkways use contrasting tiles or blocks in tessellation patterns.
On the lower walls of the tomb are white marble dados sculpted with realistic bas relief depictions of flowers and vines. The marble has been polished to emphasise the exquisite detailing of the carvings. The dado frames and archway spandrels have been decorated with pietra dura inlays of highly stylised, almost geometric vines, flowers and fruits. The inlay stones are of yellow marble, jasper and jade, polished and levelled to the surface of the walls.
INTERIOR DECORATION
The interior chamber of the Taj Mahal reaches far beyond traditional decorative elements. The inlay work is not pietra dura, but a lapidary of precious and semiprecious gemstones. The inner chamber is an octagon with the design allowing for entry from each face, although only the door facing the garden to the south is used. The interior walls are about 25 metres high and are topped by a "false" interior dome decorated with a sun motif. Eight pishtaq arches define the space at ground level and, as with the exterior, each lower pishtaq is crowned by a second pishtaq about midway up the wall. The four central upper arches form balconies or viewing areas, and each balcony's exterior window has an intricate screen or jali cut from marble. In addition to the light from the balcony screens, light enters through roof openings covered by chattris at the corners. The octagonal marble screen or jali bordering the cenotaphs is made from eight marble panels carved through with intricate pierce work. The remaining surfaces are inlaid in delicate detail with semi-precious stones forming twining vines, fruits and flowers. Each chamber wall is highly decorated with dado bas-relief, intricate lapidary inlay and refined calligraphy panels which reflect, in miniature detail, the design elements seen throughout the exterior of the complex.
Muslim tradition forbids elaborate decoration of graves. Hence, the bodies of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan were put in a relatively plain crypt beneath the inner chamber with their faces turned right, towards Mecca. Mumtaz Mahal's cenotaph is placed at the precise centre of the inner chamber on a rectangular marble base of 1.5 by 2.5 metres. Both the base and casket are elaborately inlaid with precious and semiprecious gems. Calligraphic inscriptions on the casket identify and praise Mumtaz. On the lid of the casket is a raised rectangular lozenge meant to suggest a writing tablet. Shah Jahan's cenotaph is beside Mumtaz's to the western side, and is the only visible asymmetric element in the entire complex. His cenotaph is bigger than his wife's, but reflects the same elements: a larger casket on a slightly taller base precisely decorated with lapidary and calligraphy that identifies him. On the lid of the casket is a traditional sculpture of a small pen box.
The pen box and writing tablet are traditional Mughal funerary icons decorating the caskets of men and women respectively. The Ninety Nine Names of God are calligraphic inscriptions on the sides of the actual tomb of Mumtaz Mahal. Other inscriptions inside the crypt include, "O Noble, O Magnificent, O Majestic, O Unique, O Eternal, O Glorious... ". The tomb of Shah Jahan bears a calligraphic inscription that reads; "He travelled from this world to the banquet-hall of Eternity on the night of the twenty-sixth of the month of Rajab, in the year 1076 Hijri."
GARDEN
The complex is set around a large 300-metre square charbagh or Mughal garden. The garden uses raised pathways that divide each of the four quarters of the garden into 16 sunken parterres or flowerbeds. Halfway between the tomb and gateway in the center of the garden is a raised marble water tank with a reflecting pool positioned on a north-south axis to reflect the image of the mausoleum. The raised marble water tank is called al Hawd al-Kawthar in reference to the "Tank of Abundance" promised to Muhammad.
Elsewhere, the garden is laid out with avenues of trees and fountains. The charbagh garden, a design inspired by Persian gardens, was introduced to India by Babur, the first Mughal emperor. It symbolises the four flowing rivers of Jannah (Paradise) and reflects the Paradise garden derived from the Persian paridaeza, meaning 'walled garden'. In mystic Islamic texts of the Mughal period, Paradise is described as an ideal garden of abundance with four rivers flowing from a central spring or mountain, separating the garden into north, west, south and east.
Most Mughal charbaghs are rectangular with a tomb or pavilion in the center. The Taj Mahal garden is unusual in that the main element, the tomb, is located at the end of the garden. With the discovery of Mahtab Bagh or "Moonlight Garden" on the other side of the Yamuna, the interpretation of the Archaeological Survey of India is that the Yamuna river itself was incorporated into the garden's design and was meant to be seen as one of the rivers of Paradise. Similarities in layout and architectural features with the Shalimar Gardens suggests both gardens may have been designed by the same architect, Ali Mardan. Early accounts of the garden describe its profusion of vegetation, including abundant roses, daffodils, and fruit trees. As the Mughal Empire declined, the Taj Mahal and its gardens also declined. By the end of the 19th century, the British Empire controlled more than three-fifths of India, and assumed management of the Taj Mahal. They changed the landscaping to their liking which more closely resembled the formal lawns of London.
OUTLYING BUILDINGS
The Taj Mahal complex is bordered on three sides by crenellated red sandstone walls; the side facing the river is open. Outside the walls are several additional mausoleums, including those of Shah Jahan's other wives, and a larger tomb for Mumtaz's favourite servant.
The main gateway (darwaza) is a monumental structure built primarily of marble, and reminiscent of the Mughal architecture of earlier emperors. Its archways mirror the shape of the tomb's archways, and its pishtaq arches incorporate the calligraphy that decorates the tomb. The vaulted ceilings and walls have elaborate geometric designs like those found in the other sandstone buildings in the complex.
