I had to made a few concessions to prevent the bus from becoming too long. The rear aft window on the upper deck really ought to be a bit longer, but the model is already a bit longer than it really should be if I would have rigidly stuck to the scale I chose.

 

The stickers are from a Racers set.

Shiva, meaning "The Auspicious One"), also known as Mahadeva ("Great God"), is a popular Hindu deity. Shiva is regarded as one of the primary forms of God. He is the Supreme God within Shaivism, one of the three most influential denominations in contemporary Hinduism. He is one of the five primary forms of God in the Smarta tradition, and "the Destroyer" or "the Transformer" among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine.

 

Shiva has many benevolent and fearsome forms. At the highest level Shiva is limitless, transcendent, unchanging and formless. In benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an omniscient Yogi who lives an ascetic life on Mount Kailash, as well as a householder with wife Parvati and his two children, Ganesha and Kartikeya and in fierce aspects, he is often depicted slaying demons. Shiva is also regarded as the patron god of yoga and arts.

 

The main iconographical attributes of Shiva are the third eye on his forehead, the snake Vasuki around his neck, the crescent moon adorning, the holy river Ganga flowing from his matted hair, the trishula as his weapon and the damaru as his instrument.

 

Shiva is usually worshiped in the aniconic form of Lingam. Temples of Lord Shiva are called shivalayam.

 

ETYMOLOGY & OTHER NAMES

The Sanskrit word Shiva (Devanagari: शिव, śiva) comes from Shri Rudram Chamakam of Taittiriya Samhita (TS 4.5, 4.7) of Krishna Yajurveda. The root word śi means auspicious. In simple English transliteration it is written either as Shiva or Siva. The adjective śiva, is used as an attributive epithet not particularly of Rudra, but of several other Vedic deities.

 

The other popular names associated with Shiva are Mahadev, Mahesh, Maheshwar, Shankar, Shambhu, Rudra, Har, Trilochan, Devendra (meaning Chief of the gods) and Trilokinath (meaning Lord of the three realms).

 

The Sanskrit word śaiva means "relating to the God Shiva", and this term is the Sanskrit name both for one of the principal sects of Hinduism and for a member of that sect. It is used as an adjective to characterize certain beliefs and practices, such as Shaivism. He is the oldest worshipped Lord of India.

 

The Tamil word Sivan, Tamil: சிவன் ("Fair Skinned") could have been derived from the word sivappu. The word 'sivappu' means "red" in Tamil language but while addressing a person's skin texture in Tamil the word 'Sivappu' is used for being Fair Skinned.

 

Adi Sankara, in his interpretation of the name Shiva, the 27th and 600th name of Vishnu sahasranama, the thousand names of Vishnu interprets Shiva to have multiple meanings: "The Pure One", or "the One who is not affected by three Gunas of Prakrti (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas)" or "the One who purifies everyone by the very utterance of His name."Swami Chinmayananda, in his translation of Vishnu sahasranama, further elaborates on that verse: Shiva means "the One who is eternally pure" or "the One who can never have any contamination of the imperfection of Rajas and Tamas".

 

Shiva's role as the primary deity of Shaivism is reflected in his epithets Mahādeva ("Great God"; mahā "Great" and deva "god"), Maheśvara ("Great Lord"; mahā "great" and īśvara "lord"), and Parameśvara ("Supreme Lord").

 

There are at least eight different versions of the Shiva Sahasranama, devotional hymns (stotras) listing many names of Shiva. The version appearing in Book 13 (Anuśāsanaparvan) of the Mahabharata is considered the kernel of this tradition. Shiva also has Dasha-Sahasranamas (10,000 names) that are found in the Mahanyasa. The Shri Rudram Chamakam, also known as the Śatarudriya, is a devotional hymn to Shiva hailing him by many names.

 

The worship of Shiva is a pan-Hindu tradition, practiced widely across all of India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

 

ASSIMILATION OF TRADITIONS

The figure of Shiva as we know him today was built up over time, with the ideas of many regional sects being amalgamated into a single figure. How the persona of Shiva converged as a composite deity is not well documented. According to Vijay Nath:

 

Visnu and Siva [...] began to absorb countless local cults and deities within their folds. The latter were either taken to represent the multiple facets of the same god or else were supposed to denote different forms and appellations by which the god came to be known and worshipped. [...] Siva became identified with countless local cults by the sheer suffixing of Isa or Isvara to the name of the local deity, e.g., Bhutesvara, Hatakesvara, Chandesvara."

 

Axel Michaels the Indologist suggests that Shaivism, like Vaishnavism, implies a unity which cannot be clearly found either in religious practice or in philosophical and esoteric doctrine. Furthermore, practice and doctrine must be kept separate.

 

An example of assimilation took place in Maharashtra, where a regional deity named Khandoba is a patron deity of farming and herding castes. The foremost center of worship of Khandoba in Maharashtra is in Jejuri. Khandoba has been assimilated as a form of Shiva himself, in which case he is worshipped in the form of a lingam. Khandoba's varied associations also include an identification with Surya and Karttikeya.

 

INDUS VALLEY ORIGINS

Many Indus valley seals show animals but one seal that has attracted attention shows a figure, either horned or wearing a horned headdress and possibly ithyphallic figure seated in a posture reminiscent of the Lotus position and surrounded by animals was named by early excavators of Mohenjo-daro Pashupati (lord of cattle), an epithet of the later Hindu gods Shiva and Rudra. Sir John Marshall and others have claimed that this figure is a prototype of Shiva and have described the figure as having three faces seated in a "yoga posture" with the knees out and feet joined.

 

This claim has been criticised, with some academics like Gavin Flood and John Keay characterizing them as unfounded. Writing in 1997 Doris Srinivasan said that "Not too many recent studies continue to call the seal's figure a 'Proto-Siva'", rejecting thereby Marshall's package of proto-Siva features, including that of three heads. She interprets what John Marshall interpreted as facial as not human but more bovine, possibly a divine buffalo-man. According to Iravatham Mahadevan symbols 47 and 48 of his Indus script glossary The Indus Script: Texts, Concordance and Tables (1977), representing seated human-like figures, could describe Hindu deity Murugan, popularly known as Shiva and Parvati's son.

 

INDO-EUROPEAN ORIGINS

Shiva's rise to a major position in the pantheon was facilitated by his identification with a host of Vedic deities, including Purusha, Rudra, Agni, Indra, Prajāpati, Vāyu, and others.

 

RUDRA

Shiva as we know him today shares many features with the Vedic god Rudra, and both Shiva and Rudra are viewed as the same personality in Hindu scriptures. The two names are used synonymously. Rudra, the god of the roaring storm, is usually portrayed in accordance with the element he represents as a fierce, destructive deity.

 

The oldest surviving text of Hinduism is the Rig Veda, which is dated to between 1700 and 1100 BCE based on linguistic and philological evidence. A god named Rudra is mentioned in the Rig Veda. The name Rudra is still used as a name for Shiva. In RV 2.33, he is described as the "Father of the Rudras", a group of storm gods. Furthermore, the Rudram, one of the most sacred hymns of Hinduism found both in the Rig and the Yajur Vedas and addressed to Rudra, invokes him as Shiva in several instances, but the term Shiva is used as an epithet for the gods Indra, Mitra and Agni many times. Since Shiva means pure, the epithet is possibly used to describe a quality of these gods rather than to identify any of them with the God Shiva.

 

The identification of Shiva with the older god Rudhra is not universally accepted, as Axel Michaels explains:

 

Rudra is called "The Archer" (Sanskrit: Śarva), and the arrow is an essential attribute of Rudra. This name appears in the Shiva Sahasranama, and R. K. Sharma notes that it is used as a name of Shiva often in later languages.

 

The word is derived from the Sanskrit root śarv-, which means "to injure" or "to kill", and Sharma uses that general sense in his interpretive translation of the name Śarva as "One who can kill the forces of darkness". The names Dhanvin ("Bowman") and Bāṇahasta ("Archer", literally "Armed with arrows in his hands") also refer to archery.

 

AGNI

Rudra and Agni have a close relationship. The identification between Agni and Rudra in the Vedic literature was an important factor in the process of Rudra's gradual development into the later character as Rudra-Shiva. The identification of Agni with Rudra is explicitly noted in the Nirukta, an important early text on etymology, which says, "Agni is also called Rudra." The interconnections between the two deities are complex, and according to Stella Kramrisch:

 

The fire myth of Rudra-Śiva plays on the whole gamut of fire, valuing all its potentialities and phases, from conflagration to illumination.

 

In the Śatarudrīya, some epithets of Rudra, such as Sasipañjara ("Of golden red hue as of flame") and Tivaṣīmati ("Flaming bright"), suggest a fusing of the two deities. Agni is said to be a bull, and Lord Shiva possesses a bull as his vehicle, Nandi. The horns of Agni, who is sometimes characterized as a bull, are mentioned. In medieval sculpture, both Agni and the form of Shiva known as Bhairava have flaming hair as a special feature.

 

INDRA

According to Wendy Doniger, the Puranic Shiva is a continuation of the Vedic Indra. Doniger gives several reasons for his hypothesis. Both are associated with mountains, rivers, male fertility, fierceness, fearlessness, warfare, transgression of established mores, the Aum sound, the Supreme Self. In the Rig Veda the term śiva is used to refer to Indra. (2.20.3, 6.45.17, and 8.93.3.) Indra, like Shiva, is likened to a bull. In the Rig Veda, Rudra is the father of the Maruts, but he is never associated with their warlike exploits as is Indra.

 

The Vedic beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era were closely related to the hypothesised Proto-Indo-European religion, and the Indo-Iranian religion. According to Anthony, the Old Indic religion probably emerged among Indo-European immigrants in the contact zone between the Zeravshan River (present-day Uzbekistan) and (present-day) Iran. It was "a syncretic mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements", which borrowed "distinctive religious beliefs and practices" from the Bactria–Margiana Culture. At least 383 non-Indo-European words were borrowed from this culture, including the god Indra and the ritual drink Soma. According to Anthony,

 

Many of the qualities of Indo-Iranian god of might/victory, Verethraghna, were transferred to the adopted god Indra, who became the central deity of the developing Old Indic culture. Indra was the subject of 250 hymns, a quarter of the Rig Veda. He was associated more than any other deity with Soma, a stimulant drug (perhaps derived from Ephedra) probably borrowed from the BMAC religion. His rise to prominence was a peculiar trait of the Old Indic speakers.

 

LATER VEDIC LITERATURE

Rudra's transformation from an ambiguously characterized deity to a supreme being began in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad (400-200 BCE), which founded the tradition of Rudra-Shiva worship. Here they are identified as the creators of the cosmos and liberators of souls from the birth-rebirth cycle. The period of 200 BCE to 100 CE also marks the beginning of the Shaiva tradition focused on the worship of Shiva, with references to Shaiva ascetics in Patanjali's Mahabhasya and in the Mahabharata.

 

Early historical paintings at the Bhimbetka rock shelters, depict Shiva dancing, Shiva's trident, and his mount Nandi but no other Vedic gods.

 

PURANIC LITERATURE

The Shiva Puranas, particularly the Shiva Purana and the Linga Purana, discuss the various forms of Shiva and the cosmology associated with him.

 

TANTRIC LITERATURE

The Tantras, composed between the 8th and 11th centuries, regard themselves as Sruti. Among these the Shaiva Agamas, are said to have been revealed by Shiva himself and are foundational texts for Shaiva Siddhanta.

 

POSITION WITHIN HINDUISM

 

SHAIVISM

Shaivism (Sanskrit: शैव पंथ, śaiva paṁtha) (Kannada: ಶೈವ ಪಂಥ) (Tamil: சைவ சமயம்) is the oldest of the four major sects of Hinduism, the others being Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Smartism. Followers of Shaivism, called "Shaivas", and also "Saivas" or "Saivites", revere Shiva as the Supreme Being. Shaivas believe that Shiva is All and in all, the creator, preserver, destroyer, revealer and concealer of all that is. The tantric Shaiva tradition consists of the Kapalikas, Kashmir Shaivism and Shaiva Siddhanta. The Shiva MahaPurana is one of the purāṇas, a genre of Hindu religious texts, dedicated to Shiva. Shaivism is widespread throughout India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, mostly. Areas notable for the practice of Shaivism include parts of Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.

 

PANCHAYATANA PUJA

Panchayatana puja is the system of worship ('puja') in the Smarta sampradaya of Hinduism. It is said to have been introduced by Adi Shankara, the 8th century CE Hindu philosopher. It consists of the worship of five deities: Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Surya and Ganesha. Depending on the tradition followed by Smarta households, one of these deities is kept in the center and the other four surround it. Worship is offered to all the deities. The five are represented by small murtis, or by five kinds of stones, or by five marks drawn on the floor.

 

TRIMURTI

The Trimurti is a concept in Hinduism in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahmā the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver and Śhiva the destroyer or transformer. These three deities have been called "the Hindu triad" or the "Great Trinity", often addressed as "Brahma-Vishnu-Maheshwara."

 

ICONOGRAPHY AND PROPERTIES

 

ATTRIBUTES

Shiva's form: Shiva has a trident in the right lower arm, and a crescent moon on his head. He is said to be fair like camphor or like an ice clad mountain. He wears five serpents and a garland of skulls as ornaments. Shiva is usually depicted facing the south. His trident, like almost all other forms in Hinduism, can be understood as the symbolism of the unity of three worlds that a human faces - his inside world, his immediate world, and the broader overall world. At the base of the trident, all three forks unite.

 

Third eye: (Trilochana) Shiva is often depicted with a third eye, with which he burned Desire (Kāma) to ashes, called "Tryambakam" (Sanskrit: त्र्यम्बकम् ), which occurs in many scriptural sources. In classical Sanskrit, the word ambaka denotes "an eye", and in the Mahabharata, Shiva is depicted as three-eyed, so this name is sometimes translated as "having three eyes". However, in Vedic Sanskrit, the word ambā or ambikā means "mother", and this early meaning of the word is the basis for the translation "three mothers". These three mother-goddesses who are collectively called the Ambikās. Other related translations have been based on the idea that the name actually refers to the oblations given to Rudra, which according to some traditions were shared with the goddess Ambikā. It has been mentioned that when Shiva loses his temper, his third eye opens which can destroy most things to ashes.

 

Crescent moon: (The epithets "Chandrasekhara/Chandramouli") - Shiva bears on his head the crescent moon. The epithet Candraśekhara (Sanskrit: चन्द्रशेखर "Having the moon as his crest" - candra = "moon"; śekhara = "crest, crown") refers to this feature. The placement of the moon on his head as a standard iconographic feature dates to the period when Rudra rose to prominence and became the major deity Rudra-Shiva. The origin of this linkage may be due to the identification of the moon with Soma, and there is a hymn in the Rig Veda where Soma and Rudra are jointly implored, and in later literature, Soma and Rudra came to be identified with one another, as were Soma and the moon. The crescent moon is shown on the side of the Lord's head as an ornament. The waxing and waning phenomenon of the moon symbolizes the time cycle through which creation evolves from the beginning to the end.

 

Ashes: (The epithet "Bhasmaanga Raaga") - Shiva smears his body with ashes (bhasma). The ashes are said to represent the end of all material existence. Some forms of Shiva, such as Bhairava, are associated with a very old Indian tradition of cremation-ground asceticism that was practiced by some groups who were outside the fold of brahmanic orthodoxy. These practices associated with cremation grounds are also mentioned in the Pali canon of Theravada Buddhism. One epithet for Shiva is "inhabitant of the cremation ground" (Sanskrit: śmaśānavāsin, also spelled Shmashanavasin), referring to this connection.

 

Matted hair: (The epithet "Jataajoota Dhari/Kapardina") - Shiva's distinctive hair style is noted in the epithets Jaṭin, "the one with matted hair", and Kapardin, "endowed with matted hair" or "wearing his hair wound in a braid in a shell-like (kaparda) fashion". A kaparda is a cowrie shell, or a braid of hair in the form of a shell, or, more generally, hair that is shaggy or curly. His hair is said to be like molten gold in color or being yellowish-white.

 

Blue throat: The epithet Nīlakaṇtha (Sanskrit नीलकण्ठ; nīla = "blue", kaṇtha = "throat"). Since Shiva drank the Halahala poison churned up from the Samudra Manthan to eliminate its destructive capacity. Shocked by his act, Goddess Parvati strangled his neck and hence managed to stop it in his neck itself and prevent it from spreading all over the universe, supposed to be in Shiva's stomach. However the poison was so potent that it changed the color of his neck to blue. (See Maha Shivaratri.)

 

Sacred Ganges: (The epithet "Gangadhara") Bearer of Ganga. Ganges river flows from the matted hair of Shiva. The Gaṅgā (Ganges), one of the major rivers of the country, is said to have made her abode in Shiva's hair. The flow of the Ganges also represents the nectar of immortality.

 

Tiger skin: (The epithet "Krittivasana").He is often shown seated upon a tiger skin, an honour reserved for the most accomplished of Hindu ascetics, the Brahmarishis.

 

Serpents: (The epithet "Nagendra Haara" or 'Vasoki"). Shiva is often shown garlanded with a snake.

 

Deer: His holding deer on one hand indicates that He has removed the Chanchalata of the mind (i.e., attained maturity and firmness in thought process). A deer jumps from one place to another swiftly, similar to the mind moving from one thought to another.

 

Trident: (Trishula): Shiva's particular weapon is the trident. His Trisul that is held in His right hand represents the three Gunas— Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. That is the emblem of sovereignty. He rules the world through these three Gunas. The Damaru in His left hand represents the Sabda Brahman. It represents OM from which all languages are formed. It is He who formed the Sanskrit language out of the Damaru sound.

 

Drum: A small drum shaped like an hourglass is known as a damaru (ḍamaru). This is one of the attributes of Shiva in his famous dancing representation known as Nataraja. A specific hand gesture (mudra) called ḍamaru-hasta (Sanskrit for "ḍamaru-hand") is used to hold the drum. This drum is particularly used as an emblem by members of the Kāpālika sect.

 

Axe: (Parashu):The parashu is the weapon of Lord Shiva who gave it to Parashurama, sixth Avatar of Vishnu, whose name means "Rama with the axe" and also taught him its mastery.

 

Nandī: (The epithet "Nandi Vaahana").Nandī, also known as Nandin, is the name of the bull that serves as Shiva's mount (Sanskrit: vāhana). Shiva's association with cattle is reflected in his name Paśupati, or Pashupati (Sanskrit: पशुपति), translated by Sharma as "lord of cattle" and by Kramrisch as "lord of animals", who notes that it is particularly used as an epithet of Rudra. Rishabha or the bull represents Dharma Devata. Lord Siva rides on the bull. Bull is his vehicle. This denotes that Lord Siva is the protector of Dharma, is an embodiment of Dharma or righteousness.

 

Gaṇa: The Gaṇas (Devanagari: गण) are attendants of Shiva and live in Kailash. They are often referred to as the bhutaganas, or ghostly hosts, on account of their nature. Generally benign, except when their lord is transgressed against, they are often invoked to intercede with the lord on behalf of the devotee. Ganesha was chosen as their leader by Shiva, hence Ganesha's title gaṇa-īśa or gaṇa-pati, "lord of the gaṇas".

 

Mount Kailāsa: Mount Kailash in the Himalayas is his traditional abode. In Hindu mythology, Mount Kailāsa is conceived as resembling a Linga, representing the center of the universe.

 

Varanasi: Varanasi (Benares) is considered to be the city specially loved by Shiva, and is one of the holiest places of pilgrimage in India. It is referred to, in religious contexts, as Kashi.

 

LINGAM

Apart from anthropomorphic images of Shiva, the worship of Shiva in the form of a lingam, or linga, is also important. These are depicted in various forms. One common form is the shape of a vertical rounded column. Shiva means auspiciousness, and linga means a sign or a symbol. Hence, the Shivalinga is regarded as a "symbol of the great God of the universe who is all-auspiciousness". Shiva also means "one in whom the whole creation sleeps after dissolution". Linga also means the same thing—a place where created objects get dissolved during the disintegration of the created universe. Since, according to Hinduism, it is the same god that creates, sustains and withdraws the universe, the Shivalinga represents symbolically God Himself. Some scholars, such as Monier Monier-Williams and Wendy Doniger, also view linga as a phallic symbol, although this interpretation is disputed by others, including Christopher Isherwood, Vivekananda, Swami Sivananda, and S.N. Balagangadhara.

 

JYOTIRLINGA

The worship of the Shiva-Linga originated from the famous hymn in the Atharva-Veda Samhitâ sung in praise of the Yupa-Stambha, the sacrificial post. In that hymn, a description is found of the beginningless and endless Stambha or Skambha, and it is shown that the said Skambha is put in place of the eternal Brahman. Just as the Yajna (sacrificial) fire, its smoke, ashes, and flames, the Soma plant, and the ox that used to carry on its back the wood for the Vedic sacrifice gave place to the conceptions of the brightness of Shiva's body, his tawny matted hair, his blue throat, and the riding on the bull of the Shiva, the Yupa-Skambha gave place in time to the Shiva-Linga. In the text Linga Purana, the same hymn is expanded in the shape of stories, meant to establish the glory of the great Stambha and the superiority of Shiva as Mahadeva.

 

The sacred of all Shiva linga is worshipped as Jyotir linga. Jyoti means Radiance, apart from relating Shiva linga as a phallus symbol, there are also arguments that Shiva linga means 'mark' or a 'sign'. Jyotirlinga means "The Radiant sign of The Almighty". The Jyotirlingas are mentioned in Shiva Purana.

 

SHAKTI

Shiva forms a Tantric couple with Shakti [Tamil : சக்தி ], the embodiment of energy, dynamism, and the motivating force behind all action and existence in the material universe. Shiva is her transcendent masculine aspect, providing the divine ground of all being. Shakti manifests in several female deities. Sati and Parvati are the main consorts of Shiva. She is also referred to as Uma, Durga (Parvata), Kali and Chandika. Kali is the manifestation of Shakti in her dreadful aspect. The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death, Shiva. Since Shiva is called Kāla, the eternal time, Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" (as in "time has come"). Various Shakta Hindu cosmologies, as well as Shākta Tantric beliefs, worship her as the ultimate reality or Brahman. She is also revered as Bhavatārini (literally "redeemer of the universe"). Kālī is represented as the consort of Lord Shiva, on whose body she is often seen standing or dancing. Shiva is the masculine force, the power of peace, while Shakti translates to power, and is considered as the feminine force. In the Vaishnava tradition, these realities are portrayed as Vishnu and Laxmi, or Radha and Krishna. These are differences in formulation rather than a fundamental difference in the principles. Both Shiva and Shakti have various forms. Shiva has forms like Yogi Raj (the common image of Himself meditating in the Himalayas), Rudra (a wrathful form) and Natarajar (Shiva's dance are the Lasya - the gentle form of dance, associated with the creation of the world, and the Tandava - the violent and dangerous dance, associated with the destruction of weary worldviews – weary perspectives and lifestyles).

 

THE FIVE MANTRAS

Five is a sacred number for Shiva. One of his most important mantras has five syllables (namaḥ śivāya).

 

Shiva's body is said to consist of five mantras, called the pañcabrahmans. As forms of God, each of these have their own names and distinct iconography:

 

Sadyojāta

Vāmadeva

Aghora

Tatpuruṣha

Īsāna

 

These are represented as the five faces of Shiva and are associated in various texts with the five elements, the five senses, the five organs of perception, and the five organs of action. Doctrinal differences and, possibly, errors in transmission, have resulted in some differences between texts in details of how these five forms are linked with various attributes. The overall meaning of these associations is summarized by Stella Kramrisch:

 

Through these transcendent categories, Śiva, the ultimate reality, becomes the efficient and material cause of all that exists.

 

According to the Pañcabrahma Upanishad:

 

One should know all things of the phenomenal world as of a fivefold character, for the reason that the eternal verity of Śiva is of the character of the fivefold Brahman. (Pañcabrahma Upanishad 31)

 

FORMES AND ROLES

According to Gavin Flood, "Shiva is a god of ambiguity and paradox," whose attributes include opposing themes.[168] The ambivalent nature of this deity is apparent in some of his names and the stories told about him.

 

DESTROYER AND BENEFACTOR

In the Yajurveda, two contrary sets of attributes for both malignant or terrific (Sanskrit: rudra) and benign or auspicious (Sanskrit: śiva) forms can be found, leading Chakravarti to conclude that "all the basic elements which created the complex Rudra-Śiva sect of later ages are to be found here". In the Mahabharata, Shiva is depicted as "the standard of invincibility, might, and terror", as well as a figure of honor, delight, and brilliance. The duality of Shiva's fearful and auspicious attributes appears in contrasted names.

 

The name Rudra (Sanskrit: रुद्र) reflects his fearsome aspects. According to traditional etymologies, the Sanskrit name Rudra is derived from the root rud-, which means "to cry, howl". Stella Kramrisch notes a different etymology connected with the adjectival form raudra, which means "wild, of rudra nature", and translates the name Rudra as "the wild one" or "the fierce god". R. K. Sharma follows this alternate etymology and translates the name as "terrible". Hara (Sanskrit: हर) is an important name that occurs three times in the Anushasanaparvan version of the Shiva sahasranama, where it is translated in different ways each time it occurs, following a commentorial tradition of not repeating an interpretation. Sharma translates the three as "one who captivates", "one who consolidates", and "one who destroys". Kramrisch translates it as "the ravisher". Another of Shiva's fearsome forms is as Kāla (Sanskrit: काल), "time", and as Mahākāla (Sanskrit: महाकाल), "great time", which ultimately destroys all things. Bhairava (Sanskrit: भैरव), "terrible" or "frightful", is a fierce form associated with annihilation.

 

In contrast, the name Śaṇkara (Sanskrit: शङ्कर), "beneficent" or "conferring happiness" reflects his benign form. This name was adopted by the great Vedanta philosopher Śaṇkara (c. 788 - 820 CE), who is also known as Shankaracharya. The name Śambhu (Sanskrit: शम्भु), "causing happiness", also reflects this benign aspect.

 

ASCETIC AND HOUSEHOLDER

He is depicted as both an ascetic yogi and as a householder, roles which have been traditionally mutually exclusive in Hindu society.[185] When depicted as a yogi, he may be shown sitting and meditating. His epithet Mahāyogi ("the great Yogi: Mahā = "great", Yogi = "one who practices Yoga") refers to his association with yoga. While Vedic religion was conceived mainly in terms of sacrifice, it was during the Epic period that the concepts of tapas, yoga, and asceticism became more important, and the depiction of Shiva as an ascetic sitting in philosophical isolation reflects these later concepts. Shiva is also depicted as a corpse below Goddess Kali, it represents that Shiva is a corpse without Shakti. He remains inert. While Shiva is the static form, Mahakali or Shakti is the dynamic aspect without whom Shiva is powerless.

 

As a family man and householder, he has a wife, Parvati and two sons, Ganesha and Kartikeya. His epithet Umāpati ("The husband of Umā") refers to this idea, and Sharma notes that two other variants of this name that mean the same thing, Umākānta and Umādhava, also appear in the sahasranama. Umā in epic literature is known by many names, including the benign Pārvatī. She is identified with Devi, the Divine Mother; Shakti (divine energy) as well as goddesses like Tripura Sundari, Durga, Kamakshi and Meenakshi. The consorts of Shiva are the source of his creative energy. They represent the dynamic extension of Shiva onto this universe. His son Ganesha is worshipped throughout India and Nepal as the Remover of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings and Lord of Obstacles. Kartikeya is worshipped in Southern India (especially in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka) by the names Subrahmanya, Subrahmanyan, Shanmughan, Swaminathan and Murugan, and in Northern India by the names Skanda, Kumara, or Karttikeya.

 

Some regional deities are also identified as Shiva's children. As one story goes, Shiva is enticed by the beauty and charm of Mohini, Vishnu's female avatar, and procreates with her. As a result of this union, Shasta - identified with regional deities Ayyappa and Ayyanar - is born. Shiva is also mentioned in some scriptures or folktales to have had daughters like the serpent-goddess Manasa and Ashokasundari. Even the demon Andhaka is sometimes considered a child of Shiva.

 

NATARAJA

he depiction of Shiva as Nataraja (Tamil: நடராஜா,Kannada: ನಟರಾಜ, Telugu: నటరాజు, Sanskrit: naṭarāja, "Lord of Dance") is popular. The names Nartaka ("dancer") and Nityanarta ("eternal dancer") appear in the Shiva Sahasranama. His association with dance and also with music is prominent in the Puranic period. In addition to the specific iconographic form known as Nataraja, various other types of dancing forms (Sanskrit: nṛtyamūrti) are found in all parts of India, with many well-defined varieties in Tamil Nadu in particular. The two most common forms of the dance are the Tandava, which later came to denote the powerful and masculine dance as Kala-Mahakala associated with the destruction of the world. When it requires the world or universe to be destroyed, Lord Śiva does it by the tāṇḍavanṛtya. and Lasya, which is graceful and delicate and expresses emotions on a gentle level and is considered the feminine dance attributed to the goddess Parvati. Lasya is regarded as the female counterpart of Tandava. The Tandava-Lasya dances are associated with the destruction-creation of the world.

 

DAKSHINAMURTHY

Dakshinamurthy, or Dakṣiṇāmūrti (Tamil:தட்சிணாமூர்த்தி, Telugu: దక్షిణామూర్తి, Sanskrit: दक्षिणामूर्ति), literally describes a form (mūrti) of Shiva facing south (dakṣiṇa). This form represents Shiva in his aspect as a teacher of yoga, music, and wisdom and giving exposition on the shastras. This iconographic form for depicting Shiva in Indian art is mostly from Tamil Nadu. Elements of this motif can include Shiva seated upon a deer-throne and surrounded by sages who are receiving his instruction.

 

ARDANARISHVARA

An iconographic representation of Shiva called (Ardhanārīśvara) shows him with one half of the body as male and the other half as female. According to Ellen Goldberg, the traditional Sanskrit name for this form (Ardhanārīśvara) is best translated as "the lord who is half woman", not as "half-man, half-woman". According to legend, Lord Shiva is pleased by the difficult austerites performed by the goddess Parvati, grants her the left half of his body. This form of Shiva is quite similar to the Yin-Yang philosophy of Eastern Asia, though Ardhanārīśvara appears to be more ancient.

 

TRIRUPANTAKA

Shiva is often depicted as an archer in the act of destroying the triple fortresses, Tripura, of the Asuras. Shiva's name Tripurantaka (Sanskrit: त्रिपुरान्तक, Tripurāntaka), "ender of Tripura", refers to this important story.[216] In this aspect, Shiva is depicted with four arms wielding a bow and arrow, but different from the Pinakapani murti. He holds an axe and a deer on the upper pair of his arms. In the lower pair of the arms, he holds a bow and an arrow respectively. After destroying Tripura, Tripurantaka Shiva smeared his forehead with three strokes of Ashes. This has become a prominent symbol of Shiva and is practiced even today by Shaivites.

 

OTHER FORMS, AVATARS IDENTIFICATIONS

Shiva, like some other Hindu deities, is said to have several incarnations, known as Avatars. Although Puranic scriptures contain occasional references to "ansh" avatars of Shiva, the idea is not universally accepted in Saivism. The Linga Purana speaks of twenty-eight forms of Shiva which are sometimes seen as avatars. According to the Svetasvatara Upanishad, he has four avatars.

 

In the Hanuman Chalisa, Hanuman is identified as the eleventh avatar of Shiva and this belief is universal. Hanuman is popularly known as “Rudraavtaar” “Rudra” being a name of “Shiva”. Rama– the Vishnu avatar is considered by some to be the eleventh avatar of Rudra (Shiva).

 

Other traditions regard the sage Durvasa, the sage Agastya, the philosopher Adi Shankara, as avatars of Shiva. Other forms of Shiva include Virabhadra and Sharabha.

 

FESTIVALS

Maha Shivratri is a festival celebrated every year on the 13th night or the 14th day of the new moon in the Shukla Paksha of the month of Maagha or Phalguna in the Hindu calendar. This festival is of utmost importance to the devotees of Lord Shiva. Mahashivaratri marks the night when Lord Shiva performed the 'Tandava' and it is the day that Lord Shiva was married to Parvati. The holiday is often celebrated with special prayers and rituals offered up to Shiva, notably the Abhishek. This ritual, practiced throughout the night, is often performed every three hours with water, milk, yogurt, and honey. Bel (aegle marmelos) leaves are often offered up to the Hindu god, as it is considered necessary for a successful life. The offering of the leaves are considered so important that it is believed that someone who offers them without any intentions will be rewarded greatly.

 

BEYOND HINDUISM

 

BUDDHISM

Shiva is mentioned in Buddhist Tantra. Shiva as Upaya and Shakti as Prajna. In cosmologies of buddhist tantra, Shiva is depicted as active, skillful, and more passive.

 

SIKHISM

The Japuji Sahib of the Guru Granth Sahib says, "The Guru is Shiva, the Guru is Vishnu and Brahma; the Guru is Paarvati and Lakhshmi." In the same chapter, it also says, "Shiva speaks, the Siddhas speak."

 

In Dasam Granth, Guru Gobind Singh have mentioned two avtars of Rudra: Dattatreya Avtar and Parasnath Avtar.

 

OTHERS

The worship of Lord Shiva became popular in Central Asia through the Hephthalite (White Hun) Dynasty, and Kushan Empire. Shaivism was also popular in Sogdiana and Eastern Turkestan as found from the wall painting from Penjikent on the river Zervashan. In this depiction, Shiva is portrayed with a sacred halo and a sacred thread ("Yajnopavita"). He is clad in tiger skin while his attendants are wearing Sodgian dress. In Eastern Turkestan in the Taklamakan Desert. There is a depiction of his four-legged seated cross-legged n a cushioned seat supported by two bulls. Another panel form Dandan-Uilip shows Shiva in His Trimurti form with His Shakti kneeling on her right thigh. It is also noted that Zoroastrian wind god Vayu-Vata took on the iconographic appearance of Shiva.

 

Kirant people, a Mongol tribe from Nepal, worship a form of Shiva as one of their major deity, identifying him as the lord of animals. It is also said that the physical form of Shiva as a yogi is derived from Kirants as it is mentioned in Mundhum that Shiva took human form as a child of Kirant. He is also said to give Kirants visions in form of a male deer.

 

In Indonesia, Shiva is also worshiped as Batara Guru. His other name is "Sang Hyang Jagadnata" (king of the universe) and "Sang Hyang Girinata" (king of mountains). In the ancient times, all kingdoms were located on top of mountains. When he was young, before receiving his authority of power, his name was Sang Hyang Manikmaya. He is first of the children who hatched from the eggs laid by Manuk Patiaraja, wife of god Mulajadi na Bolon. This avatar is also worshiped in Malaysia. Shiva's other form in Indonesian Hindu worship is "Maharaja Dewa" (Mahadeva). Both the forms are closely identified with the Sun in local forms of Hinduism or Kebatinan, and even in the genie lore of Muslims. Mostly Shiva is worshipped in the form of a lingam or the phallus.

 

WIKIPEDIA

To prevent his inheritance from going to his greedy family, a steel tycoon (Richard Bennett) chooses eight random strangers and gives them each $1 million. Among those chosen are an entertainer (W.C. Fields) who uses the money to clear bad drivers from the road, a Marine (Gary Cooper) who believes the check is an April Fool's Day prank, and an office clerk (Charles Laughton) who finally sees an opportunity to quit his job. The unexpected windfalls bring joy -- or tragedy -- to the recipients.

 

I have a DVD of this picture, and I can recommend it, wholeheartedly!

 

Trouvez-les ici: www.rageon.com/a/users/benheine

 

Nos masques personnalisés sont de haute qualité, à couverture complète, avec des bandes élastiques douces dans le dos (pas gênantes autour des oreilles), à double couche, lavables en machine, réutilisables, antimicrobiens, de qualité photoréaliste - ET - ils aident à sauver des vies!

 

Pourquoi porter un masque facial aidera à sauver des vies:

Si vous souffrez de CoViD-19, êtes asymptomatique ou malade en général, cela AIDERA à atténuer la propagation des gouttelettes et vous aidera en vous faisant moins toucher le visage. Toucher votre visage est l'un des moyens les plus simples d'introduire le virus dans votre corps par le nez et la bouche.

 

Les masques sont également parfaits pour les allergènes d'animaux de compagnie, les environnements poussiéreux et les autres environnements nécessitant une protection respiratoire.

