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Wikipedia: The Tai folk religion, or Satsana Phi is a form of animist religious beliefs intermixed with Buddhist beliefs traditionally and historically practiced by groups of ethnic Tai peoples.
Tai folk animist traditions are practiced by the Lao, Tai Ahom, Shan people, Dai people, Tai Khamti, Lao Isan and Thais of Thailand. These religions are animistic and polytheistic and their practice involves classes of shamans and ancestor worship. However they have a more syncretic nature and are partially Buddhist in nature. Often a family practices both Buddhism and animism.
Within the Satsana Phi belief system, supernatural deities or gods can sometimes be the tutelary gods of buildings or territories, of natural places, or of things. Deities can also be ancestral spirits, or other types of spirits of seemingly supernatural forces. Such deities often interact with the world of the living, at times protecting people, and at other times seeming to cause harm. Guardian deities of places, such as the phi wat of temples and the lak mueang of towns are celebrated and propitiated with communal gatherings and offerings of food. Gods of Hindu derivation are included in the Satsana Phi pantheon of gods, as well as several indigenous non-Hindu gods called phi thaen Gods are ubiquitous, with some of them being associated with the universal elements: heaven, earth, fire, and water.
The Concheros dance, also known as the Chichimecas, Aztecas and Mexicas, is an important traditional dance and ceremony which has been performed in Mexico since early in the colonial period. It presents syncretic features both pre-Hispanic and Christian. The dance has strong visual markers of its pre-Hispanic roots with feathered regalia, indigenous dance steps and indigenous instruments such as drums (Wikipedia)
In Mexico they do not celebrate Halloween, but rather the Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead
The festival begins on November 1 (All Saints Day) and ends of November 2. It is a syncretic mix of ancient Aztec and Catholic religious traditions. Prayers are held for the dead, and altars (ofrendas) are set up with food and drink in the home and also at the local cemeteries.
The use of decorated, and in many cases edible skulls (calaveras), is a reminder of mortality and also a mocking of the power of death.
The Concheros dance, also known as the Chichimecas, Aztecas and Mexicas, is an important traditional dance and ceremony which has been performed in Mexico since early in the colonial period. It presents syncretic features both pre-Hispanic and Christian. The dance has strong visual markers of its pre-Hispanic roots with feathered regalia, indigenous dance steps and indigenous instruments such as drums (Wikipedia)
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Cao Đài is a Vietnamese monotheistic syncretic religion that retains many elements from Vietnamese folk religion such as ancestor worship, as well as "ethical precepts from Confucianism, occult practices from Taoism, theories of karma and rebirth from Buddhism, and a hierarchical organization from Roman Catholicism". It was officially established in the city of Tây Ninh in Southern Vietnam in 1926.
The full name of the religion is Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Độ (chữ Hán: 大道三期普度 'The Great Faith [for the] Third Universal Redemption').
Adherents engage in practices such as prayer, veneration of ancestors, nonviolence, and vegetarianism with the goal of union with God and freedom from saṃsāra. Estimates of the number of Caodaists in Vietnam vary; government figures estimate 4.4 million Caodaists affiliated to the Cao Đài Tây Ninh Holy See, with numbers rising up to 6 million if other branches are added.
The United Nations found about 2.5 million Cao Dai followers in Vietnam as of January 2015. An additional number of adherents in the tens of thousands, primarily ethnic Vietnamese, live in North America, Cambodia, Europe and Australia as part of the Cao Dai diaspora. (Wikipedia)
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View of the temple from the river. We thought it was colourful when first seeing it from a distance, but the colours and details inside are incredible.
Tây Ninh, Vietnam. January 2025.
Emerald River Cruises.
Please, no invitations to award/forced comment groups or to those with large/animated comment codes.
Cao Đài is a Vietnamese monotheistic syncretic religion that retains many elements from Vietnamese folk religion such as ancestor worship, as well as "ethical precepts from Confucianism, occult practices from Taoism, theories of karma and rebirth from Buddhism, and a hierarchical organization from Roman Catholicism". It was officially established in the city of Tây Ninh in Southern Vietnam in 1926.
The full name of the religion is Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Độ (chữ Hán: 大道三期普度 'The Great Faith [for the] Third Universal Redemption').
Adherents engage in practices such as prayer, veneration of ancestors, nonviolence, and vegetarianism with the goal of union with God and freedom from saṃsāra. Estimates of the number of Caodaists in Vietnam vary; government figures estimate 4.4 million Caodaists affiliated to the Cao Đài Tây Ninh Holy See, with numbers rising up to 6 million if other branches are added.
The United Nations found about 2.5 million Cao Dai followers in Vietnam as of January 2015. An additional number of adherents in the tens of thousands, primarily ethnic Vietnamese, live in North America, Cambodia, Europe and Australia as part of the Cao Dai diaspora. (Wikipedia)
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Interior of the temple. The monks and nuns wear white and pray in a similar manner to the buddhists. I was surprised as the neon LCD lighting around the arches. Above the blue lights, one can find carvings of the saints of Cao Dai, including Jesus, Buddha and more.
Tây Ninh, Vietnam. January 2025.
Emerald River Cruises.
In accordance with the Shintou tradition, the main shrine is built behind the prayer hall half hidden from the outside. However, it is unusual in that the main shrine consists of two houses combined together; one is for Kotoshironushi (事代主) and the other is for his wife Mihotsuhime (美穂津姫). The one in the centre of the photo is Kotoshironushi's quarter.
Kotoshironushi is claimed to be another name of Ebisu who is depicted as a man with a fishing rod. I suspect it is a political arrangement to place folk beliefs under the umbrella of Shintoism.
Ebisu is the only Japanese member of the multinational team of Seven Gods of Fortune (七福神), namely,
Ebisu (恵比寿), Shintoism or a folk belief
Daikokuten (大黒天 Mahakala), Hinduism
Bishamonten (毘沙門天 Kubera or Vaisravana), Hinduism
Benzaiten (弁財天 Saraswati), Hinduism
Fukurokuju (福禄寿), Taoism
Juroujin (寿老人), Taoism
Hotei (布袋 Budai), Zen Buddhism
Hindu gods were introduced to Japan by way of Buddhism.
The members show clearly the syncretic nature of Japanese folk beliefs.
They are often depicted together on a boat.
Varanasi is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. The city has a syncretic tradition of Islamic artisanship that underpins its religious tourism. Located in the middle-Ganges valley in the southeastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi lies on the left bank of the river. It is 692 kilometres to the southeast of India's capital New Delhi and 320 kilometres (200 mi) to the southeast of the state capital, Lucknow. It lies 121 kilometres downstream of Prayagraj, where the confluence with the Yamuna river is another major Hindu pilgrimage site.
Varanasi is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities. Kashi, its ancient name, was associated with a kingdom of the same name of 2,500 years ago. The Lion capital of Ashoka at nearby Sarnath has been interpreted to be a commemoration of the Buddha's first sermon there in the fifth century BCE. In the 8th century, Adi Shankara established the worship of Shiva as an official sect of Varanasi. Tulsidas wrote his Awadhi language epic, the Ramcharitmanas, a Bhakti movement reworking of the Sanskrit Ramayana, in Varanasi. Several other major figures of the Bhakti movement were born in Varanasi, including Kabir and Ravidas. In the 16th century, Rajput nobles in the service of the Mughal emperor Akbar, sponsored work on Hindu temples in the city in an empire-wide architectural style. In 1740, Benares Estate, a zamindari estate, was established in the vicinity of the city in the Mughal Empire's semi-autonomous province of Awadh. Under the Treaty of Faizabad, the East India Company acquired Benares city in 1775. The city became a part of the Benares Division of British India's Ceded and Conquered Provinces in 1805, the North-Western Provinces in 1836, United Provinces in 1902, and of the Republic of India's state of Uttar Pradesh in 1950.
Silk weaving, carpets, crafts and tourism employ a significant number of the local population, as do the Banaras Locomotive Works and Bharat Heavy Electricals. The city is known worldwide for its many ghats—steps leading down the steep river bank to the water—where pilgrims perform rituals. Of particular note are the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the Panchganga Ghat, the Manikarnika Ghat, and the Harishchandra Ghat, the last two being where Hindus cremate their dead. The Hindu genealogy registers at Varanasi are kept here. Among the notable temples in Varanasi are the Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Shiva, the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, and the Durga Temple.
The city has long been an educational and musical centre: many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians live or have lived in the city, and it was the place where the Benares gharana form of Hindustani classical music was developed. In the 20th-century, the Hindi-Urdu writer Premchand and the shehnai player Bismillah Khan were associated with the city. India's oldest Sanskrit college, the Benares Sanskrit College, was founded by Jonathan Duncan, the resident of the East India Company in 1791. Later, education in Benares was greatly influenced by the rise of Indian nationalism in the late 19th-century. Annie Besant founded the Central Hindu College in 1898. In 1916, she and Madan Mohan Malviya founded the Banaras Hindu University, India's first modern residential university. Kashi Vidyapith was established in 1921, a response to Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement.
There is a growing concern that more and more strandings are the result of our increasing and often very noisy activities at sea. Human-induced underwater noise, like sonar or pulses from seismic testing can deafen and disorientate whales, interfering with their ability to communicate and navigate, ultimately driving them ashore. Deep sea species living in the open ocean are particularly susceptible to sonar, even from miles away.
Nicola Hodgins
~
quote
“The white noise of an industrial and commercial society drowns out our ability to think.”