At the far end of the complex are two grand red sandstone buildings that mirror each other, and face the sides of the tomb. The backs of the buildings parallel the western and eastern walls. The western building is a mosque and the other is the jawab (answer), thought to have been constructed for architectural balance although it may have been used as a guesthouse. Distinctions between the two buildings include the jawab's lack of a mihrab (a niche in a mosque's wall facing Mecca), and its floors of geometric design whereas the floor of the mosque is laid with outlines of 569 prayer rugs in black marble. The mosque's basic design of a long hall surmounted by three domes is similar to others built by Shah Jahan, particularly the Masjid-i Jahān-Numā, or Jama Masjid, Delhi. The Mughal mosques of this period divide the sanctuary hall into three areas comprising a main sanctuary and slightly smaller sanctuaries on either side. At the Taj Mahal, each sanctuary opens onto an expansive vaulting dome. The outlying buildings were completed in 1643.
CONSTRUCTION
The Taj Mahal is built on a parcel of land to the south of the walled city of Agra. Shah Jahan presented Maharajah Jai Singh with a large palace in the center of Agra in exchange for the land. An area of roughly three acres was excavated, filled with dirt to reduce seepage, and leveled at 50 metres above riverbank. In the tomb area, wells were dug and filled with stone and rubble to form the footings of the tomb. Instead of lashed bamboo, workmen constructed a colossal brick scaffold that mirrored the tomb. The scaffold was so enormous that foremen estimated it would take years to dismantle.
The Taj Mahal was constructed using materials from all over India and Asia. It is believed over 1,000 elephants were used to transport building materials. The translucent white marble was brought from Makrana, Rajasthan, the jasper from Punjab, jade and crystal from China. The turquoise was from Tibet and the Lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, while the sapphire came from Sri Lanka and the carnelian from Arabia. In all, twenty eight types of precious and semi-precious stones were inlaid into the white marble.
According to the legend, Shah Jahan decreed that anyone could keep the bricks taken from the scaffold, and thus it was dismantled by peasants overnight. A fifteen kilometer tamped-earth ramp was built to transport marble and materials to the construction site and teams of twenty or thirty oxen pulled the blocks on specially constructed wagons. An elaborate post-and-beam pulley system was used to raise the blocks into desired position. Water was drawn from the river by a series of purs, an animal-powered rope and bucket mechanism, into a large storage tank and raised to a large distribution tank. It was passed into three subsidiary tanks, from which it was piped to the complex.
The plinth and tomb took roughly 12 years to complete. The remaining parts of the complex took an additional 10 years and were completed in order of minarets, mosque and jawab, and gateway. Since the complex was built in stages, discrepancies exist in completion dates due to differing opinions on "completion". Construction of the mausoleum itself was essentially completed by 1643 while work continued on the outlying buildings. Estimates of the cost of construction vary due to difficulties in estimating costs across time. The total cost has been estimated to be about 32 million Indian rupees, which is around 52.8 billion Indian rupees ($827 million US) based on 2015 values.
LATER DAYS
Abdul Hamid Lahauri in his book Badshahnama refers to Taj Mahal as rauza-i munawwara, meaning the illumined or illustrious tomb. Soon after the Taj Mahal's completion, Shah Jahan was deposed by his son Aurangzeb and put under house arrest at nearby Agra Fort. Upon Shah Jahan's death, Aurangzeb buried him in the mausoleum next to his wife. In the 18th century, the Jat rulers of Bharatpur invaded Agra and attacked the Taj Mahal, the two chandeliers, one of agate and another of silver, which were hung over the main cenotaph, were taken away by them, along with the gold and silver screen. Kanbo, a Mughal historian, said the gold shield which covered the 15-foot high finial at the top of the main dome was also removed during the Jat despoliation.
By the late 19th century, parts of the buildings had fallen into disrepair. During the time of the Indian rebellion of 1857, the Taj Mahal was defaced by British soldiers and government officials, who chiselled out precious stones and lapis lazuli from its walls. At the end of the 19th century, British viceroy Lord Curzon ordered a sweeping restoration project, which was completed in 1908. He also commissioned the large lamp in the interior chamber, modelled after one in a Cairo mosque. During this time the garden was remodelled with British-style lawns that are still in place today.
THREATS
In 1942, the government erected a scaffolding to disguise the building in anticipation of air attacks by the Japanese Air Force. During the India-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971, scaffoldings were again erected to mislead bomber pilots.
More recent threats have come from environmental pollution on the banks of Yamuna River including acid rain due to the Mathura Oil Refinery, which was opposed by Supreme Court of India directives. The pollution has been turning the Taj Mahal yellow. To help control the pollution, the Indian government has set up the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ), a 10,400-square-kilometre area around the monument where strict emissions standards are in place.
Concerns for the tomb's structural integrity have recently been raised because of a decline in the groundwater level in the Yamuna river basin which is falling at a rate of around 5 feet a year. In 2010, cracks appeared in parts of the tomb, and the minarets which surround the monument were showing signs of tilting, as the wooden foundation of the tomb may be rotting due to lack of water. In 2011 it was reported that some predictions indicated that the tomb could collapse within 5 years.
TOURISM
The Taj Mahal attracts a large number of tourists. UNESCO documented more than 2 million visitors in 2001, which increased to about 3 million in 2015. A two tier pricing system is in place, with a significantly lower entrance fee for Indian citizens and a more expensive one for foreigners. Most tourists visit in the cooler months of October, November and February. Polluting traffic is not allowed near the complex and tourists must either walk from parking lots or catch an electric bus. The Khawasspuras (northern courtyards) are currently being restored for use as a new visitor center.
The small town to the south of the Taj, known as Taj Ganji or Mumtazabad, was originally constructed with caravanserais, bazaars and markets to serve the needs of visitors and workmen. Lists of recommended travel destinations often feature the Taj Mahal, which also appears in several listings of seven wonders of the modern world, including the recently announced New Seven Wonders of the World, a recent poll with 100 million votes.
The grounds are open from 06:00 to 19:00 weekdays, except for Friday when the complex is open for prayers at the mosque between 12:00 and 14:00. The complex is open for night viewing on the day of the full moon and two days before and after, excluding Fridays and the month of Ramadan. For security reasons only five items - water in transparent bottles, small video cameras, still cameras, mobile phones and small ladies' purses - are allowed inside the Taj Mahal.