 

Remarque:

Ce masque facial n'est PAS 100% préventif, aucun masque ne l'est et il n'est PAS destiné à être un masque chirurgical ou un respirateur médical. Certaines des meilleures pratiques comprennent: la mise en quarantaine / l'éloignement social, se laver les mains et rester à l'écart des personnes malades. N'oubliez pas que ce masque est mieux que rien - alors portez-en un pour aider à sauver des vies s'il n'y a rien d'autre de mieux disponible.

 

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El Presidente Municipal Enrique Alfaro acompañado por el Comisario General de la Policía Preventiva, Salvador Caro Cabrera, presiden la entrega de Segways y nuevas unidades a la Comisaría de la Policía Preventiva Municipal

Sgt. Frankie Stout, a carpenter with the 115 Engineering Battalion out of Clarksburg, W.Va., shovels six foot snow mounds from the roof of the Davis Volunteer Fire Department. Stout worked with other 115 soldiers to remove the snow to prevent the roof from collapsing nearly a week after Hurricane Sandy hit the East coast.

153rd Public Affairs Detachment

Photo by Staff Sgt. Debra Richardson

Date Taken:11.02.2012

Location:DAVIS, WV, US

Read more: www.dvidshub.net/image/774074/west-virginia-guard-soldier...

 

Woman holding contraception pills and condom in hand / Birth control contraceptive means prevent pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease

Preventing Terrorist Recruitment - An Impossible Idea www.academia.edu/43448012/Preventing_Terrorist_Recruitmen... via @academia

Tobacco is a product prepared from the leaves of the tobacco plant by curing them. The plant is part of the genus Nicotiana and of the Solanaceae (nightshade) family. While more than 70 species of tobacco are known, the chief commercial crop is N. tabacum. The more potent variant N. rustica is also used around the world.

 

Tobacco contains the alkaloid nicotine, which is a stimulant. Dried tobacco leaves are mainly used for smoking in cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, and flavored shisha tobacco. They can be also consumed as snuff, chewing tobacco, dipping tobacco and snus.

 

Tobacco use is a risk factor for many diseases, especially those affecting the heart, liver, and lungs, as well as many cancers. In 2008, the World Health Organization named tobacco as the world's single greatest cause of preventable death.

 

ETYMOLOGY

The English word "tobacco" originates from the Spanish and Portuguese word "tabaco". The precise origin of this word is disputed, but it is generally thought to have derived at least in part, from Taino, the Arawakan language of the Caribbean. In Taino, it was said to mean either a roll of tobacco leaves (according to Bartolomé de las Casas, 1552) or to tabago, a kind of Y-shaped pipe used for sniffing tobacco smoke (according to Oviedo; with the leaves themselves being referred to as cohiba).

 

However, perhaps coincidentally, similar words in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian were used from 1410 to define medicinal herbs believed to have originated from the Arabic طُبّاق ṭubbāq (also طُباق ṭubāq), a word reportedly dating to the 9th century, as a name for various herbs.

 

HISTORY

TRADITIONAL USE

Tobacco has long been used in the Americas, with some cultivation sites in Mexico dating back to 1400–1000 BC. Many Native American tribes have traditionally grown and used tobacco. Eastern North American tribes have historically carried tobacco in pouches as a readily accepted trade item, as well as smoking it, both socially and ceremonially, such as to seal a peace treaty or trade agreement. Traditionally, tobacco is seen as a gift from the Creator, with the ceremonial tobacco smoke carrying one's thoughts and prayers to the Creator.

 

POPULARIZATION

Following the arrival of the Europeans, tobacco became increasingly popular as a trade item. Hernández de Boncalo, Spanish chronicler of the Indies, was the first European to bring tobacco seeds to the Old World in 1559 following orders of King Philip II of Spain. These seeds were planted in the outskirts of Toledo, more specifically in an area known as "Los Cigarrales" named after the continuous plagues of cicadas (cigarras in Spanish). Before the development of lighter Virginia and white burley strains of tobacco, the smoke was too harsh to be inhaled. Small quantities were smoked at a time, using a pipe like the midwakh or kiseru or smoking newly invented waterpipes such as the bong or the hookah (see thuốc lào for a modern continuance of this practice).

 

Tobacco smoking, chewing, and snuffing became a major industry in Europe and its colonies by 1700.

 

Tobacco has been a major cash crop in Cuba and in other parts of the Caribbean since the 18th century. Cuban cigars are world-famous.

 

In the late 19th century, cigarettes became popular. James Bonsack created a machine that automated cigarette production. This increase in production allowed tremendous growth in the tobacco industry until the health revelations of the late-20th century.

 

CONTEMPORARY

Following the scientific revelations of the mid-20th century, tobacco became condemned as a health hazard, and eventually became encompassed as a cause for cancer, as well as other respiratory and circulatory diseases. In the United States, this led to the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, which settled the lawsuit in exchange for a combination of yearly payments to the states and voluntary restrictions on advertising and marketing of tobacco products.

 

In the 1970s, Brown & Williamson cross-bred a strain of tobacco to produce Y1. This strain of tobacco contained an unusually high amount of nicotine, nearly doubling its content from 3.2-3.5% to 6.5%. In the 1990s, this prompted the Food and Drug Administration to use this strain as evidence that tobacco companies were intentionally manipulating the nicotine content of cigarettes.

 

In 2003, in response to growth of tobacco use in developing countries, the World Health Organization successfully rallied 168 countries to sign the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The convention is designed to push for effective legislation and its enforcement in all countries to reduce the harmful effects of tobacco. This led to the development of tobacco cessation products.

 

BIOLOGY

NICOTIANA

Many species of tobacco are in the genus of herbs Nicotiana. It is part of the nightshade family (Solanaceae) indigenous to North and South America, Australia, south west Africa, and the South Pacific.

 

Many plants contain nicotine, a powerful neurotoxin to insects. However, tobaccos contain a higher concentration of nicotine than most other plants. Unlike many other Solanaceae species, they do not contain tropane alkaloids, which are often poisonous to humans and other animals.

 

Despite containing enough nicotine and other compounds such as germacrene and anabasine and other piperidine alkaloids (varying between species) to deter most herbivores, a number of such animals have evolved the ability to feed on Nicotiana species without being harmed. Nonetheless, tobacco is unpalatable to many species, and accordingly some tobacco plants (chiefly N. glauca) have become established as invasive weeds in some places.

 

TYPES

The types of tobacco include:

Aromatic fire-cured is cured by smoke from open fires. In the United States, it is grown in northern middle Tennessee, central Kentucky, and Virginia. Fire-cured tobacco grown in Kentucky and Tennessee is used in some chewing tobaccos, moist snuff, some cigarettes, and as a condiment in pipe tobacco blends. Another fire-cured tobacco is Latakia, which is produced from oriental varieties of N. tabacum. The leaves are cured and smoked over smoldering fires of local hardwoods and aromatic shrubs in Cyprus and Syria.

Brightleaf tobacco is commonly known as "Virginia tobacco", often regardless of the state where it is planted. Prior to the American Civil War, most tobacco grown in the US was fire-cured dark-leaf. Sometime after the War of 1812, demand for a milder, lighter, more aromatic tobacco arose. Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland all innovated with milder varieties of the tobacco plant. Farmers discovered that Bright leaf tobacco needs thin, starved soil, and those who could not grow other crops found that they could grow tobacco. Confederate soldiers traded it with each other and Union soldiers, and developed quite a taste for it. At the end of the war, the soldiers went home and a national market had developed for the local crop.

Burley tobacco is an air-cured tobacco used primarily for cigarette production. In the U.S., burley tobacco plants are started from pelletized seeds placed in polystyrene trays floated on a bed of fertilized water in March or April.

Cavendish is more a process of curing and a method of cutting tobacco than a type. The processing and the cut are used to bring out the natural sweet taste in the tobacco. Cavendish can be produced from any tobacco type, but is usually one of, or a blend of Kentucky, Virginia, and burley, and is most commonly used for pipe tobacco and cigars.

Criollo tobacco is primarily used in the making of cigars. It was, by most accounts, one of the original Cuban tobaccos that emerged around the time of Columbus.

Dokha is a tobacco originally grown in Iran, mixed with leaves, bark, and herbs for smoking in a midwakh.

Turkish tobacco is a sun-cured, highly aromatic, small-leafed variety (Nicotiana tabacum) grown in Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, and Macedonia. Originally grown in regions historically part of the Ottoman Empire, it is also known as "oriental". Many of the early brands of cigarettes were made mostly or entirely of Turkish tobacco; today, its main use is in blends of pipe and especially cigarette tobacco (a typical American cigarette is a blend of bright Virginia, burley, and Turkish).

Perique was developed in 1824 through the technique of pressure-fermentation of local tobacco by a farmer, Pierre Chenet. Considered the truffle of pipe tobaccos, it is used as a component in many blended pipe tobaccos, but is too strong to be smoked pure. At one time, the freshly moist Perique was also chewed, but none is now sold for this purpose. It is typically blended with pure Virginia to lend spice, strength, and coolness to the blend.

Shade tobacco is cultivated in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Early Connecticut colonists acquired from the Native Americans the habit of smoking tobacco in pipes, and began cultivating the plant commercially, though the Puritans referred to it as the "evil weed". The Connecticut shade industry has weathered some major catastrophes, including a devastating hailstorm in 1929, and an epidemic of brown spot fungus in 2000, but is now in danger of disappearing altogether, given the increase in the value of land.

White burley air-cured leaf was found to be more mild than other types of tobacco. In 1865, George Webb of Brown County, Ohio planted red burley seeds he had purchased, and found a few of the seedlings had a whitish, sickly look, which became white burley.

Wild tobacco is native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, and parts of South America. Its botanical name is Nicotiana rustica.

Y1 is a strain of tobacco cross-bred by Brown & Williamson in the 1970s to obtain an unusually high nicotine content. In the 1990s, the United States Food and Drug Administration used it as evidence that tobacco companies were intentionally manipulating the nicotine content of cigarettes.

 

PRODUCTION

CULTIVATION

Tobacco is cultivated similarly to other agricultural products. Seeds were at first quickly scattered onto the soil. However, young plants came under increasing attack from flea beetles (Epitrix cucumeris or E. pubescens), which caused destruction of half the tobacco crops in United States in 1876. By 1890, successful experiments were conducted that placed the plant in a frame covered by thin cotton fabric. Today, tobacco is sown in cold frames or hotbeds, as their germination is activated by light.

 

In the United States, tobacco is often fertilized with the mineral apatite, which partially starves the plant of nitrogen, to produce a more desired flavor.

 

After the plants are about 8 in tall, they are transplanted into the fields. Farmers used to have to wait for rainy weather to plant. A hole is created in the tilled earth with a tobacco peg, either a curved wooden tool or deer antler. After making two holes to the right and left, the planter would move forward two feet, select plants from his/her bag, and repeat. Various mechanical tobacco planters like Bemis, New Idea Setter, and New Holland Transplanter were invented in the late 19th and 20th centuries to automate the process: making the hole, watering it, guiding the plant in — all in one motion.

 

Tobacco is cultivated annually, and can be harvested in several ways. In the oldest method still used today, the entire plant is harvested at once by cutting off the stalk at the ground with a tobacco knife. It is then speared onto sticks, four to six plants a stick and hung in a curing barn. In the 19th century, bright tobacco began to be harvested by pulling individual leaves off the stalk as they ripened. The leaves ripen from the ground upwards, so a field of tobacco harvested in this manner involves the serial harvest of a number of "primings", beginning with the volado leaves near the ground, working to the seco leaves in the middle of the plant, and finishing with the potent ligero leaves at the top. Before this, the crop must be topped when the pink flowers develop. Topping always refers to the removal of the tobacco flower before the leaves are systematically removed, and eventually, entirely harvested. As the industrial revolution took hold, harvesting wagons used to transport leaves were equipped with man-powered stringers, an apparatus that used twine to attach leaves to a pole. In modern times, large fields are harvested mechanically, although topping the flower and in some cases the plucking of immature leaves is still done by hand. Most tobacco in the U.S. is grown in North Carolina, Kentucky, and Virginia.

 

CURING

Curing and subsequent aging allow for the slow oxidation and degradation of carotenoids in tobacco leaf. This produces certain compounds in the tobacco leaves, and gives a sweet hay, tea, rose oil, or fruity aromatic flavor that contributes to the "smoothness" of the smoke. Starch is converted to sugar, which glycates protein, and is oxidized into advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs), a caramelization process that also adds flavor. Inhalation of these AGEs in tobacco smoke contributes to atherosclerosis and cancer. Levels of AGEs are dependent on the curing method used.

 

Tobacco can be cured through several methods, including:

 

Air-cured tobacco is hung in well-ventilated barns and allowed to dry over a period of four to eight weeks. Air-cured tobacco is low in sugar, which gives the tobacco smoke a light, mild flavor, and high in nicotine. Cigar and burley tobaccos are 'dark' air-cured.

Fire-cured tobacco is hung in large barns where fires of hardwoods are kept on continuous or intermittent low smoulder, and takes between three days and ten weeks, depending on the process and the tobacco. Fire curing produces a tobacco low in sugar and high in nicotine. Pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, and snuff are fire-cured.

Flue-cured tobacco was originally strung onto tobacco sticks, which were hung from tier-poles in curing barns (Aus: kilns, also traditionally called 'oasts'). These barns have flues run from externally fed fire boxes, heat-curing the tobacco without exposing it to smoke, slowly raising the temperature over the course of the curing. The process generally takes about a week. This method produces cigarette tobacco that is high in sugar and has medium to high levels of nicotine. Most cigarettes incorporate flue-cured tobacco, which produces a milder, more inhalable smoke.

Sun-cured tobacco dries uncovered in the sun. This method is used in Turkey, Greece, and other Mediterranean countries to produce oriental tobacco. Sun-cured tobacco is low in sugar and nicotine and is used in cigarettes.

 

GLOBAL PRODUCTION

Production of tobacco leaf increased by 40% between 1971, when 4.2 million tons of leaf were produced, and 1997, when 5.9 million tons of leaf were produced. According to the Food and Agriculture organization of the UN, tobacco leaf production was expected to hit 7.1 million tons by 2010. This number is a bit lower than the record-high production of 1992, when 7.5 million tons of leaf were produced. The production growth was almost entirely due to increased productivity by developing nations, where production increased by 128%. During that same time, production in developed countries actually decreased. China's increase in tobacco production was the single biggest factor in the increase in world production. China's share of the world market increased from 17% in 1971 to 47% in 1997. This growth can be partially explained by the existence of a high import tariff on foreign tobacco entering China. While this tariff has been reduced from 64% in 1999 to 10% in 2004, it still has led to local, Chinese cigarettes being preferred over foreign cigarettes because of their lower cost.

 

MAJOR PRODUCERS

Every year, about 6.7 million tons of tobacco are produced throughout the world. The top producers of tobacco are China (39.6%), India (8.3%), Brazil (7.0%) and the United States (4.6%).

 

CHINA

Around the peak of global tobacco production, 20 million rural Chinese households were producing tobacco on 2.1 million hectares of land. While it is the major crop for millions of Chinese farmers, growing tobacco is not as profitable as cotton or sugarcane, because the Chinese government sets the market price. While this price is guaranteed, it is lower than the natural market price, because of the lack of market risk. To further control tobacco in their borders, China founded a State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) in 1982. The STMA controls tobacco production, marketing, imports, and exports, and contributes 12% to the nation's national income. As noted above, despite the income generated for the state by profits from state-owned tobacco companies and the taxes paid by companies and retailers, China's government has acted to reduce tobacco use.

 

INDIA

India's Tobacco Board is headquartered in Guntur in the state of Andhra Pradesh. India has 96,865 registered tobacco farmers and many more who are not registered. In 2010, 3,120 tobacco product manufacturing facilities were operating in all of India.[32] Around 0.25% of India's cultivated land is used for tobacco production.

 

Since 1947, the Indian government has supported growth in the tobacco industry. India has seven tobacco research centers, located in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, Mysore, West Bengal, and Rajamundry. Rajahmundry houses the core research institute. The government has set up a Central Tobacco Promotion Council, which works to increase exports of Indian tobacco.

 

BRAZIL

In Brazil, around 135,000 family farmers cite tobacco production as their main economic activity. Tobacco has never exceeded 0.7% of the country's total cultivated area. In the southern regions of Brazil, Virginia, and Amarelinho, flue-cured tobacco, as well as burley and Galpão Comum air-cured tobacco, are produced. These types of tobacco are used for cigarettes. In the northeast, darker, air- and sun-cured tobacco is grown. These types of tobacco are used for cigars, twists, and dark cigarettes. Brazil's government has made attempts to reduce the production of tobacco, but has not had a successful systematic antitobacco farming initiative. Brazil's government, however, provides small loans for family farms, including those that grow tobacco, through the Programa Nacional de Fortalecimento da Agricultura Familiar.

 

PROBLEMS IN PRODUCTION

CHILD LABOR

The International Labour Office reported that the most child-laborers work in agriculture, which is one of the most hazardous types of work. The tobacco industry houses some of these working children. Use of children is widespread on farms in Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Malawi, and Zimbabwe. While some of these children work with their families on small, family-owned farms, others work on large plantations. In late 2009, reports were released by the London-based human-rights group Plan International, claiming that child labor was common on Malawi (producer of 1.8% of the world's tobacco) tobacco farms. The organization interviewed 44 teens, who worked full-time on farms during the 2007-8 growing season. The child-laborers complained of low pay and long hours, as well as physical and sexual abuse by their supervisors. They also reported suffering from Green tobacco sickness, a form of nicotine poisoning. When wet leaves are handled, nicotine from the leaves gets absorbed in the skin and causes nausea, vomiting, and dizziness. Children were exposed to 50-cigarettes-worth of nicotine through direct contact with tobacco leaves. This level of nicotine in children can permanently alter brain structure and function.

 

ECONOMY

Major tobacco companies have encouraged global tobacco production. Philip Morris, British American Tobacco, and Japan Tobacco each own or lease tobacco-manufacturing facilities in at least 50 countries and buy crude tobacco leaf from at least 12 more countries. This encouragement, along with government subsidies, has led to a glut in the tobacco market. This surplus has resulted in lower prices, which are devastating to small-scale tobacco farmers. According to the World Bank, between 1985 and 2000, the inflation-adjusted price of tobacco dropped 37%. Tobacco is the most widely smuggled legal product.

 

ENVIRONMENT

Tobacco production requires the use of large amounts of pesticides. Tobacco companies recommend up to 16 separate applications of pesticides just in the period between planting the seeds in greenhouses and transplanting the young plants to the field. Pesticide use has been worsened by the desire to produce larger crops in less time because of the decreasing market value of tobacco. Pesticides often harm tobacco farmers because they are unaware of the health effects and the proper safety protocol for working with pesticides. These pesticides, as well as fertilizers, end up in the soil, waterways, and the food chain. Coupled with child labor, pesticides pose an even greater threat. Early exposure to pesticides may increase a child's lifelong cancer risk, as well as harm his or her nervous and immune systems.

 

Tobacco crops extract nutrients (such as phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium) from soil, decreasing its fertility.

 

Furthermore, the wood used to cure tobacco in some places leads to deforestation. While some big tobacco producers such as China and the United States have access to petroleum, coal, and natural gas, which can be used as alternatives to wood, most developing countries still rely on wood in the curing process. Brazil alone uses the wood of 60 million trees per year for curing, packaging, and rolling cigarettes.

 

RESEARCH

Several tobacco plants have been used as model organisms in genetics. Tobacco BY-2 cells, derived from N. tabacum cultivar 'Bright Yellow-2', are among the most important research tools in plant cytology. Tobacco has played a pioneering role in callus culture research and the elucidation of the mechanism by which kinetin works, laying the groundwork for modern agricultural biotechnology. The first genetically modified plant was produced in 1982, using Agrobacterium tumefaciens to create an antibiotic-resistant tobacco plant. This research laid the groundwork for all genetically modified crops.

 

GENETIC MODIFICATION

Because of its importance as a research tool, transgenic tobacco was the first GM crop to be tested in field trials, in the United States and France in 1986; China became the first country in the world to approve commercial planting of a GM crop in 1993, which was tobacco.

 

FIELD TRIALS

Many varieties of transgenic tobacco have been intensively tested in field trials. Agronomic traits such as resistance to pathogens (viruses, particularly to the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV); fungi; bacteria and nematodes); weed management via herbicide tolerance; resistance against insect pests; resistance to drought and cold; and production of useful products such as pharmaceuticals; and use of GM plants for bioremediation, have all been tested in over 400 field trials using tobacco.

 

PRODUCTION

Currently, only the US is producing GM tobacco. The Chinese virus-resistant tobacco was withdrawn from the market in China in 1997. In the US, cigarettes made with GM tobacco with reduced nicotine content are available under the market name Quest.

 

CONSUMPTION

Tobacco is consumed in many forms and through a number of different methods. Some examples are:

 

Beedi are thin, often flavoured cigarettes from India made of tobacco wrapped in a tendu leaf, and secured with coloured thread at one end.

Chewing tobacco is the oldest way of consuming tobacco leaves. It is consumed orally, in two forms: through sweetened strands, or in a shredded form. When consuming the long, sweetened strands, the tobacco is lightly chewed and compacted into a ball. When consuming the shredded tobacco, small amounts are placed at the bottom lip, between the gum and the teeth, where it is gently compacted, thus it can often be called dipping tobacco. Both methods stimulate the salivary glands, which led to the development of the spittoon.

Cigars are tightly rolled bundles of dried and fermented tobacco, which are ignited so their smoke may be drawn into the smokers' mouths.

Cigarettes are a product consumed through inhalation of smoke and manufactured from cured and finely cut tobacco leaves and reconstituted tobacco, often combined with other additives, then rolled into a paper cylinder.

Creamy snuffs are tobacco paste, consisting of tobacco, clove oil, glycerin, spearmint, menthol, and camphor, and sold in a toothpaste tube. It is marketed mainly to women in India, and is known by the brand names Ipco (made by Asha Industries), Denobac, Tona, and Ganesh. It is locally known as mishri in some parts of Maharashtra.

Dipping tobaccos are a form of smokeless tobacco. Dip is occasionally referred to as "chew", and because of this, it is commonly confused with chewing tobacco, which encompasses a wider range of products. A small clump of dip is 'pinched' out of the tin and placed between the lower or upper lip and gums. Some brands, as with snus, are portioned in small, porous pouches for less mess.

Gutka is a preparation of crushed betel nut, tobacco, and sweet or savory flavorings. It is manufactured in India and exported to a few other countries. A mild stimulant, it is sold across India in small, individual-sized packets.

Hookah is a single- or multistemmed (often glass-based) water pipe for smoking. Hookahs were first used in India and Persia; the hookah has gained immense popularity, especially in the Middle East. A hookah operates by water filtration and indirect heat. It can be used for smoking herbal fruits or moassel, a mixture of tobacco, flavouring, and honey or glycerin.

Kreteks are cigarettes made with a complex blend of tobacco, cloves, and a flavoring "sauce". It was first introduced in the 1880s in Kudus, Java, to deliver the medicinal eugenol of cloves to the lungs.

Roll-your-own, often called 'rollies' or 'roll-ups', are relatively popular in some European countries. These are prepared from loose tobacco, cigarette papers, and filters all bought separately. They are usually cheaper to make.

Pipe smoking typically consists of a small chamber (the bowl) for the combustion of the tobacco to be smoked and a thin stem (shank) that ends in a mouthpiece (the bit). Shredded pieces of tobacco are placed into the chamber and ignited.

Snuff is a ground smokeless tobacco product, inhaled or "snuffed" through the nose. If referring specifically to the orally consumed moist snuff, see dipping tobacco.

Snus is a steam-cured moist powdered tobacco product that is not fermented, and induces minimal salivation. It is consumed by placing it (loose or in little pouches) against the upper gums for an extended period of time. It is somewhat similar to dipping tobacco but does not require spitting and is significantly lower in TSNAs.

Tobacco edibles, often it the form of an infusion or a spice, have gained popularity in recent years.

Topical tobacco paste is sometimes used as a treatment for wasp, hornet, fire ant, scorpion, and bee stings. An amount equivalent to the contents of a cigarette is mashed in a cup with about a half a teaspoon of water to make a paste that is then applied to the affected area.

Tobacco water is a traditional organic insecticide used in domestic gardening. Tobacco dust can be used similarly. It is produced by boiling strong tobacco in water, or by steeping the tobacco in water for a longer period. When cooled, the mixture can be applied as a spray, or 'painted' on to the leaves of garden plants, where it kills insects. Tobacco is, however, banned from use as pesticide in certified organic production.

 

IMPACT

SOCIAL

Smoking in public was, for a long time, reserved for men, and when done by women was sometimes associated with promiscuity; in Japan, during the Edo period, prostitutes and their clients often approached one another under the guise of offering a smoke. The same was true in 19th-century Europe.

 

Following the American Civil War, the use of tobacco, primarily in cigars, became associated with masculinity and power. Today, tobacco is often rejected; this has spawned quitting associations and antismoking campaigns. Bhutan is the only country in the world where tobacco sales are illegal.

 

DEMOGRAPHIC

Research on tobacco use is limited mainly to smoking, which has been studied more extensively than any other form of consumption. An estimated 1.1 billion people, and up to one-third of the adult population, use tobacco in some form. Smoking is more prevalent among men (however, the gender gap declines with age), the poor, and in transitional or developing countries

 

Rates of smoking continue to rise in developing countries, but have leveled off or declined in developed countries. Smoking rates in the United States have dropped by half from 1965 to 2006, falling from 42% to 20.8% in adults. In the developing world, tobacco consumption is rising by 3.4% per year.

 

HARMFUL EFFECTS OF TOBACCO AND SMOKING

Tobacco smoking poses a risk to health due to the inhalation of poisonous chemicals in tobacco smoke such as Carbon Monoxide, Cyanide, and Carcinogens which have been proven to cause heart and lung diseases and Cancer. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), tobacco is the single greatest cause of preventable death globally. The WHO estimates that tobacco caused 5.4 million deaths in 2004 and 100 million deaths over the course of the 20th century. Similarly, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describe tobacco use as "the single most important preventable risk to human health in developed countries and an important cause of premature death worldwide."

 

The harms caused by inhalation of poisonous chemicals such as Carbon Monoxide in tobacco smoke include diseases affecting the heart and lungs, with smoking being a major risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, and cancer (particularly lung cancer, cancers of the larynx and mouth, and pancreatic cancers). Cancer is caused by inhaling carcinogenic substances present in tobacco smoke.

 

Inhaling secondhand tobacco smoke can cause lung cancer in nonsmoking adults. In the United States, about 3,000 adults die each year due to lung cancer from secondhand smoke exposure. Heart disease caused by secondhand smoke kills around 46,000 nonsmokers every year.

 

The addictive alkaloid nicotine is a stimulant, and popularly known as the most characteristic constituent of tobacco. Users may develop tolerance and dependence. Thousands of different substances in cigarette smoke, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (such as benzopyrene), formaldehyde, cadmium, nickel, arsenic, tobacco-specific nitrosamines, and phenols contribute to the harmful effects of smoking.

 

ECONOMIC

"Much of the disease burden and premature mortality attributable to tobacco use disproportionately affect the poor", and of the 1.22 billion smokers, 1 billion of them live in developing or transitional economies.

 

Smoking of tobacco is practised worldwide by over one thousand million people. However, while smoking prevalence has declined in many developed countries, it remains high in others and is increasing among women and in developing countries. Between one-fifth and two-thirds of men in most populations smoke. Women's smoking rates vary more widely but rarely equal male rates.

 

In Indonesia, the lowest income group spends 15% of its total expenditures on tobacco. In Egypt, more than 10% of households' expenditure in low-income homes is on tobacco. The poorest 20% of households in Mexico spend 11% of their income on tobacco.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Keeping windows closed helps to prevent spotted lanternflies from catching a ride and spreading their presence; this is one of the best practices Rolling Rock Building Stone, Inc. uses as they work with state and federal agencies to keep the invasive spotted lanternflies (SLF) from being transported off their property, on August 31, 2018, in Boyertown, PA. Some of the other best practices they use are dedicated safety and pest inspectors to perform close inspection of pallets, stacked rocks, cars, company and client trucks, and equipment. Early departure vehicles are inspected and then pallets are wrapped in plastic, and then the vehicle is parked in a closed garage. The spotted lanternfly is a destructive insect that feeds on a wide range of fruit, ornamental, and hardwood trees, including grapes, apples, walnut, and oak; a serious threat to the United States' agriculture and natural resources. The pest damages plants as it sucks sap from branches, stems, and tree trunks. The repeated feedings leave the tree bark with dark scars. Spotted lanternfly also excretes a sticky fluid, which promotes mold growth and further weakens plants and puts our agriculture and forests at risk. Native to Asia, the spotted lanternfly has no natural enemies in North America. it's free to multiply and ravage orchards, vineyards, and wooded areas. The invasive insect was first detected in the United States in Pennsylvania in 2014, and has now spread to several states, by people who accidentally move infested material or items containing egg masses.

 

Most states are at risk of the pest. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and our state and local partners are working hard to stop the spread of this invasive pest. People are asked to look for signs of spotted lanternfly. Inspect trucks for egg masses before leaving parking lots or work sites. Scrape off any egg masses you find into rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer. While parked, keep windows closed so hitchhiking nymphs and adults stay out. Make sure you also check other equipment being moved, like outdoor machinery, propane tanks, and shipping containers. Business owners are asked to keep a close watch over their property. Park in areas away from the tree line. To capture nymphs and adults, wrap tree trunks with adhesive bands from May to August. Remove ailanthus trees, known as âThe Tree of Heaven.â These invasive weed trees are a favorite of spotted lanternflies. Most importantly, be vigilant to inspect both incoming and outgoing goods â and the containers and equipment that carry them â they could be carrying a hitching pest as well. If you are in a quarantine area, you can get information on management controls at aphis.usda.gov/hungrypests/slf. If you do encounter spotted lanternfly eggs, nymphs, or adults outside of quarantined areas, report the sighting to your State Department of Agriculture. USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.

  

*Adult spotted lanternflies are approximately 1 inch long and one-half inch wide, and they have large and visually striking wings. Their forewings are light brown with black spots at the front and a speckled band at the rear. Their hind wings are scarlet with black spots at the front and white and black bars at the rear. Their abdomen is yellow with black bars. Nymphs in their early stages of development appear black with white spots and turn to a red phase before becoming adults. Egg masses are yellowish-brown in color, covered with a gray, waxy coating prior to hatching.

  

Find it, report it!

 

Contact your State Department of Agriculture or the Extension specialist near you to report signs of spotted lanternfly. If possible, take a picture or capture the insect in alcohol.

  

Stop the Spread

 

Everyone can play a role in stopping the spread of spotted lanternfly

  

Remove and Destroy

 

Crush nymph and adult spotted lanternflies. Scrape egg masses into hand sanitizer or rubbing alcohol.

  

For more information about the Spotted Lanternfly, please see www.aphis.usda.gov/hungrypests/slf

  

For more information about the Tree of Heaven, please see www.nps.gov/shen/learn/nature/tree-of-heaven.htm

Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park, Maine. The overcast sky prevented the glorious sunrise I was hoping for. However, the play of mist over the mountainside and along the lowlands made for a different, more subtle drama.

Barries, Gren Veggies, Beans, Oats, Egg, Carrot, these 6 foods are helpful to prevent your hair fall.

Preventivo activado por el 112 ante la inminente rotura de una mota en inundación de Boquiñeni a causa de las inundaciones

 

Many conventional diabetes diets rely on meat or grains as the major source of calories. This strategy has serious drawbacks. This type of diet is rich in macro nutrients, but lacking in micro nutrients, especially those derived from green vegetables. Micro nutrients are necessary for the body’s cells to function properly. Even modest micro nutrient insufficiency can lead to DNA damage, mitochondrial decay and telomere deterioration, promoting premature cellular aging.

A high-nutrient, low glycemic diet is the most effective method of preventing and reversing type 2 diabetes. In a recent study of type 2 diabetics following this type of diet, 90 percent of the participants were able to come off all diabetic medications and their mean HbA1c after one year was 5.8 percent, which is within the non-diabetic (normal) range. A diet rich in vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, and fresh fruits can prevent and reverse disease, while fostering long-term health. These five types of foods are optimal for diabetics, and can even help prevent the disease from occurring in the first place.

Green Vegetables

These nutrient-dense vegetables are the most important foods to focus on for diabetes prevention and reversal. Higher green vegetable consumption is associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and among those who have the disease, a higher intake is associated with lower HbA1c levels, which measures average blood glucose over a three-month period. A recent meta-analysis found that greater leafy green vegetable consumption was associated with a 14 percent decrease in the risk of type 2 diabetes. One study reported that each serving of leafy greens produces a 9 percent decrease in risk. This category of vegetable includes lettuces, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, spinach, broccoli and cauliflower. I always advise eating at least one large salad each day to be sure of getting a good supply of these important vegetables.

Non-starchy Vegetables

Non-green, non-starchy veggies like mushrooms, onions, garlic, eggplant, and peppers are essential. These foods have almost nonexistent effects on blood sugar and are packed with fiber and phytochemicals.

Beans

Eating beans daily will help to stabilize your blood sugar, reduce your appetite, and protect against colon cancer. An ideal carbohydrate source, beans are low in glycemic load due to their abundant soluble fiber and resistant starch, making them an ideal weight-loss food because they are digested slowly. The fiber in beans promotes satiety and helps prevent food cravings and the resistant starch is fermented by bacteria in the colon, forming products that protect against colon cancer.

Nuts and Seeds

The Nurses’ Health Study found a 27 percent reduced risk of diabetes in nurses who ate five or more servings of nuts per week. Among nurses who had diabetes, this same quantity reduced the risk of heart disease by 47 percent. Nuts are low in glycemic load, promote weight loss, and have anti-inflammatory effects that may prevent insulin resistance.

Fresh Fruit

To satisfy sweet cravings, fresh fruit is an excellent choice. Rich in fiber, antioxidants, and nutrient-dense, eating three servings of fresh fruit a day is associated with an 18 percent decrease in the risk of developing diabetes. If you are already diabetic, I recommend selecting only the low-sugar fruits like berries, kiwi, oranges, and melon to minimize glycemic effects.

If you are committed to improving your health and reducing your risk of disease or reversing your disease so that your medications can be reduced or eliminated, a nutritional approach works. Source BY JOEL FUHRMAN. To know more visit www.yogagurusuneelsingh.com Pic by Sidd

Little River Cave, Florida

Sign - Slow Down People Breathing along a dirt word to prevent motorists from kicking up dust with cars

Thyroid disease is said to occur when the thyroid gland, located in the neck below the thyroid cartilage or Adam`s Apple, produces either a more or lesser amount of hormone required by the body. The thyroid hormone is responsible for regulating various body functions such as growth, metabolism, etc.

www.pinkdesk.org/read/a/Thyroid-Disease-PDABSG20190905104...

Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Film Festival: Fighting Stigma Through Film in London, 23 November 2018.

Sister Sada with a patient

© The Global Fund/Guy Stubbs

 

Fighting HIV/AIDS Published in Ethiopia: Preventing Transmission of HIV to the Unborn Child

 

HIV-positive women often learn their status when they attend a prenatal clinic where all pregnant women are encouraged to get tested.

 

Sister Sada, who works at the Makele AIDS clinic, has guided many women through the frightening process from discovering they have the HIV virus to ensuring their child does not. Her clinic is one of almost 400 across the country.

 

Free antiretroviral (ARV) drugs for the mother through pregnancy and beyond and a one-off dose for the newborn, are paid for by the Global Fund. The drugs, combined with safe delivery and safe breastfeeding (WHO recommendations) techniques, help to ensure newborns do not inherit their mother’s disease.

 

This is a great source of relief for pregnant women, affirms Sister Sada, but it can take a while for the reassurance to take effect.

 

Encouraging husbands to get tested too

 

When women first learn they are HIV-positive they are afraid. “They are crying and we don’t talk about the [positive] status … to their husbands. We counsel them” says Sister Sada.

 

As the women come to terms with their status, they are encouraged to bring their partner in to get tested too. For men, acting in the interest of their unborn child can be a strong motivator to check their HIV status and take responsibility for their family’s health.

 

At the Makele ARV therapy clinic, Sister Sada soothes the worries of young couples concerned for the health of their child and their own health. Prevention is one of the key messages repeated in her clinic sessions. If necessary she gives advice on AIDS treatment, ensuring patients adhere to their course of medication so that the whole family faces up to the responsibility of living with HIV.