Kilroy J. Oldster, Dead Toad Scrolls
Kilroy J. Oldster
Author
Narrative self-reflection regarding the timeless questions of humanity: syncretic investigation of time, community, religion, nature, justice, ethics, art, psychology, philosophy, illness, death, hope, fear, faith, friendship, love, hate, ...
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Cao Đài is a Vietnamese monotheistic syncretic religion that retains many elements from Vietnamese folk religion such as ancestor worship, as well as "ethical precepts from Confucianism, occult practices from Taoism, theories of karma and rebirth from Buddhism, and a hierarchical organization from Roman Catholicism". It was officially established in the city of Tây Ninh in Southern Vietnam in 1926.
The full name of the religion is Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Độ (chữ Hán: 大道三期普度 'The Great Faith [for the] Third Universal Redemption').
Adherents engage in practices such as prayer, veneration of ancestors, nonviolence, and vegetarianism with the goal of union with God and freedom from saṃsāra. Estimates of the number of Caodaists in Vietnam vary; government figures estimate 4.4 million Caodaists affiliated to the Cao Đài Tây Ninh Holy See, with numbers rising up to 6 million if other branches are added.
The United Nations found about 2.5 million Cao Dai followers in Vietnam as of January 2015. An additional number of adherents in the tens of thousands, primarily ethnic Vietnamese, live in North America, Cambodia, Europe and Australia as part of the Cao Dai diaspora. (Wikipedia)
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Entrance to the temple guarded by a demon on one side and a god on the other. The use of colour throughout the temple is amazing.
Tây Ninh, Vietnam. January 2025.
Emerald River Cruises.
The Samanid mausoleum is located in a park just outside the historic urban center of Bukhara, Uzbekistan. The mausoleum is considered to be one of the most highly esteemed work of Central Asian architecture, and was built between 892 and 943 CE as the resting-place of Ismail Samani - a powerful and influential amir of the Samanid dynasty, one of the last native Persian dynasties that ruled in Central Asia in the 9th and 10th centuries, after the Samanids established virtual independence from the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad. In addition to Ismail Samani, the mausoleum also houses the remains of his father Ahmed and his nephew Nasr, as well as the remains of other members of the Samanid dynasty.
The monument marks a new era in the development of Persian and Central Asian architecture, which was revived after the Arab conquest of the region. The overall structure is made similar to ancient Persian fire temples, commonly known as chartaqi in Persian. The architects continued to use an ancient tradition of baked brick construction, but to a much higher standard than had been seen before. The site is unique for its architectural style which combines both Zoroastrian motifs from the native Sogdian and Sassanid cultures, as well as Islamic motifs introduced from Arabia and Persia.
The building's facade is covered in intricately decorated brick work, which features circular patterns reminiscent of the sun - a common image in Zoroastrian art from the region at that time which is reminiscent of the Zoroastrian god, Ahura Mazda, who is typically represented by fire and light. The building's shape is cuboid, and reminiscent of the Ka'aba in Makkah, while the heavy corner buttresses are derived from Sogdian architectural styles. The syncretic style of the shrine is reflective of the 9th and 10th centuries - a time when the region still had large populations of Zoroastrians who had begun to convert to Islam around that time.
The height of the shrine is approximately 35 feet, with four identically designed facades which gently slope inwards with increasing height. The building's architectural engineers included four internal arches for support, upon which the dome is placed. The building's "four arch" design was adopted for use in several shrines throughout Central Asia. At the top of each side of the shrine are ten small windows which provided ventilation for the interior portion of the mausoleum.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b24NceLeDU
History and origin of Halloween
The term Halloween is an abbreviated word from the phrases "All Hallows Eve" or "All Hallows Evening" which means, All Hallows Eve.
The celebration has its roots in the ancient pagan Celtic Samhaim festival, where it was believed that the deceased walked among the living and that is why communication ceremonies were held with the dead helping them find their way to eternal rest.
Over the years, this celebration became Christianized and in its beginnings, the festival took place in the United Kingdom, Ireland and north-western France.
Because halloween is celebrated?
In the United States and Canada the tradition came from the hands of the Irish in 1840, who originally celebrated less spectacularly than today.
In 1912, Elizabeth Krebs, with her talent, gave it the character of celebration, costumes and festivity, to which we are currently accustomed. In 1921, the holiday became popular with teenagers due to a parade in Minnesota, making it popular.
Between the 1970s and 1980s, Halloween was acquiring a universal character due to different events involved with the cinema and television series.
When is Halloween celebrated in Mexico?
Halloween, also called Halloween Night or Halloween, is a celebration of Anglo-Saxon origin that is celebrated every year on October 31.
Are Halloween and Day of the Dead the same?
They are not the same, although there are several coincidences. In essence, the main difference is that they have different cultural and geographical beginnings.
Halloween is a syncretic festival, between a Celtic pagan tradition called Samaín and the Christian liturgical era dedicated to remembering the dead (saints, martyrs and the faithful departed), to celebrate the harvest season, it was the end of summer and the new year Celtic, and takes place on October 31.
The Day of the Dead in Mexico is also a syncretic celebration that has two origins, pre-Hispanic and Christian.
It became a tradition on November 2, since for the Catholic Church the ritual of the eve of all saints is performed, or of the deceased saints, and the holiday is to remember and pray for those people who have died and may be in purgatory.
Why are pumpkins put on Halloween?
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, pumpkins' relationship to Halloween dates back to an ancient Irish myth, as a blacksmith named Stingy Jack tricked the Devil for money multiple times.
When he died, God did not allow him to enter heaven and the Devil denied him entry to hell, in this way Jack was forced to prowl the Earth for eternity, lighting his way with an ember that the Devil gave him and that he put in a hollow turnip.
Of course, no one wants to meet him, so people in Ireland started carving demonic faces on turnips to chase away Jack's soul. With the wave of Irish immigrants in the United States, they began to carve the now famous jack-o'-lanterns in pumpkins (because they are more frequent in that country).
At first, people put a piece of burning charcoal into turnips, later it was replaced by a candle. Nowadays, people also use flashlights or candles.
What do you do on Halloween?
Although the festivities have become widespread, each country has very particular details that characterize its celebration. In Mexico, children leave the house in their best costumes to ask for sweets from house to house under the legend "sweet or trick." This action is carried out on October 31, 1, and sometimes until November 2.
Meanwhile, at home an altar with candles, marigold flowers, photos of deceased loved ones, and their favorite foods and drinks, who return for one night to visit their loved ones, stands up.
Varanasi is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. The city has a syncretic tradition of Islamic artisanship that underpins its religious tourism. Located in the middle-Ganges valley in the southeastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi lies on the left bank of the river. It is 692 kilometres to the southeast of India's capital New Delhi and 320 kilometres (200 mi) to the southeast of the state capital, Lucknow. It lies 121 kilometres downstream of Prayagraj, where the confluence with the Yamuna river is another major Hindu pilgrimage site.
Varanasi is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities. Kashi, its ancient name, was associated with a kingdom of the same name of 2,500 years ago. The Lion capital of Ashoka at nearby Sarnath has been interpreted to be a commemoration of the Buddha's first sermon there in the fifth century BCE. In the 8th century, Adi Shankara established the worship of Shiva as an official sect of Varanasi. Tulsidas wrote his Awadhi language epic, the Ramcharitmanas, a Bhakti movement reworking of the Sanskrit Ramayana, in Varanasi. Several other major figures of the Bhakti movement were born in Varanasi, including Kabir and Ravidas. In the 16th century, Rajput nobles in the service of the Mughal emperor Akbar, sponsored work on Hindu temples in the city in an empire-wide architectural style. In 1740, Benares Estate, a zamindari estate, was established in the vicinity of the city in the Mughal Empire's semi-autonomous province of Awadh. Under the Treaty of Faizabad, the East India Company acquired Benares city in 1775. The city became a part of the Benares Division of British India's Ceded and Conquered Provinces in 1805, the North-Western Provinces in 1836, United Provinces in 1902, and of the Republic of India's state of Uttar Pradesh in 1950.
Silk weaving, carpets, crafts and tourism employ a significant number of the local population, as do the Banaras Locomotive Works and Bharat Heavy Electricals. The city is known worldwide for its many ghats—steps leading down the steep river bank to the water—where pilgrims perform rituals. Of particular note are the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the Panchganga Ghat, the Manikarnika Ghat, and the Harishchandra Ghat, the last two being where Hindus cremate their dead. The Hindu genealogy registers at Varanasi are kept here. Among the notable temples in Varanasi are the Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Shiva, the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, and the Durga Temple.
The city has long been an educational and musical centre: many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians live or have lived in the city, and it was the place where the Benares gharana form of Hindustani classical music was developed. In the 20th century, the Hindi-Urdu writer Premchand and the shehnai player Bismillah Khan were associated with the city. India's oldest Sanskrit college, the Benares Sanskrit College, was founded by Jonathan Duncan, the resident of the East India Company in 1791. Later, education in Benares was greatly influenced by the rise of Indian nationalism in the late 19th century. Annie Besant founded the Central Hindu College in 1898. In 1916, she and Madan Mohan Malviya founded the Banaras Hindu University, India's first modern residential university. Kashi Vidyapith was established in 1921, a response to Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement.
Varanasi or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. The city has a syncretic tradition of Islamic artisanship that underpins its religious tourism. Located in the middle-Ganges valley in the southeastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi lies on the left bank of the river. It is 692 kilometres to the southeast of India's capital New Delhi and 320 kilometres (200 mi) to the southeast of the state capital, Lucknow. It lies 121 kilometres downstream of Prayagraj, where the confluence with the Yamuna river is another major Hindu pilgrimage site.