MYTHS
Ever since its construction, the building has been the source of an admiration transcending culture and geography, and so personal and emotional responses have consistently eclipsed scholastic appraisals of the monument. A longstanding myth holds that Shah Jahan planned a mausoleum to be built in black marble as a Black Taj Mahal across the Yamuna river. The idea originates from fanciful writings of Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, a European traveller who visited Agra in 1665. It was suggested that Shah Jahan was overthrown by his son Aurangzeb before it could be built. Ruins of blackened marble across the river in Moonlight Garden, Mahtab Bagh, seemed to support this legend. However, excavations carried out in the 1990s found that they were discolored white stones that had turned black. A more credible theory for the origins of the black mausoleum was demonstrated in 2006 by archaeologists who reconstructed part of the pool in the Moonlight Garden. A dark reflection of the white mausoleum could clearly be seen, befitting Shah Jahan's obsession with symmetry and the positioning of the pool itself.
No evidence exists for claims that describe, often in horrific detail, the deaths, dismemberments and mutilations which Shah Jahan supposedly inflicted on various architects and craftsmen associated with the tomb. Some stories claim that those involved in construction signed contracts committing themselves to have no part in any similar design. Similar claims are made for many famous buildings. No evidence exists for claims that Lord William Bentinck, governor-general of India in the 1830s, supposedly planned to demolish the Taj Mahal and auction off the marble. Bentinck's biographer John Rosselli says that the story arose from Bentinck's fund-raising sale of discarded marble from Agra Fort.
Another myth suggests that beating the silhouette of the finial will cause water to come forth. To this day, officials find broken bangles surrounding the silhouette.
In 2000, India's Supreme Court dismissed P. N. Oak's petition to declare that a Hindu king built the Taj Mahal. In 2005 a similar petition was dismissed by the Allahabad High Court. This case was brought by Amar Nath Mishra, a social worker and preacher who says that the Taj Mahal was built by the Hindu King Parmar Dev in 1196.
WIKIPEDIA
The Birmingham Magazine published by the Chamber of Commerce for January 1916 is now available online.
Table of Contents
The Panama Canal and the Birmingham District C. M. Evans p. 9
What Concrete Has Done for Civilization P. E. Chalifoux p. 11
Bessemer Canal vs. Armor Plant W. P. Gunn p. 13
The Building Manager of Today T. P. Hay, Jr. p. 14
Some Business Blunders Franklin H. Tonsmeire p. 15
Business Men's League Items Sam H. Fowlkes p. 17
Editorial Comment p. 18
Woman Suffrage at the Alabama State Fair Mrs. Oscar R. Hundley p. 20
Library Talk Carl Milam p. 22
Good Roads and Highways Alma Rittenberry p. 25
New Phase of the Convict Question George H. Clark p. 27
Industries for Birmingham William Blanks Everett p. 30
The Birmingham District E. B. Beason p. 31
The Birmingham Ad Club H. D. Cullen p. 32
The Distributing Powers of Birmingham and Their Restricted Use J. P. Slatter p. 33
Agricultural Notes: Controlling Anthrax p.34
Sales of Old Products by Publicity Edward M. Hager p. 36
Woman of Today Maye Teressa Holder p. 36
Proceedings of the City Commission p. 51
The New Birmingham Chamber of Commerce p. 61
Palmistry DeBrooks p. 71
Information p. 4
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue and Mrs. Mary Perdue visit the Mississippi Valley Fair, and meet with fairgoers, livestock show presenters, 4-H teams that showcase agriculture-related STEM education, and participate in a farm safety demonstration with first responders learning how to free a mock operator that has been pinned under an overturned tractor, and news media for interviews along the way, in Davenport, IA, on Aug. 6, 2017. Secretary Perdue's stop here is part of a five-state RV tour, featuring stops in five states: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana; titled the “Back to Our Roots” Tour, he is gathering input on the 2018 Farm Bill and increasing rural prosperity, Aug. 3-8, 2017. Along the way, Perdue will meet with farmers, ranchers, foresters, producers, students, governors, Members of Congress, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) employees, and other stakeholders. This is the first of two RV tours the secretary will undertake this summer. “The ‘Back to our Roots’ Farm Bill and rural prosperity RV listening tour will allow us to hear directly from people in agriculture across the country, as well as our consumers – they are the ones on the front lines of American agriculture and they know best what the current issues are,” Perdue said. “USDA will be intimately involved as Congress deliberates and formulates the 2018 Farm Bill. We are committed to making the resources and the research available so that Congress can make good facts-based, data-driven decisions. It’s important to look at past practices to see what has worked and what has not worked, so that we create a farm bill for the future that will be embraced by American agriculture in 2018.” For social media purposes, Secretary Perdue’s Twitter account (@SecretarySonny) will be using the hashtag #BackToOurRoots. USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.
Palmyra (Arabic: تدمر Tadmur).
travelinistanbul.wordpress.com/2010/05/22/travel-in-istan...
It was an ancient Aramaic city. In ancient times it was an important city of central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 180 km southwest of the Euphrates at Deir ez-Zor. It has long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert and was known as the Bride of the Desert. The earliest documented reference to the city by its Semitic name Tadmor, Tadmur or Tudmur is recorded in Babylonian tablets found in Mari.
Though the ancient site fell into disuse after the 16th century, it is still known as Tadmor in Arabic, and there is a newer town next to the ruins of the same name. The Palmyrenes constructed a series of large-scale monuments containing funerary art such as limestone slabs with human busts representing the deceased.
In the mid first century BC, Palmyra, a wealthy and elegant city located along the caravan routes linking Persia with the Mediterranean ports of Roman Syria and Phoenicia, came under Roman control. During the following period of great prosperity, the Aramaean and Arab inhabitants of Palmyra adopted customs and modes of dress from both the Parthian world to the east and the Graeco-Roman west.