 

To watch the video, visit our website:

www.theglobalfund.org/en/savinglives/ethiopia/hiv2/

 

To support the Born HIV Free campaign and sign the petition:

www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/BornHIVFree

 

or

 

www.bornhivfree.org/f/#/en/home

  

Eye surgeons Maurice Oduor (right) and Elema Dambala (left) operate on Asunta Lodogari, an elederly Samburu woman in northern Kenya, who lost sight in both eyes as a result of Trachoma, 26 Nov 2013. The excrutiatingly painful condition, which is both preventable and curable if treated early enough, causes sufferer's eyelids to grow inwards and scratch against their corneas, eventually turning it cloudy. It is particularly prevalent among poor pastoralist communities, like the Samburu, where access to water is scarce, making it difficult to maintain basic levels of facial hygiene. The lead surgeon, Mr Oduor, who works for the UK-based charity Sightsavers, was mid-way through a three week outreach programme which involved visiting 15 remote communities, where Trachoma is endemic. The operations, which involve turning the eyelieds back out, take 15-30 minutes, and alleviate the pain and prevent any further damage to the cornea. He said Ms Lodogari's eyes were already too damaged and she would never see again. The operation was simply to alleviate her pain.

Strasbourg (/ˈstræzbɜrɡ/, French pronunciation: ​[stʁaz.buʁ, stʁas.buʁ]; German: Straßburg, [ˈʃtʁaːsbʊɐ̯k]) is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in north eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace were historically Alemannic-speaking, hence the city's Germanic name.[5] In 2006, the city proper had 272,975 inhabitants and its urban community 467,375 inhabitants. With 759,868 inhabitants in 2010, Strasbourg's metropolitan area (only the part of the metropolitan area on French territory) is the ninth largest in France. The transnational Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau had a population of 884,988 inhabitants in 2008.[6]

 

Strasbourg is the seat of several European institutions, such as the Council of Europe (with its European Court of Human Rights, its European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and its European Audiovisual Observatory) and the Eurocorps, as well as the European Parliament and the European Ombudsman of the European Union. The city is also the seat of the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine and the International Institute of Human Rights.[7]

 

Strasbourg's historic city centre, the Grande Île (Grand Island), was classified a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1988, the first time such an honour was placed on an entire city centre. Strasbourg is immersed in the Franco-German culture and although violently disputed throughout history, has been a bridge of unity between France and Germany for centuries, especially through the University of Strasbourg, currently the second largest in France, and the coexistence of Catholic and Protestant culture. The largest Islamic place of worship in France, the Strasbourg Grand Mosque, was inaugurated by French Interior Minister Manuel Valls on 27 September 2012.[8]

 

Economically, Strasbourg is an important centre of manufacturing and engineering, as well as a hub of road, rail, and river transportation. The port of Strasbourg is the second largest on the Rhine after Duisburg, Germany.

 

Etymology and Names

The city's Gallicized name (Lower Alsatian: Strossburi, [ˈʃd̥rɔːsb̥uri]; German: Straßburg, [ˈʃtʁaːsbʊɐ̯k]) is of Germanic origin and means "Town (at the crossing) of roads". The modern Stras- is cognate to the German Straße and English street, all of which are derived from Latin strata ("paved road"), while -bourg is cognate to the German Burg and English borough, all of which are derived from Proto-Germanic *burgz ("hill fort, fortress").

 

Geography

 

Strasbourg seen from Spot Satellite

Strasbourg is situated on the eastern border of France with Germany. This border is formed by the River Rhine, which also forms the eastern border of the modern city, facing across the river to the German town Kehl. The historic core of Strasbourg however lies on the Grande Île in the River Ill, which here flows parallel to, and roughly 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from, the Rhine. The natural courses of the two rivers eventually join some distance downstream of Strasbourg, although several artificial waterways now connect them within the city.

 

The city lies in the Upper Rhine Plain, at between 132 metres (433 ft) and 151 metres (495 ft) above sea level, with the upland areas of the Vosges Mountains some 20 km (12 mi) to the west and the Black Forest 25 km (16 mi) to the east. This section of the Rhine valley is a major axis of north-south travel, with river traffic on the Rhine itself, and major roads and railways paralleling it on both banks.

 

The city is some 400 kilometres (250 mi) east of Paris. The mouth of the Rhine lies approximately 450 kilometres (280 mi) to the north, or 650 kilometres (400 mi) as the river flows, whilst the head of navigation in Basel is some 100 kilometres (62 mi) to the south, or 150 kilometres (93 mi) by river.

 

Climate

 

In spite of its position far inland, Strasbourg's climate is classified as Oceanic (Köppen climate classification Cfb), with warm, relatively sunny summers and cold, overcast winters. Precipitation is elevated from mid-spring to the end of summer, but remains largely constant throughout the year, totaling 631.4 mm (24.9 in) annually. On average, snow falls 30 days per year.

 

The highest temperature ever recorded was 38.5 °C (101.3 °F) in August 2003, during the 2003 European heat wave. The lowest temperature ever recorded was −23.4 °C (−10.1 °F) in December 1938.

 

Strasbourg's location in the Rhine valley, sheltered from the dominant winds by the Vosges and Black Forest mountains, results in poor natural ventilation, making Strasbourg one of the most atmospherically polluted cities of France.[10][11] Nonetheless, the progressive disappearance of heavy industry on both banks of the Rhine, as well as effective measures of traffic regulation in and around the city have reduced air pollution.

 

Prehistory

The first traces of human occupation in the environs of Strasbourg go back many thousands of years.[16] Neolithic, bronze age and iron age artifacts have been uncovered by archeological excavations. It was permanently settled by proto-Celts around 1300 BC. Towards the end of the third century BC, it developed into a Celtic township with a market called "Argentorate". Drainage works converted the stilthouses to houses built on dry land.[17]

 

From Romans

The Romans under Nero Claudius Drusus established a military outpost belonging to the Germania Superior Roman province at Strasbourg's current location, and named it Argentoratum. (Hence the town is commonly called Argentina in medieval Latin.[18]) The name "Argentoratum" was first mentioned in 12 BC and the city celebrated its 2,000th birthday in 1988. "Argentorate" as the toponym of the Gaulish settlement preceded it before being Latinized, but it is not known by how long. The Roman camp was destroyed by fire and rebuilt six times between the first and the fifth centuries AD: in 70, 97, 235, 355, in the last quarter of the fourth century, and in the early years of the fifth century. It was under Trajan and after the fire of 97 that Argentoratum received its most extended and fortified shape. From the year 90 on, the Legio VIII Augusta was permanently stationed in the Roman camp of Argentoratum. It then included a cavalry section and covered an area of approximately 20 hectares. Other Roman legions temporarily stationed in Argentoratum were the Legio XIV Gemina and the Legio XXI Rapax, the latter during the reign of Nero.

 

The centre of Argentoratum proper was situated on the Grande Île (Cardo: current Rue du Dôme, Decumanus: current Rue des Hallebardes). The outline of the Roman "castrum" is visible in the street pattern in the Grande Ile. Many Roman artifacts have also been found along the current Route des Romains, the road that led to Argentoratum, in the suburb of Kœnigshoffen. This was where the largest burial places were situated, as well as the densest concentration of civilian dwelling places and commerces next to the camp. Among the most outstanding finds in Kœnigshoffen were (found in 1911–12) the fragments of a grand Mithraeum that had been shattered by early Christians in the fourth century. From the fourth century, Strasbourg was the seat of the Bishopric of Strasbourg (made an Archbishopric in 1988). Archaeological excavations below the current Église Saint-Étienne in 1948 and 1956 unearthed the apse of a church dating back to the late fourth or early fifth century, considered to be the oldest church in Alsace. It is supposed that this was the first seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Strasbourg.

 

The Alemanni fought the Battle of Argentoratum against Rome in 357. They were defeated by Julian, later Emperor of Rome, and their King Chonodomarius was taken prisoner. On 2 January 366, the Alemanni crossed the frozen Rhine in large numbers to invade the Roman Empire. Early in the fifth century, the Alemanni appear to have crossed the Rhine, conquered, and then settled what is today Alsace and a large part of Switzerland.

 

In the fifth century Strasbourg was occupied successively by Alemanni, Huns, and Franks. In the ninth century it was commonly known as Strazburg in the local language, as documented in 842 by the Oaths of Strasbourg. This trilingual text contains, alongside texts in Latin and Old High German (teudisca lingua), the oldest written variety of Gallo-Romance (lingua romana) clearly distinct from Latin, the ancestor of Old French. The town was also called Stratisburgum or Strateburgus in Latin, from which later came Strossburi in Alsatian and Straßburg in Standard German, and then Strasbourg in French. The Oaths of Strasbourg is considered as marking the birth of the two countries of France and Germany with the division of the Carolingian Empire.[19]

 

A major commercial centre, the town came under the control of the Holy Roman Empire in 923, through the homage paid by the Duke of Lorraine to German King Henry I. The early history of Strasbourg consists of a long conflict between its bishop and its citizens. The citizens emerged victorious after the Battle of Oberhausbergen in 1262, when King Philip of Swabia granted the city the status of an Imperial Free City.

 

Around 1200, Gottfried von Straßburg wrote the Middle High German courtly romance Tristan, which is regarded, alongside Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival and the Nibelungenlied, as one of great narrative masterpieces of the German Middle Ages.

 

A revolution in 1332 resulted in a broad-based city government with participation of the guilds, and Strasbourg declared itself a free republic. The deadly bubonic plague of 1348 was followed on 14 February 1349 by one of the first and worst pogroms in pre-modern history: over a thousand Jews were publicly burnt to death, with the remainder of the Jewish population being expelled from the city.[20] Until the end of the 18th century, Jews were forbidden to remain in town after 10 pm. The time to leave the city was signalled by a municipal herald blowing the Grüselhorn (see below, Museums, Musée historique);.[21] A special tax, the Pflastergeld (pavement money), was furthermore to be paid for any horse that a Jew would ride or bring into the city while allowed to.[22]

 

Construction on Strasbourg Cathedral began in the twelfth century, and it was completed in 1439 (though, of the towers, only the north tower was built), becoming the World's Tallest Building, surpassing the Great Pyramid of Giza. A few years later, Johannes Gutenberg created the first European moveable type printing press in Strasbourg.

 

In July 1518, an incident known as the Dancing Plague of 1518 struck residents of Strasbourg. Around 400 people were afflicted with dancing mania and danced constantly for weeks, most of them eventually dying from heart attack, stroke or exhaustion.

 

In the 1520s during the Protestant Reformation, the city, under the political guidance of Jacob Sturm von Sturmeck and the spiritual guidance of Martin Bucer embraced the religious teachings of Martin Luther. Their adherents established a Gymnasium, headed by Johannes Sturm, made into a University in the following century. The city first followed the Tetrapolitan Confession, and then the Augsburg Confession. Protestant iconoclasm caused much destruction to churches and cloisters, notwithstanding that Luther himself opposed such a practice. Strasbourg was a centre of humanist scholarship and early book-printing in the Holy Roman Empire, and its intellectual and political influence contributed much to the establishment of Protestantism as an accepted denomination in the southwest of Germany. (John Calvin spent several years as a political refugee in the city). The Strasbourg Councillor Sturm and guildmaster Matthias represented the city at the Imperial Diet of Speyer (1529), where their protest led to the schism of the Catholic Church and the evolution of Protestantism. Together with four other free cities, Strasbourg presented the confessio tetrapolitana as its Protestant book of faith at the Imperial Diet of Augsburg in 1530, where the slightly different Augsburg Confession was also handed over to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.

 

After the reform of the Imperial constitution in the early sixteenth century and the establishment of Imperial Circles, Strasbourg was part of the Upper Rhenish Circle, a corporation of Imperial estates in the southwest of Holy Roman Empire, mainly responsible for maintaining troops, supervising coining, and ensuring public security.

 

After the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg around 1440, the first printing offices outside the inventor's hometown Mainz were established around 1460 in Strasbourg by pioneers Johannes Mentelin and Heinrich Eggestein. Subsequently, the first modern newspaper was published in Strasbourg in 1605, when Johann Carolus received the permission by the City of Strasbourg to print and distribute a weekly journal written in German by reporters from several central European cities.

 

From Thirty Years' War to First World War

The Free City of Strasbourg remained neutral during the Thirty Years' War 1618-1648, and retained its status as a Free Imperial City. However, the city was later annexed by Louis XIV of France to extend the borders of his kingdom.

 

Louis' advisors believed that, as long as Strasbourg remained independent, it would endanger the King's newly annexed territories in Alsace, and, that to defend these large rural lands effectively, a garrison had to be placed in towns such as Strasbourg.[23] Indeed, the bridge over the Rhine at Strasbourg had been used repeatedly by Imperial (Holy Roman Empire) forces,[24] and three times during the Franco-Dutch War Strasbourg had served as a gateway for Imperial invasions into Alsace.[25] In September 1681 Louis' forces, though lacking a clear casus belli, surrounded the city with overwhelming force. After some negotiation, Louis marched into the city unopposed on 30 September 1681 and proclaimed its annexation.[26]

 

This annexation was one of the direct causes of the brief and bloody War of the Reunions whose outcome left the French in possession. The French annexation was recognized by the Treaty of Ryswick (1697). The official policy of religious intolerance which drove most Protestants from France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 was not applied in Strasbourg and in Alsace, because both had a special status as a province à l'instar de l'étranger effectif (a kind of foreign province of the king of France). Strasbourg Cathedral, however, was taken from the Lutherans to be returned to the Catholics as the French authorities tried to promote Catholicism wherever they could (some other historic churches remained in Protestant hands). Its language also remained overwhelmingly German: the German Lutheran university persisted until the French Revolution. Famous students included Goethe and Herder.

  

The Duke of Lorraine and Imperial troops crossing the Rhine at Strasbourg during the War of the Austrian Succession, 1744

During a dinner in Strasbourg organized by Mayor Frédéric de Dietrich on 25 April 1792, Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle composed "La Marseillaise". The same year François Christophe Kellermann, a child of Strasbourg was appointed the head of the Mosel Army. He led his company to victory at the battle of Valmy and saved the young French republic. He was later appointed Duke of Valmy by Napoléon in 1808.

 

During this period Jean-Baptiste Kléber, also born in Strasbourg, led the French army to win several decisive victories. A statue of Kléber now stands in the centre of the city, at Place Kléber, and he is still one of the most famous French officers. He was later appointed Marshal of France by Napoléon.

 

Strasbourg's status as a free city was revoked by the French Revolution. Enragés, most notoriously Eulogius Schneider, ruled the city with an increasingly iron hand. During this time, many churches and monasteries were either destroyed or severely damaged. The cathedral lost hundreds of its statues (later replaced by copies in the 19th century) and in April 1794, there was talk of tearing its spire down, on the grounds that it was against the principle of equality. The tower was saved, however, when in May of the same year citizens of Strasbourg crowned it with a giant tin Phrygian cap. This artifact was later kept in the historical collections of the city until it was destroyed by the Germans in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian war.[27]

 

In 1805, 1806 and 1809, Napoléon Bonaparte and his first wife, Joséphine stayed in Strasbourg.[28] In 1810, his second wife Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma spent her first night on French soil in the palace. Another royal guest was King Charles X of France in 1828.[29] In 1836, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte unsuccessfully tried to lead his first Bonapartist coup in Strasbourg.

 

During the Franco-Prussian War and the Siege of Strasbourg, the city was heavily bombarded by the Prussian army. The bombardment of the city was meant to break the morale of the people of Strasbourg.[30] On 24 and 26 August 1870, the Museum of Fine Arts was destroyed by fire, as was the Municipal Library housed in the Gothic former Dominican church, with its unique collection of medieval manuscripts (most famously the Hortus deliciarum), rare Renaissance books, archeological finds and historical artifacts. The gothic cathedral was damaged as well as the medieval church of Temple Neuf, the theatre, the city hall, the court of justice and many houses. At the end of the siege 10,000 inhabitants were left without shelter; over 600 died, including 261 civilians, and 3200 were injured, including 1,100 civilians.[31]

 

In 1871, after the end of the war, the city was annexed to the newly established German Empire as part of the Reichsland Elsass-Lothringen under the terms of the Treaty of Frankfurt. As part of Imperial Germany, Strasbourg was rebuilt and developed on a grand and representative scale, such as the Neue Stadt, or "new city" around the present Place de la République. Historian Rodolphe Reuss and Art historian Wilhelm von Bode were in charge of rebuilding the municipal archives, libraries and museums. The University, founded in 1567 and suppressed during the French Revolution as a stronghold of German sentiment,[citation needed] was reopened in 1872 under the name Kaiser-Wilhelms-Universität.

  

Strasbourg in the 1890s.

A belt of massive fortifications was established around the city, most of which still stands today, renamed after French generals and generally classified as Monuments historiques; most notably Fort Roon (now Fort Desaix) and Fort Podbielski (now Fort Ducrot) in Mundolsheim, Fort von Moltke (now Fort Rapp) in Reichstett, Fort Bismarck (now Fort Kléber) in Wolfisheim, Fort Kronprinz (now Fort Foch) in Niederhausbergen, Fort Kronprinz von Sachsen (now Fort Joffre) in Holtzheim and Fort Großherzog von Baden (now Fort Frère) in Oberhausbergen.[32]

 

Those forts subsequently served the French army (Fort Podbielski/Ducrot for instance was integrated into the Maginot Line[33]), and were used as POW-camps in 1918 and 1945.

 

Two garrison churches were also erected for the members of the Imperial German army, the Lutheran Église Saint-Paul and the Roman Catholic Église Saint-Maurice.

 

1918 to the present

 

A lost, then restored, symbol of modernity in Strasbourg : a room in the Aubette building designed by Theo van Doesburg, Hans Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp.

 

Following the defeat of the German empire in World War I and the abdication of the German Emperor, some revolutionary insurgents declared Alsace-Lorraine as an independent Republic, without preliminary referendum or vote. On 11 November 1918 (Armistice Day), communist insurgents proclaimed a "soviet government" in Strasbourg, following the example of Kurt Eisner in Munich as well as other German towns. French troops commanded by French general Henri Gouraud entered triumphantly in the city on 22 November. A major street of the city now bears the name of that date (Rue du 22 Novembre) which celebrates the entry of the French in the city.[34][35][36] Viewing the massive cheering crowd gathered under the balcony of Strasbourg's town hall, French President Raymond Poincaré stated that "the plebiscite is done".[37]

 

In 1919, following the Treaty of Versailles, the city was annexed by France in accordance with U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points" without a referendum. The date of the assignment was retroactively established on Armistice Day. It is doubtful whether a referendum in Strasbourg would have ended in France's favour since the political parties striving for an autonomous Alsace or a connection to France accounted only for a small proportion of votes in the last Reichstag as well as in the local elections.[38] The Alsatian autonomists who were pro French had won many votes in the more rural parts of the region and other towns since the annexation of the region by Germany in 1871. The movement started with the first election for the Reichstag; those elected were called "les députés protestataires", and until the fall of Bismarck in 1890, they were the only deputies elected by the Alsatians to the German parliament demanding the return of those territories to France.[39] At the last Reichstag election in Strasbourg and its periphery, the clear winners were the Social Democrats; the city was the administrative capital of the region, was inhabited by many Germans appointed by the central government in Berlin and its flourishing economy attracted many Germans. This could explain the difference between the rural vote and the one in Strasbourg. After the war, many Germans left Strasbourg and went back to Germany; some of them were denounced by the locals or expelled by the newly appointed authorities. The Saverne Affair was vivid in the memory among the Alsatians.

 

In 1920, Strasbourg became the seat of the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine, previously located in Mannheim, one of the oldest European institutions. It moved into the former Imperial Palace.

 

When the Maginot Line was built, the Sous-secteur fortifié de Strasbourg (fortified sub-sector of Strasbourg) was laid out on the city's territory as a part of the Secteur fortifié du Bas-Rhin, one of the sections of the Line. Blockhouses and casemates were built along the Grand Canal d'Alsace and the Rhine in the Robertsau forest and the port.[40]

 

Between the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and the Anglo-French declaration of War against the German Reich on 3 September 1939, the entire city (a total of 120,000 people) was evacuated, like other border towns as well. Until the arrival of the Wehrmacht troops mid-June 1940, the city was, for ten months, completely empty, with the exception of the garrisoned soldiers. The Jews of Strasbourg had been evacuated to Périgueux and Limoges, the University had been evacuated to Clermont-Ferrand.

 

After the ceasefire following the Fall of France in June 1940, Alsace was annexed to Germany and a rigorous policy of Germanisation was imposed upon it by the Gauleiter Robert Heinrich Wagner. When, in July 1940, the first evacuees were allowed to return, only residents of Alsatian origin were admitted. The last Jews were deported on 15 July 1940 and the main synagogue, a huge Romanesque revival building that had been a major architectural landmark with its 54-metre-high dome since its completion in 1897, was set ablaze, then razed.[41]

 

In September 1940 the first Alsatian resistance movement led by Marcel Weinum called La main noire (The black hand) was created. It was composed by a group of 25 young men aged from 14 to 18 years old who led several attacks against the German occupation. The actions culminated with the attack of the Gauleiter Robert Wagner, the highest commander of Alsace directly under the order of Hitler. In March 1942, Marcel Weinum was prosecuted by the Gestapo and sentenced to be beheaded at the age of 18 in April 1942 in Stuttgart, Germany. His last words will be: "If I have to die, I shall die but with a pure heart". From 1943 the city was bombarded by Allied aircraft. While the First World War had not notably damaged the city, Anglo-American bombing caused extensive destruction in raids of which at least one was allegedly carried out by mistake.[42] In August 1944, several buildings in the Old Town were damaged by bombs, particularly the Palais Rohan, the Old Customs House (Ancienne Douane) and the Cathedral.[43] On 23 November 1944, the city was officially liberated by the 2nd French Armoured Division under General Leclerc. He achieved the oath that he made with his soldiers, after the decisive Capture of Kufra. With the Oath of Kuffra, they swore to keep up the fight until the French flag flew over the Cathedral of Strasbourg.

 

Many people from Strasbourg were incorporated in the German Army against their will, and were sent to the eastern front, those young men and women were called Malgré-nous. Many tried to escape from the incorporation, join the French Resistance, or desert the Wehrmacht but many couldn't because they were running the risk of having their families sent to work or concentration camps by the Germans. Many of these men, especially those who did not answer the call immediately, were pressured to "volunteer" for service with the SS, often by direct threats on their families. This threat obliged the majority of them to remain in the German army. After the war, the few that survived were often accused of being traitors or collaborationists, because this tough situation was not known in the rest of France, and they had to face the incomprehension of many. In July 1944, 1500 malgré-nous were released from Soviet captivity and sent to Algiers, where they joined the Free French Forces. Nowadays history recognizes the suffering of those people, and museums, public discussions and memorials have been built to commemorate this terrible period of history of this part of Eastern France (Alsace and Moselle). Liberation of Strasbourg took place on 23 November 1944.

 

In 1947, a fire broke out in the Musée des Beaux-Arts and devastated a significant part of the collections. This fire was an indirect consequence of the bombing raids of 1944: because of the destruction inflicted on the Palais Rohan, humidity had infiltrated the building, and moisture had to be fought. This was done with welding torches, and a bad handling of these caused the fire.[44]

 

In the 1950s and 1960s the city was enlarged by new residential areas meant to solve both the problem of housing shortage due to war damage and that of the strong growth of population due to the baby boom and immigration from North Africa: Cité Rotterdam in the North-East, Quartier de l'Esplanade in the South-East, Hautepierre in the North-West. Between 1995 and 2010, a new district has been built in the same vein, the Quartier des Poteries, south of Hautepierre.

 

In 1958, a violent hailstorm destroyed most of the historical greenhouses of the Botanical Garden and many of the stained glass windows of St. Paul's Church.

 

In 1949, the city was chosen to be the seat of the Council of Europe with its European Court of Human Rights and European Pharmacopoeia. Since 1952, the European Parliament has met in Strasbourg, which was formally designated its official 'seat' at the Edinburgh meeting of the European Council of EU heads of state and government in December 1992. (This position was reconfirmed and given treaty status in the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam). However, only the (four-day) plenary sessions of the Parliament are held in Strasbourg each month, with all other business being conducted in Brussels and Luxembourg. Those sessions take place in the Immeuble Louise Weiss, inaugurated in 1999, which houses the largest parliamentary assembly room in Europe and of any democratic institution in the world. Before that, the EP sessions had to take place in the main Council of Europe building, the Palace of Europe, whose unusual inner architecture had become a familiar sight to European TV audiences.[45] In 1992, Strasbourg became the seat of the Franco-German TV channel and movie-production society Arte.

 

In 2000, a terrorist plot to blow up the cathedral was prevented thanks to the cooperation between French and German police that led to the arrest in late 2000 of a Frankfurt-based group of terrorists.

 

On 6 July 2001, during an open-air concert in the Parc de Pourtalès, a single falling Platanus tree killed thirteen people and injured 97. On 27 March 2007, the city was found guilty of neglect over the accident and fined €150,000.[46]

 

In 2006, after a long and careful restoration, the inner decoration of the Aubette, made in the 1920s by Hans Arp, Theo van Doesburg, and Sophie Taeuber-Arp and destroyed in the 1930s, was made accessible to the public again. The work of the three artists had been called "the Sistine Chapel of abstract art".

 

Architecture

 

Strasbourg, Cathedral of Our Lady

The city is chiefly known for its sandstone Gothic Cathedral with its famous astronomical clock, and for its medieval cityscape of Rhineland black and white timber-framed buildings, particularly in the Petite France district or Gerberviertel ("tanners' district") alongside the Ill and in the streets and squares surrounding the cathedral, where the renowned Maison Kammerzell stands out.

 

Notable medieval streets include Rue Mercière, Rue des Dentelles, Rue du Bain aux Plantes, Rue des Juifs, Rue des Frères, Rue des Tonneliers, Rue du Maroquin, Rue des Charpentiers, Rue des Serruriers, Grand' Rue, Quai des Bateliers, Quai Saint-Nicolas and Quai Saint-Thomas. Notable medieval squares include Place de la Cathédrale, Place du Marché Gayot, Place Saint-Étienne, Place du Marché aux Cochons de Lait and Place Benjamin Zix.

 

Maison des tanneurs.

 

In addition to the cathedral, Strasbourg houses several other medieval churches that have survived the many wars and destructions that have plagued the city: the Romanesque Église Saint-Étienne, partly destroyed in 1944 by Allied bombing raids, the part Romanesque, part Gothic, very large Église Saint-Thomas with its Silbermann organ on which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Albert Schweitzer played,[49] the Gothic Église protestante Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune with its crypt dating back to the seventh century and its cloister partly from the eleventh century, the Gothic Église Saint-Guillaume with its fine early-Renaissance stained glass and furniture, the Gothic Église Saint-Jean, the part Gothic, part Art Nouveau Église Sainte-Madeleine, etc. The Neo-Gothic church Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux Catholique (there is also an adjacent church Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux Protestant) serves as a shrine for several 15th-century wood worked and painted altars coming from other, now destroyed churches and installed there for public display. Among the numerous secular medieval buildings, the monumental Ancienne Douane (old custom-house) stands out.

 

The German Renaissance has bequeathed the city some noteworthy buildings (especially the current Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie, former town hall, on Place Gutenberg), as did the French Baroque and Classicism with several hôtels particuliers (i.e. palaces), among which the Palais Rohan (1742, now housing three museums) is the most spectacular. Other buildings of its kind are the "Hôtel de Hanau" (1736, now the city hall), the Hôtel de Klinglin (1736, now residence of the préfet), the Hôtel des Deux-Ponts (1755, now residence of the military governor), the Hôtel d'Andlau-Klinglin (1725, now seat of the administration of the Port autonome de Strasbourg) etc. The largest baroque building of Strasbourg though is the 150 m (490 ft) long 1720s main building of the Hôpital civil. As for French Neo-classicism, it is the Opera House on Place Broglie that most prestigiously represents this style.

 

Strasbourg also offers high-class eclecticist buildings in its very extended German district, the Neustadt, being the main memory of Wilhelmian architecture since most of the major cities in Germany proper suffered intensive damage during World War II. Streets, boulevards and avenues are homogeneous, surprisingly high (up to seven stories) and broad examples of German urban lay-out and of this architectural style that summons and mixes up five centuries of European architecture as well as Neo-Egyptian, Neo-Greek and Neo-Babylonian styles. The former imperial palace Palais du Rhin, the most political and thus heavily criticized of all German Strasbourg buildings epitomizes the grand scale and stylistic sturdiness of this period. But the two most handsome and ornate buildings of these times are the École internationale des Pontonniers (the former Höhere Mädchenschule, girls college) with its towers, turrets and multiple round and square angles[50] and the École des Arts décoratifs with its lavishly ornate façade of painted bricks, woodwork and majolica.[51]

 

Notable streets of the German district include: Avenue de la Forêt Noire, Avenue des Vosges, Avenue d'Alsace, Avenue de la Marseillaise, Avenue de la Liberté, Boulevard de la Victoire, Rue Sellénick, Rue du Général de Castelnau, Rue du Maréchal Foch, and Rue du Maréchal Joffre. Notable squares of the German district include: Place de la République, Place de l'Université, Place Brant, and Place Arnold

 

As for modern and contemporary architecture, Strasbourg possesses some fine Art Nouveau buildings (such as the huge Palais des Fêtes and houses and villas like Villa Schutzenberger and Hôtel Brion), good examples of post-World War II functional architecture (the Cité Rotterdam, for which Le Corbusier did not succeed in the architectural contest) and, in the very extended Quartier Européen, some spectacular administrative buildings of sometimes utterly large size, among which the European Court of Human Rights building by Richard Rogers is arguably the finest. Other noticeable contemporary buildings are the new Music school Cité de la Musique et de la Danse, the Musée d'Art moderne et contemporain and the Hôtel du Département facing it, as well as, in the outskirts, the tramway-station Hoenheim-Nord designed by Zaha Hadid.

  

Place Kléber

The city has many bridges, including the medieval and four-towered Ponts Couverts that, despite their name, are no longer covered. Next to the Ponts Couverts is the Barrage Vauban, a part of Vauban's 17th-century fortifications, that does include a covered bridge. Other bridges are the ornate 19th-century Pont de la Fonderie (1893, stone) and Pont d'Auvergne (1892, iron), as well as architect Marc Mimram's futuristic Passerelle over the Rhine, opened in 2004.

 

The largest square at the centre of the city of Strasbourg is the Place Kléber. Located in the heart of the city's commercial area, it was named after general Jean-Baptiste Kléber, born in Strasbourg in 1753 and assassinated in 1800 in Cairo. In the square is a statue of Kléber, under which is a vault containing his remains. On the north side of the square is the Aubette (Orderly Room), built by Jacques François Blondel, architect of the king, in 1765–1772.

 

Parks

 

The Pavillon Joséphine (rear side) in the Parc de l'Orangerie

 

The Château de Pourtalès (front side) in the park of the same name

 

Strasbourg features a number of prominent parks, of which several are of cultural and historical interest: the Parc de l'Orangerie, laid out as a French garden by André le Nôtre and remodeled as an English garden on behalf of Joséphine de Beauharnais, now displaying noteworthy French gardens, a neo-classical castle and a small zoo; the Parc de la Citadelle, built around impressive remains of the 17th-century fortress erected close to the Rhine by Vauban;[52] the Parc de Pourtalès, laid out in English style around a baroque castle (heavily restored in the 19th century) that now houses a small three-star hotel,[53] and featuring an open-air museum of international contemporary sculpture.[54] The Jardin botanique de l'Université de Strasbourg (botanical garden) was created under the German administration next to the Observatory of Strasbourg, built in 1881, and still owns some greenhouses of those times. The Parc des Contades, although the oldest park of the city, was completely remodeled after World War II. The futuristic Parc des Poteries is an example of European park-conception in the late 1990s. The Jardin des deux Rives, spread over Strasbourg and Kehl on both sides of the Rhine opened in 2004 and is the most extended (60-hectare) park of the agglomeration. The most recent park is Parc du Heyritz (8,7 ha), opened in 2014 along a canal facing the hôpital civil.

Informacje o przechowywanych danych za pomocą dodatku Cookie Notification Preventer.

Elizabeth Nabel, President, Brigham Health, USA speaking during the Session: Preventing Cancer, Heart and Lung Disease at the Annual Meeting 2018 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 25, 2018. Copyright by World Economic Forum / Walter Duerst

OFFENSE

Peyton ManningQBKurt Warner

Thomas JonesRBAdrian Peterson

Le'Ron McClainFBMike Sellers

Andre JohnsonWRLarry Fitzgerald

Brandon MarshallWRAnquan Boldin

Tony GonzalezTEJason Witten

Jason Peters*OTJordan Gross

Joe ThomasOTWalter Jones*

Alan FanecaOGSteve Hutchinson

Kris DielmanOGChris Snee

Kevin Mawae*CAndre Gurode

DEFENSE

Mario WilliamsDEJulius Peppers

Dwight FreeneyDEJustin Tuck

Albert HaynesworthDTKevin Williams

Kris JenkinsDTJay Ratliff

James HarrisonOLBDeMarcus Ware

Joey PorterOLBLance Briggs

Ray LewisILBPatrick Willis

Nnamdi AsomughaCBCharles Woodson*

Cortland FinneganCBAntoine Winfield

Ed ReedFSNick Collins

Troy PolamaluSSAdrian Wilson

SPECIAL TEAMS

Shane LechlerPJeff Feagles

Stephen GostkowskiKJohn Carney

Leon WashingtonKRClifton Smith

Brendon AyanbadejoSTSean Morey hirty-one NFL players made their Pro Bowl debuts this year, and most of them proved on Sunday that they belong.

 

Jets CB Darrelle Revis made an amazing one-handed interception of Eli Manning’s pass in the end zone in the third quarter to preserve the AFC’s lead.

 

Besides that interception, Manning had a solid showing in his first all-star game. He finished 8-of-14 for 111 yards and threw the winning touchdown pass to game MVP Larry Fitzgerald.

 

Vikings CB Antoine Winfield, making his first Pro Bowl appearance after 10 years in the league, intercepted Kerry Collins‘ pass deep in NFC territory in the third quarter, preventing the AFC from building on its lead.

 

The star of the AFC defensive effort was Colts first-timer Robert Mathis. In the first quarter, he sacked Drew Brees, forced a fumble and then recovered the ball. He brought down Brees again in the second quarter for a 13-yard loss.

 

On offense, Ravens RB Le’Ron McClain ran for the AFC’s only touchdown in the fourth quarter, while Texans receiver Owen Daniels‘ 9-yard TD reception capped the AFC’s six-play, 52 yard drive just before halftime. McClain’s touchdown came on the rarely ever seen, but well-executed, fumble-rooskie play.

热杯具

Savannah, Georgia

 

Damage on the south side from the April 10th & 11th 1862 bombardment by Union Forces. An artillery shell can still be seen lodged in the brick above the artillery port on the left side.

 

"In 1862, Fort Pulaski was considered invincible. Its 7-1/2-foot solid brick walls were backed with massive piers of masonry. The broad waters of the Savannah River and wide swampy marshes surrounded the fort on all sides. Ships of the Navy could not safely come within effective range of this citadel, and there was no firm ground on which land batteries could be erected nearer than Tybee Island, from 1 to 2-1/2 miles away. All previous military experience had taught that beyond a distance of 700 yards smoothbore guns and mortars would have little chance to break through heavy masonry walls, and beyond 1,000 yards no chance at all.

 

In referring to Fort Pulaski, the United States Chief of Engineers, General Totten, said "you might as well bombard the Rocky Mountains." General Lee, himself, standing on the parapet of the fort with Colonel Olmstead, pointed to the shore of Tybee Island and remarked, "Colonel, they will make it pretty warm for you here with shells, but they cannot breach your walls at that distance." In the minds of the experts a long-range bombardment would merely serve to pave the way for a direct assault.

 

Gillmore held a different opinion. He was familiar with the test records of a new weapon, the rifled gun, with which the Army had begun to experiment in 1859, and, on December 1, 1861, he broke with tradition and risked the laughter of his superiors. After a careful reconnaissance he reported to Sherman that it would be possible to reduce Fort Pulaski with mortars and rifled guns from Tybee Island. On this basis he submitted a complete plan for the attack on Fort Pulaski. Sherman approved the plan, but he made it clear that he doubted the usefulness of the rifled guns. In concluding his endorsement he wrote, "All that can be done with guns is to shake the walls in a random manner."