Varanasi is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities. Kashi, its ancient name, was associated with a kingdom of the same name of 2,500 years ago. The Lion capital of Ashoka at nearby Sarnath has been interpreted to be a commemoration of the Buddha's first sermon there in the fifth century BCE. In the 8th century, Adi Shankara established the worship of Shiva as an official sect of Varanasi. Tulsidas wrote his Awadhi language epic, the Ramcharitmanas, a Bhakti movement reworking of the Sanskrit Ramayana, in Varanasi. Several other major figures of the Bhakti movement were born in Varanasi, including Kabir and Ravidas. In the 16th century, Rajput nobles in the service of the Mughal emperor Akbar, sponsored work on Hindu temples in the city in an empire-wide architectural style. In 1740, Benares Estate, a zamindari estate, was established in the vicinity of the city in the Mughal Empire's semi-autonomous province of Awadh.[28] Under the Treaty of Faizabad, the East India Company acquired Benares city in 1775. The city became a part of the Benares Division of British India's Ceded and Conquered Provinces in 1805, the North-Western Provinces in 1836, United Provinces in 1902, and of the Republic of India's state of Uttar Pradesh in 1950.
Silk weaving, carpets, crafts and tourism employ a significant number of the local population, as do the Banaras Locomotive Works and Bharat Heavy Electricals. The city is known worldwide for its many ghats—steps leading down the steep river bank to the water—where pilgrims perform rituals. Of particular note are the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the Panchganga Ghat, the Manikarnika Ghat, and the Harishchandra Ghat, the last two being where Hindus cremate their dead. The Hindu genealogy registers at Varanasi are kept here. Among the notable temples in Varanasi are the Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Shiva, the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, and the Durga Temple.
The city has long been an educational and musical centre: many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians live or have lived in the city, and it was the place where the Benares gharana form of Hindustani classical music was developed. In the 20th-century, the Hindi-Urdu writer Premchand and the shehnai player Bismillah Khan were associated with the city. India's oldest Sanskrit college, the Benares Sanskrit College, was founded by Jonathan Duncan, the resident of the East India Company in 1791. Later, education in Benares was greatly influenced by the rise of Indian nationalism in the late 19th-century. Annie Besant founded the Central Hindu College in 1898. In 1916, she and Madan Mohan Malviya founded the Banaras Hindu University, India's first modern residential university. Kashi Vidyapith was established in 1921, a response to Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement.
I know, its about the bunny and the chocolate eggs, right? Wrong, theres more to the the easter story, in fact its a big syncretic mix of the ressurection, paganism, the Jewish passover, the long weekend, memory, and the spring equinox. But here, I'm going with what I was raised on. www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZSGMpQMXH0
Varanasi or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. The city has a syncretic tradition of Islamic artisanship that underpins its religious tourism. Located in the middle-Ganges valley in the southeastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi lies on the left bank of the river. It is 692 kilometres to the southeast of India's capital New Delhi and 320 kilometres (200 mi) to the southeast of the state capital, Lucknow. It lies 121 kilometres downstream of Prayagraj, where the confluence with the Yamuna river is another major Hindu pilgrimage site.
Varanasi is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities. Kashi, its ancient name, was associated with a kingdom of the same name of 2,500 years ago. The Lion capital of Ashoka at nearby Sarnath has been interpreted to be a commemoration of the Buddha's first sermon there in the fifth century BCE. In the 8th century, Adi Shankara established the worship of Shiva as an official sect of Varanasi. Tulsidas wrote his Awadhi language epic, the Ramcharitmanas, a Bhakti movement reworking of the Sanskrit Ramayana, in Varanasi. Several other major figures of the Bhakti movement were born in Varanasi, including Kabir and Ravidas. In the 16th century, Rajput nobles in the service of the Mughal emperor Akbar, sponsored work on Hindu temples in the city in an empire-wide architectural style. In 1740, Benares Estate, a zamindari estate, was established in the vicinity of the city in the Mughal Empire's semi-autonomous province of Awadh.[28] Under the Treaty of Faizabad, the East India Company acquired Benares city in 1775. The city became a part of the Benares Division of British India's Ceded and Conquered Provinces in 1805, the North-Western Provinces in 1836, United Provinces in 1902, and of the Republic of India's state of Uttar Pradesh in 1950.
Silk weaving, carpets, crafts and tourism employ a significant number of the local population, as do the Banaras Locomotive Works and Bharat Heavy Electricals. The city is known worldwide for its many ghats—steps leading down the steep river bank to the water—where pilgrims perform rituals. Of particular note are the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the Panchganga Ghat, the Manikarnika Ghat, and the Harishchandra Ghat, the last two being where Hindus cremate their dead. The Hindu genealogy registers at Varanasi are kept here. Among the notable temples in Varanasi are the Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Shiva, the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, and the Durga Temple.
The city has long been an educational and musical centre: many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians live or have lived in the city, and it was the place where the Benares gharana form of Hindustani classical music was developed. In the 20th-century, the Hindi-Urdu writer Premchand and the shehnai player Bismillah Khan were associated with the city. India's oldest Sanskrit college, the Benares Sanskrit College, was founded by Jonathan Duncan, the resident of the East India Company in 1791. Later, education in Benares was greatly influenced by the rise of Indian nationalism in the late 19th-century. Annie Besant founded the Central Hindu College in 1898. In 1916, she and Madan Mohan Malviya founded the Banaras Hindu University, India's first modern residential university. Kashi Vidyapith was established in 1921, a response to Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement.
Varanasi, or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. The city has a syncretic tradition of Islamic artisanship that underpins its religious tourism. Located in the middle-Ganges valley in the southeastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi lies on the left bank of the river. It is 692 kilometres to the southeast of India's capital New Delhi and 320 kilometres (200 mi) to the southeast of the state capital, Lucknow. It lies 121 kilometres downstream of Prayagraj, where the confluence with the Yamuna river is another major Hindu pilgrimage site.
Varanasi is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities. Kashi, its ancient name, was associated with a kingdom of the same name in the first millenium BCE. The Lion capital of Ashoka at nearby Sarnath has been interpreted to be a commemoration of the Buddha's first sermon there in the fifth century BCE. In the 8th century, Adi Shankara established the worship of Shiva as an official sect of Varanasi. Tulsidas wrote his Awadhi language epic, the Ramcharitmanas, a Bhakti movement reworking of the Sanskrit Ramayana, in Varanasi. Several other major figures of the Bhakti movement were born in Varanasi, including Kabir and Ravidas. In the 16th century, Rajput nobles in the service of the Mughal emperor Akbar, sponsored work on Hindu temples in the city in an empire-wide architectural style. In 1740, Benares Estate, a zamindari estate, was established in the vicinity of the city in the Mughal Empire's semi-autonomous province of Awadh. Under the Treaty of Faizabad, the East India Company acquired Benares city in 1775. The city became a part of the Benares Division of British India's Ceded and Conquered Provinces in 1805, the North-Western Provinces in 1836, United Provinces in 1902, and of the Republic of India's state of Uttar Pradesh in 1950.
Silk weaving, carpets, crafts and tourism employ a significant number of the local population, as do the Banaras Locomotive Works and Bharat Heavy Electricals. The city is known worldwide for its many ghats—steps leading down the steep river bank to the water—where pilgrims perform rituals. Of particular note are the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the Panchganga Ghat, the Manikarnika Ghat, and the Harishchandra Ghat, the last two being where Hindus cremate their dead. The Hindu genealogy registers at Varanasi are kept here. Among the notable temples in Varanasi are the Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Shiva, the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, and the Durga Temple.
The city has long been an educational and musical centre: many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians live or have lived in the city, and it was the place where the Benares gharana form of Hindustani classical music was developed. In the 20th century, the Hindi-Urdu writer Premchand and the shehnai player Bismillah Khan were associated with the city. India's oldest Sanskrit college, the Benares Sanskrit College, was founded by Jonathan Duncan, the resident of the East India Company in 1791. Later, education in Benares was greatly influenced by the rise of Indian nationalism in the late 19th century. Annie Besant founded the Central Hindu College in 1898. In 1916, she and Madan Mohan Malviya founded the Banaras Hindu University, India's first modern residential university. Kashi Vidyapith was established in 1921, a response to Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement.
Varanasi or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. The city has a syncretic tradition of Islamic artisanship that underpins its religious tourism. Located in the middle-Ganges valley in the southeastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi lies on the left bank of the river. It is 692 kilometres to the southeast of India's capital New Delhi and 320 kilometres to the southeast of the state capital, Lucknow. It lies 121 kilometres downstream of Prayagraj, where the confluence with the Yamuna river is another major Hindu pilgrimage site.
Varanasi is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities. Kashi, its ancient name, was associated with a kingdom of the same name of 2,500 years ago. The Lion capital of Ashoka at nearby Sarnath has been interpreted to be a commemoration of the Buddha's first sermon there in the fifth century BCE. In the 8th century, Adi Shankara established the worship of Shiva as an official sect of Varanasi. Tulsidas wrote his Awadhi language epic, the Ramcharitmanas, a Bhakti movement reworking of the Sanskrit Ramayana, in Varanasi. Several other major figures of the Bhakti movement were born in Varanasi, including Kabir and Ravidas. In the 16th century, Rajput nobles in the service of the Mughal emperor Akbar, sponsored work on Hindu temples in the city in an empire-wide architectural style. In 1740, Benares Estate, a zamindari estate, was established in the vicinity of the city in the Mughal Empire's semi-autonomous province of Awadh.[28] Under the Treaty of Faizabad, the East India Company acquired Benares city in 1775. The city became a part of the Benares Division of British India's Ceded and Conquered Provinces in 1805, the North-Western Provinces in 1836, United Provinces in 1902, and of the Republic of India's state of Uttar Pradesh in 1950.