When the Seleucids took control of Syria in 323 BC, the city was left to itself and it became independent. The city flourished as a caravan halt in the 1st century BC. In 41 BC, the Romans under Mark Antony tried to occupy Palmyra but failed as the Palmyrans had received intelligence of their approach. The Palmyrans escaped to the other side of the Euphrates, demonstrating that at that time Palmyra was still a nomadic settlement and its valuables could be removed at short notice.
Palmyra was made part of the Roman province of Syria during the reign of Tiberius (14–37). It steadily grew in importance as a trade route linking Persia, India, China, and the Roman empire. In 129, Hadrian visited the city and was so enthralled by it that he proclaimed it a free city and renamed it Palmyra Hadriana.
Beginning in 212, Palmyra's trade diminished as the Sassanids occupied the mouth of the Tigris and the Euphrates.
Septimius Odaenathus, a Prince of Palmyra, was appointed by Valerian as the governor of the province of Syria. After Valerian was captured by the Sassanids and died in captivity in Bishapur, Odaenathus campaigned as far as Ctesiphon (near modern-day Baghdad) for revenge, invading the city twice. When Odaenathus was assassinated by his nephew Maconius, his wife Septimia Zenobia took power, ruling Palmyra on the behalf of her son, Vabalathus.
Zenobia rebelled against Roman authority with the help of Cassius Longinus and took over Bosra and lands as far to the west as Egypt, establishing the short-lived Palmyrene Empire. Next, she attempted to take Antioch to the north. In 272, the Roman Emperor Aurelian finally retaliated and captured her and brought her back to Rome. He paraded her in golden chains but allowed her to retire to a villa in Tibur, where she took an active part in society for years. This rebellion greatly disturbed Rome, and so Palmyra was forced by the empire to become a military base for the Roman legions.
Diocletian expanded it to harbor even more legions and walled it in to try and save it from the Sassanid threat. The Byzantine period following the Roman Empire only resulted in the building of a few churches; much of the city turned to ruin.
The city was captured by the Muslim Arabs under Khalid ibn Walid in 634. Palmyra was kept intact. After the year 800 and the civil wars which followed the fall of the Umayyad caliphs, people started abandoning the city. At the time of the Crusades, Palmyra was under the Burid emirs of Damascus, then under Tughtekin, Mohammed the son of Shirkuh, and finally under the emirs of Homs. In 1132 the Burids had the Temple of Ba'al turned into a fortress. In the 13th century the city was handed over to the Mamluk sultan Baybars. In 1401, it was sacked by Tamerlan, but it recovered quickly, so that in the 15th century it was described as boasting "vast gardens, flourishing trades and bizarre monuments" by Ibn Fadlallah al-Omari.
In the 16th century, Qala'at ibn Maan castle was built on top of a mountain overlooking the oasis by Fakhr ad-Din al-Maan II, a Lebanese prince who tried to control the Syrian Desert. The castle was surrounded by a moat, with access only available through a drawbridge. It is possible that earlier fortifications existed on the hill well before then.
The city declined under Ottoman rule, reducing to no more than an oasis village with a small garrison. In the 17th century its location was rediscovered by western travellers, beginning to be studied by European and American archaeologists starting from the 19th centuries. The villagers who had settled in the Temple of Ba'al were dislodged in 1929 by the French authority.
www.arqueologiadelperu.com/writing-on-the-church-wall/
Cley-Next-the-Sea's 14th-century prosperity is reflected in St. Margaret's church and its cathedral-esque proportions. The interior contains examples of medieval religious graffiti.
Imagine walking into your local church, pulling a penknife from your pocket, and scratching a little drawing into the wall: a geometric design, a drawing of a boat, even a few meaningful words. Today that would be sacrilege, but a new survey of the walls of medieval churches in England is revealing that many of them are covered in riots of graffiti, scratched into what were once boldly colored walls. Furthermore, the practice appears to have been condoned, and sometimes even encouraged, by Church authorities. The finds are changing the perception of how medieval worshippers viewed religion and interacted with their churches.
Cley-Next-the-Sea, on the north coast of Norfolk in eastern England, is a well-heeled tourist village of ancient flint-walled houses and narrow streets. Situated far from England's highways, it draws visitors—but only committed ones—year-round. Its harbor silted up in the seventeenth century, so the village is now separated from the sea by spectacular salt marshes that draw many bird-watchers. But 700 years ago, Cley-Next-the-Sea was at the heart of one of the busiest ports in England, the Glaven Port, where grain, malt, fish, spices, coal, cloth, barley, and oats were exported and imported. That period of prominence explains why the seemingly insignificant village sports a glorious church of cathedralesque proportions.
Panels on the octagonal font in the nave of St. Margaret's church have medieval markings thought to bring luck or protect from evil. As the large wooden door shuts behind him, Matthew Champion, project director of the Norfolk and Suffolk Medieval Graffiti Surveys, proceeds to the ornate octagonal font that dominates one end of the nave of St. Margaret's church. Its elaborately carved stone panels depict religious scenes, including a baptism and the ordination of a priest. Tiny fragments of paint in the crevices confirm that the font was brightly decorated in medieval times. “The blue color was made from lapis lazuli pigment,” Champion says, “which was very exotic and expensive then.”
Approaching what appears to be a bare patch of stone on one of the font's panels, Champion illuminates it with his flashlight—at first from the front, and then from the side. As the panel is bathed in raking light, patterns come into view: a series of perfect circles, filled with six-petaled flower patterns, scratched into the stone.To twenty-first century eyes, the scratched designs seem incongruous with the magnificent setting, but Champion sees more than ancient graffiti. He moves quickly to the north side of the church and, this time, sweeps the beam of his flashlight down a column, where the raking light reveals repeats of this same precise geometric design. “In the past, fonts were usually situated on the north side of churches, close to the ‘Devil's door' [a door on the north, or ‘heathen,' side of a church], and we find concentrations of these designs on and around the area where the font would have been,” he explains.