 

On the northwest shore of Tybee Island facing Fort Pulaski these troops erected 11 batteries for guns and mortars. Their job was made particularly difficult because the last mile of the shore, on which seven of the major batteries had to be established, was an open marsh in full view of the fort and within effective range of its guns. Here all work was performed at night. The men were not allowed to speak above a whisper and were guided by the notes of a whistle. Before dawn each morning evidence of the night's work was concealed by camouflage.

 

When the batteries were ready, the guns were hauled across the marsh on sling carts. These loads were so extraordinarily heavy that it was often necessary to harness 250 men to a cart. Even on the last night before the bombardment the work continued. In the flickering light of lanterns men filled cartridge bags, cut paper fuses, and whittled wooden fuse plugs.

 

On the morning of April 10, 1862 Union forces asked for the surrender of the Fort to prevent needless loss of life. Colonel Charles H. Olmstead, commander of the Confederate garrison, rejected the offer. The men in the fort learned that they had little to fear from the Federal mortars.

 

Early on 10-inch and 13-inch mortar shells exploded high in the air or fell outside the fort. The few that dropped on the parade buried themselves in the ground and, on exploding, threw up harmless geysers of mud. Whenever a ponderous solid shot from a columbiad landed squarely on the wall, however, the whole fort quivered and shook. About 2 hours after the fight began, one of these solid shots entered an embrasure and dismounted the casemate gun. Several members of the gun crew were wounded, one so severely that it was necessary to amputate his arm immediately. At 11 o'clock the halyards on the flag pole were cut by a fragment of shell and the flag swooped down within the fort. Lt. Christopher Hussey of the Montgomery Guards and Pvt. John Latham of the German Volunteers sprang upon the parapet and carried the flag under fire to the northeast angle where they raised it again on the ramrod of a cannon.

 

At noon observers on Tybee counted 47 scars on the south flank, pancoupe, and southeast face of the fort, and it was already obvious that several of the embrasures were considerably enlarged. During the afternoon the fire slackened on both sides, and after sunset not more than 7 or 8 shells an hour were thrown until daylight the next morning. At the end of the day to observers on Tybee, the fort, notwithstanding its dents and scars, looked nearly as solid and capable of resistance as when fire was opened in the morning. There was a general feeling among the Union soldiers that the day's work had not greatly hastened the surrender. The mortars had proved a disappointment and the effect of the breaching fire could not be definitely determined. Although there had been many narrow escapes, no one had been hurt in the Federal batteries.

 

Had Gillmore been able to inspect the fort at the end of the first day, he would have had reason to rejoice. The place was in shambles. Nearly all of the barbette guns and mortars bearing upon Tybee had been dismounted and only two of the five casemate guns were in order. At the southeast angle, the whole wall from the crest of the parapet to the moat was flaked away to a depth of from 2 to 4 feet.

 

On Friday morning, at daylight, the bombardment reopened with fresh vigor on both sides. Pulaski had repaired some of her guns during the night and now directed her barbette fire with considerable precision and rapidity. From Tybee, Gillmore's gunners resumed the work of breaching with determination, and the effect was almost immediately apparent in the enlargement of the two embrasures on the left of the southeast face of the fort. Pulaski's fire was far less accurate than that of the Federals. The batteries on Tybee were nearly all masked behind a low sand ridge and were also protected by heavy sandbag revetments. Most of the Confederate shot and shell buried themselves in the beach or traveled completely over the Federal batteries and trenches. About 9 o'clock the besiegers received their only casualty. A solid shot from Pulaski entered a gun embrasure in Battery McClellan striking a private soldier and wounded him so severely that he died soon after.

 

During the morning, the naval gunboat, Norwich, began to fire against the northeast face of the fort, but the range was too great and her shots struck only glancing blows on the brick walls. A battery on Long Island opened up at long range from the west, and shots were landing on the south wall from guns located on a barge in Tybee Creek.

 

At noon, a considerable part of the Federal fire was directed against the guns on the ramparts of the fort and within half an hour these guns were silenced. By now, two great holes had been opened through the walls and the inside of the fort was visible from Tybee. The interior arches had been laid bare, and a barbette gun on the parapet was tottering, ready to fall. It was plain that the whole east angle would soon be in ruins. General Benham gave orders to prepare to take Fort Pulaski by direct assault.

 

At the fort, when all men were ordered from the ramparts to allow the guns to cool, Pvt. L. W. Landershine thought that "things looked blue." One man had been mortally wounded, another had had his foot taken off by the recoil of a gun, and a dozen others had been struck by fragments of shell. Projectiles from the rifle batteries were passing completely through the breach, sweeping across the parade, and striking against the walls of the north magazine in which 40,000 pounds of black powder was stored.

 

The moment had come for Olmstead to make a decision. There were only two courses open. He could fight on against overwhelming odds, or he could admit defeat. It must have been a difficult choice for the gallant 25-year-old colonel to make. Impressed by the utter hopelessness of the situation and believing the lives of the garrison to be his next care, he gave the order for surrender." (National Park Service)

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My blind commentary reaction to "Gonorrhea Superbug_How to spread,Symptoms Men- Women,Treatment and Prevent_2016"

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Hi everyone, thanks for watching, I hope you enjoyed this video, please subscribe for more, thanks for the support, love you all xxx

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"Gonorrhea Superbug_How to spread,Symptoms Men- Women,Treatment and Prevent_2016" :

 

WARNING: New Deadly Disease Worse Than HIV – And Condoms Won’t Protect You!

 

“This might be a lot worse than AIDS in the short run because the bacteria is more aggressive and will affect more people quickly,”

 

said Alan Christiansen, a doctor of naturopathic medicine.

 

“Getting gonorrhea from this strain puts someone into septic shock and death in a matter of days,” Christiansen said. “This is very

 

dangerous. It can be passed through skin on skin contact, making condoms only 30% effective.”

 

“It’s an emergency situation,” said William Smith, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors. “As time moves on,

 

it’s getting more dangerous. We are losing more lives.”

  

About Gonorrhea:

 

Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease. It's caused by infection with the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. It tends to infect

 

warm, moist areas of the body, including the:

 

urethra

eyes

throat

vagina

anus

female reproductive tract

 

How to spread:

Gonorrhea passes from person to person through unprotected oral, anal, or vaginal sex. People with numerous sexual partners or those

 

who don’t use a condom are at greatest risk of infection.Behaviors that make a person more likely to engage in unprotected sex also

 

increase the likelihood of infection. These behaviors include alcohol abuse and illegal drug abuse, particularly intravenous drug use.

 

Note: Making condoms near about 30% effective.

 

Symptoms in men

   

Symptoms in women

Many women don’t develop any overt symptoms of gonorrhea. Gonorrhea infections can appear much like common vaginal yeast or bacterial

 

infections.Symptoms include:

 

discharge from the vagina

pain or burning sensation while urinating

the need to urinate more frequently

heavier periods or spotting

sore throat

pain upon engaging in sexual intercourse

sharp pain in the lower abdomen

fever

  

Treatment:

 

The emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of gonorrhea is a growing challenge. These cases may require more extensive treatment, with a seven-day course of an oral antibiotic or dual therapy with two different antibiotics, usually for a total of seven days of therapy. The antibiotics used for extended therapy are usually given once or twice a day. Some common antibiotics used include azithromycin and doxycycline. Scientists are working to develop vaccines to prevent gonorrhea infection.

  

Prevention of gonorrhea:

The safest way to prevent gonorrhea or other STDs is through abstinence. If you do engage in sex, always use a condom. It’s important

 

to be open with your sexual partners, get regular STD testing, and find out if they’ve been tested.

 

If your partner is showing signs of a possible infection, avoid any sexual contact with them. Ask them to seek medical attention to

rule out any possible infection that can be passed on.

 

You’re at a higher risk of contracting gonorrhea if you’ve already had it or any other STDs. You’re also at a higher risk if you have

multiple sexual partners or a new partner.

 

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Keywords:

Gonorrhea,Superbug,spread,Symptoms,Men,Women,Treatment, Prevent,2016,sex,condom,doctor’s,sexual,partners,

test,tested,STDs,infection,medical,antibiotic-resistant,seven-day,azithromycin and doxycycline,lower abdomen, bacterial

 

infections,urethra,eyes,throat,vagina,anus,female reproductive tract,

 

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvfpY_dFREU

youtu.be/dkqQW1LcOkY

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Claudia from My Orthodontist, Dr. Suren Chelian with Lil iguana learning to brush his teeth at the YMCA Healthy Kids Day

Priya Basu

Executive Head, The Pandemic Fund Secretariat, World Bank Group

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Bhutan is not a country that is generally well known. If asked, most people might say that it lies somewhere in the Himalayas and is a bit hilly. If pressed, they might think of yaks and snow leopards and rhododendrons, or maybe know it as the land where development is measured in terms of Gross National Happiness rather than Gross Domestic Privation.

 

And in fact, this latter characteristic most fits with my experiences of this mountainous kingdom – the happiness of the people stands out a mile. In the short time that I was there I cannot recall a frown or a curse or even so much as a tiny disagreement. Even the use of the car horn is limited to polite little peeps or playful messages sent to pretty girls as they saunter along the pavement. It is such a gentle society.

 

It’s also an equal and an emancipated one. Women are first in line to inherit following the death of their parents; it is they who get the house and the property and the rights, not the son (whether he’s older or not). Women can have as many spouses as men. Women are very forthright when it comes to flirting: within a couple of hours at my first hotel I was invited to a dance that evening and asked if I wanted to marry one of the waitresses. I didn’t take advantage of either offer but, given the beauty of the women here, I was sorely tempted. They really are extremely lovely – slim and wiggly bodies, velvety black hair that never seems to grey, wonderful dimpled smiles, and eyes that just penetrate into the heart of you.

 

They seem to be a very sexually liberated lot (well, that’s one way of calling it). My guide, Kinlay, was forever talking about his girlfriends (even though he’s married with two sons), hanky-panky (but no spanky, perhaps that was pushing revelations a mite too far given that I’d only just met him), and jiggy-jiggy (or, in local parlance, ‘jeggy-jeggy’), or shouting, ‘Charimdumaray’ (‘You’re lovely’) through the window at any passing female. But then he’s very young, he’s in his thirties … Or maybe he’s just trying to live up to the reputation of his namesake, Lama Drukpa Kunley (1455-1529), aka ‘The Divine Madman’, a saint who had the MO of driving out demons by means of excessive drinking and fornication which sounds a perfectly valid and jolly method of exorcism to me. His signature, a big phallus , now adorns many buildings throughout the area – a sign to ward off evil and protect the household. I wonder how this would go down with the good citizens of Ayr?

 

Many people still revere His Mad Divineship / Holy Madness and consequently many people have been given his name (or that of the temple that was dedicated to him, ‘Chimey Lhakhang’). The first two people I met in Bhutan were called Kunley. Then the third (who was confusingly a woman ) turned out to be a Kunley too. And so was the fourth. I gave up asking after that.

 

Bhutan is now a constitutional monarchy since the present king relinquished absolute rule in 2008. Like a 21 year old with the keys to life, the new democracy is revelling in its liberation, independence and autonomy and is enjoying furnishing its own flat and buying its own clothes and food. But at the same time it looks up to the person who granted it its freedom, and the whole country remains loyal and truly affectionate towards the Royal Family.

 

The king (31, Pisces - they like such details here) married his young betrothed (21, Virgo ) on the 13th October. Every shop had photos of the couple posted outside and inside, decorated with ribbons in the colours of the Buddha – blue (for the sky), white (for the clouds), red (for fire), green (for water) and yellow (for the soil). Huge banners adorned hillsides and town gates. Radio programmes were filled with callers wishing the happy pair a long, fruitful, loving union. And as I watched the wedding in a restaurant in Paro , with the assembled masses in the crowds and in the organised dances that must have taken weeks to rehearse, and thought that there could not be a single person in the nation who was not either at the ceremony or who was not glued to the TV, it occurred to me that this was what it must have been like with QEII 50 years ago . How long will this state of innocent bliss last?

 

Maybe for a long time yet. Not only is this a peaceful society (I never once felt threatened) but it’s also relatively prosperous, well organised, and, crucially and in a real way, it actually is a society. It is not a collection of individuals out to benefit for themselves. This is one big nation of people (about 650 000 of them) who believe they are part of a larger community of family, friends and neighbours. The neighbours may be from the east of the country (300 miles away and effectively 2 days travelling) who speak another dialect and wear different clothes, but they are still part of the same community.

 

Free education for all plays an important role in levelling classes and bringing people together. The king (apparently) lives in a ‘cottage’ and he is certainly one who puts much effort in meeting and greeting. The ceremony he attended in Thimpu, after the wedding, lasted from 0900 to 1700 and for a lot of that time he was moving amongst the crowds, shaking hands and speaking with (not ‘to’ – I don’t think he’s a Charlie. ‘And what do you do?’ – probably isn’t his stock, opening gambit) virtually everyone there.

 

Communities work in unison to improve the environment and their own lives. They harvest the rice together, it’s a communal thing. Often I saw small congregations on the hillside, burning juniper as incense, intoning incantations, chanting with monks. Several times I saw parties of villagers or school children walking along the roadside picking up litter. The land is free of piles of rubbish. This is a clean country. The drains and rivers are not open sewers. Not once did I see a rat.

 

Smoking was banned recently. It’s an offence to smoke – you could be imprisoned. For grass it’s up to three years for possession and 9 years for dealing. This was the first country to outlaw plastic bags too. Unfortunately, however, for both fags and bags neither law is strictly enforced and both are commonly (if expensively for the former) available.

 

But Bhutan is not Shangri La. In 1999 TV was introduced for the first time. Now the two favourite programmes are World Federation Wrestling from the USA, and ‘Bhutan Idol’ (the third series) – it was this programme that Kinlay said would prevent me from watching any footie on TV in the bars. ‘Idol’ was that popular! Everyone now has a TV and there is a good link between the growth in its distribution and the incidence of crime in the country.

Mobile phones came in in 2003 (so my guide said) and they are now ubiquitous. Young people have adopted the global practice of meeting up and then spending all the time texting and / or phoning other friends elsewhere. That’s when they can stop blowing bubble gum for long enough to say anything. One person I met had a sophisticated ring tone system that alerted him to whoever was trying to contact him: his wife’s ring tone was his young son’s crying and gurgling; his mate’s tone was an extract from his favourite blue movie accompanied by the obligatory image of a busty brunette.

 

The people like to dress up for occasions (like the festival – Tseschu – in Thimpu) with their finest national gear: beautiful, iridescent, brightly coloured silk dresses for the women; rather more subdued but still unique skirts and knee-high stockings for the men. When visiting national monuments (such as museums, temples, dzongs ) or events they have to dress in national costume. But these days, for normal everyday wear, they tend far more towards the boring western norm of t-shirts and jeans and track-suits (usually with ‘Man Utd’ written on them. Damn their souls!). There was a great contrast between the clothes worn to the formal Tseschu festival and the far less formal singalong in Thimpu town square – colourful, vibrant, exciting of the exotic compared with the dull, drab, grey and black of the mundane (and the future).

 

Traditional sports seem to be holding their own against the overwhelming and inexorable influence of football . Archery is something the Bhutanese are especially good at having won medals of all colours at recent Olympics. These days they employ carbon composite bows for main competitions. Traditional bows of bamboo are still found and used but mainly to simply maintain the tradition. The target is a wooden board about 40cm high and usually 140m from the archer. No wonder they’re good at it.

 

Darts (not the UK variety) – about 15cm long consisting of a 3cm metal point, a wooden shaft and 5cm feathers – is also played at weekends. The ‘court’ is longer than a cricket pitch and the target is a 30cm wooden board with a bulls-eye near the top. A wall of earth or concrete backdrops the target, really just a sop to health and safety. They are not overly concerned with H&S, which is healthy.

 

For both archery and darts, the opposing team (all wearing fine traditional skirts ) line up alongside the target and watch intently as the projectile is released and heads towards them. The observers’ reaction time for the darts is far less than that for archery. I think I was happier watching the archery. When a dart or arrow actually hits the board it triggers a mediaeval ritual of chanting and dancing by both of the teams, in praise of the gods for such a blessing. If only our supporters and ‘sportsmen’ took win and loss in the same spirit.

 

There are cars in Bhutan as well. Not many of them because there aren’t that many people. They are in good condition and few of them send out blasts of poisonous black smoke. I saw my first privately-owned electric car here. They are generally new (the favourites being Hyundais and Toyota) and without any dents. Motorbikes are rare and tuc-tucs are entirely absent (which is such a relief!). Roads (maintained and built by Indians, and funded by the RoI government) are largely pothole-free and gloriously smooth. It still takes a long time to get anywhere because of the winding nature of the terrain, but at least it’s almost painless.

 

But, of course, this road system comes at a cost. Gangs of Indians, thousands of them, have been imported and have set up semi-permanent residence in Bhutan (without citizen rights, of course) and their sole employment, occupation and raison d’etre is road building and repair. They work very long hours (0600 to 1600 hrs) for a pittance. Their tools are mainly their hands: hauling large stones over cliffs or onto lorries. Primitive implements are provided: back bent double as they use pathetic brushes to sweep the road; women shovelling sand and gravel and throwing it through sieves. Some (men as well as women) actually break rocks with hammers, all day long, like a work detail from a ‘40s state penitentiary, a modern day chain-gang. These gangs have their own settlements and schools; they are separate from mainstream Bhutanese society. But they don’t seem to be discriminated or prejudiced against. There is, at least, no bigotry in Bhutan.

 

Except perhaps against the Nepalese. This is not talked about, but many Bhutanese who originated in Nepal (two or three or more generations back) were forcibly deported in the ‘90s (?) and now reside in refugee camps in Nepal. I met only one person whose ancestors came from Nepal but he seemed contented and calm. He might have said more but we’d been caught up in a delay caused by a landslide and the obstruction had just been removed so we had to move on. 11 days is not enough in Bhutan.

 

You might think that a Buddhist democracy consisting of less than three quarters of a million people might not need or, especially, want an army. How could they justify killing? And anyway, what could their paltry population hope to accomplish against the might of the Indians or Chinese if they chose to invade ? But it’s a career path to some (Kinlay considered it after university (in Chennai) if tourism didn’t work out), and for others the army really is a necessity.

 

Earlier in the noughties there was some trouble with Assamese rebels. They had occupied some of the forests of the duars in Bhutan (just across the border) and were causing problems (not with the locals – the Assamese were generous with their payment for goods – but with the (Indian?) politicians). Negotiations with the rebels were not successful and so the Bhutanese government sent in the troops. This resulted in the insurgents being ousted but at the cost of 12 Bhutanese soldiers being killed. The effects of this battle / war seems to have become deeply embedded within the psyche of the Bhutanese; a large memorial (at Dochu La consisting of 108 chortens) was established to commemorate the conflict and one of the on-going repercussions is that the army are more popular than ever. Not that it would ever sink to the depths of the Burmese army and become a junta. That would be unthinkable.

 

So the army is needed . But what about religious or moral objections, after all Costa Rica doesn’t have a standing army so surely a strict Buddhist nation could do without one? But then the Bhutanese love meat. They are devout devourers of pork and beef and, to a slightly lesser extent, chicken? So long as they don’t have to kill the animals themselves they are happy to consume flesh.

 

Do I hear calls of ‘Hypocracy’? Well, I’m not going to shout them down.

 

But all religions are institutionally hypocritical and Buddhism is no worse than any other. An army of a Buddhist nation sounds contradictory but religion has always been political, nations are essentially political beasts with artificial boundaries, politicians need to maintain and protect those boundaries as well as they can given limited resources, and armies are the main way of providing protection.

 

At least this army is not there to violate other nations or supress the population or support an unauthorised government. It provides comfort and a sense of security, a source of pride, and a life for many people. Who am I to criticise it?

 

The trekking in Bhutan was far better than in Nepal (although Nepal was good). Here it was proper camping, there it was in Guesthouses. Nepal is over-populated, there is no getting away from people; waves of trekkers (ramblers) met you head on along the Poon Hill circuit; football crowds gathered to catch the dawn view of Annapurna; dogs, locals, cows, agricultural terraces … they all swarm and cover the slopes of Nepal.

 

But in Bhutan … ah, it’s different. I met perhaps 10 other trekkers on my 5 day stint. Yes, there were monks and the occasional dog, but mainly it was me in the wild, in untouched, blue pine forests and stands of huge or dwarf rhodies and junipers and alpine meadows of the highest hills. Alongside the soft beats of the wings of the goshawk, and ‘glowps’ of ravens, and cheeky cawings of choughs there was the whisper of winds and ripple of drying leaves. No sounds of machinery. No barking . No drunken laughter . It was heaven.

 

Of course I was spoilt. Apart from the landscape, and the views, and the sky and the clouds, and the wildlife and the vegetation, I had a platoon of (for wont of a better word ) servants to look after my every needs. I had my own chef, and he had a helper. I had a guide who made sure I didn’t fall down a cliff or take the wrong path. I had a horseman who looked after the seven ponies that accompanied our small expedition. The only person I lacked was a masseur (which, incidentally, was what I really needed).

 

They erected my tent and decamped for me. They cooked me three meals a day and washed up after me. I was served at my table and they even ran off to buy beer for me . They set up my own private lav, provided loo paper, and filled the hole in after me. My guide even carried my water bottle. They did everything for me except tuck me in at night (for which I was grateful).

 

It was hard walking, some of the slopes were steep, and it was bloody cold at night. I met a couple of Aussies on the second day and, after I remarked how bloody cold it was the previous night (not that I was fixated or anything), they said, ‘Well, it gets colder. There was frost on the ground two nights ago.’ I said, ‘Great. Good job my sleeping bag isn’t as good as I thought it was (and the zip’s broken), and that I forgot my socks.’ They said, ‘You forgot your socks?! Are you mad?’ I didn’t say anything. ‘But you’re from Scotland, right?’ ‘Aye,’ I said, ‘You’ll be fine then.’ They were nice people but they could afford to be because they’d survived the ordeal and were now heading back to civilisation. They had had socks. Smug bastards. Nice people though.

 

Ten minutes later, as I was watching a huge thanka being unfolded by the Phajoding monks, the lady (to my shame I never did get to know her name) ran up to me and offered, like a true Buddhist using both hands, a pair of socks. ‘They’re a day and a half old,’ she said, ‘but they’ll save your life!’ I didn’t know what to say so I kept repeating, like the simpleton John Miles played in ‘Ryan’s Daughter’, ‘Thank you, thank you.’ I refrained from saying ‘God bless’, but I was genuinely touched (in more ways than one) and didn’t even have the sense to ask for their address so that I could send them back to Oz. Which was just as well. But I would have had them washed.

 

And the socks really were a Godsend. Never before have I held so much regard for footware. They (along with the extra blanket supplied by chef) actually made the next three nights bearable (just. There was still the issue of the bells and the thin mattress). Thanks Australia ;-)

 

Overall, you might think that a minimum of $200 a day to visit and exist in Bhutan is a lot of money. And it is. No argument. But … this money covers everything apart from incidentals such as snacks and souvenirs , and so, although it’s expensive, it’s not that expensive and is, actually, when it comes down to it, damned good value for money. Outside of Bhutan, how much would it cost to have what they provided me? A personal guide (just for little old me) who answers most of the inane and arcane questions I usually pose to myself or strangers (who aren’t good at responding. Either of them) and panders to almost my every whim My own transport (so I can say, ‘Why don’t we go down this wee road?’, ‘Can we just stop here for a minute to take a photo’, and ‘STOP! There’s a bird I haven’t seen, I’m sure of it. Might be new to science too. Come on, we’ll be famous!’ ) My your own private expeditionary force to conquer the Himalayas? The chance to stay in top class hotels (with clean, unstained sheets and electrics that work. Luxury). To have all your meals provided for you (most of them excellent). And to have the flexibility to be able to change itinerary and venues / hotels depending on how you feel … and all this amongst the beauty, serenity and unspoilt splendour of a country which is Bhutan …

 

Well, what can I say? It’s not a perfect country, but it comes damned close to it.

 

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Gautama Buddha, also known as Siddhārtha Gautama, Shakyamuni, or simply the Buddha, was a sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. He is believed to have lived and taught mostly in northeastern India sometime between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE.

 

The word Buddha means "awakened one" or "the enlightened one". "Buddha" is also used as a title for the first awakened being in a Yuga era. In most Buddhist traditions, Siddhartha Gautama is regarded as the Supreme Buddha (Pali sammāsambuddha, Sanskrit samyaksaṃbuddha) of the present age. Gautama taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the śramaṇa movement common in his region. He later taught throughout regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kosala.

 

Gautama is the primary figure in Buddhism and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition and first committed to writing about 400 years later.

 

CONTENTS

HISTORICAL SIDDHARTA GAUTAMA

Scholars are hesitant to make unqualified claims about the historical facts of the Buddha's life. Most accept that he lived, taught and founded a monastic order during the Mahajanapada era during the reign of Bimbisara, the ruler of the Magadha empire, and died during the early years of the reign of Ajasattu, who was the successor of Bimbisara, thus making him a younger contemporary of Mahavira, the Jain tirthankara. Apart from the Vedic Brahmins, the Buddha's lifetime coincided with the flourishing of other influential śramaṇa schools of thoughts like Ājīvika, Cārvāka, Jainism, and Ajñana. It was also the age of influential thinkers like Mahavira, Pūraṇa Kassapa , Makkhali Gosāla, Ajita Kesakambalī, Pakudha Kaccāyana, and Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta, whose viewpoints the Buddha most certainly must have been acquainted with and influenced by. Indeed, Sariputta and Moggallāna, two of the foremost disciples of the Buddha, were formerly the foremost disciples of Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta, the skeptic. There is also evidence to suggest that the two masters, Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta, were indeed historical figures and they most probably taught Buddha two different forms of meditative techniques. While the general sequence of "birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death" is widely accepted, there is less consensus on the veracity of many details contained in traditional biographies.

 

The times of Gautama's birth and death are uncertain. Most historians in the early 20th century dated his lifetime as circa 563 BCE to 483 BCE. More recently his death is dated later, between 411 and 400 BCE, while at a symposium on this question held in 1988, the majority of those who presented definite opinions gave dates within 20 years either side of 400 BCE for the Buddha's death. These alternative chronologies, however, have not yet been accepted by all historians.

 

The evidence of the early texts suggests that Siddhārtha Gautama was born into the Shakya clan, a community that was on the periphery, both geographically and culturally, of the northeastern Indian subcontinent in the 5th century BCE. It was either a small republic, in which case his father was an elected chieftain, or an oligarchy, in which case his father was an oligarch. According to the Buddhist tradition, Gautama was born in Lumbini, nowadays in modern-day Nepal, and raised in the Shakya capital of Kapilavastu, which may have been in either present day Tilaurakot, Nepal or Piprahwa, India. He obtained his enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, gave his first sermon in Sarnath, and died in Kushinagar.

 

No written records about Gautama have been found from his lifetime or some centuries thereafter. One Edict of Asoka, who reigned from circa 269 BCE to 232 BCE, commemorates the Emperor's pilgrimage to the Buddha's birthplace in Lumbini. Another one of his edicts mentions several Dhamma texts, establishing the existence of a written Buddhist tradition at least by the time of the Maurya era and which may be the precursors of the Pāli Canon. The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts are the Gandhāran Buddhist texts, reported to have been found in or around Haḍḍa near Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan and now preserved in the British Library. They are written in the Gāndhārī language using the Kharosthi script on twenty-seven birch bark manuscripts and date from the first century BCE to the third century CE.

 

TRADITIONAL BIOGRAPHIES

BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES

The sources for the life of Siddhārtha Gautama are a variety of different, and sometimes conflicting, traditional biographies. These include the Buddhacarita, Lalitavistara Sūtra, Mahāvastu, and the Nidānakathā. Of these, the Buddhacarita is the earliest full biography, an epic poem written by the poet Aśvaghoṣa, and dating around the beginning of the 2nd century CE. The Lalitavistara Sūtra is the next oldest biography, a Mahāyāna/Sarvāstivāda biography dating to the 3rd century CE. The Mahāvastu from the Mahāsāṃghika Lokottaravāda tradition is another major biography, composed incrementally until perhaps the 4th century CE. The Dharmaguptaka biography of the Buddha is the most exhaustive, and is entitled the Abhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra, and various Chinese translations of this date between the 3rd and 6th century CE. The Nidānakathā is from the Theravada tradition in Sri Lanka and was composed in the 5th century by Buddhaghoṣa.

 

From canonical sources, the Jataka tales, the Mahapadana Sutta (DN 14), and the Achariyabhuta Sutta (MN 123) which include selective accounts that may be older, but are not full biographies. The Jātakas retell previous lives of Gautama as a bodhisattva, and the first collection of these can be dated among the earliest Buddhist texts. The Mahāpadāna Sutta and Achariyabhuta Sutta both recount miraculous events surrounding Gautama's birth, such as the bodhisattva's descent from the Tuṣita Heaven into his mother's womb.

 

NATURE OF TRADITIONAL DEPICTIONS

In the earliest Buddhists texts, the nikāyas and āgamas, the Buddha is not depicted as possessing omniscience (sabbaññu) nor is he depicted as being an eternal transcendent (lokottara) being. According to Bhikkhu Analayo, ideas of the Buddha's omniscience (along with an increasing tendency to deify him and his biography) are found only later, in the Mahayana sutras and later Pali commentaries or texts such as the Mahāvastu. In the Sandaka Sutta, the Buddha's disciple Ananda outlines an argument against the claims of teachers who say they are all knowing while in the Tevijjavacchagotta Sutta the Buddha himself states that he has never made a claim to being omniscient, instead he claimed to have the "higher knowledges" (abhijñā). The earliest biographical material from the Pali Nikayas focuses on the Buddha's life as a śramaṇa, his search for enlightenment under various teachers such as Alara Kalama and his forty five year career as a teacher.

 

Traditional biographies of Gautama generally include numerous miracles, omens, and supernatural events. The character of the Buddha in these traditional biographies is often that of a fully transcendent (Skt. lokottara) and perfected being who is unencumbered by the mundane world. In the Mahāvastu, over the course of many lives, Gautama is said to have developed supra-mundane abilities including: a painless birth conceived without intercourse; no need for sleep, food, medicine, or bathing, although engaging in such "in conformity with the world"; omniscience, and the ability to "suppress karma". Nevertheless, some of the more ordinary details of his life have been gathered from these traditional sources. In modern times there has been an attempt to form a secular understanding of Siddhārtha Gautama's life by omitting the traditional supernatural elements of his early biographies.

 

Andrew Skilton writes that the Buddha was never historically regarded by Buddhist traditions as being merely human:

It is important to stress that, despite modern Theravada teachings to the contrary (often a sop to skeptical Western pupils), he was never seen as being merely human. For instance, he is often described as having the thirty-two major and eighty minor marks or signs of a mahāpuruṣa, "superman"; the Buddha himself denied that he was either a man or a god; and in the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta he states that he could live for an aeon were he asked to do so.The ancient Indians were generally unconcerned with chronologies, being more focused on philosophy. Buddhist texts reflect this tendency, providing a clearer picture of what Gautama may have taught than of the dates of the events in his life. These texts contain descriptions of the culture and daily life of ancient India which can be corroborated from the Jain scriptures, and make the Buddha's time the earliest period in Indian history for which significant accounts exist. British author Karen Armstrong writes that although there is very little information that can be considered historically sound, we can be reasonably confident that Siddhārtha Gautama did exist as a historical figure. Michael Carrithers goes a bit further by stating that the most general outline of "birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death" must be true.

 

BIOGRAPHY

CONCEPTION AND BIRTH

The Buddhist tradition regards Lumbini, in present-day Nepal to be the birthplace of the Buddha. He grew up in Kapilavastu. The exact site of ancient Kapilavastu is unknown. It may have been either Piprahwa, Uttar Pradesh, present-day India, or Tilaurakot, present-day Nepal. Both places belonged to the Sakya territory, and are located only 15 miles apart from each other.

 

Gautama was born as a Kshatriya, the son of Śuddhodana, "an elected chief of the Shakya clan", whose capital was Kapilavastu, and who were later annexed by the growing Kingdom of Kosala during the Buddha's lifetime. Gautama was the family name. His mother, Maya (Māyādevī), Suddhodana's wife, was a Koliyan princess. Legend has it that, on the night Siddhartha was conceived, Queen Maya dreamt that a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side, and ten months later Siddhartha was born. As was the Shakya tradition, when his mother Queen Maya became pregnant, she left Kapilvastu for her father's kingdom to give birth. However, her son is said to have been born on the way, at Lumbini, in a garden beneath a sal tree.

 

The day of the Buddha's birth is widely celebrated in Theravada countries as Vesak. Buddha's Birthday is called Buddha Purnima in Nepal and India as he is believed to have been born on a full moon day. Various sources hold that the Buddha's mother died at his birth, a few days or seven days later. The infant was given the name Siddhartha (Pāli: Siddhattha), meaning "he who achieves his aim". During the birth celebrations, the hermit seer Asita journeyed from his mountain abode and announced that the child would either become a great king (chakravartin) or a great sadhu. By traditional account, this occurred after Siddhartha placed his feet in Asita's hair and Asita examined the birthmarks. Suddhodana held a naming ceremony on the fifth day, and invited eight Brahmin scholars to read the future. All gave a dual prediction that the baby would either become a great king or a great holy man. Kondañña, the youngest, and later to be the first arhat other than the Buddha, was reputed to be the only one who unequivocally predicted that Siddhartha would become a Buddha.

 

While later tradition and legend characterized Śuddhodana as a hereditary monarch, the descendant of the Suryavansha (Solar dynasty) of Ikṣvāku (Pāli: Okkāka), many scholars think that Śuddhodana was the elected chief of a tribal confederacy.

 

Early texts suggest that Gautama was not familiar with the dominant religious teachings of his time until he left on his religious quest, which is said to have been motivated by existential concern for the human condition. The state of the Shakya clan was not a monarchy, and seems to have been structured either as an oligarchy, or as a form of republic. The more egalitarian gana-sangha form of government, as a political alternative to the strongly hierarchical kingdoms, may have influenced the development of the śramanic Jain and Buddhist sanghas, where monarchies tended toward Vedic Brahmanism.

 

EARLY LIFE AND MARRIAGE

Siddhartha was brought up by his mother's younger sister, Maha Pajapati. By tradition, he is said to have been destined by birth to the life of a prince, and had three palaces (for seasonal occupation) built for him. Although more recent scholarship doubts this status, his father, said to be King Śuddhodana, wishing for his son to be a great king, is said to have shielded him from religious teachings and from knowledge of human suffering.

 

When he reached the age of 16, his father reputedly arranged his marriage to a cousin of the same age named Yaśodharā (Pāli: Yasodharā). According to the traditional account, she gave birth to a son, named Rāhula. Siddhartha is said to have spent 29 years as a prince in Kapilavastu. Although his father ensured that Siddhartha was provided with everything he could want or need, Buddhist scriptures say that the future Buddha felt that material wealth was not life's ultimate goal.

 

RENUNCIATION AND ASCETIC LIFE

At the age of 29, the popular biography continues, Siddhartha left his palace to meet his subjects. Despite his father's efforts to hide from him the sick, aged and suffering, Siddhartha was said to have seen an old man. When his charioteer Channa explained to him that all people grew old, the prince went on further trips beyond the palace. On these he encountered a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic. These depressed him, and he initially strove to overcome aging, sickness, and death by living the life of an ascetic.

 

Accompanied by Channa and riding his horse Kanthaka, Gautama quit his palace for the life of a mendicant. It's said that, "the horse's hooves were muffled by the gods" to prevent guards from knowing of his departure.

 

Gautama initially went to Rajagaha and began his ascetic life by begging for alms in the street. After King Bimbisara's men recognised Siddhartha and the king learned of his quest, Bimbisara offered Siddhartha the throne. Siddhartha rejected the offer, but promised to visit his kingdom of Magadha first, upon attaining enlightenment.

 

He left Rajagaha and practised under two hermit teachers of yogic meditation. After mastering the teachings of Alara Kalama (Skr. Ārāḍa Kālāma), he was asked by Kalama to succeed him. However, Gautama felt unsatisfied by the practice, and moved on to become a student of yoga with Udaka Ramaputta (Skr. Udraka Rāmaputra). With him he achieved high levels of meditative consciousness, and was again asked to succeed his teacher. But, once more, he was not satisfied, and again moved on.