Silk weaving, carpets, crafts and tourism employ a significant number of the local population, as do the Banaras Locomotive Works and Bharat Heavy Electricals. The city is known worldwide for its many ghats—steps leading down the steep river bank to the water—where pilgrims perform rituals. Of particular note are the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the Panchganga Ghat, the Manikarnika Ghat, and the Harishchandra Ghat, the last two being where Hindus cremate their dead. The Hindu genealogy registers at Varanasi are kept here. Among the notable temples in Varanasi are the Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Shiva, the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, and the Durga Temple.
The city has long been an educational and musical centre: many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians live or have lived in the city, and it was the place where the Benares gharana form of Hindustani classical music was developed. In the 20th-century, the Hindi-Urdu writer Premchand and the shehnai player Bismillah Khan were associated with the city. India's oldest Sanskrit college, the Benares Sanskrit College, was founded by Jonathan Duncan, the resident of the East India Company in 1791. Later, education in Benares was greatly influenced by the rise of Indian nationalism in the late 19th-century. Annie Besant founded the Central Hindu College in 1898. In 1916, she and Madan Mohan Malviya founded the Banaras Hindu University, India's first modern residential university. Kashi Vidyapith was established in 1921, a response to Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement.
A serapeum is a temple or other religious institution dedicated to the syncretic Greco-Egyptian deity Serapis, who combined aspects of Osiris and Apis in a humanized form that was accepted by the Ptolemaic Greeks of Alexandria. There were several such religious centers, each of which was a serapeion or, in its Latinized form, a serapeum. An Egyptian name for the temple of Osiris-Apis was Pr-Wsỉr-Ḥp "House of Osiris-Apis".
Die Tzotzil von Chamula sind bekannt dafür, ihre traditionelle Kultur und Religion strikt gegen äußere Einflüsse zu verteidigen: wer z. B. aufgrund der häufigen missionarischen Aktivitäten der Zeugen Jehovas konvertiert, muss die Gemeinschaft verlassen. Ihr synkretistischer Glaube beinhaltet sowohl die Anbetung christlicher Heiliger als auch traditionelle Rituale bei denen z. B. Krankheiten geheilt werden sollen. Ein Schamane oder eine Schamanin beschwört durch Rülpsen schädliche Geister (Dämonen), die nach der Vorstellung der Indianer einen Kranken befallen haben, in ein lebendes Huhn zu fahren, das anschließend getötet wird. Diese Zeremonien finden täglich in der katholischen Pfarrkirche statt, diese ist dem Patron Johannes der Täufer geweiht. Dabei wird traditionell ein selbstgebrannter Zuckerrohr-Schnaps namens Posch getrunken. In jü
ngerer Zeit werden auch kohlensäurehaltige Limonaden wie Coca-Cola, Sprite und Fanta bei diesen Zeremonien eingesetzt, diese erleichtern dem Schamanen das Rülpsen.
Die Kirche ist eine der wenigen noch erhaltenen Beispiele für die traditionellen Kirchenräume der indigenen Bevölkerung. Es gibt keine Kirchenbänke, der Boden ist mit Kiefernnadeln und Reisig bedeckt und an diversen Stellen finden Privatzeremonien statt. Touristen konnten Anfang der 1990er-Jahre die Kirche noch frei, heute jedoch gegen Eintrittsgeld besuchen. Im Innenraum herrscht striktes, überwachtes Fotografierverbot, vor allem auch deswegen, um die Teilnehmer der privaten Zeremonien zu schützen.
The Tzotzil of Chamula are known for strictly defending their traditional culture and religion against external influences. B. Converted due to the frequent missionary activities of Jehovah's Witnesses must leave the community. Their syncretic belief includes the worship of Christian saints as well as traditional rituals in which e.g. B. diseases should be cured. A shaman uses burp to conjure up harmful spirits (demons) who, according to the Indians, have attacked a sick person to drive into a live chicken, which is then killed. These ceremonies take place daily in the Catholic parish church, which is dedicated to the patron Saint John the Baptist. Traditionally, a homemade sugar cane schnapps called Posch is drunk. In jü
Lately carbonated lemonades such as Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta are also used in these ceremonies, which make burping easier for the shaman.
The church is one of the few surviving examples of the traditional church rooms of the indigenous population. There are no church pews, the floor is covered with pine needles and brushwood, and private ceremonies are held in various places. Tourists were still free to visit the church in the early 1990s, but can now visit for a fee. There is a strict, monitored photography ban in the interior, above all to protect the participants in private ceremonies.
Excerpt from www.showcaves.com/english/jp/subterranea/Benten.html:
弁天窟 (benten kutsu, Benten Cave) is located on the precincts of 長谷寺 (Hase-dera, Hase Temple) and is a series of artificial tunnels which are part of the temple. The tunnels have side chambers and niches with buddhist statues and altars for offerings. The entrance to tunnel is marked by a typical Japanese red torii gate, nevertheless many visitors overlook the cave. The walls of the cave are carved with statues of Benzaiten and the sixteen other children of Kobo-Daishi. According to legend this is the cave where Kobo-Daishi stayed and practiced his asceticism.
The cave is also called Benzaiten Grotto after 弁才天 or 弁財天 (Benzaiten), the goddess of everything that flows: water, time, words, speech, eloquence, music, and knowledge. Benzaiten is a syncretic entity with both a Buddhist and a Shinto aspect. The Japanese Buddhist goddess originated from the Hindu goddess Saraswati. The Sutra of Golden Light has a section devoted to her. Benzaiten is often shown holding a biwa in Japan, Saraswati is often portrayed with a veena.
Varanasi or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. The city has a syncretic tradition of Islamic artisanship that underpins its religious tourism. Located in the middle-Ganges valley in the southeastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi lies on the left bank of the river. It is 692 kilometres to the southeast of India's capital New Delhi and 320 kilometres to the southeast of the state capital, Lucknow. It lies 121 kilometres downstream of Prayagraj, where the confluence with the Yamuna river is another major Hindu pilgrimage site.
Varanasi is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities. Kashi, its ancient name, was associated with a kingdom of the same name of 2,500 years ago. The Lion capital of Ashoka at nearby Sarnath has been interpreted to be a commemoration of the Buddha's first sermon there in the fifth century BCE. In the 8th century, Adi Shankara established the worship of Shiva as an official sect of Varanasi. Tulsidas wrote his Awadhi language epic, the Ramcharitmanas, a Bhakti movement reworking of the Sanskrit Ramayana, in Varanasi. Several other major figures of the Bhakti movement were born in Varanasi, including Kabir and Ravidas. In the 16th century, Rajput nobles in the service of the Mughal emperor Akbar, sponsored work on Hindu temples in the city in an empire-wide architectural style. In 1740, Benares Estate, a zamindari estate, was established in the vicinity of the city in the Mughal Empire's semi-autonomous province of Awadh.[28] Under the Treaty of Faizabad, the East India Company acquired Benares city in 1775. The city became a part of the Benares Division of British India's Ceded and Conquered Provinces in 1805, the North-Western Provinces in 1836, United Provinces in 1902, and of the Republic of India's state of Uttar Pradesh in 1950.
Silk weaving, carpets, crafts and tourism employ a significant number of the local population, as do the Banaras Locomotive Works and Bharat Heavy Electricals. The city is known worldwide for its many ghats—steps leading down the steep river bank to the water—where pilgrims perform rituals. Of particular note are the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the Panchganga Ghat, the Manikarnika Ghat, and the Harishchandra Ghat, the last two being where Hindus cremate their dead. The Hindu genealogy registers at Varanasi are kept here. Among the notable temples in Varanasi are the Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Shiva, the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, and the Durga Temple.
The city has long been an educational and musical centre: many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians live or have lived in the city, and it was the place where the Benares gharana form of Hindustani classical music was developed. In the 20th-century, the Hindi-Urdu writer Premchand and the shehnai player Bismillah Khan were associated with the city. India's oldest Sanskrit college, the Benares Sanskrit College, was founded by Jonathan Duncan, the resident of the East India Company in 1791. Later, education in Benares was greatly influenced by the rise of Indian nationalism in the late 19th-century. Annie Besant founded the Central Hindu College in 1898. In 1916, she and Madan Mohan Malviya founded the Banaras Hindu University, India's first modern residential university. Kashi Vidyapith was established in 1921, a response to Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement.
Varanasi or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. The city has a syncretic tradition of Islamic artisanship that underpins its religious tourism. Located in the middle-Ganges valley in the southeastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi lies on the left bank of the river. It is 692 kilometres to the southeast of India's capital New Delhi and 320 kilometres (200 mi) to the southeast of the state capital, Lucknow. It lies 121 kilometres downstream of Prayagraj, where the confluence with the Yamuna river is another major Hindu pilgrimage site.
Varanasi is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities. Kashi, its ancient name, was associated with a kingdom of the same name of 2,500 years ago. The Lion capital of Ashoka at nearby Sarnath has been interpreted to be a commemoration of the Buddha's first sermon there in the fifth century BCE. In the 8th century, Adi Shankara established the worship of Shiva as an official sect of Varanasi. Tulsidas wrote his Awadhi language epic, the Ramcharitmanas, a Bhakti movement reworking of the Sanskrit Ramayana, in Varanasi. Several other major figures of the Bhakti movement were born in Varanasi, including Kabir and Ravidas. In the 16th century, Rajput nobles in the service of the Mughal emperor Akbar, sponsored work on Hindu temples in the city in an empire-wide architectural style. In 1740, Benares Estate, a zamindari estate, was established in the vicinity of the city in the Mughal Empire's semi-autonomous province of Awadh. Under the Treaty of Faizabad, the East India Company acquired Benares city in 1775. The city became a part of the Benares Division of British India's Ceded and Conquered Provinces in 1805, the North-Western Provinces in 1836, United Provinces in 1902, and of the Republic of India's state of Uttar Pradesh in 1950.