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In 2008, Champion was asked to manage a conservation program of medieval wall paintings at Lakenheath church in Suffolk. It was when he closely inspected the paintings that he first observed marks scratched into the paint: previously unnoticed graffiti. “I was a bit nonplussed to begin with,” he says. He began to dig around in the literature and realized that no one had thoroughly documented such medieval graffiti. Perhaps this was because of its rarity, he thought. So he selected another medieval church at random—All Saints' in Litcham, Norfolk—and inspected the walls. “I started to shine my torch and realized there were hundreds and hundreds of markings,” he says. “They are almost invisible unless you shine light on them from the side, and I think they simply hadn't been noticed before.” Champion was hooked, and in 2010 he started a community archaeology project, using teams of volunteers to systematically record the graffiti in the County of Norfolk's medieval churches. With ordinary flashlights and cameras, volunteers have mapped the wall markings in half of Norfolk's 650 or so medieval churches. To date, they have uncovered more than 28,000 inscriptions. In 2014, Champion established an equivalent survey in the neighboring County of Suffolk, with similar results. Now Champion has surveys springing up all over the country, and the findings, along with reports from other countries, suggest that medieval religious graffiti was a widespread phenomenon. “I've seen the same kind of symbols cropping up in churches in Norway, Germany, Spain, and even Malta,” he says. “It seems that graffiti was normal and accepted everywhere the medieval Christian Church got to.” With these data, and the promise of more, Champion has been able to provide some context and interpretation for the symbols the volunteers are finding. “Everyone from the lord of the manor to the lowliest commoner was making these marks,” says Champion.
Circular floral designs (highlighted here to show the shape clearly) are the most common motif in medieval church graffiti, and were thought to trap malevolent spirits.
The circular floral designs, for example, turn out to be the most common motif, with several thousand recorded in Norfolk and Suffolk alone. The majority are quite small—less than four inches across—and are precise enough that they must have been drawn with compasses or other tools. “Originally, we thought these might have been created by the masons, perhaps to teach their apprentices the basics of geometry, or to create a guide for themselves,” Champion says. Indeed, some of the larger compass-drawn designs are probably exactly that, but the small designs that Champion has found peppered around fonts would have been impossible to draw with the giant compasses that masons used. Rather, the clustering of the symbol on and around fonts is a crucial clue. Traditionally, baptism ceremonies were meant to cast out the devil, and Champion thinks that the marks served as ritual protection, brought luck, and protected the person being baptized from evil. “Christianity was not the warm and fluffy religion that it is today,” he says. “People believed in the power of evil, and would do everything they could to ward off the ill forces that lurked outside the church door.” Designs like this, intricate and mazelike, were thought to trap malevolent spirits, which would follow the lines and be unable to find their way back out.
Mark Gardiner, a medieval graffiti expert from Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland, agrees that the symbols were probably intended to ward off evil. “We also find an abundance of these kind of marks inside medieval houses, often close to fireplaces. This coincides with the interest in and fear of witches,” he says, “which grew markedly during the second half of the sixteenth century.”
So who could have made these marks? Compasses from this time are exceedingly rare in the archaeological record. Champion speculates that they could have been made using the little shears that women tended to carry around with them. “The shears would be about the right size, so we think it could have been predominately women making these protective symbols around the font,” he says. Medieval women carried small shears, which they may have used to incise the circular graffiti designs.
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St. Nicholas' in Blakeney, which was located at the harbor mouth of a bustling medieval port, is the site of much intricately drawn graffiti depicting ships.
At St. Nicholas' church in Blakeney, the village that sat at the harbor mouth of the Glaven Port, Champion squeezes past some wooden paneling to view part of a stone column normally hidden from view. Practiced in applying the right amount of raking light to make the designs emerge from the stonework, Champion flourishes his flashlight to reveal ship after ship etched at eye level and below—more than 30 in all, ranging in size from two to 12 inches. Every ship is intricately drawn, with details such as anchors, rigging, and flags. Like the font at St. Margaret's, the column holds minuscule flecks of paint, which confirm that the ships, faint today, would have once stood out boldly on a colored background. They reflect another side of life in a medieval port—the uncertainty that comes with a culture built on the hazards of the sea. “Most of them are single-masted cogs, which were typical trading ships in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries,” Champion says. By analyzing the types of ships depicted, he concluded that they were all drawn over a period of 200 to 300 years, and must have been tolerated by the priests of the day. “They could easily have repainted the column to cover them up,” he says, “but they didn't.”
It will never be known exactly who drew the ships, but it is no accident that they are clustered around the side altar of St. Nicholas—patron saint of those in peril upon the sea. “I think they were like little prayers made solid in stone, perhaps thanks for a voyage safely undertaken, a prayer for a voyage yet to come, or maybe a plea for a ship long overdue [to return to port],” he says. According to documentary records, the Glaven Port usually had 50 to 60 ships that would have considered the harbor home, and, on average, one ship was lost at sea every two or three years. “Some of these ships were taking people on pilgrimage, and when one ship was lost, that could be as many as 250 people gone in one go,” says Champion.
Ship graffiti from St. Nicolas' church, used as prayers for safe voyages, depict late 14th- and early 15th-century vessel designs.
Ship etchings are no surprise in a church so closely tied to the sea, but such pieces weren't only found in coastal churches. Champion and his volunteers have found them as far inland as Leicestershire, a good 50 miles from the coast. “This inland ship graffiti is quite possibly associated with pilgrimage, with people traveling to or from continental shrines,” he explains.