 

Siddhartha and a group of five companions led by Kaundinya are then said to have set out to take their austerities even further. They tried to find enlightenment through deprivation of worldly goods, including food, practising self-mortification. After nearly starving himself to death by restricting his food intake to around a leaf or nut per day, he collapsed in a river while bathing and almost drowned. Siddhartha was rescued by a village girl named Sujata and she gave him some payasam (a pudding made from milk and jaggery) after which Siddhartha got back some energy. Siddhartha began to reconsider his path. Then, he remembered a moment in childhood in which he had been watching his father start the season's ploughing. He attained a concentrated and focused state that was blissful and refreshing, the jhāna.

 

AWAKENING

According to the early Buddhist texts, after realizing that meditative dhyana was the right path to awakening, but that extreme asceticism didn't work, Gautama discovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way - a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification, or the Noble Eightfold Path, as was identified and described by the Buddha in his first discourse, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. In a famous incident, after becoming starved and weakened, he is said to have accepted milk and rice pudding from a village girl named Sujata. Such was his emaciated appearance that she wrongly believed him to be a spirit that had granted her a wish.

 

Following this incident, Gautama was famously seated under a pipal tree - now known as the Bodhi tree - in Bodh Gaya, India, when he vowed never to arise until he had found the truth. Kaundinya and four other companions, believing that he had abandoned his search and become undisciplined, left. After a reputed 49 days of meditation, at the age of 35, he is said to have attained Enlightenment. According to some traditions, this occurred in approximately the fifth lunar month, while, according to others, it was in the twelfth month. From that time, Gautama was known to his followers as the Buddha or "Awakened One" ("Buddha" is also sometimes translated as "The Enlightened One").

 

According to Buddhism, at the time of his awakening he realized complete insight into the cause of suffering, and the steps necessary to eliminate it. These discoveries became known as the "Four Noble Truths", which are at the heart of Buddhist teaching. Through mastery of these truths, a state of supreme liberation, or Nirvana, is believed to be possible for any being. The Buddha described Nirvāna as the perfect peace of a mind that's free from ignorance, greed, hatred and other afflictive states, or "defilements" (kilesas). Nirvana is also regarded as the "end of the world", in that no personal identity or boundaries of the mind remain. In such a state, a being is said to possess the Ten Characteristics, belonging to every Buddha.

 

According to a story in the Āyācana Sutta (Samyutta Nikaya VI.1) - a scripture found in the Pāli and other canons - immediately after his awakening, the Buddha debated whether or not he should teach the Dharma to others. He was concerned that humans were so overpowered by ignorance, greed and hatred that they could never recognise the path, which is subtle, deep and hard to grasp. However, in the story, Brahmā Sahampati convinced him, arguing that at least some will understand it. The Buddha relented, and agreed to teach.

 

FORMATION OF THE SANGHA

After his awakening, the Buddha met Taphussa and Bhallika — two merchant brothers from the city of Balkh in what is currently Afghanistan - who became his first lay disciples. It is said that each was given hairs from his head, which are now claimed to be enshrined as relics in the Shwe Dagon Temple in Rangoon, Burma. The Buddha intended to visit Asita, and his former teachers, Alara Kalama and Udaka Ramaputta, to explain his findings, but they had already died.

 

He then travelled to the Deer Park near Varanasi (Benares) in northern India, where he set in motion what Buddhists call the Wheel of Dharma by delivering his first sermon to the five companions with whom he had sought enlightenment. Together with him, they formed the first saṅgha: the company of Buddhist monks.

 

All five become arahants, and within the first two months, with the conversion of Yasa and fifty four of his friends, the number of such arahants is said to have grown to 60. The conversion of three brothers named Kassapa followed, with their reputed 200, 300 and 500 disciples, respectively. This swelled the sangha to more than 1,000.

 

TRAVELS AND TEACHING

For the remaining 45 years of his life, the Buddha is said to have traveled in the Gangetic Plain, in what is now Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and southern Nepal, teaching a diverse range of people: from nobles to servants, murderers such as Angulimala, and cannibals such as Alavaka. Although the Buddha's language remains unknown, it's likely that he taught in one or more of a variety of closely related Middle Indo-Aryan dialects, of which Pali may be a standardization.

 

The sangha traveled through the subcontinent, expounding the dharma. This continued throughout the year, except during the four months of the Vāsanā rainy season when ascetics of all religions rarely traveled. One reason was that it was more difficult to do so without causing harm to animal life. At this time of year, the sangha would retreat to monasteries, public parks or forests, where people would come to them.

 

The first vassana was spent at Varanasi when the sangha was formed. After this, the Buddha kept a promise to travel to Rajagaha, capital of Magadha, to visit King Bimbisara. During this visit, Sariputta and Maudgalyayana were converted by Assaji, one of the first five disciples, after which they were to become the Buddha's two foremost followers. The Buddha spent the next three seasons at Veluvana Bamboo Grove monastery in Rajagaha, capital of Magadha.

 

Upon hearing of his son's awakening, Suddhodana sent, over a period, ten delegations to ask him to return to Kapilavastu. On the first nine occasions, the delegates failed to deliver the message, and instead joined the sangha to become arahants. The tenth delegation, led by Kaludayi, a childhood friend of Gautama's (who also became an arahant), however, delivered the message.

 

Now two years after his awakening, the Buddha agreed to return, and made a two-month journey by foot to Kapilavastu, teaching the dharma as he went. At his return, the royal palace prepared a midday meal, but the sangha was making an alms round in Kapilavastu. Hearing this, Suddhodana approached his son, the Buddha, saying:

 

"Ours is the warrior lineage of Mahamassata, and not a single warrior has gone seeking alms."

 

The Buddha is said to have replied:

 

"That is not the custom of your royal lineage. But it is the custom of my Buddha lineage. Several thousands of Buddhas have gone by seeking alms."

 

Buddhist texts say that Suddhodana invited the sangha into the palace for the meal, followed by a dharma talk. After this he is said to have become a sotapanna. During the visit, many members of the royal family joined the sangha. The Buddha's cousins Ananda and Anuruddha became two of his five chief disciples. At the age of seven, his son Rahula also joined, and became one of his ten chief disciples. His half-brother Nanda also joined and became an arahant.

 

Of the Buddha's disciples, Sariputta, Maudgalyayana, Mahakasyapa, Ananda and Anuruddha are believed to have been the five closest to him. His ten foremost disciples were reputedly completed by the quintet of Upali, Subhoti, Rahula, Mahakaccana and Punna.

 

In the fifth vassana, the Buddha was staying at Mahavana near Vesali when he heard news of the impending death of his father. He is said to have gone to Suddhodana and taught the dharma, after which his father became an arahant.The king's death and cremation was to inspire the creation of an order of nuns. Buddhist texts record that the Buddha was reluctant to ordain women. His foster mother Maha Pajapati, for example, approached him, asking to join the sangha, but he refused. Maha Pajapati, however, was so intent on the path of awakening that she led a group of royal Sakyan and Koliyan ladies, which followed the sangha on a long journey to Rajagaha. In time, after Ananda championed their cause, the Buddha is said to have reconsidered and, five years after the formation of the sangha, agreed to the ordination of women as nuns. He reasoned that males and females had an equal capacity for awakening. But he gave women additional rules (Vinaya) to follow.

 

MAHAPARINIRVANA

According to the Mahaparinibbana Sutta of the Pali canon, at the age of 80, the Buddha announced that he would soon reach Parinirvana, or the final deathless state, and abandon his earthly body. After this, the Buddha ate his last meal, which he had received as an offering from a blacksmith named Cunda. Falling violently ill, Buddha instructed his attendant Ānanda to convince Cunda that the meal eaten at his place had nothing to do with his passing and that his meal would be a source of the greatest merit as it provided the last meal for a Buddha. Mettanando and Von Hinüber argue that the Buddha died of mesenteric infarction, a symptom of old age, rather than food poisoning. The precise contents of the Buddha's final meal are not clear, due to variant scriptural traditions and ambiguity over the translation of certain significant terms; the Theravada tradition generally believes that the Buddha was offered some kind of pork, while the Mahayana tradition believes that the Buddha consumed some sort of truffle or other mushroom. These may reflect the different traditional views on Buddhist vegetarianism and the precepts for monks and nuns.

 

Waley suggests that Theravadin's would take suukaramaddava (the contents of the Buddha's last meal), which can translate as pig-soft, to mean soft flesh of a pig. However, he also states that pig-soft could mean "pig's soft-food", that is, after Neumann, a soft food favoured by pigs, assumed to be a truffle. He argues (also after Neumann) that as Pali Buddhism was developed in an area remote to the Buddha's death, the existence of other plants with suukara- (pig) as part of their names and that "(p)lant names tend to be local and dialectical" could easily indicate that suukaramaddava was a type of plant whose local name was unknown to those in the Pali regions. Specifically, local writers knew more about their flora than Theravadin commentator Buddhaghosa who lived hundreds of years and kilometres remote in time and space from the events described. Unaware of an alternate meaning and with no Theravadin prohibition against eating animal flesh, Theravadins would not have questioned the Buddha eating meat and interpreted the term accordingly.

 

Ananda protested the Buddha's decision to enter Parinirvana in the abandoned jungles of Kuśināra (present-day Kushinagar, India) of the Malla kingdom. The Buddha, however, is said to have reminded Ananda how Kushinara was a land once ruled by a righteous wheel-turning king that resounded with joy:

 

44. Kusavati, Ananda, resounded unceasingly day and night with ten sounds - the trumpeting of elephants, the neighing of horses, the rattling of chariots, the beating of drums and tabours, music and song, cheers, the clapping of hands, and cries of "Eat, drink, and be merry!"

 

The Buddha then asked all the attendant Bhikkhus to clarify any doubts or questions they had. They had none. According to Buddhist scriptures, he then finally entered Parinirvana. The Buddha's final words are reported to have been: "All composite things (Saṅkhāra) are perishable. Strive for your own liberation with diligence" (Pali: 'vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādethā'). His body was cremated and the relics were placed in monuments or stupas, some of which are believed to have survived until the present. For example, The Temple of the Tooth or "Dalada Maligawa" in Sri Lanka is the place where what some believe to be the relic of the right tooth of Buddha is kept at present.

 

According to the Pāli historical chronicles of Sri Lanka, the Dīpavaṃsa and Mahāvaṃsa, the coronation of Emperor Aśoka (Pāli: Asoka) is 218 years after the death of the Buddha. According to two textual records in Chinese (十八部論 and 部執異論), the coronation of Emperor Aśoka is 116 years after the death of the Buddha. Therefore, the time of Buddha's passing is either 486 BCE according to Theravāda record or 383 BCE according to Mahayana record. However, the actual date traditionally accepted as the date of the Buddha's death in Theravāda countries is 544 or 545 BCE, because the reign of Emperor Aśoka was traditionally reckoned to be about 60 years earlier than current estimates. In Burmese Buddhist tradition, the date of the Buddha's death is 13 May 544 BCE. whereas in Thai tradition it is 11 March 545 BCE.

 

At his death, the Buddha is famously believed to have told his disciples to follow no leader. Mahakasyapa was chosen by the sangha to be the chairman of the First Buddhist Council, with the two chief disciples Maudgalyayana and Sariputta having died before the Buddha.

 

While in the Buddha's days he was addressed by the very respected titles Buddha, Shākyamuni, Shākyasimha, Bhante and Bho, he was known after his parinirvana as Arihant, Bhagavā/Bhagavat/Bhagwān, Mahāvira, Jina/Jinendra, Sāstr, Sugata, and most popularly in scriptures as Tathāgata.

 

BUDDHA AND VEDAS

Buddha's teachings deny the authority of the Vedas and consequently [at least atheistic] Buddhism is generally viewed as a nāstika school (heterodox, literally "It is not so") from the perspective of orthodox Hinduism.

 

RELICS

After his death, Buddha's cremation relics were divided amongst 8 royal families and his disciples; centuries later they would be enshrined by King Ashoka into 84,000 stupas. Many supernatural legends surround the history of alleged relics as they accompanied the spread of Buddhism and gave legitimacy to rulers.

 

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

An extensive and colorful physical description of the Buddha has been laid down in scriptures. A kshatriya by birth, he had military training in his upbringing, and by Shakyan tradition was required to pass tests to demonstrate his worthiness as a warrior in order to marry. He had a strong enough body to be noticed by one of the kings and was asked to join his army as a general. He is also believed by Buddhists to have "the 32 Signs of the Great Man".

 

The Brahmin Sonadanda described him as "handsome, good-looking, and pleasing to the eye, with a most beautiful complexion. He has a godlike form and countenance, he is by no means unattractive." (D, I:115)

 

"It is wonderful, truly marvellous, how serene is the good Gotama's appearance, how clear and radiant his complexion, just as the golden jujube in autumn is clear and radiant, just as a palm-tree fruit just loosened from the stalk is clear and radiant, just as an adornment of red gold wrought in a crucible by a skilled goldsmith, deftly beaten and laid on a yellow-cloth shines, blazes and glitters, even so, the good Gotama's senses are calmed, his complexion is clear and radiant." (A, I:181)

 

A disciple named Vakkali, who later became an arahant, was so obsessed by the Buddha's physical presence that the Buddha is said to have felt impelled to tell him to desist, and to have reminded him that he should know the Buddha through the Dhamma and not through physical appearances.

 

Although there are no extant representations of the Buddha in human form until around the 1st century CE (see Buddhist art), descriptions of the physical characteristics of fully enlightened buddhas are attributed to the Buddha in the Digha Nikaya's Lakkhaṇa Sutta (D, I:142). In addition, the Buddha's physical appearance is described by Yasodhara to their son Rahula upon the Buddha's first post-Enlightenment return to his former princely palace in the non-canonical Pali devotional hymn, Narasīha Gāthā ("The Lion of Men").

 

Among the 32 main characteristics it is mentioned that Buddha has blue eyes.

 

NINE VIRTUES

Recollection of nine virtues attributed to the Buddha is a common Buddhist meditation and devotional practice called Buddhānusmṛti. The nine virtues are also among the 40 Buddhist meditation subjects. The nine virtues of the Buddha appear throughout the Tipitaka, and include:

 

- Buddho – Awakened

- Sammasambuddho – Perfectly self-awakened

- Vijja-carana-sampano – Endowed with higher knowledge and ideal conduct.

- Sugato – Well-gone or Well-spoken.

- Lokavidu – Wise in the knowledge of the many worlds.

- Anuttaro Purisa-damma-sarathi – Unexcelled trainer of untrained people.

- Satthadeva-Manussanam – Teacher of gods and humans.

- Bhagavathi – The Blessed one

- Araham – Worthy of homage. An Arahant is "one with taints destroyed, who has lived the holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, reached the true goal, destroyed the fetters of being, and is completely liberated through final knowledge."

 

TEACHINGS

TRACING THE OLDEST TEACHINGS

Information of the oldest teachings may be obtained by analysis of the oldest texts. One method to obtain information on the oldest core of Buddhism is to compare the oldest extant versions of the Theravadin Pali Canon and other texts. The reliability of these sources, and the possibility to draw out a core of oldest teachings, is a matter of dispute. According to Vetter, inconsistencies remain, and other methods must be applied to resolve those inconsistencies.

 

According to Schmithausen, three positions held by scholars of Buddhism can be distinguished:

 

"Stress on the fundamental homogeneity and substantial authenticity of at least a considerable part of the Nikayic materials;"

"Scepticism with regard to the possibility of retrieving the doctrine of earliest Buddhism;"

"Cautious optimism in this respect."

 

DHYANA AND INSIGHT

A core problem in the study of early Buddhism is the relation between dhyana and insight. Schmithausen, in his often-cited article On some Aspects of Descriptions or Theories of 'Liberating Insight' and 'Enlightenment' in Early Buddhism notes that the mention of the four noble truths as constituting "liberating insight", which is attained after mastering the Rupa Jhanas, is a later addition to texts such as Majjhima Nikaya 36

 

CORE TEACHINGS

According to Tilmann Vetter, the core of earliest Buddhism is the practice of dhyāna. Bronkhorst agrees that dhyana was a Buddhist invention, whereas Norman notes that "the Buddha's way to release [...] was by means of meditative practices." Discriminating insight into transiency as a separate path to liberation was a later development.

 

According to the Mahāsaccakasutta, from the fourth jhana the Buddha gained bodhi. Yet, it is not clear what he was awakened to. "Liberating insight" is a later addition to this text, and reflects a later development and understanding in early Buddhism. The mentioning of the four truths as constituting "liberating insight" introduces a logical problem, since the four truths depict a linear path of practice, the knowledge of which is in itself not depicted as being liberating:

 

[T]hey do not teach that one is released by knowing the four noble truths, but by practicing the fourth noble truth, the eightfold path, which culminates in right samadhi.

 

Although "Nibbāna" (Sanskrit: Nirvāna) is the common term for the desired goal of this practice, many other terms can be found throughout the Nikayas, which are not specified.

 

According to Vetter, the description of the Buddhist path may initially have been as simple as the term "the middle way". In time, this short description was elaborated, resulting in the description of the eightfold path.

 

According to both Bronkhorst and Anderson, the four truths became a substitution for prajna, or "liberating insight", in the suttas in those texts where "liberating insight" was preceded by the four jhanas. According to Bronkhorst, the four truths may not have been formulated in earliest Buddhism, and did not serve in earliest Buddhism as a description of "liberating insight". Gotama's teachings may have been personal, "adjusted to the need of each person."

 

The three marks of existence may reflect Upanishadic or other influences. K.R. Norman supposes that these terms were already in use at the Buddha's time, and were familiar to his listeners.

 

The Brahma-vihara was in origin probably a brahmanic term; but its usage may have been common to the Sramana traditions.

  

LATER DEVELOPMENTS

In time, "liberating insight" became an essential feature of the Buddhist tradition. The following teachings, which are commonly seen as essential to Buddhism, are later formulations which form part of the explanatory framework of this "liberating insight":

 

- The Four Noble Truths: that suffering is an ingrained part of existence; that the origin of suffering is craving for sensuality, acquisition of identity, and fear of annihilation; that suffering can be ended; and that following the Noble Eightfold Path is the means to accomplish this;

- The Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration;

- Dependent origination: the mind creates suffering as a natural product of a complex process.

 

OTHER RELIGIONS

Some Hindus regard Gautama as the 9th avatar of Vishnu. The Buddha is also regarded as a prophet by the Ahmadiyya Muslims and a Manifestation of God in the Bahá'í Faith. Some early Chinese Taoist-Buddhists thought the Buddha to be a reincarnation of Lao Tzu.

 

The Christian Saint Josaphat is based on the Buddha. The name comes from the Sanskrit Bodhisattva via Arabic Būdhasaf and Georgian Iodasaph. The only story in which St. Josaphat appears, Barlaam and Josaphat, is based on the life of the Buddha. Josaphat was included in earlier editions of the Roman Martyrology (feast day 27 November) — though not in the Roman Missal — and in the Eastern Orthodox Church liturgical calendar (26 August).

 

Disciples of the Cao Đài religion worship the Buddha as a major religious teacher. His image can be found in both their Holy See and on the home altar. He is revealed during communication with Divine Beings as son of their Supreme Being (God the Father) together with other major religious teachers and founders like Jesus, Laozi, and Confucius.

 

In the ancient Gnostic sect of Manichaeism the Buddha is listed among the prophets who preached the word of God before Mani.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Looking east at the west side of the Confederate Monument at Arlington National Cemtery in Arlington, Virginia, in the United States.

 

American historians agree that many of the civic wounds created by the American Civil War were healed by the feelings of common cause generated during Spanish-American War. In June 1900, the U.S. Congress passed legislation setting aside Section 16 of the cemetery for the burial of Confederate States of America war dead. Many Confederate dead were already buried at the cemetery, and were memorialized by the Civil War Unknowns Monument. But the new area of the cemetery would allow for individual burial of those whose identities were known. By December 1901, 482 Confederate remains were disinterred at the cemeteries at Alexandria, Virginia; the Soldiers' Home in Washington, D.C.; and portions of Arlington National Cemetery and reinterred in concentric circles in Section 16. Their headstones were given a pointed top, to indicate that they were Confederate graves.

 

Shortly thereafter, the United Daughters of the Confederacy asked that a memorial to the Confederate dead be erected in Section 16. Secretary of War William Howard Taft granted the request on March 4, 1906. Confederate veteran and nationally-known sculptor Moses Ezekiel was commissioned to design and sculpt the monument. It was cast and manufactured by Aktien-Gesellschaft Gladenbeck of Berlin, Germany. The cornerstone of the massive memorial was laid on November 12, 1912. The monument was dedicated by President Woodrow Wilson on June 4, 1914, the 106th anniversary of the birthday of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

 

The memorial is 32 feet high. Atop the memorial is a life-size statue of a female representing "The South," crowned in victory with a wreath of olive leaves. She gestures toward the south with a laurel wreath to "crown" the sacrifice her "sons" made in war. In her right hand is a pruning hook and at her feet is a plow. The statue stands on a four-foot high circular pedestal. On the pedestal's sides are four funerary urns in bas-relief, each urn inscribed with a different year of the war (1861-62, 1862-63, 1863-64, and 1864-65). Palm fronds decorate the space between the urns. The pedestal rests on a round base resembling intertwined, woven sheaves of wheat. This structure rests on a circular base on which is inscribed the Old Testament passage: "And they shall beat their swords into plow shares and their spears into pruning hooks." Below the base is a plinth, decorated with 14 shields. Each shield depicts the coat of arms of one of the 13 Confederate states. Also included is the coat of arms of the state of Maryland, which was prevented from joining the Confederacy because it was invested with federal troops and martial law was declared in the state.

 

Below the plinth is another frieze of roughly half-sized figures. The front of the monument faces south. Each of the figures is in bas-relief, although deeply undercut. Portions of the work are free of the frieze. In the front of the frieze, Minerva, goddess of war and wisdom, holds a spear in her right hand and a gladiatorial net is draped across her right shoulder. She looks to her left, where a woman repreenting "The South" has half-fallen to the ground while clutching at a shield inscribed with the words "The Constitution." In the background behind Minerva are "spirits of war" sounding a trumpet call to arms. On either side of the central figures are four representations of the branches of the Confederate Armed Forces: Soldier, sailor, sapper, and miner. Beginning with the east face of the memorial are scenes depicting the people of the South going to war. They are: A young black male slave (in the uniform of the Confederate States of America) follows his white young master into battle; a weeping mammy holds a white baby up so that the child's white father (an officer in the Confederate Army) can kiss the youth; a white blacksmith sets aside his tools while his white wife grieves; a young white woman ties a sword to the belt of her white male lover, who has joined the army; and a white officer looks into the distance.

 

The frieze is supported by an octagonal base with upward-curving pilasters. Plinths adorn the east and west sides, on which are set bronze tripods which hold bronze flames. The sides of the plinths are decorated with a wreath and a palm frond. The north, south, east, and west faces are all larger by half than the other faces of the base. On the south face is carved in bas-relief the Seal of the Confederate States of America and a memorial inscription by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Below this is the Latin phrase "Victrix Causa Diis Placuit Sed Victa Caton" ("The victor's cause pleased the gods, but the vanquished pleased Cato"). This is a line from the Pharsalia, an epic Roman poem by the poet Lucan which tells the story of the civil war between Julius Caesar and the forces of the Roman Senate led by Pompey the Great. The line was a favorite of Confederate supporters. On the rear of the memorial is a short poem by Reverend Randolph Harrison McKim, a Confederate chaplain. Smaller inscriptions at the northwest and northeast sides of the base tell who designed and who manufactured the memorial.

 

The bronze portion of the memorial stands on 17 grey granite blocks. These granite blocks, in turn, rest on eight polished grey granite slabs.

 

Four graves are at the four points of the compass in front of the memorial. These are: Moses Ezekiel; Lt. Harry Marmaduke, Confederate Navy; Capt. John Hickey, Second Missouri Infantry; and Brigaider General Marcus Wright, Confederate Army.

FORUM PRÉVENTION ROUTIÈRE 2015

Rose Barone from NYPIRG at From Paris to New York: A People's Agenda for Preventing Climate Change

 

© Erik Mc Gregor - erikrivas@hotmail.com - 917-225-8963

Calshot 29/05/2016

PérigueuxPérigueux (prononcé [pe.ʁi.gø] ; est une commune française, la plus peuplée du Périgord, située dans le centre-est de la région Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Chef-lieu du département de la Dordogne depuis 1791, la commune compte 30 060 habitants en 2018, pour une aire urbaine totalisant plus de 102 000 habitants la même année.

Labellisée « 4 fleurs », Périgueux est la capitale culturelle et touristique du Périgord blanc, dans la vallée de l'Isle. La ville offre aux touristes un patrimoine historique gallo-romain, médiéval et de la Renaissance. Reconnue ville d'art et d'histoire, Périgueux possède 44 monuments historiques inscrits ou classés, et trois musées labellisés Musées de France, dont deux municipaux. La ville conserve et met en valeur son riche patrimoine civil, militaire et religieux, dont sa cathédrale Saint-Front, classée au titre des monuments historiques ainsi qu'au patrimoine mondial de l'UNESCO.

La cité date du Ier siècle av. J.-C., pendant l'occupation romaine en Gaule : les Romains s'installent dans la plaine de l'Isle et créent la ville de Vesunna, à l'emplacement de l'actuel quartier sud. Celle-ci était la capitale romaine de la cité des Pétrocores. La ville de Périgueux naît en 1240 de l'union de « la Cité » (l'antique Vesunna) et du « Puy-Saint-Front ». Depuis, elle reste le centre du Périgord, subdivision historique de l'Aquitaine, puis est la préfecture du département français de la Dordogne. Elle s'agrandit encore en 1813 avec l'ancienne commune de Saint-Martin.

En matière économique, Périgueux, centre du principal bassin d'emploi du département, abrite le siège social de plusieurs entreprises régionales. La commune compte un employeur de quelque 500 salariés, le Technicentre (les ateliers du Toulon) de la SNCF. Bénéficiant du tourisme pour son patrimoine, elle est de plus une étape gastronomique notable au cœur du Périgord. Différentes festivités culturelles et compétitions sportives sont organisées afin d'animer la région.

Ses habitants sont appelés les Périgourdins, parfois les Pétrocoriens, nom tiré du peuple qui avait pour capitale Vesunna.

 

Géographie

Localisation

Périgueux est située dans le sud-ouest de la France, au centre du département de la Dordogne.

La ville se trouve, en distances orthodromiques, à 109 km de Bordeaux, 68 km d'Angoulême, 83 km de Limoges, 64 km de Brive-la-Gaillarde, 100 km de Cahors et 109 km d'Agen2. Topographie

 

Périgueux est localisée dans le Périgord central, sur la carte traditionnelle du Périgord.

Périgueux est située dans le Périgord central, l'une des régions naturelles de France. Le Périgord central est entouré au nord par le Nontronnais, à l'est par le bassin de Brive, au sud par le Périgord noir et le Bergeracois et à l'ouest par le Landais, la Double et le Ribéracois3. La commune fait partie du pays touristique du Périgord blanc, qui se présente comme un grand ensemble de collines boisées séparées par les vallées de l'Isle, de la Beauronne, de la Loue et du Vern. Les prairies alternent avec les bois de châtaigniers, de chênes ou de pins.

S'étendant sur 9,82 km2, la commune est établie autour d'un vaste méandre de l'Isle, dans la vallée et sur les pentes douces qui montent jusqu'à 200 m, aux plateaux de Champcevinel au nord et de Coulounieix au sud, le territoire communal s'étageant entre 75 et 189 mètres4. L'altitude minimale se trouve à l'ouest, au confluent de l'Isle et de la Beauronne, là où l'Isle quitte la commune et continue sur celle de Marsac-sur-l'Isle. L'altitude maximale est localisée au nord du lieu-dit les Jaures, situé à quelques dizaines de mètres de la commune de Champcevinel5.

Géologie

D'un point de vue géologique, comme les quatre cinquièmes sud et ouest du département, la commune de Périgueux appartient au Bassin aquitain, et la roche sous-jacente est calcaire. Le socle cristallin est à une profondeur de 1 000 m6.

La majeure partie de la surface communale correspond au Crétacé supérieurNote 1. Il affleure principalement sur le versant nord de la vallée de l'Isle. On trouve le Turonien (ou Angoumien) à l'ouest (la Monzie et en limite de la commune de Chancelade) et le Coniacien sur tout le reste du versant, au nord de la ville ancienne. De petites failles, d'axe nord-ouest - sud-est, fissurent le versant de la vallée de l'Isle à l'ouest de la Monzie, au pied de Beaupuy.

Les hauteurs, sur la partie nord de la commune (le Grand Puy Bernard, la Croix-Ferrade, etc.), sont couvertes de colluvions calcaires, sableuses et argileuses, issues de la décomposition du Coniacien et du Santonien lors du Cénozoïque.

La ville ancienne est construite sur une basse terrasse, sur la rive droite de l'Isle, composée de sable et galets issus de la glaciation de Riss au Quaternaire. On retrouve aussi cette terrasse sur la rive gauche, au sud du quartier des Barris. Le fond de la vallée proprement dit (partie inondable) est composé d'alluvions récentes d'origine fluviatile ou issues des versants7.

Climat

Périgueux est soumise à un climat océanique dégradé. En raison de l'altitude, de la disposition des vallées et de l'exposition des forêts, le climat varie fréquemment8, tant au cours d'une saison que d'une année à l'autre. Le tableau suivant donne une idée du climat bergeracois en comparaison avec la moyenne nationale et quelques communes représentant différents climats existant en France.

Périgueux est traversée d'est en ouest par l'Isle, principal affluent de la Dordogne. Cette rivière est longue de 255,3 km12, dont 87 sont navigables (actuellement en plusieurs sections). Elle rejoint la Dordogne à Libourne. Sa pente moyenne est de 1,56 m/km. L’ensemble du bassin appartient au climat océanique aquitain. L'Isle prend sa source dans le Massif central. Son affluent, la Beauronne, marque sur quelques centaines de mètres la limite ouest du territoire communal, séparant le quartier du Gour de l'Arche du golf de Saltgourde à Marsac-sur-l'Isle.

Dans le quartier du Toulon, la source de l'Abîme déverse en moyenne quotidiennement 35 000 m3 et alimente en eau potable Périgueux et plusieurs autres communes13.

Risques naturels

Périgueux fait partie de la zone inondable de l'Isle ainsi que de celle de la Beauronne. Les atlas des zones inondables correspondants sont diffusés le 5 avril 2000 et le 1er janvier 200114.

L'arrêté du 15 mai 2008, portant reconnaissance de l'état de catastrophe naturelle, inclut Périgueux au titre de mouvements de terrain différentiels consécutifs à la sécheresse et à la réhydratation des sols de janvier à mars 200515. Deux plans de prévention sont élaborés par la ville : l'un pour les cas d'inondations de l'Isle, prescrit le 15 mars 1989 et approuvé le 1er février 2000 ; l'autre en cas de mouvements de terrain ou de tassements différentiels, prescrit le 25 mai 2004 et approuvé le 28 juillet 200616. Quatorze catastrophes naturelles ont eu lieu depuis 1982 à Périgueux, dont six inondations et coulées de boues, une tempête et sept mouvements de terrain différentiels consécutifs à la sécheresse et/ou à la réhydratation des sols16.

La localité est située dans une zone de sismicité très faible de niveau 1 sur une échelle de 1 à 516.

Voies de communication et transports

Voies routières

Depuis le début des années 1990, Périgueux est contournée au sud par une rocade de la route nationale 8917. Par la suite, ce tronçon a été intégré à l'autoroute A89 reliant Bordeaux à Lyon, ouvrant trois des principaux accès routiers à Périgueux.

À l'ouest et à l'est, les deux échangeurs Périgueux-Ouest et Périgueux-Est (nos 14 et 16) permettent d'accéder à la commune par le biais de la route départementale 6089 (l'ancienne route nationale 89). Périgueux est aussi accessible au sud par l'échangeur no 15, Périgueux-Centre, puis par la route départementale 6021 (tronçon déclassé de la route nationale 21 qui vient de Lourdes et qui continue au nord jusqu'à Limoges).

Au nord-ouest, la route départementale 939 (ancienne route nationale 139) mène à Angoulême et La Rochelle. Deux autres importantes routes départementales quittent Périgueux vers le nord et le nord-est de la Dordogne, la RD 3 (route d'Agonac) qui conduit à Nontron via Agonac et Villars et la RD 8 (route de Paris, également appelée route des Piles) qui rejoint la RN 21 près de Sorges.

La circulation routière à Périgueux et dans son agglomération provoque quotidiennement d'importants embouteillages matin et soir. Cela est dû à la conjonction de plusieurs causes18 : un nombre limité de ponts franchissant l'Isle (six ponts au total sur douze kilomètres de rivière depuis la route nationale 221 à la Feuilleraie à Trélissac jusqu'à celui de la route départementale 710E à Marsac-sur-l'Isle ; un bassin d'emploi très important à Périgueux même, alors que 60 % des personnes qui y travaillent viennent de l'extérieur de la ville ; une concentration de lycées, collèges et écoles ; l'absence de rocade entraînant un transit important par le centre-ville, une seule déviation ayant été créée à l'ouest en 1991.

En 2016, pour l'ensemble de la commune, le nombre de places de stationnement gratuites des véhicules est estimé à 13 000 dont 370 en zone bleue19. S'y ajoutent au centre-ville ou à proximité des places payantes sur la voirie (600), dans trois parkings souterrains (1 685) et trois parkings de surface (335)19.

Voie verte

La voie verte qui longe l'Isle et traverse l'agglomération de Trélissac à Marsac-sur-l'Isle en passant par Périgueux a reçu le 2e prix européen des voies vertes en 2007 dans la catégorie « Mobilité »20.

Transport ferroviaire

Le 26 mars 1853, Jean Étienne Joseph Estignard, maire de la commune à l'époque, et son conseil municipal décident de faire le nécessaire pour que la future ligne de chemin de fer devant relier Lyon à Bordeaux passe par Périgueux. Un mois plus tard, le 21 avril 1853, le décret donnant satisfaction aux Périgourdins est signé par Napoléon III. Le 20 juillet 1857, le premier train entre en gare de Périgueux, bâtiment qui n'est à l'époque qu'un assemblage provisoire de planches21.

Les travaux de la gare définitive commencent le 12 septembre 186021, cinq jours avant l'inauguration de la section de Périgueux à Brive, mise en service le 17 septembre 1860 par la Compagnie du PO. Le 3 août 1863, la mise en service de la ligne à voie unique de Niversac à Agen par la Compagnie du PO, permet les relations entre Périgueux et Agen22, ligne sur laquelle se trouve une gare secondaire, Périgueux-Saint-Georges, peu desservie.

La gare de Périgueux fait partie du réseau de la Société nationale des chemins de fer français (SNCF) et est desservie par des trains Intercités et TER Nouvelle-Aquitaine. La ville est également reliée, par des liaisons TER, à Bordeaux, Limoges, Brive et Agen ; par trains grandes lignes à Paris, Lyon et, par le Ventadour, à Clermont-Ferrand.

Fin 2013, un contrat devait être signé entre la région Aquitaine et la communauté d'agglomération pour intensifier le nombre de trains entre Mussidan et Niversac par une navette ferroviaire urbaine23. En 2019, le Grand Périgueux relance les négociations avec la Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Le projet pourrait voir le jour en 202124, avec la création de deux arrêts supplémentaires dans le quartier de Vésone et dans la zone industrielle de Boulazac25.

Parallèlement, en avril 2019, la ville a inuaugré son nouveau pôle d'échanges multimodal derrière la gare (accès facilité aux bus, piétons, vélos et TER)26. D'ici 2021, une nouvelle passerelle piétonne surplombera les quais de la gare pour relier cette dernière et le pôle d'échanges27.

Transports urbains

L'agglomération périgourdine est desservie par le réseau Péribus. Depuis janvier 2012, il se compose de onze lignes principales et d'un réseau de quatorze lignes secondaires à basse fréquence, qui dessert une partie de l'aire urbaine. De plus, depuis décembre 2011, une navette électrique gratuite fonctionnait en centre-ville les mercredis et samedis, jours de marché. À partir de septembre 2018, cette navette est assurée du lundi au samedi par un bus de nouvelle génération « Businova », sur un nouveau trajet qui dessert dans un premier temps la gare de Périgueux puis, à dater du 29 avril 2019 le pôle d'échanges multimodal (PEM) situé derrière la gare28.