Silk weaving, carpets, crafts and tourism employ a significant number of the local population, as do the Banaras Locomotive Works and Bharat Heavy Electricals. The city is known worldwide for its many ghats—steps leading down the steep river bank to the water—where pilgrims perform rituals. Of particular note are the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the Panchganga Ghat, the Manikarnika Ghat, and the Harishchandra Ghat, the last two being where Hindus cremate their dead. The Hindu genealogy registers at Varanasi are kept here. Among the notable temples in Varanasi are the Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Shiva, the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, and the Durga Temple.
The city has long been an educational and musical centre: many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians live or have lived in the city, and it was the place where the Benares gharana form of Hindustani classical music was developed. In the 20th-century, the Hindi-Urdu writer Premchand and the shehnai player Bismillah Khan were associated with the city. India's oldest Sanskrit college, the Benares Sanskrit College, was founded by Jonathan Duncan, the resident of the East India Company in 1791. Later, education in Benares was greatly influenced by the rise of Indian nationalism in the late 19th-century. Annie Besant founded the Central Hindu College in 1898. In 1916, she and Madan Mohan Malviya founded the Banaras Hindu University, India's first modern residential university. Kashi Vidyapith was established in 1921, a response to Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement.
Gunung Kawi is also significant because it reflects Bali's unique blend of Hindu and animist beliefs. The temple's carvings feature both Hindu gods and animist spirits, reflecting the island's cultural heritage and syncretic religious practices.
An illuminated, upscale shopping and dining market street area near the Quarry in San Antonio, Texas, USA shot in abstract bokeh mode to bring out the great ambience of the lighting and lower ranges of color temperatures in the incandescent and halogen bulbs. The incandescence of older styled lighting is on its way out making room for more futuristic and efficient lighting technologies, but the warmth evoked from the pure colors of burning filaments will surely be missed.
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Varanasi or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. The city has a syncretic tradition of Islamic artisanship that underpins its religious tourism. Located in the middle-Ganges valley in the southeastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi lies on the left bank of the river. It is 692 kilometres to the southeast of India's capital New Delhi and 320 kilometres (200 mi) to the southeast of the state capital, Lucknow. It lies 121 kilometres downstream of Prayagraj, where the confluence with the Yamuna river is another major Hindu pilgrimage site.
Varanasi is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities. Kashi, its ancient name, was associated with a kingdom of the same name of 2,500 years ago. The Lion capital of Ashoka at nearby Sarnath has been interpreted to be a commemoration of the Buddha's first sermon there in the fifth century BCE. In the 8th century, Adi Shankara established the worship of Shiva as an official sect of Varanasi. Tulsidas wrote his Awadhi language epic, the Ramcharitmanas, a Bhakti movement reworking of the Sanskrit Ramayana, in Varanasi. Several other major figures of the Bhakti movement were born in Varanasi, including Kabir and Ravidas. In the 16th century, Rajput nobles in the service of the Mughal emperor Akbar, sponsored work on Hindu temples in the city in an empire-wide architectural style. In 1740, Benares Estate, a zamindari estate, was established in the vicinity of the city in the Mughal Empire's semi-autonomous province of Awadh. Under the Treaty of Faizabad, the East India Company acquired Benares city in 1775. The city became a part of the Benares Division of British India's Ceded and Conquered Provinces in 1805, the North-Western Provinces in 1836, United Provinces in 1902, and of the Republic of India's state of Uttar Pradesh in 1950.
Silk weaving, carpets, crafts and tourism employ a significant number of the local population, as do the Banaras Locomotive Works and Bharat Heavy Electricals. The city is known worldwide for its many ghats—steps leading down the steep river bank to the water—where pilgrims perform rituals. Of particular note are the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the Panchganga Ghat, the Manikarnika Ghat, and the Harishchandra Ghat, the last two being where Hindus cremate their dead. The Hindu genealogy registers at Varanasi are kept here. Among the notable temples in Varanasi are the Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Shiva, the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, and the Durga Temple.
The city has long been an educational and musical centre: many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians live or have lived in the city, and it was the place where the Benares gharana form of Hindustani classical music was developed. In the 20th-century, the Hindi-Urdu writer Premchand and the shehnai player Bismillah Khan were associated with the city. India's oldest Sanskrit college, the Benares Sanskrit College, was founded by Jonathan Duncan, the resident of the East India Company in 1791. Later, education in Benares was greatly influenced by the rise of Indian nationalism in the late 19th-century. Annie Besant founded the Central Hindu College in 1898. In 1916, she and Madan Mohan Malviya founded the Banaras Hindu University, India's first modern residential university. Kashi Vidyapith was established in 1921, a response to Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement.
Varanasi is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. The city has a syncretic tradition of Islamic artisanship that underpins its religious tourism. Located in the middle-Ganges valley in the southeastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi lies on the left bank of the river. It is 692 kilometres to the southeast of India's capital New Delhi and 320 kilometres (200 mi) to the southeast of the state capital, Lucknow. It lies 121 kilometres downstream of Prayagraj, where the confluence with the Yamuna river is another major Hindu pilgrimage site.
Varanasi is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities. Kashi, its ancient name, was associated with a kingdom of the same name of 2,500 years ago. The Lion capital of Ashoka at nearby Sarnath has been interpreted to be a commemoration of the Buddha's first sermon there in the fifth century BCE. In the 8th century, Adi Shankara established the worship of Shiva as an official sect of Varanasi. Tulsidas wrote his Awadhi language epic, the Ramcharitmanas, a Bhakti movement reworking of the Sanskrit Ramayana, in Varanasi. Several other major figures of the Bhakti movement were born in Varanasi, including Kabir and Ravidas. In the 16th century, Rajput nobles in the service of the Mughal emperor Akbar, sponsored work on Hindu temples in the city in an empire-wide architectural style. In 1740, Benares Estate, a zamindari estate, was established in the vicinity of the city in the Mughal Empire's semi-autonomous province of Awadh. Under the Treaty of Faizabad, the East India Company acquired Benares city in 1775. The city became a part of the Benares Division of British India's Ceded and Conquered Provinces in 1805, the North-Western Provinces in 1836, United Provinces in 1902, and of the Republic of India's state of Uttar Pradesh in 1950.
Silk weaving, carpets, crafts and tourism employ a significant number of the local population, as do the Banaras Locomotive Works and Bharat Heavy Electricals. The city is known worldwide for its many ghats—steps leading down the steep river bank to the water—where pilgrims perform rituals. Of particular note are the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the Panchganga Ghat, the Manikarnika Ghat, and the Harishchandra Ghat, the last two being where Hindus cremate their dead. The Hindu genealogy registers at Varanasi are kept here. Among the notable temples in Varanasi are the Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Shiva, the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, and the Durga Temple.
The city has long been an educational and musical centre: many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians live or have lived in the city, and it was the place where the Benares gharana form of Hindustani classical music was developed. In the 20th-century, the Hindi-Urdu writer Premchand and the shehnai player Bismillah Khan were associated with the city. India's oldest Sanskrit college, the Benares Sanskrit College, was founded by Jonathan Duncan, the resident of the East India Company in 1791. Later, education in Benares was greatly influenced by the rise of Indian nationalism in the late 19th-century. Annie Besant founded the Central Hindu College in 1898. In 1916, she and Madan Mohan Malviya founded the Banaras Hindu University, India's first modern residential university. Kashi Vidyapith was established in 1921, a response to Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement.
The Silk Road or Silk Route was an ancient network of trade routes that for centuries were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting the East and West from China to the Mediterranean Sea.[1]
While the term is of modern coinage, the Silk Road derives its name from the lucrative trade in Chinese silk carried out along its length, beginning during the Han dynasty (207 BCE – 220 CE). The Han dynasty expanded Central Asian sections of the trade routes around 114 BCE, largely through missions and explorations of the Chinese imperial envoy, Zhang Qian.[2] The Chinese took great interest in the safety of their trade products and extended the Great Wall of China to ensure the protection of the trade route.[3]
Trade on the Silk Road played a significant role in the development of the civilizations of China, the Indian subcontinent, Persia, Europe, the Horn of Africa and Arabia, opening long-distance political and economic relations between the civilizations.[4] Though silk was certainly the major trade item exported from China, many other goods were traded, and religions, syncretic philosophies, and various technologies, as well as diseases, also spread along the Silk Routes. In addition to economic trade, the Silk Road was a route for cultural trade among the civilizations along its network.
Varanasi is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. The city has a syncretic tradition of Islamic artisanship that underpins its religious tourism. Located in the middle-Ganges valley in the southeastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi lies on the left bank of the river. It is 692 kilometres to the southeast of India's capital New Delhi and 320 kilometres to the southeast of the state capital, Lucknow. It lies 121 kilometres (75 mi) downstream of Prayagraj, where the confluence with the Yamuna river is another major Hindu pilgrimage site.