The church in Steeple Bumpstead, a small village in eastern England, doesn't have etchings of ships on its walls, but rather more stark, literal expressions of anxiety. “God help us, God help us, God help us,” reads an inscription dated 1348. “It is the scariest inscription I've ever seen and sends shivers down my spine,” says Champion, who documented a peak in inscriptions like this in the middle of the fourteenth century, when the Black Death swept across Europe. People were terrified of the mysterious disease, which wiped out entire villages and killed nearly half the European population over four years, and Steeple Bumpstead was particularly hard-hit. Meanwhile, in All Saints' and St. Andrew's in Kingston, near Cambridge, three names—Cateryn, Jane, and Amee—are inscribed, thought to belong to three children from one family who died during the 1515 plague outbreak.
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Crosses (highlighted) found carved in stone around church porches are thought to have been a way of sealing important agreements.
Written records clearly state that churches at the time were always locked, except during services. This reinforces the idea that the graffiti was made during Church services, condoned, and intended to be seen. “These were not the furtive scratchings of people making illicit messages, but were part of the ritualistic activity, which seems to have been quite widespread in the late Middle Ages,” Gardiner says. Indeed, some of the graffiti may have even been part of ceremonies. In many churches Champion found crosses scratched around the doors and in porch areas. “In medieval times documents and agreements were often signed in the porch, and it may have been that scratching a cross into the wall was a way of making an oath,” he says.
At St. Mary's in Wiveton, church graffiti depicts the crests of a patron family. Another form of Church ritual—the making of donations—was the subject of still more graffiti. In Wiveton, near Blakeney, a church column sports a strange angular symbol that also appears on a crest above the “parish chest,” a huge locked trunk, located on the other side of the church, used to hold the parish's valuables. In Wiveton, the chest had been donated by a local businessman named Raulf Greneway. Greneway's mark was memorialized on the plaque, but then was also repeated as graffiti on the column, perhaps as a symbol of the aspirations of the family or pride at their rise in society. “This man was a working man,” explains Champion, “who had done well for himself, and the mark on his crest is a kind of heraldry or guild mark for the working man, something that was passed down through the family after he had gone. It was their way of preserving the memory of their family for posterity.” Similar merchant's marks have turned up in the surveys across the country, though in most cases it has been impossible to trace the families to whom they belong.
And finally, some churches sport inscriptions made by stonemasons and architects for purely functional purposes. At Binham Priory, for example, sweeping lines represent working architectural drawings dating to the 1240s. The architect in this case was experimenting with a window design from France—called bar tracery—that the English were only beginning to employ at the time. In fact, the drawings have helped settle just how the church's large arched windows, long since collapsed, had been conceived. “It was totally revolutionary designwise,” says Champion, “and not the gradual progression in architecture we might have expected.” Taken together, all this graffiti provides Champion, his volunteers, and a visiting writer with a strong sense of connection with the people who scratched into church walls hundreds of years ago.
The daisy-wheel patterns from St. Margaret's transmit an aura of fear, protectiveness, and hope for the best possible start in life. Meanwhile, the exquisite little ships at Blakeney exude excitement but also terror about the unknown. And the merchant's marks represent the desire for a person or family to be remembered for posterity. Prior to the Protestant Reformation, which began in 1529 in England, people's relationships with God were officially mediated via priests or the Pope. “For me, the graffiti represents the religion and spirituality of ordinary individual people,” Champion says. “It was their opportunity to communicate with God without needing the interaction of a priest.” Following the Reformation, the amount of church graffiti declines. “After the Reformation, religion became more personal—you could read your own Bible for example—so perhaps people didn't feel the need to make their own individual mark on the church wall any more.”
At a time when writing materials were expensive and many people were illiterate, it seems that church walls were an accepted place to express one's deepest hopes and fears.
Kate Ravilious is a science journalist based in York, United Kingdom.
Bordertown: regional capital.
Unlike Mundulla, Bordertown was surveyed as part of the Gold Escort Route and not in response to the declaration of the Tatiara Agricultural selection area in 1872. Bordertown was surveyed in 1852 after discussion between the Surveyor–General and Inspector Tolmer of the Gold Escort service. They chose a site near a well, on the banks of Tatiara Creek and on Cannawigara Station close to Mr Scott’ woolshed. Importantly they wanted a town site near the Victorian border. They surveyed a grid town with North, South, East and West terraces and streets named after local pastoralists- McLeod, Binnie, Scott and Woolshed after Scott’s woolshed! The town was to be a half way depot for the Gold Escort service. Of the 104 town lots offered for sale only 10 sold and they were to Mr Scott and two speculators. More sold later but no one bought land to develop or use. In 1854 two police officers were stationed at Bordertown and a small police station was built and a police paddock for their horses etc established. They were the only residents in Bordertown. In 1856 a store keeper arrived and opened a store in the town and the first house was built. Then in 1859 a block was purchased for a hotel, the Woolshed Inn and the first hotel licensed. Later in 1865 the publican took over the store as well. The population of Bordertown was not growing! A new police station was built in 1863 and in 1867 a local committee erected a small wooden school room. The town had a few residents only but the surrounding stations had more. This was the situation in Bordertown when the Tatiara Agricultural Area was declared in 1872. As so little development had occurred in the town a new town was surveyed and designed. The new town surveyed in 1871 had a surrounding parkland belt and suburban blocks of land beyond that. With time the suburban blocks were all converted into ¼ acre residential plots.