Péribus est un réseau de transports urbains créé en 1987 pour desservir les communes membres du SIVOM (Boulazac, Coulounieix-Chamiers, Champcevinel, Chancelade, Marsac-sur-l'Isle, Notre-Dame-de-Sanilhac, Périgueux et Trélissac). Le SIVOM est devenu district de l'agglomération périgourdine en 1994, puis a évolué en communauté d'agglomération périgourdine (CAP) en 1999. De nouvelles communes sont entrées dans la CAP : Antonne-et-Trigonant, La-Chapelle-Gonaguet, Château-l'Évêque, Coursac, Escoire, Razac-sur-l'Isle en janvier 2003, Agonac, Cornille et Sarliac-sur-l'Isle en janvier 2012, puis Annesse-et-Beaulieu et Mensignac en janvier 2013, entraînant l'agrandissement du réseau Péribus. La CAP disparaît le 31 décembre 2013, remplacée au 1er janvier 2014 par une nouvelle intercommunalité élargie : Le Grand Périgueux.

Alors que les travaux en vue de transformer une partie du réseau en bus à haut niveau de service (BHNS) avec couloirs de circulation dédiés devaient débuter en 201629, les aménagements ne sont présentés en réunion publique qu'en juin 201730. La première phase des travaux débute en 201831 et le BHNS est officiellement mis en service le 20 décembre 201932,33.

Transport aérien

Article détaillé : Aéroport Périgueux-Bassillac.

L'aéroport Périgueux-Bassillac est situé sur la commune de Bassillac, à 9 km de Périgueux. Il disposait d'une liaison directe vers Paris entre mars 2008 et juin 2018, avec deux vols journaliers du lundi au vendredi. La ligne était opérée par la compagnie aérienne Twin Jet34,35,36.

Transport fluvial

En 1820, un projet important prévoit de rendre navigable l'Isle de Périgueux à Libourne. À Saint-Astier, commune située en bordure de la rivière à vingt kilomètres en aval de Périgueux, trois écluses et un canal de dérivation de 1 300 mètres sont établis ; un grand pont la traversant est construit vers 1830. Depuis Coutras jusqu'à l'entrée de la ville de Périgueux, 41 écluses et barrages en pierre y sont construits ou rénovésG 1. À cette époque, les transports se font par charrettes et de nombreuses marchandises stockées encombrent les axes de Périgueux. Le préfet de la Dordogne, en accord avec le maire de Périgueux, décide donc la création d'un port en bordure de l'Isle dans le quartier de la Cité. Les travaux commencent vers 1830. Un chantier portuaire est installé non loin de la grande écluse. Le port de Périgueux est inauguré le 30 octobre 1837G 1. De nombreuses marchandises y arrivaient : bois, charbon, fer, fonte, chaux, barriques de vin, huile, noix, châtaignes, tuiles, poteries, farine, etc.. Un projet de canal est étudié entre le port de la Cité et un port à établir en centre ville. Le chantier du canal est ouvert le 6 mars 1857 le long de la rive droite de l'Isle. Il est ouvert à la navigation le 12 mai 1860 jusqu'aux abattoirs Sainte-Claire construits par Louis Catoire37 (emplacement actuel du poste de secours des pompiers). À cette occasion, on met au jour les anciens thermes38. Après 1920, le trafic du port baisse considérablement avec le développement du rail. Mais c'est surtout le transport routier qui stoppe brutalement le trafic du port vers 1949. En 1957, l'Isle est officiellement fermée à la navigation39.

Urbanisme

Typologie

Périgueux est une commune urbaine, car elle fait partie des communes denses ou de densité intermédiaire, au sens de la grille communale de densité de l'InseeNote 3,40,41,42. Elle appartient à l'unité urbaine de Périgueux, une agglomération intra-départementale regroupant 7 communes43 et 65 208 habitants en 2017, dont elle est ville-centre44,45.

Par ailleurs la commune fait partie de l'aire d'attraction de Périgueux, dont elle est la commune-centreNote 4. Cette aire, qui regroupe 49 communes, est catégorisée dans les aires de 50 000 à moins de 200 000 habitants46,47.

Morphologie urbaine

Fondée en 1240G 2, la ville a connu plusieurs extensions au XIXe siècle. La ville s'étend avec des faubourgs, comme celui des Barris, aménagé sur la rive gauche de l'Isle.

En 1813, la commune de Saint-Martin fusionne avec Périgueux48. En 1862, tandis que les faubourgs de Saint-Georges, de l'Arsault et celui de la Cité se développent assez rapidement, le faubourg du Toulon semble abandonné, avec une population peu dense. Il se peuple de plus en plus par des ouvriers lors de l'apparition des lignes du chemin de fer et des ateliers de construction ferroviaires49.

Le baby boom et l'exode ruralNote 5 accroissent fortement les besoins en logement. Le tissu actuel est dense et composé d'immeubles et de pavillons résidentiels.

Arrondissements de la ville

Depuis le 10 juillet 2020, la ville est organisée en six arrondissements : Centre-ville et Hôpital, Clos-Chassaing - La Grenadière, Le Gour de l'Arche, Saint-Georges, Le Toulon - La Gare, et Vésone50. Ils ont été définis en tenant compte de la répartition démographique et des bassins de vie de la ville. La municipalité a pour projet de créer des conseils d'arrondissement ; leur fonctionnement sera précisé ultérieurement51.

Logement

En 2017, le nombre total de logements dans la commune était de 20 183, alors qu'il était de 19 628 en 201252.

Parmi ces logements, 84,0 % étaient des résidences principales, 3,3 % des résidences secondaires ou des logements occasionnels et 12,6 % des logements vacants. Ces logements étaient pour 30,5 % d'entre eux des maisons individuelles et pour 69,2 % des appartements53.

Sur les 16 961 résidences principales occupées en 2017, 3 874 ménages, soit 22,8 % vivent à Périgueux depuis moins de deux ans, 4 244 ménages, soit 25,0 % vivent ici depuis deux à quatre ans, 2 742 ménages, soit 16,2 % vivent dans cette commune depuis cinq à neuf ans, et 6 101 ménages soit 36,0 % vivent à Périgueux depuis dix ans ou plus54.

des résidences principales, propriétés de leurs occupants était de 35,2 %, en légère hausse par rapport à 2012 (35,0 %) pour 62,5 % de locataires (en baisse par rapport à 2012 (65 %) et 2,3 % des habitants étaient logés gratuitement55.

En 2020, la commune dispose de 23 % de logements sociaux, taux inférieur au « seuil de 25 % fixé par la loi Solidarité et renouvellement urbain (SRU) »56. Plusieurs chantiers sont en cours à cette date : 48 logements collectifs impasse de la Grenadière, livrables en 2021 ; 68 logements dans le quartier Saint-Georges, rue Lavoisier ; dans le quartier du Gour de l'Arche qui a vu la destruction récente de 220 logements, il est prévu la construction d'une trentaine de logements pour 2022 ; 14 autres logements sont également prévus près du campus Périgord56.

Projets d'aménagements

 

Cette section contient des informations sur des projets d'aménagement prévus par l'ancienne municipalité de Périgueux (2014-2020).

Il se peut que ces informations soient de nature spéculative et que leur teneur change considérablement alors que les événements approchent. La dernière modification de cette page a été faite le 3 avril 2021 à 11:58.

Les travaux d'aménagement du Quartier Montaigne ont commencé en juillet 2018, et sont prévus jusqu'à la mi-novembre 201957. Après plusieurs mois de manifestations organisées par des commerçants de la ville opposés au projet, la majorité municipale vote le 14 juin 2019 en faveur de la vente de la dalle à JMP Expansion, promoteur immobilier. Les travaux du nouveau centre commercial, qui sera composé de trois îlots séparés et situé à la place du parking qui fait face au palais de justice, n'ont pas encore commencé58,59. Les places de parking supprimées ont été recréées en 2018 au parking Tourny58. Entre le 27 juin et le 30 août 2019, une des phases du réaménagement de ce quartier concerne le rond-point Yves-Guéna : le giratoire est redessiné pour notamment déplacer l'axe central, élargir les trottoirs et réguler la circulation60.

En 2014, le maire Antoine Audi a également commencé à porter le projet d'une Manufacture gourmande. Le chef Philippe Etchebest assure la présidence de l'association de préfiguration de l'établissement depuis 201761. En décembre 2018, l'agence d'ingénierie culturelle Scarabée, mandatée par la ville, rend ses préconisations pour définir le programme du projet62. Même s'il semble être mis en sommeil en 2019, le projet est toujours d'actualité63. D'ici novembre 2021, la Manufacture gourmande devrait remplacer le parking de la place Mauvard61.

Prévention des risques

Un plan de prévention du risque inondation (PPRI) a été approuvé en 2000 pour l'Isle à Périgueux, impactant la commune d'est en ouest, jusqu'à une largeur pouvant atteindre 500 mètres dans le quartier des Barris, ainsi que pour son affluent la Beauronne qui sert de limite communale avec Marsac-sur-l'Isle à l'ouest64,65. Ce PPRI a été révisé et intégré en 2014 dans le territoire à risques importants d'inondation (TRI) de la vallée de l'Isle autour de Périgueux66,67.

Un plan de prévention des risques naturels (PPRN) a été approuvé en 2014 pour Périgueux, dont la quasi-totalité du territoire est exposée aux risques de mouvements de terrain et de retrait-gonflement des sols argileux68,69.

Toponymie

Périgueux est un nom d'origine celte très ancien provenant de « pétrocores » ou « pétrucores », qui a pour signification « quatre clans »70,G 3, ou « peuple aux quatre (petro-) armées (corii) »71,72,73.

En occitan, la commune porte le nom de Perigüers74, prononcé [pe.ri.ˈgʏ:], ou Peireguers, prononcé [pej.re.ˈgʏ:].

Histoire

Antiquité

Vers 200 av. J.-C., « les Pétrocoriens habitaient la région située entre la Dordogne et la Vézère », selon Venceslas Kruta75. Ils s'installent pendant cette période sur les hauteurs en rive gauche de l'Isle et créent, sur l'actuel territoire de Coulounieix-Chamiers, un camp fortifié à la Boissière, également connu sous le nom de « camp de César à la Curade »G 4. Les Pétrocores étaient en Gaule et non en Aquitaine, car avant la conquête romaine, ces deux territoires étaient séparés par la rivière Garumna, comme l'a écrit Jules César76.

En 52 av. J.-C., ils fournissent à Vercingétorix environ 5 000 guerriers, pour l'aider à affronter les légions romaines de Jules César77.

En 27 av. J.-C., lors de l’organisation administrative de la Gaule effectuée par Auguste, Périgueux est placée dans la province aquitaine78,79. Le camp de la Boissière est abandonné et la Vesunna gallo-romaine, future Périgueux, est créée entre 25 et 16 av. J.-C.G 5 et développée par les habitants romanisés, ayant conservé leurs divinités gauloises80. Aux IIe et IIIe siècles, cette cité romaine prospère et s'embellit avec temples, bains, amphithéâtre, forum, etc. On attribue à Vesunna 15 000 à 20 000 habitants81. Celle-ci devint à la fin du IIIe siècle la capitale de la cité des Pétrocores80. À la fin du IIIe siècle, à la suite de l'invasion attribuée aux Alamans, la cité romaine se rétrécit sur cinq hectares et demiG 6, en se retirant sur un petit plateau derrière des remparts82. Intégrant la moitié nord-ouest de l'amphithéâtre de VesunnaG 6, ces murailles sont construites par remploi d'éléments des monuments de la ville (des vestiges subsistent de ces remparts) et cette troisième cité prend le nom de Civitas Petrucoriorum (« cité des Pétrocores »)G 5, lieu qui va devenir « la Cité »G 2.

Vésone est détruite vers l'an 410 par les barbares, favorisant l'apparition aux VIe et VIIe siècles du Puy-Saint-Front83.

Moyen Âge

Au IXe siècle, les Normands, remontant l'Isle, pillent à plusieurs reprises la CitéG 7. Vers la fin du Xe siècleG 8, au nord-est et en bordure de l'Isle, autour d'un monastère que l'évêque Frotier avait fait construire en l'honneur de saint Front, se développe un nouveau centre fortifié, nommé à cette époque le « bourg du Puy-Saint-Front »D 1. Pour se protéger des envahisseurs, les deux villes voisines édifient des muraillesG 6,G 8.

Vers 1040D 2, Périgueux est perturbée par des troubles ayant pour cause la monnaie frappée par le comte de Périgord, Hélie IID 2. Peu de temps après, l'évêque Girard de Gourdon, la considérant défectueuse et de mauvaise qualité et l'ayant interdite, le comte Aldebert II, fils d'Hélie II, décide de prouver, les armes à la main, qu'elle lui convientD 2,D 3. De ce fait, la Cité doit prendre part à une guerre longue et meurtrière contre le comteD 3. Les quelques habitations placées sous la protection du nouvel établissement religieux du Puy-Saint-Front sont incendiées vers 1099 ; le couvent et le bourg ne tardent pas à être reconstruitsD 1.

De nombreux pèlerins viennent se recueillir sur le lieu où sont conservées les reliques de saint Front84 ; au XIIe siècle, le nombre de maisons s'accroît et l'agglomération est de plus en plus ampleD 1. Cependant, au fil du temps, les habitants du bourg se désunissent ; vers 1130, dans une querelle avec le couvent, une partie des bourgeois du Puy-Saint-Front s'allie avec le comte Hélie-RudelD 4. Cette situation attise sa convoitise, persuadé qu'après avoir conquis le Puy-Saint-Front, il lui serait plus facile de soumettre enfin la Cité, ce qu'aucun de ses ancêtres n'a réussi à faireD 4. À la même époque, les comtes dominent le Puy-Saint-FrontD 4.

Vers 1150, Boson III, dit de Grignols, fait ériger une grande et forte tour, destinée à commander et surveiller la Cité, dont il vient de s'emparerD 5. Mais cette tentative d'oppression lui est fatale, ainsi qu'à ses descendants, car elle excite la colère du roi Henri II d'Angleterre, devenu duc d'Aquitaine par allianceD 5. La tour est détruite en 1182, époque à laquelle, à la suite d'un traité avec le comte Hélie V, le Puy-Saint-Front est remis entre les mains du fils d'Henri II d'Angleterre, Richard, qui fait détruire toutes les fortifications construites par lui et son prédécesseurD 5. C'est à la même période, à la fin du XIIe siècle, que le « bourg du Puy-Saint-Front » s'organise en municipalitéG 9.

Après avoir confisqué le duché d'Aquitaine à Jean sans Terre et l'avoir réuni à la couronne de France, Philippe Auguste exige que les peuples et les grands de ce duché lui rendent hommage. Hélie V et les habitants de la future ville de Périgueux prêtent alors serment de fidélité au monarque français en 1204D 6.

Pendant de longues années, le Puy-Saint-Front et les comtes vivent en bonne intelligenceD 7. L'organisation municipale de cette ville est depuis longtemps reconnue et constituée par l'autorité royaleD 7. Quant à la Cité, elle ne rencontre aucune difficulté avec les comtesD 7. L'état de paix dure jusqu'en 1239 ; une certaine confiance existe même entre le comte Archambaud II et la ville car, à cette époque, cette dernière lui verse 50 livres en échange de l'abandon de la rente annuelle de 20 livres, qu'elle lui devait à chaque NoëlD 7.

Pour assurer sauvegarde et assistance mutuelles, et pour que les rivalités s'éteignent, Périgueux naît en 1240, d'un traité d'union85,86 des deux bourgs implantés à quelques centaines de mètres l'un de l'autreD 8 : la Cité — issue de la Vésone gallo-romaine —, ville de l'évêque et du comte de PérigordG 2, et la ville bourgeoise du Puy-Saint-FrontG 8.

Entre les comtes de Périgord et la nouvelle ville, diverses hostilités durent jusqu'en 1250, date à laquelle la discorde est apaisée par l'évêque Pierre III de Saint-AstierD 9. Au XIIIe siècle, de nouveaux bourgeois s'installent à Périgueux afin d'augmenter leur patrimoine foncier, en achetant des parcelles qui se libèrent, tout en profitant des rapports privilégiés qu'ils entretiennent avec leurs paroisses d'origine, où ils gardent encore des propriétésM 1. Revenant dans la région de leurs ancêtres, des marchands drapiers viennent également se fixer à Périgueux, acquérant de nombreuses rentes et terres dans un large rayon autour de la villeM 1. Le comte Archambaud III a d'autres démêlés avec Périgueux : en 1266, c'est à propos de la fabrication de la monnaie, et en 1276 au sujet de sa valeurD 9. Cette lutte de pouvoir continue de génération en générationD 10. Sur le principe, les comtes affectent la puissance souveraine, se prétendant seuls possesseurs du bourg du Puy-Saint-Front depuis le XIIe siècle, puis en allant chercher, au XIVe siècle, l'obtention de la faveur royaleD 10. Ces longs conflits prennent fin au XIVe siècle, lorsque le comte de Périgord, Roger-Bernard, fils d'Archambaud IVD 11, devient le vassal des Anglais qui confirment les bourgeois de Périgueux (« Maires, Consuls & Citoyens de la Cité ») dans leurs possessions et leur juridiction87.

Depuis le milieu du XIVe siècle, les campagnes autour de Périgueux connaissent une période de crise grave, marquée notamment par une très forte chute de la population due aux effets dévastateurs de la peste noire et de la guerre de Cent AnsD 12. Pendant celle-ci, Périgueux reste fidèle au royaume de France, même lorsqu'elle est occupée par les Anglais entre 1360 et 1363D 13. Durant cette période, les comtes et leurs descendances, résidant le plus souvent dans leur château de Montignac, font allégeance au royaume d'Angleterre. Charles VI leur confisque terres et titres au profit de son frère Louis d'Orléans. Par cession ou par mariage avec la famille d'Orléans, le Périgord passe en 1437 aux mains de la maison de Châtillon, puis dans la maison d'Albret en 1481.

Pendant le Moyen Âge tardif, partout le manque de bras entraîne une contraction de l'espace cultivé : au cœur même du vignoble de la paroisse Saint-Martin, apparaissent des « déserts »M 2.

Époque moderne

En mai 1472, par ses lettres patentes, le roi Louis XI confirme les privilèges de la ville, à la suite de la mort de Charles, duc de Guyenne, son frère88.

Les guerres de religion sont plus meurtrières pour Périgueux que ne l'a été la guerre de Cent Ans. Périgueux est prise le 6 août 1575 par les calvinistes89,G 7, commandés par Favas et Guy de Montferrand, puis pillée et occupée. Cette même année, au Puy Saint-Front, la châsse et le reliquaire contenant les restes du saint évêque sont volés, transportés au château de Tiregand où les ossements du saint sont jetés dans la DordogneG 10. Périgueux reste entre les mains des protestants jusqu'en 1581G 11, année où le capitaine Belsunce, gouverneur de la ville, se la laisse enlever par le catholique Jean de Chilhaud. Le Périgord rejoint la couronne de France en 1589, lorsque son avant-dernier comte, fils de Jeanne d'Albret, devient roi de France sous le nom de Henri IV, tout en laissant le comté en apanage à sa sœur Catherine de Bourbon. Celle-ci, décédée en 1604, sera l'ultime comtesse en titre de Périgord90.

Au XVIIe siècle, sous le règne de Louis XIII, la ville est à la frontière d'une région soumise aux rebelles, qui s'étend jusqu'au sud du territoire correspondant à l'actuel département de la DordogneM 3. Périgueux subit donc des révoltes paysannes mais ne fait pas partie des villes ou châteaux, comme Grignols, Excideuil puis Bergerac, qui ont été pris par les paysans durant cette époqueM 3. En octobre 1651, lors de la Fronde, Périgueux accueille les troupes du prince de CondéG 12. En août 1653, elle reste la seule ville du Sud-Ouest hostile au roi, situation qui dure jusqu'au 16 septembre suivant, lorsque ses habitants mettent dehors les frondeursG 12. C'est en 1669 que le siège cathédral passe de Saint-Étienne-de-la-Cité, ruinée, à la cathédrale Saint-Front, ancienne église de l'abbaye du même nomG 13. En automne 1698, la misère des dernières années, devenue insupportable, amène l'évêque de Périgueux à en appeler à « la bonté du Roy »M 4.

En mars 1783, la ville connait une des plus importantes crues de l'Isle, l'eau noyant la chaussée du pont Saint-GeorgesG 14 et s'élevant jusqu'à 5,21 mètres, record de crue enregistré pour Périgueux91. Le clergé, la noblesse et le tiers état viennent de toute la province afin d'élire leurs députés aux États généraux de 1789. Après la création des départements en 1790, l'assemblée départementale se réunit alternativement à Bergerac, Périgueux et Sarlat. Périgueux devient définitivement le chef-lieu de la Dordogne en septembre 179192.

Époque contemporaine

Sous le Premier Empire, la ville, siège de la préfectureG 15, s'agrandit en 1813 en fusionnant avec l'ancienne commune de Saint-MartinG 16. En 1857, Périgueux voit l'arrivée du chemin de fer venant de Coutras21 et à partir de 1862, l'installation des ateliers de réparation des locomotives et des voitures de la Compagnie du Paris-OrléansG 17. Cette activité survit encore au début du XXIe siècle dans le quartier du Toulon. C'est aussi au XIXe siècle que deux architectes œuvrent à Périgueux. Louis Catoire construit le Palais de justice, le marché couvert du Coderc et le Théâtre — aujourd'hui disparu — et divers immeubles de la place Bugeaud93. Paul Abadie restaure la cathédrale Saint-Front94.

Seconde Guerre mondiale

En 1939, à la suite de l'avancée des forces allemandes en Alsace et en Lorraine, les habitants de ces deux régions sont évacués et répartis dans le Centre-Ouest et le Sud-Ouest de la France95. Périgueux accueille ainsi, dès le 5 septembre 1939, des milliers de Strasbourgeois ; la mairie de Strasbourg s'installe au 2 rue Voltaire, dans les locaux de la Chambre de commerceG 18,O 1. Les services administratifs repartent à Strasbourg en juillet 1940, mais le maire, Charles Frey, reste à Périgueux jusqu'au 28 novembre 1944G 18.

Les régiments dissous sur le territoire français sont autorisés à organiser l'Armée d'armistice en zone libre, pour maintenir l'ordre. Le 26e régiment d'infanterie devient donc le nouveau régiment de la Dordogne, en août 1940, à PérigueuxO 2. Progressivement, la Résistance apparaît dans la ville : mouvements et réseaux se créent, pour la confection et la diffusion, par exemple, de faux-papiers ou de journaux clandestins. Les résistants, engagés dans l'armée, organisent des sabotages et des attentatsO 3. Après avoir servi de dépôt de munitions pour la Résistance, l'Institution Saint-Joseph servit de lieu de réunion où, en juin 1942, a été fondé le mouvement de résistance Combat qui a organisé le maquis A.S., formé le 50e et le 26e R.I.96,97,98. Les fondateurs sont André Boissière 99, Gabriel de Choiseul-Praslin, Georgette Claude-Gérard, Raymond Faro, H. Hortala, Edmond Michelet, Jean Sigala et J. VillotNote 6. Le 3 octobre 1942, le premier attentat par explosif endommage le kiosque de la Légion française des combattants de la ville, situé place Bugeaud, et provoque une fracture entre les gaullistes et les pétainistes. Les effets de la politique collaborationniste de Vichy finissent par dégrader la popularité de Philippe Pétain, entraînant un certain nombre de poilus dans la RésistanceO 4.

Le 11 novembre 1942, les troupes allemandes envahissent la zone libre. Les convois allemands entrent dans la ville et s'installent dans le quartier Daumesnil, contraignant le 26e régiment d'infanterie à se dissoudre six jours plus tardO 5. La Gestapo emménage sur l'actuelle place du Général de Gaulle et fait partie de l'administration locale de l'époque, aidée par Paul Lapuyade, délégué départemental de la Légion des volontaires français, qui collecte de nombreux renseignements pour les nazisO 5.

La Résistance s'intensifie en 1943, provoquant un attentat à la bombe le 9 octobre, qui vise pour la première fois les Allemands, en choisissant comme cible le siège de la Gestapo. Mais des représailles sont immédiatement déclenchées, entraînant l'arrestation de dix-sept résistants et la déportation de la plupart d'entre eux. Le 9 novembre, un nouvel attentat, dirigé contre les Allemands au bureau principal de la gendarmerie, occasionne de nombreux dégâts matériels et des blessés. Une opération répressive est aussitôt organisée, visant majoritairement les Juifs, dont 1 672 sont recensés dans l'arrondissement et 700 dans la ville mêmeO 6. Un important sabotage impulsé par le comité régional des Francs-tireurs et partisans, réalisé par des hommes du Camp Wodli, met hors d'usage, le 13 décembre 1943, une des plus puissantes grues de levage de France, stationnée pour réparation aux ateliers de la SNCF de PérigueuxNote 7,O 7.

Le 10 mai 1944, la milice et la police de Vichy arrêtent et regroupent 211 personnes dans la salle du Palace, puis les transfèrent vers les chantiers du mur de l'Atlantique, pour y effectuer des travaux forcés, les internent dans la Haute-Vienne ou les déportent vers l'Allemagne100. Le jour J, les Alliés débarquent en Normandie. Les résistants périgourdins s'attaquent alors à des objectifs militaires afin de paralyser l'ennemi. Les Allemands contre-attaquent en tuant plus de 500 civils. Face à cette situation, l'état-major des Forces françaises de l'intérieur, nouvellement constitué, fixe aux Allemands un ultimatum au 17 août, mais il n'obtient aucune réponse. Le 18 août, un plan d'encerclement de Périgueux est en cours. Dans le même temps, le débarquement de Provence provoque un dénouement soudain pour la ville : Hitler décide le retrait de ses troupes basées dans le sud de la France. Après avoir fusillé, dans un premier temps, 35 résistants101, puis 14 autres qui avaient été internés, les Allemands abandonnent la ville, sans destruction ni combat, le 19 août 1944O 8. Le 24 août 1944, a lieu le défilé de libération auquel Roger Ranoux, Yves Péron, Édouard Valéry participent, avec de nombreux autres résistants102.

Depuis la fin de la guerre

Après de fortes pluies entraînant une fonte des neiges accélérée, l'Isle entre en crue centennale et atteint son maximum à 4,50 mètres le 8 décembre 1944, faisant 7 000 sinistrés et inondant un tiers de Périgueux91.

En 1945, Hans Kowar, un prisonnier de guerre allemand travaille en Bergeracois, à Nastringues, dans une ferme appartenant à la famille du prêtre Henri Cellerier, qui enseigne la langue allemande à PérigueuxG 19. Les deux hommes se lient d'amitié et, revenu chez lui, Kowar fait découvrir sa ville, Amberg, à Cellerier. Dès 1961, une délégation municipale périgourdine se rend à Amberg et le jumelage est officialisé le 2 octobre 1965G 19. L'association des amis d'Amberg est créée en 1993 pour donner lieu jusqu'à aujourd'hui à de nombreux échanges entre étudiants103, comme celui qui a lieu chaque année encore, entre le collège Clos-Chassaing et l'Erasmus Gymnasium104.

En 1964, le 5e régiment de chasseurs à cheval s'installe dans le quartier Daumesnil. Rattaché à la 15e division d'infanterie en 1977, il intervient au Liban entre 1986 et 1993 et en Yougoslavie de 1992 à 1994, année où il est dissous et quitte donc PérigueuxG 20.

Pendant les années 1950 à 1970, le faubourg des Barris se développe89 sur la rive gauche de l'Isle. Le pont du même nom relie le faubourg et la ville.

À la suite de l'évacuation de 1939 des 80 000 Alsaciens en Dordogne et principalement à Périgueux pour les Strasbourgeois, 20 % restent en Périgord. De ce fait, des relations naissent ; Périgueux et Strasbourg concluent un accord de coopération en 2008, après délibération par le conseil municipal de Périgueux103,105. Située dans le parc, en face du lycée Bertran-de-Born, une stèle marque la reconnaissance de Strasbourg à Périgueux pour l'accueil des réfugiés pendant la Seconde Guerre mondialeO 9.

Intercommunalité

Articles détaillés : Le Grand Périgueux et Communauté d'agglomération périgourdine.

Périgueux a fait partie, en 1993, du district de l'agglomération périgourdine, puis de la communauté d'agglomération périgourdine, lorsque celle-ci a été créée le 20 décembre 1999 à partir de sept communes appartenant à l'ancien district (Champcevinel, Chancelade, Coulounieix-Chamiers, Marsac-sur-l'Isle, Notre-Dame-de-Sanilhac, Périgueux et Trélissac). La communauté d'agglomération périgourdine prend effet au 1er janvier 2000. Le 27 décembre 2002, elle s'ouvre à six autres communes (Antonne-et-Trigonant, Château-l'Évêque, Coursac, Escoire, La Chapelle-Gonaguet et Razac-sur-l'Isle). Par arrêté préfectoral no 111720 du 28 décembre 2011, les communes d'Agonac, Cornille et Sarliac-sur-l'Isle, qui étaient rattachées à la communauté de communes des Villages truffiers des portes de Périgueux dissoute le 31 décembre 2011, rejoignent la communauté d'agglomération périgourdine au 1er janvier 2012139. Au 1er janvier 2013, les communes d'Annesse-et-Beaulieu et de Mensignac ont quitté la communauté de communes Astérienne Isle et Vern pour rejoindre la communauté d'agglomération périgourdine140. Cette dernière disparaît le 31 décembre 2013, remplacée au 1er janvier 2014 par une nouvelle intercommunalité élargie : Le Grand Périgueux, qui intègre les quinze communes de la communauté de communes Isle Manoire en Périgord141. En 2017, après le rattachement de trois autres communes, l'extension de l'intercommunalité à la communauté de communes du Pays vernois et du terroir de la truffe (hormis deux communes)142, et la création de quatre communes nouvelles, Le Grand Périgueux compte quarante-trois communes.

Arrondissement et cantons

La commune de Périgueux a été rattachée, dès 1790, au canton de Périgueux (typographié Perigueux dans un premier temps) qui dépendait du district de Perigueux. Les districts sont supprimés en 1795. Le canton est rattaché à l'arrondissement de Périgueux en 1800. Celui-ci est scindé en trois en 1973 (cantons de Périgueux-Centre, Périgueux-Nord-Est et Périgueux-Ouest), de même que la commune143.

Périgueux, préfecture de la Dordogne, est le chef-lieu de l'arrondissement de Périgueux et de ces trois cantons.

Au 1er janvier 2012, la commune regroupait une population municipale de 29 906 habitants144 se répartissant comme suit :

 

Alors que Périgueux-Centre correspondait uniquement à une fraction du territoire de la commune, les deux autres cantons associaient chacun une partie de Périgueux à trois autres communes.

Pour les élections départementales de mars 2015, le nombre de cantons du département est divisé par deux, passant de 50 à 25. Les trois cantons de Périgueux disparaissent et la commune est alors divisée en deux cantons145 : Périgueux-1 (partie ouest) et Périgueux-2 (partie est), représentant à eux deux l'intégralité de la commune de Périgueux. Selon l'Insee, les populations légales 2012 des nouveaux cantons en vigueur à compter du 1er janvier 2015146 sont les suivantes :

 

Population et société

Démographie

Les habitants de Périgueux sont appelés les Périgourdins, parfois les PétrocoriensNote 13, nom tiré du peuple qui avait pour capitale Vesunna.

Seuil de comptabilisation

En 2017, Périgueux est la commune la plus densément peuplée du département, avec plus de 3 000 habitants au kilomètre carré.

Sous l'angle régional, sa population peut être perçue sous différents critères :

•la population municipale en 2018 : 30 060 habitants, ce qui la place en 18e position parmi les communes de Nouvelle-Aquitaine, derrière Bordeaux, Limoges, Poitiers, Pau, La Rochelle, Mérignac, Pessac, Niort, Bayonne, Brive-la-Gaillarde, Talence, Angoulême, Anglet, Villenave-d'Ornon, Agen, Châtellerault et Saint-Médard-en-Jalles ;

•la population de l'unité urbaine en 2017 : 65 208 habitants172, soit la douzième unité urbaine la plus peuplée de Nouvelle-Aquitaine en 2017, derrière celles de Bordeaux, Bayonne, Pau, Limoges, Poitiers, La Rochelle, Angoulême, Agen, Brive-la-Gaillarde, Niort et La Teste-de-Buch-Arcachon, ou encore la 99e de France en 2007173 ;

•la population de la communauté d'agglomération en 2017 : 103 576 habitants174, soit la dixième intercommunalité la plus peuplée de Nouvelle-Aquitaine, derrière celles de Bordeaux Métropole, de la Côte Basque-Adour, de Limoges Métropole, du Grand Poitiers, de La Rochelle, de Pau-Pyrénées, du Grand Angoulême, du Niortais et du Bassin de Brive ;

•la population de l'aire urbaine en 2017 : 102 934 habitants175, soit la dixième aire urbaine la plus peuplée de Nouvelle-Aquitaine, derrière Bordeaux, Bayonne, Limoges, Poitiers, Pau, La Rochelle, Angoulême, Niort et Agen.

Évolution

Articles connexes : Histoire du recensement de la population en France et Démographie de la France.

Après avoir dépassé les 40 000 habitants dans les années 1940 et 1950, avec un maximum de 40 865 habitants en 1946, la population communale a ensuite décru de façon continue jusqu'à passer sous le seuil des 30 000 habitants au XXIe siècle. En 2017, la commune occupe le premier rang au niveau départemental sur 505 communes, et le 269e au niveau national en 2010, alors qu'elle était 243e en 1999.

L'évolution du nombre d'habitants est connue à travers les recensements de la population effectués dans la commune depuis 1793. À partir de 2006, les populations légales des communes sont publiées annuellement par l'Insee. Le recensement repose désormais sur une collecte d'information annuelle, concernant successivement tous les territoires communaux au cours d'une période de cinq ans. Pour les communes de plus de 10 000 habitants les recensements ont lieu chaque année à la suite d'une enquête par sondage auprès d'un échantillon d'adresses représentant 8 % de leurs logements, contrairement aux autres communes qui ont un recensement réel tous les cinq ans176,Note 14

L'agglomération et l'aire urbaine de Périgueux

L'unité urbaine de Périgueux (l'agglomération) comprend sept communes appartenant au Grand Périgueux : Boulazac Isle Manoire, Champcevinel, Chancelade, Coulounieix-Chamiers, Marsac-sur-l'Isle, Périgueux et Trélissac181. Elle est peuplée de 65 208 habitants en 2017172.

L'aire urbaine, plus étendue, regroupe au total 43 communes182, soit 102 934 habitants en 2017175.

Économie

Revenus de la population

En juin 2018, l'Insee a publié les données relatives aux revenus des ménages pour l'année 2015258. En 2015, la commune de Périgueux comptait 15 293 ménages fiscaux comprenant au total 27 181 personnes correspondant à 20 543 UI de consommation dans ces ménages. Emploi

En 2015, la population âgée de 15 à 64 ans s'élevait à 18 956 personnes, parmi lesquelles on comptait 71,5 % d'actifs dont 56,6 % ayant un emploi et 14,8 % de chômeurs259.

La même année, on comptait 21 441 emplois dans la commune, contre 22 788 en 2010. Le nombre d'actifs ayant un emploi et résidant dans la commune étant de 10 907, l'indicateur de concentration d'emploiNote 21 est de 196,6 %, ce qui signifie que la commune offre quasiment deux emplois pour un habitant actif, ce qui est exceptionnel260.

En 2015, parmi tous les actifs de Périgueux âgés de 15 ans ou plus ayant un emploi, 62,1 % soit 6 775 personnes travaillent à Périgueux, et les 37,9 % restants, soit 4 126 recensés, travaillent dans une autre commune261.

En 2015, sur la population active des 15 à 64 ans, on comptait à Périgueux 2 808 chômeurs, soit 20,7 % des actifsNote 22.