Varanasi is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities. Kashi, its ancient name, was associated with a kingdom of the same name of 2,500 years ago. The Lion capital of Ashoka at nearby Sarnath has been interpreted to be a commemoration of the Buddha's first sermon there in the fifth century BCE. In the 8th century, Adi Shankara established the worship of Shiva as an official sect of Varanasi. Tulsidas wrote his Awadhi language epic, the Ramcharitmanas, a Bhakti movement reworking of the Sanskrit Ramayana, in Varanasi. Several other major figures of the Bhakti movement were born in Varanasi, including Kabir and Ravidas. In the 16th century, Rajput nobles in the service of the Mughal emperor Akbar, sponsored work on Hindu temples in the city in an empire-wide architectural style. In 1740, Benares Estate, a zamindari estate, was established in the vicinity of the city in the Mughal Empire's semi-autonomous province of Awadh. Under the Treaty of Faizabad, the East India Company acquired Benares city in 1775. The city became a part of the Benares Division of British India's Ceded and Conquered Provinces in 1805, the North-Western Provinces in 1836, United Provinces in 1902, and of the Republic of India's state of Uttar Pradesh in 1950.
Silk weaving, carpets, crafts and tourism employ a significant number of the local population, as do the Banaras Locomotive Works and Bharat Heavy Electricals. The city is known worldwide for its many ghats—steps leading down the steep river bank to the water—where pilgrims perform rituals. Of particular note are the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the Panchganga Ghat, the Manikarnika Ghat, and the Harishchandra Ghat, the last two being where Hindus cremate their dead. The Hindu genealogy registers at Varanasi are kept here. Among the notable temples in Varanasi are the Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Shiva, the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, and the Durga Temple.
The city has long been an educational and musical centre: many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians live or have lived in the city, and it was the place where the Benares gharana form of Hindustani classical music was developed. In the 20th-century, the Hindi-Urdu writer Premchand and the shehnai player Bismillah Khan were associated with the city. India's oldest Sanskrit college, the Benares Sanskrit College, was founded by Jonathan Duncan, the resident of the East India Company in 1791. Later, education in Benares was greatly influenced by the rise of Indian nationalism in the late 19th-century. Annie Besant founded the Central Hindu College in 1898. In 1916, she and Madan Mohan Malviya founded the Banaras Hindu University, India's first modern residential university. Kashi Vidyapith was established in 1921, a response to Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement.
Varanasi, or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. The city has a syncretic tradition of Islamic artisanship that underpins its religious tourism. Located in the middle-Ganges valley in the southeastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi lies on the left bank of the river. It is 692 kilometres to the southeast of India's capital New Delhi and 320 kilometres (200 mi) to the southeast of the state capital, Lucknow. It lies 121 kilometres downstream of Prayagraj, where the confluence with the Yamuna river is another major Hindu pilgrimage site.
Varanasi is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities. Kashi, its ancient name, was associated with a kingdom of the same name in the first millenium BCE. The Lion capital of Ashoka at nearby Sarnath has been interpreted to be a commemoration of the Buddha's first sermon there in the fifth century BCE. In the 8th century, Adi Shankara established the worship of Shiva as an official sect of Varanasi. Tulsidas wrote his Awadhi language epic, the Ramcharitmanas, a Bhakti movement reworking of the Sanskrit Ramayana, in Varanasi. Several other major figures of the Bhakti movement were born in Varanasi, including Kabir and Ravidas. In the 16th century, Rajput nobles in the service of the Mughal emperor Akbar, sponsored work on Hindu temples in the city in an empire-wide architectural style. In 1740, Benares Estate, a zamindari estate, was established in the vicinity of the city in the Mughal Empire's semi-autonomous province of Awadh. Under the Treaty of Faizabad, the East India Company acquired Benares city in 1775. The city became a part of the Benares Division of British India's Ceded and Conquered Provinces in 1805, the North-Western Provinces in 1836, United Provinces in 1902, and of the Republic of India's state of Uttar Pradesh in 1950.
Silk weaving, carpets, crafts and tourism employ a significant number of the local population, as do the Banaras Locomotive Works and Bharat Heavy Electricals. The city is known worldwide for its many ghats—steps leading down the steep river bank to the water—where pilgrims perform rituals. Of particular note are the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the Panchganga Ghat, the Manikarnika Ghat, and the Harishchandra Ghat, the last two being where Hindus cremate their dead. The Hindu genealogy registers at Varanasi are kept here. Among the notable temples in Varanasi are the Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Shiva, the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, and the Durga Temple.
The city has long been an educational and musical centre: many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians live or have lived in the city, and it was the place where the Benares gharana form of Hindustani classical music was developed. In the 20th century, the Hindi-Urdu writer Premchand and the shehnai player Bismillah Khan were associated with the city. India's oldest Sanskrit college, the Benares Sanskrit College, was founded by Jonathan Duncan, the resident of the East India Company in 1791. Later, education in Benares was greatly influenced by the rise of Indian nationalism in the late 19th century. Annie Besant founded the Central Hindu College in 1898. In 1916, she and Madan Mohan Malviya founded the Banaras Hindu University, India's first modern residential university. Kashi Vidyapith was established in 1921, a response to Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement.
Varanasi or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. The city has a syncretic tradition of Islamic artisanship that underpins its religious tourism. Located in the middle-Ganges valley in the southeastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi lies on the left bank of the river. It is 692 kilometres to the southeast of India's capital New Delhi and 320 kilometres (200 mi) to the southeast of the state capital, Lucknow. It lies 121 kilometres downstream of Prayagraj, where the confluence with the Yamuna river is another major Hindu pilgrimage site.
Varanasi is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities. Kashi, its ancient name, was associated with a kingdom of the same name of 2,500 years ago. The Lion capital of Ashoka at nearby Sarnath has been interpreted to be a commemoration of the Buddha's first sermon there in the fifth century BCE. In the 8th century, Adi Shankara established the worship of Shiva as an official sect of Varanasi. Tulsidas wrote his Awadhi language epic, the Ramcharitmanas, a Bhakti movement reworking of the Sanskrit Ramayana, in Varanasi. Several other major figures of the Bhakti movement were born in Varanasi, including Kabir and Ravidas. In the 16th century, Rajput nobles in the service of the Mughal emperor Akbar, sponsored work on Hindu temples in the city in an empire-wide architectural style. In 1740, Benares Estate, a zamindari estate, was established in the vicinity of the city in the Mughal Empire's semi-autonomous province of Awadh. Under the Treaty of Faizabad, the East India Company acquired Benares city in 1775. The city became a part of the Benares Division of British India's Ceded and Conquered Provinces in 1805, the North-Western Provinces in 1836, United Provinces in 1902, and of the Republic of India's state of Uttar Pradesh in 1950.
Silk weaving, carpets, crafts and tourism employ a significant number of the local population, as do the Banaras Locomotive Works and Bharat Heavy Electricals. The city is known worldwide for its many ghats—steps leading down the steep river bank to the water—where pilgrims perform rituals. Of particular note are the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the Panchganga Ghat, the Manikarnika Ghat, and the Harishchandra Ghat, the last two being where Hindus cremate their dead. The Hindu genealogy registers at Varanasi are kept here. Among the notable temples in Varanasi are the Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Shiva, the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, and the Durga Temple.
The city has long been an educational and musical centre: many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians live or have lived in the city, and it was the place where the Benares gharana form of Hindustani classical music was developed. In the 20th-century, the Hindi-Urdu writer Premchand and the shehnai player Bismillah Khan were associated with the city. India's oldest Sanskrit college, the Benares Sanskrit College, was founded by Jonathan Duncan, the resident of the East India Company in 1791. Later, education in Benares was greatly influenced by the rise of Indian nationalism in the late 19th-century. Annie Besant founded the Central Hindu College in 1898. In 1916, she and Madan Mohan Malviya founded the Banaras Hindu University, India's first modern residential university. Kashi Vidyapith was established in 1921, a response to Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement.
Village de l'ethnie Pokot
Région du lac Baringo, Kenya.
Les Pokot se répartissent entre l'Ouganda et le Kenya où ils forment une communauté d'environ 200. 000 personnes . Ils sont agro-pasteurs sédentaires, et ont développé traditionnellement une organisation socio-politique fondée sur huit classes d'âge , mais sans cérémonies de transmission de pouvoir pour le changement de statut de chaque classe, hormis le rite d'entrée par la circoncision.
Leur langue appartient au groupe des langues nilotiques (groupe soudanais oriental, représenté au Soudan du sud, à l'ouest du Kenya et au nord de l'Ouganda)
Il existe deux sous-groupes principaux selon leur localisation et leur mode de vie. Le premier groupe est constitué des Pokot qui vivent dans les hautes terres pluvieuses de l'ouest et du centre-sud et sont principalement des agriculteurs et des éleveurs. Le deuxième groupe est constitué des Pokot des plaines qui vivent dans les plaines sèches et infertiles, avec leur bétail.
La plupart des Pokot sont nomades et ont donc interagi avec différents peuples, intégrant leurs coutumes sociales et .déterminant la formation de systèmes syncrétiques très diversifiés .
Pokot village
Lake Baringo region, Kenya.
The Pokot are distributed between Uganda and Kenya, where they form a community of approximately 200,000 people. They are sedentary agro-pastoralists and have traditionally developed a socio-political organization based on eight age classes, but without ceremonies for the transfer of power for each class, other than the entry rite of circumcision.
Their language belongs to the Nilotic language group.
There are two main subgroups based on their location and lifestyle. The first group is the Pokot, who live in the rainy highlands of the west and south-central regions and are primarily farmers and pastoralists. The second group is the Lowland Pokot, who live in the dry, infertile plains with their livestock.
Most Pokot are nomadic and have therefore interacted with different peoples, integrating their social customs and determining the formation of highly diverse syncretic systems.