But one other resident of the district needs mentioning. In 1859 the owners of the main local stations Cannawigara, Wirrega, Nalang and Padthaway got together and decided they needed the services of a doctor and that they would encourage Dr Penny to take up residence in or near Bordertown. Dr Penny had practised in Robe since 1851 and the station owners offered him a fixed annual income to move to Bordertown. Dr Penny chose a site outside of the town, nearer to Mundulla for his home site which he called Charla. A block of land was taken from Binnie’s Wirrega station. Penny started building a substantial stone home in 1861 which was not completed until 1865. Behind the stone house was a wooden slab kitchen. Dr Penny had 40 acres of gardens and stabling for his horses around the house. With such improvements Dr Penny wanted the freehold for his land. Special permission had to be obtained for a survey not within one of the hundreds. In 1865 George Goyder authorised and conducted the survey himself of a 38 acre block for Dr Penny. It became section one of the Hundred of Tatiara in later years. Dr Penny practised from Charla until his death in 1887. The Penny’s had purchased freehold selector lands in the 1870s and his family remained at Charla and on this property until 1968.
Once the farmers moved into the Hundred of Tatiara and the rural population increased so did the township of Bordertown as a major service centre. The town grew slowly but surely until the 1950s when it was boosted further with the AMP development of lands near Keith and the introduction of trace elements to make the lands north of Bordertown productive pastoral country. The 1950s were also boom years for both wool and wheat prices and farmer prosperity resulted in town growth and prosperity. Unfortunately it was also the time when so many early buildings were demolished and replaced with 1960s style structures. Today Bordertown has a population of 2,500 and many functions of a regional centre such as saleyards, stock agents, state government offices, regional hospital and nursing home, high school, local abattoir, engineering works, fuel depots etc.
Bordertown Historical Walk.
Bordertown railway station. The rail yards were hives of activity in the early years with wheat stores, two rail gauges, railway dam, interstate and local trains and stock yards run by the major stock and station agents such as Elder Smith and Company. The first railway station for passengers was erected in 1883 but without a platform. This burnt down in a fire in 1889 and a wooden replacement station, with platform opened in 1890. In turn this was replaced by a fine Art Nouveau American design stone railway station in 1914.
Eudunda Farmers Cooperative Store. This group opened a general store in 1936 as their 39 ninth store in SA. They opened in an 1880s store which they remodelled in 1940. The store was further altered in 1955 and completely revamped in 1987. In 1989 the Eudunda Farmers store moved to another location in the town and became the Foodland store and it still operates as an IGA supermarket.
Bordertown Hotel. It was licensed early in 1869 in the western part of Bordertown but the business struggled in the late 19th century. Finally the hotel closed in 1893. Owners tried to get it relicensed for several years and were not successful until 1898. They then purchased a new site near the railway station for ease of access by travellers and a brand new two storey hotel opened in 1903. Its exterior is largely unaltered from that time.
1. Child Care Centre/Kindergarten/Hospital.
Like most country towns Bordertown had several private hospitals, usually run by local nurses before the government hospital opened in 1924 as the Tatiara Soldiers Memorial Hospital. It was enlarged in 1926/27 to increase the size to over 30 beds. In 1967 a new hospital was built with more than 42 beds. A two storey nurse’s home was constructed adjoining the hospital in 1972. It is now the Charla Nursing Home, named after the home of the district’s first Doctor, Dr Robert Penny. After World War Two many SA communities wanted to adopt the relatively new trend of having a town kindergarten for pre-school age children. After lots of local fund raising Bordertown opened a kindergarten in 1955 on the corner of Patterson Street. It is now the Child Care Centre.
2. Lutheran Church.
Lutheran church services began in Lutheran homes, conducted by the Lutheran minister from Dimboola in Victoria, in the early 1930s. A Lutheran minister was stationed in Bordertown from 1939 but no church was built at that time. A second Lutheran synod also began regular Lutheran services in Bordertown from the late 1930s. At one stage Lutheran services were held in the Methodist Church. In 1950 both congregations met and decided to build a joint church for both synods and this was completed in 1953. Separate Lutheran services were held in the one church until formal amalgamation of the two synods in 1965 and the formation of Trinity Lutheran church in 1967. The church was too small for the combined congregations and so the 1953 church was demolished and replaced with a grand new church in 1985.
3. Anglican Church.
Anglican services began in 1880 in Bordertown but the first church was not opened until 1887. A fine stone rectory was erected next to the church in 1907. A vestry was added in 1925 and a stone hall in 1961. Surprisingly the church was not consecrated until a visit by the Anglican bishop in 1936. It is unusual in that the entrance is now at the rear of the church.
4. Methodist/Uniting Church.
Wesleyan Methodist services began in Bordertown around 1882 but a church was not built until 1887. An adjoining parsonage was built in 1897 but it has since been demolished and replaced (1961.) A new church hall was opened in 1963 and the old church has been much altered.
5. Masonic Lodge/Temple.
This strange looking building in DeCourcey Street began as the Masonic Lodge. It was opened in 1926 after being built by one of the local members. The Lodge was formed in Bordertown in 1911 and it met for years in the Institute building. Note the pillar and curved brick entrance. By 1926 the Lodge had obviously decided it was allowed to have windows facing the street. It had a large hall about 50 feet by 30 feet and a couple of meeting and supper rooms. It closed in 2008 and was sold in 2011. Note the symmetry of the façade; strong brick quoins and bricks across the roof line to give two identical almost square sections beside the entrance. It is an interesting structure.
6. Churches of Christ.
The first home services of the churches of Christ started in the Tatiara in 1882 with the origins of their building fund going back to 1890. A church opened at Carew in the Tatiara in 1899. The first Bordertown church opened in 1905, built by church members and a fine manse was completed in 1912. In 1953 a second church was built on their town land. This 1953 church is now used as a hall. The old 1905 church was demolished in 1963 and a new church of red brick replaced it in 1965. It still serves the Churches of Christ community in Bordertown.