Chômage des 15 à 64 ans265

 

2015 2010

Nombre de chômeurs 2 8082 213

Taux de chômage 20,7 %15,9 %

Taux de chômage des hommes 22,3 %16,1 %

Taux de chômage des femmes 19,1 %15,7 %

Part des femmes parmi les chômeurs 45,6 %49,5 %

Tourisme

Commune touristique280, située en plein cœur du Périgord, et pouvant accueillir les touristes dans dix hôtels en centre-ville281, Périgueux est classée station de tourisme282, ville d'art et d'histoire (depuis 1987)Note 25,283 et compte un important secteur sauvegardé depuis 1980284. Périgueux accueille les visiteurs de la vallée de l'Isle et les pèlerins des chemins de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle depuis 2 000 ans285. Des promenades urbaines sont organisées par l'office de tourisme pour faire découvrir l'histoire de la ville, et sont commentées par des guides agréés par le ministère de la Culture et de la Communication286, tout ceci en plus des musées, des monuments historiques et du parcours de 4,5 km du petit train, afin de faire découvrir la ville aux touristes287. De plus, il existe depuis 2015 un sentier nautique sur l'Isle pour observer les monuments de la ville depuis Vesunna I, un rabaska réservé à cet effet288. Pour trouver les sites périgourdins à visiter, l'office de tourisme a développé des applications mobiles, notamment « Périgueux Tour » en 2011, qui renseigne à propos des activités organisées par la ville289.

Culture locale et patrimoine

Article connexe : Liste des monuments historiques de Périgueux.

Périgueux appartient au réseau national des Villes et pays d'art et d'histoire.

Équipement culturel

Musées

La ville compte trois musées qui ont tous trois l'appellation musée de France en raison de la qualité de leurs collections. Le musée d'art et d'archéologie du Périgord, premier musée du département, est créé en 1835. Le musée militaire du Périgord est créé en 1911 pour garder en mémoire l'héroïsme de la Garde Nationale de Périgueux et du 22e régiment des mobiles de la Dordogne de 1870 et de 1871. Le musée gallo-romain Vesunna est une création récente de l'architecte Jean Nouvel290. Ils permettent ensemble d'appréhender l'histoire locale à travers des collections archéologiques depuis la préhistoire jusqu'à nos jours. Le premier possède aussi de très belles collections d'Afrique et d'Océanie, pièces rapportées par les Périgourdins lors de leurs voyages depuis le milieu du XIXe siècle.

Théâtres, cinéma et salles de concerts

Périgueux dispose d'un cinéma CGRNote 26,291 ; de deux théâtres, Le Palace et L'OdysséeNote 27,292 ; du Centre départemental de la communicationNote 28 ; et d'une salle de musiques amplifiées affiliée au réseau Fédurok, le Sans RéserveNote 29,293.

Bibliothèques

Créée en 1809, la médiathèque Pierre-Fanlac (anciennement bibliothèque municipale de Périgueux) se compose d’un établissement central et de trois annexes : le Gour de l’Arche, Saint-Georges et le Toulon. Ses collections comptent plus de 50 000 documents patrimoniaux, et elle propose plus de 130 000 ouvrages au prêt294,295,296. Périgueux compte également l'espace culturel François-Mitterrand et la bibliothèque départementale de prêt.

Centres culturels

•Centre culturel de la Visitation297 dans l'ancien couvent de la Visitation298 : ce centre culturel municipal comprend des salles d'exposition, de musique, de danse, de spectacles dans l'ancienne chapelle. Ce lieu reçoit aussi le conservatoire de musique et de danse ainsi que l'école d'arts plastiques.

•Centre culturel François-Mitterrand dépendant du Conseil départemental de la Dordogne présentant des expositions sur des artistes contemporains : cet espace culturel reçoit la Direction départementale de la Culture et de l’Éducation299.

Architecture civile et militaire

La ville de Périgueux recèle les vestiges gallo-romains de l'ancienne cité de Vésone : les restes de la domus des Bouquets (villa gallo-romaine) au-dessus desquels l'architecte Jean Nouvel a construit le musée Vesunna300. Ces vestiges sont classés monuments historiques depuis 1963301. Le jardin des Arènes est entouré par les vestiges de l'amphithéâtre romain du IIe siècle, classés en 1840302. La tour de Vésone, classée en 1846303, reste le seul vestige d'un fanum dédié à Vésone, déesse tutélaire de la ville. Cette tour correspond à la cella, c'est-à-dire, la partie centrale sacrée où seuls les prêtres avaient accès. Différents vestiges de la citadelle gallo-romaine de Vésone ont fait l'objet de classements successifs en 1886, 1889 et 1942. En 2018, la ville fait peindre au sol un tracé rouge d'un kilomètre reliant différents lieux de l'architecture gallo-romaine dont sept sont munis de panneaux d'information historique304.

La ville a conservé de nombreux bâtiments médiévaux et Renaissance : le château Barrière, du XIIe au XVIe siècle, classé monument historique depuis 1862305, est bâti sur l'enceinte antique construite au début du IIIe siècle. À côté se trouve un bâtiment construit au-dessus de l'enceinte gallo-romaine et qui était appelé château d'Angoulême au XVe siècle306.

Sur vingt hectares s'étend le secteur sauvegardé du centre-ville médiéval et Renaissance, dont la rue Limogeanne, avec notamment l'hôtel Fayard dit « maison Estignard » et aux nos 1, 3 et 5 un groupe de maisons d'époque Renaissance. La tour Mataguerre, dernière tour existante du rempart, est accessible en visite. Elle est classée depuis 1840307. En bord de rivière, à proximité de la cathédrale, les maisons des Quais forment un ensemble architectural composé de trois demeures mitoyennes, l'hôtel Salleton inscrit en 1938308, la maison des Consuls et la maison Lambert, toutes deux classées depuis 1889309,310.

Également au bord de l'Isle, un étrange bâtiment en torchis et à pans de bois, l'eschif. Bien que n'ayant jamais servi comme moulin, l'eschif est appelé à tort « Vieux moulin » ou « moulin du Chapitre » ou encore « moulin de Saint-Front ». La confusion vient du proche moulin de Saint-Front qui se trouvait au milieu de l'Isle et qui a été démoli en 1860311, semble tenir miraculeusement sur sa base. C'est un poste de guet qui va permettre au Moyen Âge la surveillance du pont de Tournepiche. Il est classé depuis 1977312.

Rue Aubergerie, l'hôtel de Sallegourde est inscrit depuis 1931 pour sa tour et sa tourelle313.

L'hôtel de préfecture de la Dordogne, bâti au XIXe siècle, présente une façade Second Empire ; ses salons sont de véritables œuvres d'art. Il est inscrit au titre des monuments historiques depuis 1975314. Le palais de justice de style néoclassique est inscrit en partie depuis 1997315. Au bord de l'Isle, 200 mètres au nord-est de la cathédrale, l'hôtel de Fayolle du XVIIe siècle est inscrit depuis 1970 pour son porche316. À moins de cent mètres de la cathédrale, la loge maçonnique, inscrite en 1975 pour ses façades et ses toitures, offre des façades de style mauresque balkanique317.

En plus des édifices inscrits et classés au titre des monuments historiques, Périgueux possède plusieurs édifices insolites : l'hôtel des Postes réalisé sur les plans de l'architecte Paul Cocula et inauguré en 1930 par Georges Bonnet, 1 rue du 4-septembre, la maison Labasse, immeuble de rapport de type haussmannien, 2 rue Gambetta, les anciens bains-douches de la Caisse d'Épargne, 39-41 rue Louis-Mie, la succursale départementale de la Banque de France, 1 place du président-Roosevelt, la villa mauresque318, 15 rue Jules-Michelet, l'école municipale de dessin et d'art décoratif, aujourd'hui école Britten, 3 rue de Varsovie, la maison Goudeau réalisée dans les années 1860 par Émile Goudeau, 6 place du général-Leclerc, l'immeuble Lacrousille, 12 rue Saint-Front, le gymnase Secrestat, 3 rue du gymnase319.

Périgueux compte quatre cimetières320 : le cimetière Saint-Georges, boulevard du Petit-Change ; le cimetière de l'Ouest, rue Louis-Blanc ; le cimetière du Nord, avenue Georges-Pompidou et le cimetière Saint-Augûtre, avenue de l’Amiral-Pradier, sur la commune voisine de Coulounieix-Chamiers.

Architecture religieuse

jusqu'à dix-huit églises, dont seulement cinq subsistent actuellement.

La cathédrale Saint-Front, place de la Clautre, est bâtie dans le centre-ville de Périgueux, sur le tombeau de saint Front de PérigueuxG 8, l'évangélisateur légendaire du Périgord, qui a donné son nom au quartier central de la ville (« Puy-Saint-Front ») au Moyen ÂgeG 8. Simple église à l'origine (aux débuts du Ve siècle), elle a subi plusieurs destructions et reconstructions, pour devenir, à partir de 1669, la cathédrale du diocèse de Périgueux322. Elle est classée monument historique en 1840322, érigée aussi en basilique mineure en 1897322, et inscrite au patrimoine de l'humanité au titre des chemins de Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle en 1998323. Cette cathédrale à coupoles a été presque entièrement reconstruite lors de la restauration entreprise par Paul Abadie au XIXe siècleG 13. Par la suite, cet architecte s'en inspira pour la construction du Sacré-Cœur à Paris. Le chemin de croix peint vers 1850 par Jacques-Émile Lafon a été restauré en 2002324.

Outre la cathédrale, la ville comprend quatre autres églises catholiques.

L'église Saint-Étienne de la Cité, place de la Cité, ancienne cathédrale du diocèse de Périgueux jusqu'en 1669325, devient simple église paroissiale en 1673G 26. Cette église romane, des XIe et XIIe sièclesG 26, était coiffée de quatre coupoles, et fut ruinée par les Huguenots en 1577325. De fait, il n'en reste plus aujourd'hui que les deux travées orientalesG 26. L'édifice est classé en 1840325.

En remplacement d'une ancienne église située à une centaine de mètres, l'église Saint-Georges, place Saint-Georges, dans le quartier du même nom, fut construite entre 1852 et 1870, selon les plans des architectes Paul Abadie, Antoine Lambert et E. VauthierG 27,326. Elle est érigée en paroisse dès 1854, la messe s'effectuant dans une chapelle provisoireG 27.

L'actuelle église Saint-Martin, place Saint-Martin, (quatrième du nom), d'abord construite entièrement en bois de 1868 à 1870, fut rebâtie en maçonnerie, entre 1870 et 1875, selon les plans d'Antoine Lambert, validés par Paul AbadieG 28. Elle devient paroisse en 1863G 28.

L'église Saint-Jean-Saint-Charles, rue de l'Abîme, dans le quartier du Toulon, bâtie entre 1879 et 1892, était à l'origine une chapelle annexe de l'église Saint-MartinG 29. Elle fut érigée en paroisse en 1907 et son clocher fut ajouté en 1911G 29. Outre la cathédrale et les églises paroissiales, Périgueux abrite également un couvent, dédié à sainte Marthe, et dont la chapelle Saint-Jean-Baptiste de l'ancien évêché de PérigueuxG 30 est classée depuis 1888, datant du XVIe siècle avec des voûtes ornées d'arabesques de la Renaissance327. Le couvent des Dames de la Foi est également classé328.

Patrimoine religieux disparu

Jean Secret a donné une liste avec un historique sommaire de 80 églises et chapelles de Périgueux existantes ou disparues dans un article du Bulletin de la Société historique et archéologique du Périgord paru en 1973329.

Au fil des siècles, pas moins de dix-huit églises, toutes situées en rive droite de l'Isle à l'exception de l'église Saint-Georges, ont disparu de Périgueux.

En rive gauche de l'Isle, une première église Saint-Georges apparaît dans les textes au XIIIe siècle. Reconstruite en 1460 sur l'ordre du cardinal Hélie de Bourdeilles, elle fut vendue comme bien national en 1791 avant d'être transformée en maison d'habitation et détruite au siècle suivantG 27. À une centaine de mètres de distance fut érigée de 1852 à 1870 l'actuelle église Saint-GeorgesG 27.

Dans le quartier de la Cité, on en compte deux, et peut-être trois. L'église Notre-Dame de LeydrouseW 1 était un édifice probablement d'époque romane, situé rue Romaine, au sud-ouest de l'ancienne cathédrale Saint-ÉtienneG 31. Mesurant 14 × 7 m, trois de ses travées voûtées subsistaient encore en 1905G 31. Il pourrait s'agir du même édifice que l'église Sainte-Marie qui se situait sur une portion importante de la place de la Cité, avec une rue qui en évoque encore le souvenir, dans le prolongement de l'ancienne cathédrale Saint-ÉtienneG 32. Les deux bâtiments n'étaient séparés que de quelques mètres. L'église Saint-Astier était située dans la rue du même nom, près de l'actuelle église Saint-Étienne-de-la-Cité, et à l'ouest de l'église Notre-Dame de LeydrouseW 1.

Trois églises ont disparu dans le quartier de Vésone. L'église Saint-Pierre-ès-Liens330, était située à l'angle du boulevard de Vésone et à l'emplacement du no 33 de la rue Saint-Pierre-ès-Liens. Datant du XIe siècle, elle, était le siège d'une paroisse et fut démolie en 1889W 2. L'église Saint-Jean-l'Évangéliste puis Saint-Cloud était située à l'angle sud du boulevard de Vésone et de la rue Saint-Pierre-ès-Liens, tout près de l'église ayant ce dernier nomW 3. C'était un édifice roman qui fut vendu comme bien national en 1791 ; il servit de forge puis d'entrepôt, et fut démoli en juillet 1899G 33. L'église Saint-Pierre-l'Ancien ou Saint-Pé-Laneys était située à l'ouest de la tour de Vésone et au sud-est de la cité administrative - ancienne caserne Bugeaud - et sur l'emplacement d'une ancienne villa gallo-romaine, dite villa de Vésone, au centre du cimetière Saint-Pierre, dit cimetière des Pendus, aujourd'hui disparu. C'était l'une des plus vieilles églises de la ville, qui servait de départ à toutes les processions d'intronisation des évêquesG 34. Elle fut détruite avant 1726G 34.

À proximité de l'Isle, on en compte six autres. L'église Saint-Jacques puis Sainte-Claire était située à l'emplacement de l'actuelle caserne des pompiersW 1. Elle mesurait 24 m x 11 et datait du XIIe siècle. L'église s'installa entre 1279 et 1290 dans un monastère de clarisses et dura jusqu'à la Révolution. Le monastère fut ruiné par les Huguenots en 1575, puis rebâti en 1590. Il devint un hôpital en 1793, puis une prison et une caserne au début du XIXe siècleG 35 ; en 1828, c'est de nouveau une caserne à côté de laquelle sont installés des abattoirs lors de la décennie suivante. Enfin en 1973, les locaux sont transformés en caserne des pompiersG 35. L'église Saint-Hilaire se situait non loin de l'église Saint-Jacques. Elle devint, à partir de 1699, la chapelle des pénitents grisW 4. Ancienne chapelle, l'église Saint-Gervais a été une église paroissiale située près de l'actuel pont de la CitéW 5. Puis une autre chapelle du même nom, connue au XVIIe siècle, était située à l'actuel emplacement de la rue homonyme ; devenue une étable en 1826, elle fut rasée en 1858G 36. L'église Saint-Eumais, dite aussi Saint-Chamassy ou Saint-Yomay, était une ancienne église paroissiale aux XIIIe et XIVe siècles, devenue une simple chapelle au XVIIe siècle. Elle était située près du moulin du Rousseau, dans la rue du Rousseau, tout près de l'IsleW 6. L'église Sainte-Eulalie était une église paroissiale fort ancienne qui n'existait déjà plus en 1389G 32. Elle a donné son nom à une rue devenue ensuite la rue LittréW 6. Sur son emplacement approximatif fut construite, au milieu du XIXe siècle, la chapelle Sainte-Eulalie du lycée Bertran-de-BornG 37. Sur l'emplacement de ce lycée existait depuis le XVIe siècle l'église Saint-Benoît, érigée par les moniales de l'abbaye de LigueuxG 38. Elle a disparu, transformée successivement en chapelle, en pensionnat, puis en collège et enfin en lycée en 1848G 37.

Dans le reste de la ville, six autres églises ont aussi disparu. L'église Saint-Silain était située sur l'actuelle place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville, face à la mairie. Église fort ancienne qui mesurait 31 à 32 mètres de long sur 10 à 18 m de large et qui avait un cloître accolé côté sudW 2, elle était le siège de la paroisse du Puy-Saint-Front et fut détruite pendant la Révolution, entre 1793 et 1798331. L'église Saint-Louis, bâtie à la fin du XVIIe siècle à côté de l'hôpital de la Manufacture (actuellement rue Wilson), mesurait 27 m x 8. Elle fut démolie en 1851 et remplacée en 1854 par la chapelle Saint-Louis, détruite en 1950G 39. L'église Saint-Martin (deuxième du nom) succéda à un premier édifice du même nom, dévasté par les Normands en 849G 16. Elle était située vers l'angle des rues Wilson et Antoine-Gadaud, les Dominicains en firent la chapelle de leur infirmerie. Elle mesurait 11 m x 32 et devint par la suite la chapelle Sainte-Ursule. Elle fut démolie au XIXe siècle par les Ursulines qui firent rebâtir une nouvelle chapelle, aujourd'hui elle aussi disparue, au même emplacementW 7. L'église Saint-Martin (troisième du nom), située à l'angle des rues Gambetta et Maleville, était le siège de la paroisse Saint-Martin et de la commune du même nom. Elle mesurait 15 m × 20 et le culte y était encore célébré en 1871W 7. L'église Charles, dans le quartier du Toulon, se trouvait près du gouffre du Toulon, au-delà de la ligne de chemin de fer Limoges - Périgueux, non loin d'un ancien passage à niveau. Elle mesurait 12 m x 16

I have been doing the Kent church project for 11 years now, so I thought I knew most churches in Kent and all in East Kent, but just before Christmas a contact posted shots of a church I had not heard of before, St Peter-in-Thanet.

 

Once life settled down, I tried to arrange a visit before Christmas, that was impossible, but the church will be open every days from 2nd January I was told.

 

And as I had one more day off, why not start the year with a crawl?

 

I programmed the sat nav with the post code, and let it guide me to Sandwich then to Ramsgate and across the island via Westwood Cross, with the urban sprawl of Ramsgate and Broadstairs merging into one large town all around.

 

I saw the tower of St Peter from a mile away, surprisingly large. Nearer, I see that the area declares itself a village, also called St Peter, and there is a traditional village pub opposite.

 

I point out again at this point, the towns of Ramsgate and Broadstairs merge into one, St Peter is now part of Broadstairs. And indeed was the ancient centre of the town before the resort took off.

 

I park next to the church, present myself in the large and friendly parish offices next door, and told the church is open.

 

I just have to find which one of the half dozen doors into the church and vestry is actually unlocked.

 

I introduce myself, again, and they are happy to let me go around taking shots, whilst they water the multitude of plants. But they do stop to point out interesting details.

 

Nothing more fabulous that the highly decorated chancel; painted panels on the roof, painted beams, tiles and mosaics.

 

Even at first glance it is stunning.

 

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The medieval church of Broadstairs, St Peter's stands well inland to serve the original farming community that showed little interest in the coast that was to change the later life of this part of Kent. The tower, however, is easily visible from the sea and was long used as a landmark to shipping, which is why it still flies the White Ensign. Although the church was restored in the nineteenth century by Joseph Clarke and is stamped with the atmosphere he usually managed to create, there is some fine Norman architecture in the five bay aisle arcades (although the central arch in the south arcade is a later insertion into an inexplicable break in the Norman work). The chancel arch is of the thirteenth century and there is a good cut-down sedilia in the sanctuary. The delicate marble font is of eighteenth century date and there are some fine hanging wall tablets of the same period. The stained glass presents a good cross-section of the nineteenth century art, much of it by Heaton, Butler and Bayne.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=St+Peters

 

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ST. PETER'S

LIES the next parish south-eastward from St. John's, being so called from the dedication of the church of it to St. Peter. This parish is within the liberty and jurisdiction of the cinque ports, and is an antient member of the town and port of Dover, and though united to it ever since king Edward I.'s reign, yet so late as in that of king Henry VI. it became a dispute, whether this parish was not in the county at large; to take away therefore all doubt of it, that king, by his letters patent, united it to Dover, to which place, in like manner as St. John's above-mentioned, it is subsect in all matters of civil jurisdiction. The mayor of Dover here too appoints one of the inhabitants to be his deputy, who is chosen either yearly, or once in two or three years, at the mayor's pleasure; and to the charges of the sessions formerly held at Margate, this parish and Birchington used to contribute their proportion.

 

THE PARISH OF ST. PETER is as pleasant and healthy a situation as any in this island, the lands open and uninclosed, the soil a dry chalk, with frequent hill and dale interspersed throughout it. At Sowell hill, in the northern part of the parish, the land is reckoned to be the highest in the island. The village stands on a pleasing eminence, surrounded with trees, which is rather uncommon in these parts, having the church on the north-west side of it; at a little distance southward from which, is a small neat chapel, built by the sect of Methodists. Several genteel families reside in this village, situated about the middle of the parish, which is about two miles and a half across each way, and is bounded by the high chalk cliffs on the sea shore towards the north and east. It seems formerly to have been more populous than it is at present, for there were in the year 1563, as appeared by archbishop Parker's return to the orders of the privy council, one hundred and eighty-six housholds within this parish. Besides the village above mentioned, there are several other small hamlets and houses interspersed throughout it, viz. towards the south, Upton, Brompston, which is now the joint property of Henry Jessard, esq. and Mr. John Grey; Dumpton, great part of which extends into St. Laurence, it belongs to the earl of Hardwick; and Norwood. On the north-west side of the parish is Sacket's-hill, so called from its being the estate of an antient yeomanry family of this name, several of whom lie buried in this church, one of whom, John Sackett, as appears by his will, resided here and died possessed of his estate in this parish in 1444; on it there has been lately built a handsome house by Mr. King, for his summer residence, whose children are now possessed of it. In the northern part of the parish is the hamlet of Reading-street, southward of which is a small forstall, and then Sowell-street. In the eastern part of the parish, close to the cliffs, is Hackendon downe, or banks, where several antiquities have been dug up, as will be further mentioned hereafter; and the hamlet of Stone, formerly the residence of the Pawlyns, and then of the Huggets, where a few years ago Sir Charles Raymond, bart. built a small pleasant seat for his summer residence; Sir Harry Harper, bart. is the present owner of it. Not far from hence there formerly stood a beacon, which used to be fired to alarm the country in case of an invasion; a few years since some remains of the timber of it was dug up on the top of the Beacon-hill, about fifty five rods nearer to Stone than the present light-house.

 

¶About a mile and an half north-eastward from the church, at the extremity of the chalk cliff, is a point of land called the NORTH FORELAND, (suppofed by most to be the Cantium of Ptolemy) so called to distinguish it from the other Foreland, betwixt Deal and Dover, usually called the South Foreland; it is a promontory, or cape of land, that reaches further into the sea, and is somewhat higher than most of the land herebouts. On the top of it was formerly a house, built of timber, lath, and plaister work, with a large glass lanthorn on the top of it, in which a light was kept to direct ships in the night in their course, that they might keep clear of the Goodwin Sands, which lie off this point, and on which ships are apt to strike before they are aware, on account of their endeavouring to keep clear of this land, which extends so far into the sea. This house being by some accident burnt down in 1683, there was for some time a sort of beacon made use of, on which a light was hoisted; but about the latter end of the last century there was built here a strong house of flint, an octagon, on the top of which was an iron greate, quite open to the air, in which was made a blazing fire of coals. But about the year 1732, the top of this light-house was covered with a sort of lanthorn, with large sash lights, and the fire was kept burning by the help of bellows, which the light-men kept blowing all night. This invention was to save coals, but the sailors complained of it, as being very much to the prejudice of the navigation, many vessels being lost on the Goodwin Sands for want of seeing it, and indeed it was so little seen at sea, that some of the sailors asserted, they had in hazy weather seen the Foreland before they saw the light; whereas, before the lanthorn was placed here, when the fire was kept in the open air, as the wind kept the coals constantly alight, the blaze of it was seen in the air far above the light-house; complaint being made of this, the governors of Greenwich hospital ordered Sir John Thomson to view it, who ordered the lanthorn to be taken away, and the light-house to be made nearly the same as it was before, the light to continue burning all night and till day-light; since which, a few years ago, it was again repaired, and two stories of brick were raised on the former building. The height of it at present, including the small room in which the lights are kept, is somewhat more than one hundred feet; this room, which may be perhaps best described as a done raised on a decagon, is about ten feet in diameter, and twelve feet high; it is coated with copper, as is the gallery round it, to prevent fires. From the gallery there is a very extensive view, of which a conception may be formed from these lights being visible in clear weather at the Nore, which is ten leagues distant; in each of the sides of the decagon, towards the sea, is a patent lamp, kept burning all night, with a reflector and magnifier, the latter being very large. The whole building is white-washed, except the light room on the top; and all the rooms in it are used by the man and his family, who take care of it. (fn. 1) To the repair and maintenance of this light-house, every ship belonging to Great Britain, which sails by this Foreland, is obliged to pay two-pence for each ton; and every foreigner four-pence. It is under the direction of the governors of Greenwich hospital, in whom it is vested. There is a signal house between the North Foreland and Stonehouse, erected in 1795, the establishment of it is a lieutenant and midshipman of the navy, and two men.

 

Here were two fairs formerly kept every year, one on June 29, being St. Peter's day; and the other on March 25, being Lady-day; but they have for several years past been changed to the 10th of july, and the 5th of April.

 

The manor of Minster claims paramount over the greatest part of this parish; the landholders holding of it, by a certain rent called Pennygavel. Subordinate to this manor is that of

 

Near this place, in 1574, a monstrous fish shot himself on shore on a little sand, now called Fishness, where, for want of water it died the next day; before which his roaring was heard above a mile; his length, says Kilburne, was twenty-two yards; the nether jaw opening twelve feet; one of his eyes was more than a cart and six horses could draw; a man stood upright in the place from whence his eye was taken; the thickness from his back to the top of his belly (which lay upwards) was fourteen feet; his tail of the same breadth; the distance between his eyes was twelve feet; three men stood upright in his mouth; some of his ribs were fourteen feet long; his tongue was fifteen feet long; his liver was two cart loads, and a man might creep into his nostril. (fn. 7) There were four whales, or monstrous large fish, towed ashore by the fishermen on this island a few years ago, one of which had been found floating on the sea dead, and was brought to Broadstairs, and measured about sixty feet long, and thirty-eight feet round the middle; its forked tail was fifteen feet wide, its lower jaw nine feet long; it had two rows of teeth, twenty-two in each row, about two inches long; the upper jaw had no teeth, only holes for the lower ones to shut in. It had only one nostril. It had two gills, and the lower jaw shut in about three feet from the end of the nose. It is said this fish sold at Deal for twenty-two guineas.

 

MANY BRASS COINS of the Roman emperors have been found near Broadstairs, on a fall of the adjoining cliff, after much rain and frost at different times; but they have been so much worn and defaced, as not to be distinguished what they were.

 

Near the cliffs, about midway between the lighthouse and Kingsgate, are two large barrows, or banks of earth, called by the country people Hackendon, or Hackingdown banks, already noticed before. The tradition is, that these banks are the graves of those English and Danes, which were killed in a fight here; and that as one bank is greater than the other, the former is the place where the Danes were buried, who are said to have been defeated. It is not improbable that this battle referred to in history, was that fought A. D. 853, when the Danes having invaded this island with a considerable force, were attacked by earl Alcher with the Kentish men, and earl Huda with those of Surry, and an obstinate battle was fought, in which the English at first got some advantage, yet were at last deseated; great numbers were killed, among which were the two English generals; and the battle being fought so near the sea, a great many on both sides were pushed into it and drowned.

 

One of these barrows was opened in 1743, in the presence of many hundred people; a little below the surface of the ground several graves were discovered, cut out of the solid chalk and covered with flat stones; they were not more than three feet long, in an oblong oval form, and the bodies seem to have been thrust into them almost double; a deep trench was dug in the middle, and the bodies laid on each side of it; two of the skulls were covered with wood-coals and ashes. The skeletons seem to have been of men, women, and children, and by the smallness of the latter, these were conjectured to have been unborn.

 

¶Three urns made of very coarse black earth, not half burnt, one of them holding near half a bushel, were found with them, which crambled into dust on being exposed to the air. The bones were rather of a large size, and for the most part perfectly found. In 1765, the smaller barrow was opened, the appearances were similar to the former, but no urns were found. In memory of this battle, lord Holland erected a fantastic house, or monument, with an inscription, on the larger of the two banks.

 

THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Westbere.

 

The church, which is dedicated to St. Peter, stands on a rising ground. It is a small structure which has something pleasing in the appearance of it. It is built, as the rest of the churches are hereabouts, of flints, covered with rough-cast, and the quoins, windows and doors cased with ashlar stone, only the porch has more workmanship used about it; above are stone battlements; the roof is covered with lead, and the portal or door way has a mitred arch of wrought stone. It consists of a nave with a small isle on each side of it, a large middle chancel, and a smaller one on the north side of it, part of which is now made into a vestry. The middle chancel, which is beautiful, is ceiled in compartments, the framing of which is enriched with carved work, as is the cornice round it. The church is elegantly pewed with wainscot, and has a very handsome desk and pulpit. In the middle isle are two handsome brass chandeliers, which were purchased by subscription, and there is a neat gallery at the west end, well contrived for the convenience of the inhabitants, and the whole is kept in excellent order, and more than usual neatness. At the west end of the middle isle, under the gallery, is a handsome font, of white marble, the gift of John Dekewer, esq. as appears by the inscription, erected in 1746; below the inscription are the arms of Dekewer. At the west end of the north isle stands the tower, which is a sea mark. There were antiently five bells in it, which some years ago were cast into six, the great bell being made into two. The high or middle chancel was beautified about the year 1730, at the expence of Mrs. Elizabeth Lovejoy, lessee of Callis grange; who, out of the profits of that estate, ordered this chancel as well as hers and her husband's monuments in it, to be repaired as often as should be needful; and the sum of twenty shillings to be paid yearly to the clerk, on the day of the anniversary of her death, March 29, as an encouragement for him to take due care of the monuments.

 

At the west end of the south isle is a room taken off for the school house. In this church were antiently, besides the high altar in the middle chancel, three other altars dedicated to St. James the Apostle, St. Mary of Pity, and St. Margaret. Before these altars, on which were the images of these saints, were wax-lights constantly burning, for the maintenance of which there were several fraternities and legacies left. Several antient monuments and inscriptions are in the body and chancels of this church, the principal ones of which are in the middle or high chancel: Among others, a monument for James Shipton, vicar, obt. 1665; another, for George Lovejoy, first school-master at Islington, then of the king's school at Canterbury, obt. 1685. He lies buried within the altar-rails; arms, Azure, three bars, dancette, or, impaling chequy, azure and or, on a fess, three leopards faces of the second. On a marble against the north wall is an account of the charities given by Mrs. Elizabeth Lovejoy, as follows: By her will and testament, to the mayor and commonalty of the city of Canterbury, her lease of Callis grange, upon trust, to pay yearly to the vicar of this parish, forty pounds; to a school master, to teach twenty poor children gratis in the parish, twenty pounds; to Jesus hospital, Canterbury, five pounds; to St. John's hospital, in Canterbury, ten pounds; to Kingsbridge hospital, in Canterbury, five pounds; to Cogan's hospital, in Canterbury, four pounds; to St. Stephens's hospital, five pounds; to Harbledown hospital, five pounds per annum; and she gave by her will to the school and hospital at Islington, 200l. and to the school at Wicomb, in Buckinghamshire, 100l.

 

She wainscotted and adorned this chancel, and gave plate for the communion table in her life time, and two silver flagons by her will, A. D. 1694. She died of an apoplexy before she had sealed or finished her will, so that it took no effect as to her real estate, but after many suits and controversies was adjudged good as to her personal estate; and twenty shillings she left yearly to be paid to this parish clerk to keep both monuments clean. A memorial for Mr. Leonard Rowntree, minister, obt. 1624. In the north chancel, on an altar tomb, an inscription for Manasses Norwoode, of Dane court, and Norwoode, esq. obt. 1636; arms, Ermine, a cross, engrailed, impaling six coats. There are several brass plates and inscriptions for Culmer and Elmstone. In the north isle an altar tomb for Michael Webb, obt. 1587. A brass plate for Philip Smith, obt. 1451. Another for John Sacket, of this parish, obt. 1623. A memorial for Alexander, son of Alexander Nor woode, esq. of Dane-court. A black marble for Cornelius Willes, A. M. nineteen years vicar of this parish, and prebendary of Wells, obt. 1776. A like stone for the Rev. John Deane, A. M. forty-one years vicar, obt. 1757. A memorial for Daniel Pamflet, gent. and Mary his wife. He died 1719. An antient tomb for Mrs Elizabeth Omer, obt. 1709. A mural monument and inscription for the Rev. Roger Huggett, M. A. late vicar of the king's free chapel of St. George, in Windsor, and rector of Hartley Waspaill, in Southampton, eldest son of Roger Huggett, of Stone, in this parish, who was sole heir of the Pawlyns, an antient and respectable family of that place. He died at Hartley, in 1769, where he was buried; on it are inscriptions for others of the same name; arms, Gules, a chevron, between three stags heads, or, impaling parted per pale, sable and gules, a griffin passant, counterchanged. A tomb for Mr. Henry Huggett, gent. sole heir of the Pawlins, of Stone; he died in 1751; and for others of this family. A mural monument, shewing that in a vault underneath, lies Mary, wife of John Dekewer, esq. of Hackney, who died without surviving issue, one son and one daughter lying interred with her, obt. 1748. In the same vault lies the abovementioned John Dekewer, esq. an especial benefactor to this parish, obt. 1762, æt 76; arms, Vert, on a cross, or, five fleurs de lis, sable, between two caltrops, and two lions, rampant, impaling argent, parted per fess, three escallops, two and one, in chief, gules, in base three piles waved, sable. A tomb for John Dekewer, son of the above John, obt. 1740. In the same vault are others of this family. A beautiful mural monument of white marble, on which is the figure of a child sitting, weeping and leaning on an urn, erected to the memory of John-Alexander Dekewer, son of John Dekewer, esq. of Hackney, and Elizabeth his wife, obt. 1778, æt. ten years. A mural monument for the Rev. Tho. Reynolds, obt. 1754. Besides these there are memo rials for Noble, Gray, Read, Witherden, White, Simons, Cooke, Culmer, Wild, Jeken, Tilman, and Kerby. In the middle of the chancel, a memorial for Grace, wife of James White, gent. of Chilham, daugh ter of Gratian Lynch, gent. of Grove, in Staple, obt. 1740, and for Grace her daughter, wife of Thomas Hawkins, obt. 1746. A brass plate in the north isle, for John Sacket, of this parish, obt. 1623, æt. 59. At the end of the north isle is a large white stone, much obliterated, for Michael Pavlen, obt. 1662; Anne his wife, and Anne their daughter. In the church yard are many handsome tombs and grave-stones, of persons of different trades and occupations, residents of this parish. In the tower is a great crack on the east and west sides of it, from the top almost to the bottom, where it opened near an inch, and more than two at the top, so that the tower by it inclines to the northward; and it is wonderful, that when it was so rent it did not fall; the fissure is filled up with stone and mortar. As tradition reports, it was occasioned by the earthquake in queen Elizabeth's reign, in the 22d year of which, Mr. Camden tells us, there was a great one felt in this county.

 

This church was one of the three chapels belonging to the church of Minister, and very probably was made parochial sometime after the year 1200, when the church of Minster, with its appendages, was appropriated, in the year 1128, to the monastery of St. Augustine; it was at the same time assigned, with the above-mentioned chapels, with all rents, tithes, and other things belonging to that church and those chapels, to the sacristy of the monastery; and it was further granted, that the abbot and convent should present to the archbishop in the above-mentioned chapels, fit perpetual chaplains to the altarages of them; but that the vicar of the mother church of Minister should take and receive in right of his vicarage, the tenths of the small tithes, viz. of lambs and pigs, and the obventions arising from marriages and churchings, which were forbidden at these chapels, and were solemnized, &c. at the mother church only.

 

As to the chaplains of these chapels, though they were to receive no more than ten marcs of these altarages, yet they were not excluded the enjoyment of the manses and glebes given to these chapels when they were first consecrated, which made some additiou to their income, and enabled them to keep a deacon to assist them on the great and principal festivals. The inhabitants of these three chapelries, preceded by their priests, were accustomed to go in procession to Minster, in token of their subjection to their parochial or mother church. (fn. 10)

 

After this the appropriation of the church of Minster, with its appendant chapels, and the advowsons of the vicarages of them, continued with the abbot and convent till the dissolution of the monastery in the 30th year of king Henry VIII. when they were surrendered, together with the rest of the possessions of the monastery, into the king's hands.