The Samanid mausoleum is located in a park just outside the historic urban center of Bukhara, Uzbekistan. The mausoleum is considered to be one of the most highly esteemed work of Central Asian architecture, and was built between 892 and 943 CE as the resting-place of Ismail Samani - a powerful and influential amir of the Samanid dynasty, one of the last native Persian dynasties that ruled in Central Asia in the 9th and 10th centuries, after the Samanids established virtual independence from the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad. In addition to Ismail Samani, the mausoleum also houses the remains of his father Ahmed and his nephew Nasr, as well as the remains of other members of the Samanid dynasty.
The monument marks a new era in the development of Persian and Central Asian architecture, which was revived after the Arab conquest of the region. The overall structure is made similar to ancient Persian fire temples, commonly known as chartaqi in Persian. The architects continued to use an ancient tradition of baked brick construction, but to a much higher standard than had been seen before. The site is unique for its architectural style which combines both Zoroastrian motifs from the native Sogdian and Sassanid cultures, as well as Islamic motifs introduced from Arabia and Persia.
The building's facade is covered in intricately decorated brick work, which features circular patterns reminiscent of the sun - a common image in Zoroastrian art from the region at that time which is reminiscent of the Zoroastrian god, Ahura Mazda, who is typically represented by fire and light. The building's shape is cuboid, and reminiscent of the Ka'aba in Makkah, while the heavy corner buttresses are derived from Sogdian architectural styles. The syncretic style of the shrine is reflective of the 9th and 10th centuries - a time when the region still had large populations of Zoroastrians who had begun to convert to Islam around that time.
The height of the shrine is approximately 35 feet, with four identically designed facades which gently slope inwards with increasing height. The building's architectural engineers included four internal arches for support, upon which the dome is placed. The building's "four arch" design was adopted for use in several shrines throughout Central Asia. At the top of each side of the shrine are ten small windows which provided ventilation for the interior portion of the mausoleum.
The mosque Jama Masjid (meaning Friday Mosque ) is the oldest and most splendid mosque of Ahmedabad, built in 1424 during the reign of Ahmed Shah. Lying in the old party of city, the mosque is situated opposite to Mahatma Gandhi Road, on the eastern side of Teen Darwaza.
The Jama Masjid of Ahmedabad was probably the largest mosque in the Indian subcontinent built in this period. Designed as part of a major plan desired by the Emperor Sultan Ahmed Shah, the mosque is located south of the processional axis that runs from the Maidan-i Shah at the door with three arches, Teen Darwaza.
To the west of the mosque are the tombs of Ahmed Shah , his son and his grand-son, ( Ahmad Shah Rauza ). Nearby are the graves of the queen and the other wives of the Sultan ( Rani ka Hazira ).
Built with yellow sandstone, the mosque complex is centered on a large rectangular courtyard 75 m long and 66 m wide. One enters the court by three entrances, one at the center of each side. The courtyard is lined with a colonnade on three sides, the prayer hall occupies the fourth side (East). In the center of the courtyard is a rectangular basin for ablutions.
Pillars in Periphery of Jama Masjid.
The prayer room is also rectangular and covered with four domes. In its Indo-Saracenic architecture, the mosque also contains many syncretic elements not necessarily obvious to the viewer: some of the central domes are carved like lotus flowers, closely related to the typical domes of Jain temples; and some of the pillars are carved with the form of a bell hanging on a chain, in reference to the bells that often hang in Hindu temples. The wide open courtyard, floored with white marble, is ringed by a columned arcade painted with giant Arabic calligraphy, and has a tank for ritual ablutions in the center. The mosque and arcades are built of beautiful yellow sandstone and carved with the intricate detail that mosques of this period are known for. While the two principal minarets flanking the main arched entranceway collapsed in the 1819 earthquake, their lower portions still stand. The main prayer hall has over 260 columns supporting the roof, with its 15 domes, making a walk through the hall a beautiful maze of light and shadows. The Wall of Prayer, the qibla is decorated. Pierced stone screens (the ' Jalis ') are placed between the two pillars of the central openings. The main entrance is framed by two columns, the remains of two minarets (called 'shaking minarets') which were destroyed by the earthquakes of 1819 and 1957.
The inscription on the mihrab commemorates the inauguration of the mosque on January 4th 1424 by Sultan Ahmad Shah I. The mosque was originally intended only for private use of the sultans.
The Samanid mausoleum is located in a park just outside the historic urban center of Bukhara, Uzbekistan. The mausoleum is considered to be one of the most highly esteemed work of Central Asian architecture, and was built between 892 and 943 CE as the resting-place of Ismail Samani - a powerful and influential amir of the Samanid dynasty, one of the last native Persian dynasties that ruled in Central Asia in the 9th and 10th centuries, after the Samanids established virtual independence from the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad. In addition to Ismail Samani, the mausoleum also houses the remains of his father Ahmed and his nephew Nasr, as well as the remains of other members of the Samanid dynasty.
The monument marks a new era in the development of Persian and Central Asian architecture, which was revived after the Arab conquest of the region. The overall structure is made similar to ancient Persian fire temples, commonly known as chartaqi in Persian. The architects continued to use an ancient tradition of baked brick construction, but to a much higher standard than had been seen before. The site is unique for its architectural style which combines both Zoroastrian motifs from the native Sogdian and Sassanid cultures, as well as Islamic motifs introduced from Arabia and Persia.
The building's facade is covered in intricately decorated brick work, which features circular patterns reminiscent of the sun - a common image in Zoroastrian art from the region at that time which is reminiscent of the Zoroastrian god, Ahura Mazda, who is typically represented by fire and light. The building's shape is cuboid, and reminiscent of the Ka'aba in Makkah, while the heavy corner buttresses are derived from Sogdian architectural styles. The syncretic style of the shrine is reflective of the 9th and 10th centuries - a time when the region still had large populations of Zoroastrians who had begun to convert to Islam around that time.
The height of the shrine is approximately 35 feet, with four identically designed facades which gently slope inwards with increasing height. The building's architectural engineers included four internal arches for support, upon which the dome is placed. The building's "four arch" design was adopted for use in several shrines throughout Central Asia. At the top of each side of the shrine are ten small windows which provided ventilation for the interior portion of the mausoleum.
Village de l'ethnie Pokot
Région du lac Baringo, Kenya.
Les Pokot se répartissent entre l'Ouganda et le Kenya où ils forment une communauté d'environ 200. 000 personnes . Ils sont agro-pasteurs sédentaires, et ont développé traditionnellement une organisation socio-politique fondée sur huit classes d'âge , mais sans cérémonies de transmission de pouvoir pour le changement de statut de chaque classe, hormis le rite d'entrée par la circoncision.
Leur langue appartient au groupe des langues nilotiques (groupe soudanais oriental, représenté au Soudan du sud, à l'ouest du Kenya et au nord de l'Ouganda)
Il existe deux sous-groupes principaux selon leur localisation et leur mode de vie. Le premier groupe est constitué des Pokot qui vivent dans les hautes terres pluvieuses de l'ouest et du centre-sud et sont principalement des agriculteurs et des éleveurs. Le deuxième groupe est constitué des Pokot des plaines qui vivent dans les plaines sèches et infertiles, avec leur bétail.
La plupart des Pokot sont nomades et ont donc interagi avec différents peuples, intégrant leurs coutumes sociales et .déterminant la formation de systèmes syncrétiques très diversifiés .
Pokot village
Lake Baringo region, Kenya.
The Pokot are distributed between Uganda and Kenya, where they form a community of approximately 200,000 people. They are sedentary agro-pastoralists and have traditionally developed a socio-political organization based on eight age classes, but without ceremonies for the transfer of power for each class, other than the entry rite of circumcision.
Their language belongs to the Nilotic language group.
There are two main subgroups based on their location and lifestyle. The first group is the Pokot, who live in the rainy highlands of the west and south-central regions and are primarily farmers and pastoralists. The second group is the Lowland Pokot, who live in the dry, infertile plains with their livestock.
Most Pokot are nomadic and have therefore interacted with different peoples, integrating their social customs and determining the formation of highly diverse syncretic systems.
Bauls (Bengali: বাউল) are a group of mystic minstrels from Bengal. Bauls constitute both a syncretic religious sect and a musical tradition used as a vehicle to express Baul thought. The word " Baul " refers to three terms : betul, which means " mad ", " out of rhythm " ; vayu, " air ", or the inner flow of energy which gives life and harmony to all sentient beings ; and âuliyâ, a term of Arabic origin, which means " saint ", " holy man ". Bauls can come from a Hindu or a Muslim background ; in both cases, they are usually against orthodox practices and social institutions. They are continuously searching for Adhar Manush, the inner being which is inside of each human body, and this quest for love goes beyond all boundaries.
The way of the Bauls uses poetry, dance and singing as tools to reach that goal. Therefore Bauls used to wander from village to village and sing for the people who would give them alms for the maintenance of their everyday life. It is said that Bauls would accept only what they needed and refuse anything more than the strict minimum. Their only possessions were their clothes and musical instruments, as well as their songs and secret practices.
The costume of the Bauls is very simple : many Bauls wear safran clothes, a long stiched piece of cotton patchwork covering their body from the shoulder to below the knees, a turban on their head and a mark on their forehead.
The Samanid mausoleum is located in a park just outside the historic urban center of Bukhara, Uzbekistan. The mausoleum is considered to be one of the most highly esteemed work of Central Asian architecture, and was built between 892 and 943 CE as the resting-place of Ismail Samani - a powerful and influential amir of the Samanid dynasty, one of the last native Persian dynasties that ruled in Central Asia in the 9th and 10th centuries, after the Samanids established virtual independence from the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad. In addition to Ismail Samani, the mausoleum also houses the remains of his father Ahmed and his nephew Nasr, as well as the remains of other members of the Samanid dynasty.