7. Former Congregational Church.
The Congregational Church was erected 1880; the porch was added in 1924, and the hall was erected 1926. In 1966 a porch was added to link the church and the hall. Reverend David Milne was the first minister in this region. He visited Bordertown in 1862 and held the first services in the Woolshed Inn. He lived in Kingston with his second wife with whom he had seven children to complement the four from his first marriage. He travelled regularly to the Bordertown district for many years until he moved here with his family in 1873 after the Tatiara Agricultural Area was declared. He then continued with services and pushed for the erection of a Congregational Church which took another seven years to accomplish. He also serviced the Congregational Church in Mundalla and in Cannawigara and other small settlements. He continued preaching and he undertook Congregational Missionary work until 1910 when he died aged 83 years. The Congregational church closed when it amalgamated with the Methodist church to form the Uniting Church in Bordertown in 1971. It is now leased by the Naracoorte funeral parlour.
8. Old School Room.
Bordertown Old Primary School. The local wooden school room opened in 1867 only to be replaced with a stone room in 1874. The Education Department added another couple of rooms to create a T shaped school in 1884 as the school enrolments rose once the farmers arrived in the Tatiara. When the government started up the first country high schools Bordertown was one of the first when it opened in 1913 in the original 1874 classroom. The first teacher in charge was a woman but the high school closed in 1916 because of World War One. Few boys were left in the school as these younger ones had to work full time on the family farms as older boys had gone to war. High school classes resumed in Bordertown in 1920 and two new classrooms were added to the school for their use in 1921. The revamped high school became a Higher Primary School in 1922. From 1939 the Higher Primary classes occupied the 1884 classrooms as well as the 1921 rooms. In 1959 the government made the decision to separate the primary and high schools and the primary school moved to a new school site in 1971. The old school complex is used as club rooms for several town organisations.
9. Old Catholic Church.
Bordertown was added to the Catholic parish of Penola from its first surveying in 1852. After the 1872 farm selection act the parish priests from Penola visited more often. Catholic services in Bordertown began at the Woolshed Inn in 1881. A foundation stone for a Catholic Church was laid in 1883 and opened in 1884. This impressive church still stands albeit as a private residence. The limestone walls are an impressive 22 inches thick. The first resident priest for Bordertown arrived in 1939.
10. New Catholic Church.
When the first priest arrived in 1939 he purchased five acres of land for a Catholic School which was eventually built. The priest worked on building his own presbytery and it was completed in 1954 next to the church. A new St. Mary’s Catholic Church as opened in 1969. The old church was used as a hall for some time.
11. Council Offices.
The original Council Chamber for the district was in Mundulla. It closed in 1904 when the stone and brick chamber opened in Bordertown. This fine old building was demolished in 1959 when the new Council Offices were opened. A further two storey structure was added in 1978. Outside of the Council Offices is a bust of Prime Minister Robert Hawke donated in 1987 and unveiled by Bob Hawke’s father who returned to the town in which he had formerly served. In the foyer of the Council Offices is a painting of Hawke in the Hawke Gallery. The Council has an art gallery.
12. Old Institute and current Library.
Bordertown Institute. A local committee was formed and after several years of discussions and fund raising an institute was opened in 1878. Prior to this the library facility had been located in the 1867 school classroom until the Education Department took over that school and wanted to charge high rents for the library room. The Institute was increased in size and a new façade and new front rooms in the classical style with a grand pediment were added in 1909. The Premier of the day Mr Peake opened the new Institute. Yet another new institute hall was opened in 1960 again with the opening ceremony by the Premier of the day who was Sir Thomas Playford on that occasion. The extensions included a new town library. Many organisations held their meetings here and it was also the location of many private and official town functions. A theatre was added to the Institute/Library complex in 1982.
13. Hawke House.
This building opened in 1888 as the first national Bank in Bordertown. In 1897 it was sold to the Congregational Church as a manse and much later Prime Minister Bob (or Robert) Hawke was born here in December 1929. Presumably he was conceived here too as Clement and Ella Hawkes occupied this manse in 1928. The Reverend Hawke left Bordertown in 1935 and Bob Hawke started school at Maitland Primary School on Yorke Peninsula. The Hawkes left Maitland in 1939 and moved to Perth. Bob Hawke then undertook his secondary education at Perth Modern School before going on to the University of Western Australia. The school established in 1911 is a government school for academically gifted students. Hawke House is now owned by the Uniting Church and used as a welfare centre. Opposite Hawke House is the Apex Park which was originally designated as McLaren Place by the surveyor of the town in 1852 who was John McLaren. Look for the sculpture done by Bordertown High School students in 1999 and the mural done by Bordentown Primary School students in 1996. The mural on the Library wall was done by the High School students.
14. Woolshed Inn.
This was the first hotel licensed in Bordertown in 1859 and it was so named because it was close to John and Charles Scott’s woolshed for their Cannawigara station. In 1882 the early structures were added to with a new single storey hotel. As fashions and interests changed the Woolshed Inn became the Tatiara Hotel in 1927 but it reverted to the historic Woolshed Inn name in 1969. The original 1859 building with its 12 paned window can be seen in the yard of the current hotel.
15. Police/Information Centre/Tolmer Park.
This spot was originally the police paddock from 1854. Police have always been stationed on the corner. The toilets are called the Old Gaol but there was never a gaol, only a couple of cells in conjunction with the police station which was usual in any country towns. The Information Centre is here and inside you can see the front of the old police station built in 1930. The first police building was erected early in 1854- a mere shack. In 1863 the first proper police station costing £300 was built. In 1930 another new police station was built and the third station was put up in 1963. The old 1863 station was then demolished and the 1930 station was turned into a police residence. In 1983 the fourth police station was opened along the street. The old police paddock is now Tolmer Recreation Park. It was fenced in 1857 to stop the troopers’ horses from straying. The last Gold Escort service left here in December 1853. The police were then on their own with little to do. Look for the white kangaroos which have been bred from a single white male obtained in 1980 on the road towards Melbourne and read the information boards around Tolmer Park.