 

After the dissolution of the monastery and the change in the service of the churches wrought by the reformation, this parochial chapel of St. Peter became entirely separated from the mother church of Minster, the vicar of this parish having no further subjection to it in any shape whatever; but by the same change he was likewise deprived of several of those emoluments he had before enjoyed in right of his vicarage, and all the great tithes of this parish, being appropriated to Callis and Salmestone granges, formerly belonging to the abbot and convent of St. Augustine, as has been already taken notice of before; the endowment of this vicarage consisted only of the small tithes of this parish, the payment of two bushels of corn yearly at Midsummer, from Salmanstone grange, and a pension of ten pounds to be paid yearly out of Callis grange; besides which he had a vicarage house, orchard, garden, and two parcels of land.

 

The small tithes of this parish being chiefly arable land, with the other emoluments of the vicarage, by reason of the great increase of every necessary article of life, falling far short of a reasonable maintenance, Mrs. Elizabeth Lovejoy, in the year 1694, further augmented it with the sum of forty pounds per annum, to be paid half yearly out of Callis grange above-mentioned; in consideration of which augmentation, the vicar is obliged, without accepting any dispensation, to be constantly resident on this vicarage, with several other injunctions mentioned in her will.

 

This vicarage is valued in the king's books at nine pounds, and the yearly tenths at eighteen shillings. In 1588 here were one hundred and forty-six communicants. In 1640 here were three hundred communicants, and it was valued at seventy pounds, but it appears by the return made in 1709, to the enquiry into the clear value of church livings, that this vicarage was worth only thirty pounds clear yearly income, before Mrs. Lovejoy's addition of forty pounds per annum.

 

¶The advowson of this vicarage coming into the hands of the crown, on the dissolution of the abbey of St. Augustine, continued there till king Edward VI. in his first year, granted the advowson of the vicarage of Minster, with the three chapels appendant to it, one of which was this church of St. Peter, among other premises, to the archbishop; since which this advowson has continued parcel of the possessions of that see, the archbishop being the present patron of it.

 

In 1630 the churchwardens and assistants reported, that here were belonging to the vicarage a mansion, with a well house, one orchard, one garden, and one acre of land adjoining to it, and one parcel of land, called the Vicar's Acre, lying within the lands of Capt. Norwood, who paid to the vicar, in consideration of it, five shillings a year; but no care being taken to preserve the bounds of this acre, the place where it lay was forgot, and the rent paid for it disputed, and at length quite discontinued.

 

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To find medical advice regarding diets that are recommended for preventing cancer takes a lot of online navigation. Here, Dr. Ceaser’s Cancer Diet, outlines the use of scientifically validated food for aid in the treatment of cancer. Eating a plant-based diet every day, full of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and foods rich in vitamin C, is full of health benefits, and may reduce the risk of cancers and tumour growth. This simple diet inhibits the growth of cancer cells in different types of cancer. It is easy to follow and does not require hours of preparation.

 

Quality of life means spending time having fun and not having to constantly be prepping foods that other cancer diets demand. This diet will increase your health and may help to protect you from getting various cancers, as well as helping to fight cancer.

 

Cancer-fighting foods are a great way to supplement powerful treatments for cancer such as IV vitamin C, ozone therapy, OncoTherm hyperthermia and mistletoe therapy among other strong naturopathic therapies for cancer. A cancer-fighting focused diet should not be used as the sole treatment to reduce tumour size or to control cancer growth. Cancer is only controlled using stronger therapies in combination with the baseline cancer diet such as outlined below. Consultation with a naturopathic doctor with many years of experience with a focus on natural cancer treatments is essential to success with any cancer treatment. Please use the below suggestions in consort with your cancer-treatment protocol to help to ensure success.

 

Cancer-Fighting Foods & Ingredients

 

Most people make dietary choices based on the assumption they are eating healthily. Naturally, this often includes eating more fruits and vegetables, and foods that are low in salt and sugars. Rarely do people make food choices based on their cancer-fighting properties. There are plenty of them – and some might surprise you.

 

Broccoli/Brassicaceae family

 

It’s common knowledge that dark-green and/or leafy vegetables are powerfully nutritious. This includes broccoli, bok choy, brussels sprouts, garden cress, cabbage and cauliflower. What isn’t as widely known is that these contain two cancer-fighting chemicals.

 

Indole-3-carbinol: induces apoptosis, stimulates p53 (a tumour-suppressor gene), arrests cancer cells in G1 and inhibits mTOR signaling.

 

Sulforaphane: inhibits carcinogenesis, and controls cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, or cell cycle. Studies suggest that cruciferous vegetable intake can lower overall cancer risk, including colon and prostate cancers.

 

Studies suggest that cruciferous vegetable intake can lower overall cancer risk, including colon and prostate cancers.

 

Tomatoes

 

Are they a fruit or vegetable? It doesn’t matter. Let’s call them cancer-fighting foods. Tomatoes contain high amounts of vitamins A, C and E. All of these have antioxidant effects towards tumour growth and induction.

 

Tomatoes contain lycopene. The antioxidant property of lycopene is most likely the basis for its preventative role toward cancer. It regulates growth factor signalling, cell cycle arrest and/or apoptosis induction. The anti-inflammatory activity of lycopene is considered an important determinant that suppresses the promotion and progression of carcinogenesis.

 

Our bodies extract the most benefit of lycopene from cooked tomato products, such as cooked organic tomatoes, tomato paste, sauce and ketchup.

 

Epidemiologic studies suggest that tomatoes might be preventive against the formation and the development of different types of human cancers including prostate, breast, and lung cancer.

 

Beta Carotene

 

Beta carotene is a powerful antioxidant with anti-cancer properties. It is found in a variety of fruits and vegetables such as carrots; sweet potatoes; kale and spinach, romaine lettuce; squash; cantaloupe; red and yellow peppers; and apricots. Vegetables harbour carotenoids and luteolin that, along with an abundance of vitamins and minerals, provide antioxidant, anti-cancer, and immune-enhancing properties.

 

Luteolin inhibits cancer cell proliferation and suppresses tumour angiogenesis.

 

Artichokes

 

Artichokes have been discovered to induce cancer cell death and slow cancer cell growth. Artichokes contain apigenin, which can inhibit cancer growth. Research found that key antioxidants in artichoke leaf extract helped induce cell death (apoptosis) and slow cancer cell growth. Artichokes have also been known to stop blood flow to tumours.

 

Green Tea

 

Green tea is a drink made from the dried leaves of the Asian plant, Camellia sinensis. It should be noted that rates of many cancers in Asia are much lower than in other parts of the world and it is believed this is because of the high intake of green tea.

 

The ingredient in green tea that researchers think is most helpful in the cancer fight is called epi-gallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG). EGCG is available as green tea extract which some people take as a supplement in liquid or capsule.

 

Nuts

 

Nuts and seeds are incredibly healthy and a great natural source of vitamins, minerals, protein, fat, flavonoids and fibre. Of course, we can’t forget what powerful cancer-fighters they are, too.

 

Almonds have as much calcium as milk, and contain magnesium, vitamin E, selenium and lots of fibre. They can lower cholesterol and help prevent cancer.

 

Walnuts are extremely good for your heart and brain, and contain ellagic acid, a cancer-fighting antioxidant.

 

Pecans have vitamins and minerals like vitamins A and E, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, potassium, manganese, B vitamins, and zinc. They help lower cholesterol.

 

Brazil nuts are a good source of protein, niacin, magnesium, fibre, vitamin E and selenium.

 

Cedar nuts/pine nuts have vitamins A, B, D, E, P and contain 70 percent of your body’s required amino acids.

 

Coffee

 

Who’d have thought your need for coffee could actually be good for your body? Turns out, your cup of java can be a cancer fighter.

 

Coffee is rich in antioxidants — including polyphenols and hydrocinnamic acids — that can improve health and reduce your risk of several diseases. Hydrocinnamic acids are effective at neutralizing free radicals and preventing oxidative stress.

 

People tend to get more antioxidants from beverages than foods, and scientific studies demonstrate that coffee is the single biggest dietary source of antioxidants. It should be noted that coffee does not contain the same antioxidants as whole plant foods like fruits and vegetables. While coffee might be the biggest dietary source of antioxidants, it should never be your only source.

 

Dry Beans and Peas (Legumes)

 

Dry beans and peas are rich in fibre. They generally contain 20 percent of your suggested daily value. They are a good source of protein, totalling about 10 percent of daily value. Additionally, they are an excellent source of folate, a B vitamin.

 

Beans and peas also contain other health-promoting substances that can protect against cancer, including lignans and saponins.

 

Resistant starch, starch that is not digested in the small intestine, is used by healthful bacteria in the colon to produce short-chain fatty acids, which seem to protect colon cells.

 

Soy

 

Soy foods are good sources of protein, and many contain a good dose of fibre, potassium, magnesium, copper and manganese. Soy is an excellent source of polyunsaturated fat, both the omega-6 (linoleic acid) and omega-3 (alpha-linolenic) types. Despite the unfounded warnings against soy use, due to the plant estrogens it contains, the latest studies have shown benefits from the use of soy with those who have cancer. The plant estrogens are so weak in the soy that they act as estrogen blockers.

 

Soymilk, tofu made with calcium, and soybeans are also good sources of calcium.

 

Berries

 

Berries are especially rich in proanthocyanidin antioxidants, which have been observed to have anti-aging properties. High amounts of phenols, zeaxanthin, lycopene, cryptoxanthin, lutein and polysaccharides are all natural chemicals found in berries that potentiate their anti-cancer actions. Raspberries are lowest in sugar, followed by strawberries and finally blueberries.

 

Apple (with the peels)

 

Apple peels contain ursolic acid that is antiproliferative, meaning it does not allow cancer cells to grow. These studies were in human breast, colorectal and liver cancer cells. The rest of the apple contains other compounds helpful for cancer, including quercetin.

 

Lemon and Lime

 

Citrus fruit has the ability to disrupt the fragile blood vessels that feed tumours. Add a squeeze of lemon or lime to your foods to take advantage of their beneficial properties.

 

Fresh Herbs and Spices

 

Turmeric contains the active ingredient curcumin. It is one of the most powerful ingredients in an anti-cancer diet because it’s shown to decrease tumour size and fight colon and breast cancers. Fresh parsley and lavender also have benefits.

 

Other herbs that act as immune-system boosters include ginger, raw garlic, thyme, cayenne pepper, oregano, basil and parsley — which can easily be used in many recipes, juices, dressings and smoothies.

 

What About Meat?

 

There are lots of debates about this and some are firm on a particular diet, however studies show that improvements with cancer are found for both vegan and keto diets. So, how can this be with such different amounts of meat in both?

 

The key is calorie consumption. The lower the calorie consumption, regardless the source, the better that cancer cases did. It ends up being a personal decision if people want to eat meat or not. There is no scientific backing that one choice or the other is the only way to go. For colorectal cancer patients, it is recommended they stay away from red meat. For other patients that want to eat meat, organic meats without hormones, is recommended.

 

Tuna fish is the only meat that has been found to have an anti-cancer action. Wild-caught salmon also has rich omega-3s, beneficial to keep inflammation levels down that are often high in cancer cases.

 

Eat to Defeat—Some Tips

 

Eating to defeat cancer can be accomplished simply by adding a few cancer-fighting foods to your meals each day.

 

Here are some food facts, supported by scientific research, to help you get the most cancer-fighting benefits from your diet:

 

1. Be Picky

 

Red Delicious and Granny Smith apples have twice as many cancer fighters as Fuji or Golden Delicious apples.

 

The San Marzano tomato contains more cancer fighters than any other variety.

 

Wine grapes grown in cooler climates have more cancer fighters than grapes grown in warmer climates.

 

Apples, tomatoes and grapes are on the Environmental Working Group’s “Dirty Dozen” list of produce with the most pesticides, so it’s recommended you choose organic, if possible.

 

2. Eat Your Sprouts

 

Broccoli sprouts can contain more cancer-fighting propertiesthan regular broccoli.

 

3. Dunk Your Tea Bag

 

Dunking a tea bag up and down releases more cancer-fighting molecules than letting the bag just sit in the cup.

 

4. Cook Tomatoes

 

Raw tomatoes are great but cooking them in olive oil is better. Cooking tomatoes increases the lycopene content and boosts the cancer-fighting power. Because lycopene is a fat-soluble antioxidant, it’s better absorbed by your body when consumed with some (ideally healthy) fat.

 

5. Chew Your Greens

 

Chewing leafy greens helps to release enzymes that activate cancer-fighting moleculesembedded deep in the leaves.

 

6. Go Soy

 

Fermented soy, like the kind used in miso soup, contains four times more cancer fightersthan regular soybeans.

 

Evidence strongly suggests that not only does soy not promote cancer, it reduces cancer risk. It is important to choose organic soy products to avoid genetically engineered soy. Other fermented soy products include tempeh and natto.

 

7. Choose One Cancer-Fighting Food for Each Meal

 

At three meals each day, that adds up to more than 1,000 cancer-fighting food choices each year. By consuming the right foods, cancer cells are more prone to destruction and this increases your chances of success with cancer.

 

Add this dietary regimen to an active, powerful anti-cancer regimen and studies show it aids in cancer cell die-off, cell proliferation, prevention and longevity.

 

The post Cancer-Fighting Foods & Ingredients: Dr. Ceaser’s Cancer Diet appeared first on Naturopath Winnipeg | Naturopathic Doctor | Dr. Ceaser.

 

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Darjeeling is a town and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located in the Mahabharat Range or Lesser Himalaya at an elevation of 2,042.2 m. It is noted for its tea industry and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Darjeeling is the headquarters of Darjeeling district which has a partially autonomous status within the state of West Bengal.

 

The development of the town dates back to the mid-19th century, when the colonial British administration set up a sanatorium and a military depot. Subsequently, extensive tea plantations were established in the region, and tea growers developed hybrids of black tea and created new fermentation techniques. The resultant distinctive Darjeeling tea is internationally recognised and ranks among the most popular of the black teas.

 

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway connects the town with the plains and has one of the few steam locomotives still in service in India.

 

Darjeeling has several British-style public schools, which attract pupils from India and neighbouring countries. The varied culture of the town reflects its diverse demographic milieu consisting of Nepalis, Bhutia, Lepcha and other mainland Indian ethno-linguistic groups. Darjeeling, with its neighbouring town of Kalimpong, was a centre of the Gorkhaland movement (Separate State demand within India) in the 1980s. The town's fragile ecology has been threatened by a rising demand for environmental resources, stemming from growing tourist traffic and poorly planned urbanisation.

 

TOPONOMY

The name Darjeeling comes from the Tibetan word dorje, meaning the thunderbolt sceptre of the Hindu diety Indra, and ling, a place or land.

 

HISTORY

The history of Darjeeling is intertwined with that of Sikkim, Nepal, British India and Bhutan. Until the early 19th century, the hilly area around Darjeeling was controlled by the kingdom of Sikkim, while the plains around Siliguri were intermittently occupied by the Kingdom of Nepal, with settlement consisting of a few villages of Lepcha and Kirati people. The Chogyal of Sikkim had been engaged in unsuccessful warfare against the Gorkhas of Nepal. From 1780, the Gorkhas made several attempts to capture the entire region of Darjeeling. By the beginning of 19th century, they had overrun Sikkim as far eastward as the Teesta River and had conquered and annexed the Terai. In the meantime, the British were engaged in preventing the Gorkhas from overrunning the whole of the northern frontier. The Anglo-Gorkha war broke out in 1814, which resulted in the defeat of the Gorkhas and subsequently led to the signing of the Sugauli Treaty in 1815. According to the treaty, Nepal had to cede all those territories which the Gorkhas had annexed from the Chogyal of Sikkim to the British East India Company (i.e. the area between Mechi River and Teesta River). Later in 1817, through the Treaty of Titalia, the British East India Company reinstated the Chogyal of Sikkim, restored all the tracts of land between the River Mechi and the River Teesta to the Chogyal of Sikkim and guaranteed his sovereignty.In 1828, a delegation of the British East India Company (BEIC) officials on its way to the Nepal-Sikkim border stayed in Darjeeling and decided that the region was a suitable site for a sanatorium for British soldiers. The company negotiated a lease of the area west of the Mahananda River from the Chogyal of Sikkim in 1835. In 1849, the BEIC director Arthur Campbell and the explorer and botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker were imprisoned in the region by the Sikkim Chogyal. The BEIC sent a force to free them. Continued friction between the BEIC and the Sikkim authorities resulted in the annexation of 1,700 km2 of territory by the British in 1850. In 1864, the Bhutanese rulers and the British signed the Treaty of Sinchula that ceded the passes leading through the hills and Kalimpong to the British. Further discord between Sikkim and the British resulted in a war, culminating in the signing of a treaty and the annexation by the British of the area east of the Teesta River in 1865. By 1866, Darjeeling district had assumed its current shape and size, covering an area of 3,200 km2. During the British Raj, Darjeeling's temperate climate led to its development as a hill station for British residents seeking to escape the summer heat of the plains. The development of Darjeeling as a sanatorium and health resort proceeded briskly. Arthur Campbell, a surgeon with the Company, and Lieutenant Robert Napier were responsible for establishing a hill station there. Campbell's efforts to develop the station, attract immigrants to cultivate the slopes and stimulate trade resulted in a hundredfold increase in the population of Darjeeling between 1835 and 1849. The first road connecting the town with the plains was constructed between 1839 and 1842. In 1848, a military depot was set up for British soldiers, and the town became a municipality in 1850. Commercial cultivation of tea in the district began in 1856, and induced a number of British planters to settle there. Darjeeling became the formal summer capital of the Bengal Presidency after 1864. Scottish missionaries undertook the construction of schools and welfare centres for the British residents, laying the foundation for Darjeeling's notability as a centre of education. The opening of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in 1881 further hastened the development of the region. In 1899, Darjeeling was rocked by major landslides that caused severe damage to the town and the native population.Under British rule, the Darjeeling area was initially a "Non-Regulation District", a scheme of administration applicable to economically less advanced districts in the British Raj; acts and regulations of the British Raj did not automatically apply to the district in line with rest of the country. In 1919, the area was declared a "backward tract". During the Indian independence movement, the Non-cooperation Movement spread through the tea estates of Darjeeling. There was also a failed assassination attempt by revolutionaries on Sir John Anderson, the Governor of Bengal in 1934. Subsequently, during the 1940s, Communist activists continued the nationalist movement against the British by mobilising the plantation workers and the peasants of the district. Socio-economic problems of the region that had not been addressed during British rule continued to linger and were reflected in a representation made to the Constituent Assembly of India in 1947, which highlighted the issues of regional autonomy and Nepali nationality in Darjeeling and adjacent areas. After the independence of India in 1947, Darjeeling was merged with the state of West Bengal. A separate district of Darjeeling was established consisting of the hill towns of Darjeeling, Kurseong, Kalimpong and some parts of the Terai region. While the hill population comprised mainly ethnic Nepalis, the plains harboured a large ethnic Bengali population who were refugees from the Partition of India. A cautious and non-receptive response by the West Bengal government to most demands of the ethnic Nepali population led to increased calls, in the 1950s and 1960s, for Darjeeling's autonomy and for the recognition of the Nepali language; the state government acceded to the latter demand in 1961.The creation of a new state of Sikkim in 1975, along with the reluctance of the Government of India to recognise Nepali as an official language under the Constitution of India, brought the issue of a separate state of Gorkhaland to the forefront. Agitation for a separate state continued through the 1980s, included violent protests during the 1986–88 period. The agitation ceased only after an agreement between the government and the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), resulting in the establishment of an elected body in 1988 called the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), which received autonomy to govern the district. Though Darjeeling became peaceful, the issue of a separate state lingered, fuelled in part by the lack of comprehensive economic development in the region even after the formation of the DGHC. New protests erupted in 2008–09, but both the Union and State governments rejected Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's (GJM) demand for a separate state. In July 2011, a pact was signed between GJM, the Government of West Bengal and the Government of India which includes the formation of a new autonomous, elected Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), a hill council endowed with more powers than its predecessor Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council.[

 

GEOGRAPHY

Darjeeling is the main town of the Sadar subdivision and also the headquarters of the district. It is located at an elevation of 2,000 m in the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region on the Darjeeling-Jalapahar range that originates in the south from Ghum. The range is Y-shaped with the base resting at Katapahar and Jalapahar and two arms diverging north of the Observatory Hill. The north-eastern arm dips suddenly and ends in the Lebong spur, while the north-western arm passes through North Point and ends in the valley near Tukver Tea Estate. The hills are nestled within higher peaks and the snow-clad Himalayan ranges tower over the town in the distance. Kanchenjunga, the world's third-highest peak, 8,598 m high, is the most prominent mountain visible. In days clear of clouds, Nepal's Mount Everest, 8,850 m high, can be seen.

 

The hills of Darjeeling are part of the Mahabharat Range or Lesser Himalaya. The soil is chiefly composed of sandstone and conglomerate formations, which are the solidified and upheaved detritus of the great range of Himalaya. However, the soil is often poorly consolidated (the permeable sediments of the region do not retain water between rains) and is not considered suitable for agriculture. The area has steep slopes and loose topsoil, leading to frequent landslides during the monsoons. According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, the town falls under seismic zone-IV, (on a scale of I to V, in order of increasing proneness to earthquakes) near the convergent boundary of the Indian and the Eurasian tectonic plates and is subject to frequent earthquakes.

 

FLORA AND FAUNA

Darjeeling is a part of the Eastern Himalayan zoo-geographic zone. Flora around Darjeeling comprises sal, oak, semi-evergreen, temperate and alpine forests. Dense evergreen forests of sal and oak lie around the town, where a wide variety of rare orchids are found. The Lloyd's Botanical Garden preserves common and rare species of plants, while the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park specialises in conserving and breeding endangered Himalayan species. The town of Darjeeling and surrounding region face deforestation due to increasing demand for wood fuel and timber, as well as air pollution from increasing vehicular traffic.

 

Wildlife in the district is protected by the wildlife wing of the West Bengal Forest Department. The fauna found in Darjeeling includes several species of ducks, teals, plovers and gulls that pass Darjeeling while migrating to and from Tibet. Small mammals found in the region include civets, mongooses and badgers. The nearby Jaldapara National Park consists of semi-evergreen and sal forests. Animals found here include the one-horned rhinoceros, elephant, tiger, leopard and hog deer, while the main bird species include the Bengal florican and herons. As of 2009, work was in progress for setting up a conservation centre for red pandas in Darjeeling.

 

CLIMATE

Darjeeling has a temperate climate (Köppen: Cwb, subtropical highland climate) with wet summers caused by monsoon rains. The annual mean maximum temperature is 15.98 °C while the mean minimum temperature is 8.9 °C, with monthly mean temperatures range from 5 to 17 °C. The lowest temperature recorded was −24 °C on 11 February 1905. The average annual precipitation is 309.2 cm, with an average of 126 days of rain in a year. The highest rainfall occurs in July. The heavy and concentrated rainfall that is experienced in the region, aggravated by deforestation and haphazard planning, often causes devastating landslides, leading to loss of life and property.

 

CIVIL ADMINISTRATION

The Darjeeling urban agglomeration consists of Darjeeling Municipality and the Pattabong Tea Garden. Established in 1850, the Darjeeling municipality maintains the civic administration of the town, covering an area of 10.57 km2 The municipality consists of a board of councillors elected from each of the 32 wards of Darjeeling town as well as a few members nominated by the state government. The board of councillors elects a chairman from among its elected members; the chairman is the executive head of the municipality. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJMM) holds power in the municipality As of 2011.

 

From 1988 to 2012, the Gorkha-dominated hill areas of Darjeeling district was under the jurisdiction of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC). In 2012, the DGHC was replaced by the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA). The elected members of this body are authorised to manage certain affairs of the hills, including education, health and tourism. Law and order in Darjeeling town comes under the jurisdiction of the district police force, which is a part of the West Bengal Police; a Deputy Superintendent of Police oversees the town's security and law affairs. Darjeeling municipality area has two police stations at Darjeeling and Jorebungalow.

 

UTILITIES

Natural springs in the Senchal Range provide most of Darjeeling's water supply. Water collected is routed through stone conduits to two lakes that were constructed in 1910 and 1932, from where it is piped to the town after purification at the Jorebungalow filtration plant. During the dry season, when water supplied by springs is insufficient, water is pumped from Khong Khola, a nearby small perennial stream. There is a steadily widening gap between water supply and demand; just over 50% of the town's households are connected to the municipal water supply system. Various efforts made to augment the water supply, including the construction of a third storage reservoir in 1984, have failed to yield desired results.

 

The town has an underground sewage system, covering about 40% of the town area, that collects domestic waste and conveys it to septic tanks for disposal. Solid waste is disposed of in a nearby dumping ground, which also houses the town's crematorium. Doorstep collection of garbage and segregation of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste have been implemented since 2003. Vermicomposting of vegetable waste is carried out with the help of non-governmental organisations. In June 2009, in order to reduce waste, the municipality proposed the ban of plastic carry bags and sachets in the town.

 

Darjeeling got from 1897 up to the early 1990s hydroelectricity from the nearby Sidrapong Hydel Power Station, such being the first town in India supplied with hydropower. Today, electricity is supplied by the West Bengal State Electricity Board from other places. The town often suffers from power outages and the electrical supply voltage is unstable, making voltage stabilisers popular with many households. Almost all of the primary schools are now maintained by Darjeeling Gorkha Autonomous Hill Council. The total length of all types of roads within the municipal area is around 134 km The West Bengal Fire Service provides emergency services for the town.

 

ECONOMY

The two most significant contributors to Darjeeling's economy are tourism and the tea industry. Darjeeling tea, due to the unique agro-climatic conditions of Darjeeling, has a distinctive natural flavour, is internationally reputed and recognised as a geographical indicator. Darjeeling produces 7% of India's tea output, approximately 9,000,000 kilograms every year. The tea industry has faced competition in recent years from tea produced in other parts of India as well as other countries like Nepal. Widespread concerns about labour disputes, worker layoffs and closing of estates have affected investment and production. Several tea estates are being run on a workers' cooperative model, while others are being planned for conversion into tourist resorts. More than 60% of workers in the tea gardens are women. Besides tea, the most widely cultivated crops include maize, millets, paddy, cardamom, potato and ginger.

 

Darjeeling had become an important tourist destination as early as 1860. It is reported to be the only location in eastern India that witnesses large numbers of foreign tourists. It is also a popular filming destination for Bollywood and Bengali cinema. Satyajit Ray shot his film Kanchenjungha (1962) here, and his Feluda series story, Darjeeling Jomjomaat was also set in the town. Bollywood movies Aradhana (1969), Main Hoon Na (2004), and more recently Barfi! (2012) have been filmed here. Tourist inflow into Darjeeling has been affected by the political instability in the region, and agitations in the 1980s and 2000s have hit the tourism industry hard.

 

TRANSPORT

Darjeeling can be reached by the 88 km long Darjeeling Himalayan Railway from New Jalpaiguri, or by National Highway 55, from Siliguri, 77 km away. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is a 600 mm narrow-gauge railway that was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999 for being "an outstanding example of the influence of an innovative transportation system on the social and economic development of a multi-cultural region, which was to serve as a model for similar developments in many parts of the world", becoming only the second railway in the world to have this honour. Bus services and hired vehicles connect Darjeeling with Siliguri and Darjeeling has road connections with Bagdogra, Gangtok and Kathmandu and the neighbouring towns of Kurseong and Kalimpong. However, road and railway communications often get disrupted in the monsoons because of landslides. The nearest airport is Bagdogra Airport, located 90 km from Darjeeling. Within the town, people usually traverse by walking. Residents also use two-wheelers and hired taxis for travelling short distances. The Darjeeling Ropeway, functional since 1968, was closed in 2003 after an accident killed four tourists. It was proposed to be reopened in 2007, and finally opened in February 2012.

 

DEMOGRAPHICS

According to provisional results of 2011 census of India, Darjeeling urban agglomeration has a population of 132,016, out of which 65,839 were males and 66,177 were females. The sex ratio is 1,005 females per 1,000 males. The 0–6 years population is 7,382. Effective literacy rate for the population older than 6 years is 93.17 per cent.

 

According to the 2001 census, the Darjeeling urban agglomeration, with an area of 12.77 km2 had a population of 109,163, while the municipal area had a population of 107,530. The population density of the municipal area was 10,173 per km2. The sex ratio was 1,017 females per 1,000 males, which was higher than the national average of 933 females per 1000 males. The three largest religions were Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity, in that order. The majority of the populace are Gorkhas of ethnic Nepali background. Indigenous ethnic groups include the Limbu, Rai, Magars, Gurung, Tamangs, Lepchas, Bhutias, Sherpas and Newars. Other communities that inhabit Darjeeling include the Marwaris, Anglo-Indians, Chinese, Biharis, Tibetans and Bengali. The most commonly spoken languages are Nepali, Hindi, Bengali and English.

 

Darjeeling has seen a significant growth in its population, its decadal growth rate being 47% between 1991 and 2001. The colonial town had been designed for a population of only 10,000, and subsequent growth has created extensive infrastructural and environmental problems. The district's forests and other natural wealth have been adversely affected by an ever-growing population. Environmental degradation, including denudation of the surrounding hills has adversely affected Darjeeling's appeal as a tourist destination.The official language of West Bengal is Bengali, additional official languages in Darjeeling are English and Nepali.

 

CULTURE

Apart from the major religious festivals of Dashain (Durga puja), Tihar (Diwali) and Christmas the diverse ethnic populace of the town celebrates several local festivals. The Lepchas and Bhutias celebrate new year in January, while Tibetans celebrate their new year, Losar, in February–March. The birthday of the Buddha is celebrated in mid-June with processions. Darjeeling Carnival, initiated by a civil society movement known as The Darjeeling Initiative, is a ten-day carnival held every year during the winter with portrayal of the Darjeeling Hill's musical and cultural heritage as its central theme.

 

A popular food in Darjeeling is the Nepalese and Tibetan momo, a steamed dumpling containing meat cooked in a doughy wrapping and served with clear soup and achar. A form of Tibetan noodle called thukpa, served in soup form is also popular. Other commonly eaten dishes include alu dum, a potato preparation, and shaphalay, Tibetan bread stuffed with meat. Fermented foods and beverages are consumed by a large percentage of the population. Fermented foods include preparations of soybean, bamboo shoots, milk and Sel roti, which is made from rice. Tea is the most popular beverage, the Tibetan version is also drunk. Alcoholic beverages include Tongba, Jnaard and Chhaang, variations of a local beer made from fermenting finger millet.

 

Colonial architecture characterises many buildings in Darjeeling, exemplified by several mock Tudor residences, Gothic churches, the Raj Bhawan, Planters' Club and various educational institutions. Buddhist monasteries showcase the pagoda style architecture. Darjeeling is regarded as a centre of music and a niche for musicians and music admirers. Singing and playing musical instruments is a common pastime among the resident population, who take pride in the traditions and role of music in cultural life.

 

Darjeeling also has a Peace Pagoda built in 1992 by the Japanese Buddhist organisation Nipponzan Myohoji.

 

EDUCATION

There are 52 primary schools, 21 high schools and 4 colleges in the town. Darjeeling's schools are either run by the state government or by private and religious organisations. Schools mainly use English and Nepali as their media of instruction, although there is the option to learn the national language Hindi and the official state language Bengali. The schools are either affiliated with the ICSE, the CBSE, or the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education. Having been a summer retreat for the British in India, Darjeeling became the place of choice for the establishment of public schools on the model of Eton, Harrow and Rugby, allowing the children of British officials to obtain an exclusive education. Institutions such as Mount Hermon School, St. Robert's H.S. School, St. Joseph's College (School Dept.), Loreto Convent and St. Paul's School are renowned as centres of educational excellence.

 

Darjeeling has four colleges — St. Joseph's College, Southfield College (earlier known as Loreto College), Darjeeling Government College and Sri Ramakrishna B.T. College — all affiliated to the University of North Bengal in Siliguri.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Greenville — A group of college students, state officials and others converged Thursday, March 14, with a mission to prevent more drunk driving fatalities. The group of about 100 people, including 50 students, met at Sup Dogs, a popular eatery adjacent to the campus of East Carolina University.

 

Their call to action was timely. Drunk driving is more common on St. Patrick’s Day than at other times of the year and so, too, are deaths due to drunk driving.

 

“We had to be here, it’s our duty as leaders on the campus of ECU to help shine a light on this problem and actually do something about it,” said Gillian Smith, vice president of Recruitment for Panhellenic on the campus of ECU. “We’ve walked about a mile radius around 5th and Summit Streets, handing out fliers, posting anti-drunk-driving messages on our social media account and simply sounding the alarm.”

 

The community canvass kicked off The Governor’s Highway Safety Programs statewide ‘Booze It & Lose It’ campaign, where law enforcement from around all 100 counties began conducting saturation patrols. The goal was to remove impaired drivers from roadways and save lives over the St. Patrick’s Day weekend. The campaign runs today through Sunday, March 17.

 

“Whether it be via bus, cab, ride share or a buddy, we just want riders to get home alive and it’s going to take all of us, every time making the right decision,” said Governor’s Highway Safety Program Director Mark Ezzell. “We are grateful that the community of Greenville and beyond recognized the importance of this initiative and volunteered their time and resources today.”

 

The group was armed with many sobering statistics, including the fact that:

•On St. Patrick’s Day, on average, drunk driving deaths increase by 8 percent;

•Of the people who died in crashes on St. Patrick’s Day, 51 percent were alcohol-related;

•Drunk driving fatalities are seven times more likely at night on St. Patrick’s Day; and

•Of the people killed on St. Patrick’s Day due to drunk driving, 44 percent are between the ages of 21 and 34 years old.

 

“We want people to be aware of the repercussions of driving behaviors,” said Greenville Police Chief Mark Holtzman. “Our city has some of the worst drunk-driving records over the last few years and we are tired of our friends, children, co-workers dying this way.”

 

Chief Holztman and dozens of law enforcement, first responders, child advocates, health care workers from around Pitt County and Eastern Carolina joined volunteers who helped canvass several city blocks around one of the city’s most popular restaurants.

  

In addition to volunteers canvassing the community and walking about a mile around the downtown area, the ECU campus transit system changed their messaging on the front of all campus buses with the ‘Booze It & Lose It’ slogan. The City of Greenville, Pitt County schools, Vidant Health and a host of other organizations posted safety messaging on their social media accounts using the hashtags #keysfree and #NCGHSP.

 

The ‘Booze It & Lose It’ campaign is one of the many campaigns by The Governor’s Highway Safety Program which supports a myriad of safe-driving initiatives like Click It or Ticket, BikeSafe NC, Watch For Me NC, Speed a Little. Lose a Lot, and North Carolina’s Vision Zero initiative.

 

Visit ghsp.nc.gov and follow NCGHSP on Facebook @NCGHSP, Instagram and Twitter @NC_GHSP. For media inquiries contact: GHSP Communications Specialist Miracle King miracleking@ncdot.gov

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After coming out of prison last summer, Welcome is now a One Man Can Training Assistant. He explains how the project asks questions and encourages men to rethink how they value women and change their lives.

 

“How can I say that I’m gender conscious if I’m still being abusive? How can I say I’m gender conscious if I’m still seeing women as objects rather than our equals? So in order to change, I needed to do this introspection and move myself away from gang activity to understand I could be a loving man and a loving provider, if I just worked on that process.”

 

Background

 

In March 2013 the United Nation's Commission on the Status of Women will meet to discuss how to prevent all forms of violence against women and girls.

 

This International Women's Day, help demand action by sending a message to global leaders that it's time to put a stop to this worldwide injustice.

 

UK aid is working in 21 countries to address physical and sexual violence against women and girls and will be supporting 10 million women and girls with improved access to security and justice services by 2015.

 

Find out more at www.dfid.gov.uk/violence-against-women-and-girls

 

For more information about the Sonke Gender Justice programme visit genderjustice.org.za/

 

Picture: Lindsay Mgbor/Department for International Development

 

Terms of use

 

This image is posted under a Creative Commons - Attribution Licence, in accordance with the Open Government Licence. You are free to embed, download or otherwise re-use it, as long as you credit the source as Lindsay Mgbor/Department for International Development'.