The monument marks a new era in the development of Persian and Central Asian architecture, which was revived after the Arab conquest of the region. The overall structure is made similar to ancient Persian fire temples, commonly known as chartaqi in Persian. The architects continued to use an ancient tradition of baked brick construction, but to a much higher standard than had been seen before. The site is unique for its architectural style which combines both Zoroastrian motifs from the native Sogdian and Sassanid cultures, as well as Islamic motifs introduced from Arabia and Persia.
The building's facade is covered in intricately decorated brick work, which features circular patterns reminiscent of the sun - a common image in Zoroastrian art from the region at that time which is reminiscent of the Zoroastrian god, Ahura Mazda, who is typically represented by fire and light. The building's shape is cuboid, and reminiscent of the Ka'aba in Makkah, while the heavy corner buttresses are derived from Sogdian architectural styles. The syncretic style of the shrine is reflective of the 9th and 10th centuries - a time when the region still had large populations of Zoroastrians who had begun to convert to Islam around that time.
The height of the shrine is approximately 35 feet, with four identically designed facades which gently slope inwards with increasing height. The building's architectural engineers included four internal arches for support, upon which the dome is placed. The building's "four arch" design was adopted for use in several shrines throughout Central Asia. At the top of each side of the shrine are ten small windows which provided ventilation for the interior portion of the mausoleum.
Village de l'ethnie Pokot
Région du lac Baringo, Kenya.
Les Pokot se répartissent entre l'Ouganda et le Kenya où ils forment une communauté d'environ 200. 000 personnes . Ils sont agro-pasteurs sédentaires, et ont développé traditionnellement une organisation socio-politique fondée sur huit classes d'âge , mais sans cérémonies de transmission de pouvoir pour le changement de statut de chaque classe, hormis le rite d'entrée par la circoncision.
Leur langue appartient au groupe des langues nilotiques (groupe soudanais oriental, représenté au Soudan du sud, à l'ouest du Kenya et au nord de l'Ouganda)
Il existe deux sous-groupes principaux selon leur localisation et leur mode de vie. Le premier groupe est constitué des Pokot qui vivent dans les hautes terres pluvieuses de l'ouest et du centre-sud et sont principalement des agriculteurs et des éleveurs. Le deuxième groupe est constitué des Pokot des plaines qui vivent dans les plaines sèches et infertiles, avec leur bétail.
La plupart des Pokot sont nomades et ont donc interagi avec différents peuples, intégrant leurs coutumes sociales et .déterminant la formation de systèmes syncrétiques très diversifiés .
Pokot village
Lake Baringo region, Kenya.
The Pokot are distributed between Uganda and Kenya, where they form a community of approximately 200,000 people. They are sedentary agro-pastoralists and have traditionally developed a socio-political organization based on eight age classes, but without ceremonies for the transfer of power for each class, other than the entry rite of circumcision.
Their language belongs to the Nilotic language group.
There are two main subgroups based on their location and lifestyle. The first group is the Pokot, who live in the rainy highlands of the west and south-central regions and are primarily farmers and pastoralists. The second group is the Lowland Pokot, who live in the dry, infertile plains with their livestock.
Most Pokot are nomadic and have therefore interacted with different peoples, integrating their social customs and determining the formation of highly diverse syncretic systems.
The Silk Road or Silk Route was an ancient network of trade routes that for centuries were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting the East and West from China to the Mediterranean Sea.[1]
While the term is of modern coinage, the Silk Road derives its name from the lucrative trade in Chinese silk carried out along its length, beginning during the Han dynasty (207 BCE – 220 CE). The Han dynasty expanded Central Asian sections of the trade routes around 114 BCE, largely through missions and explorations of the Chinese imperial envoy, Zhang Qian.[2] The Chinese took great interest in the safety of their trade products and extended the Great Wall of China to ensure the protection of the trade route.[3]
Trade on the Silk Road played a significant role in the development of the civilizations of China, the Indian subcontinent, Persia, Europe, the Horn of Africa and Arabia, opening long-distance political and economic relations between the civilizations.[4] Though silk was certainly the major trade item exported from China, many other goods were traded, and religions, syncretic philosophies, and various technologies, as well as diseases, also spread along the Silk Routes. In addition to economic trade, the Silk Road was a route for cultural trade among the civilizations along its network.
Village de l'ethnie Pokot
Région du lac Baringo, Kenya.
Les Pokot se répartissent entre l'Ouganda et le Kenya où ils forment une communauté d'environ 200. 000 personnes . Ils sont agro-pasteurs sédentaires, et ont développé traditionnellement une organisation socio-politique fondée sur huit classes d'âge , mais sans cérémonies de transmission de pouvoir pour le changement de statut de chaque classe, hormis le rite d'entrée par la circoncision.
Leur langue appartient au groupe des langues nilotiques (groupe soudanais oriental, représenté au Soudan du sud, à l'ouest du Kenya et au nord de l'Ouganda)
Il existe deux sous-groupes principaux selon leur localisation et leur mode de vie. Le premier groupe est constitué des Pokot qui vivent dans les hautes terres pluvieuses de l'ouest et du centre-sud et sont principalement des agriculteurs et des éleveurs. Le deuxième groupe est constitué des Pokot des plaines qui vivent dans les plaines sèches et infertiles, avec leur bétail.
La plupart des Pokot sont nomades et ont donc interagi avec différents peuples, intégrant leurs coutumes sociales et .déterminant la formation de systèmes syncrétiques très diversifiés .
Pokot village
Lake Baringo region, Kenya.
The Pokot are distributed between Uganda and Kenya, where they form a community of approximately 200,000 people. They are sedentary agro-pastoralists and have traditionally developed a socio-political organization based on eight age classes, but without ceremonies for the transfer of power for each class, other than the entry rite of circumcision.
Their language belongs to the Nilotic language group.
There are two main subgroups based on their location and lifestyle. The first group is the Pokot, who live in the rainy highlands of the west and south-central regions and are primarily farmers and pastoralists. The second group is the Lowland Pokot, who live in the dry, infertile plains with their livestock.
Most Pokot are nomadic and have therefore interacted with different peoples, integrating their social customs and determining the formation of highly diverse syncretic systems.
The family crest of the Proshyan family, sponsors of many of the famous 13th century rock-hewn structures at Geghard. A small spring releases water which runs under this relief carving through a channel in this room. While we were there we saw people touch the water to bless themselves. Before the monastery was founded in the early fourth century this same spring was the focus of pagan worship. This practice of establishing Christian sites atop pagan ones was ubiquitous in the early Christian / late pagan world. It both deprived pagan worshipers of their religious sites and helped ease the transition to a new religion by establishing some measure of continuity and familiarity across religious systems. No doubt it also contributed to the emergence of a certain amount of syncretic practice in Christian ritual, of which the use of holy water is just one example. Relief carving in the 13th century Lower Zhamatun, Geghard Monastery, Armenia.
The Samanid mausoleum is located in a park just outside the historic urban center of Bukhara, Uzbekistan. The mausoleum is considered to be one of the most highly esteemed work of Central Asian architecture, and was built between 892 and 943 CE as the resting-place of Ismail Samani - a powerful and influential amir of the Samanid dynasty, one of the last native Persian dynasties that ruled in Central Asia in the 9th and 10th centuries, after the Samanids established virtual independence from the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad. In addition to Ismail Samani, the mausoleum also houses the remains of his father Ahmed and his nephew Nasr, as well as the remains of other members of the Samanid dynasty.
The monument marks a new era in the development of Persian and Central Asian architecture, which was revived after the Arab conquest of the region. The overall structure is made similar to ancient Persian fire temples, commonly known as chartaqi in Persian. The architects continued to use an ancient tradition of baked brick construction, but to a much higher standard than had been seen before. The site is unique for its architectural style which combines both Zoroastrian motifs from the native Sogdian and Sassanid cultures, as well as Islamic motifs introduced from Arabia and Persia.
The building's facade is covered in intricately decorated brick work, which features circular patterns reminiscent of the sun - a common image in Zoroastrian art from the region at that time which is reminiscent of the Zoroastrian god, Ahura Mazda, who is typically represented by fire and light. The building's shape is cuboid, and reminiscent of the Ka'aba in Makkah, while the heavy corner buttresses are derived from Sogdian architectural styles. The syncretic style of the shrine is reflective of the 9th and 10th centuries - a time when the region still had large populations of Zoroastrians who had begun to convert to Islam around that time.
The height of the shrine is approximately 35 feet, with four identically designed facades which gently slope inwards with increasing height. The building's architectural engineers included four internal arches for support, upon which the dome is placed. The building's "four arch" design was adopted for use in several shrines throughout Central Asia. At the top of each side of the shrine are ten small windows which provided ventilation for the interior portion of the mausoleum.
The Samanid mausoleum is located in a park just outside the historic urban center of Bukhara, Uzbekistan. The mausoleum is considered to be one of the most highly esteemed work of Central Asian architecture, and was built between 892 and 943 CE as the resting-place of Ismail Samani - a powerful and influential amir of the Samanid dynasty, one of the last native Persian dynasties that ruled in Central Asia in the 9th and 10th centuries, after the Samanids established virtual independence from the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad. In addition to Ismail Samani, the mausoleum also houses the remains of his father Ahmed and his nephew Nasr, as well as the remains of other members of the Samanid dynasty.
The monument marks a new era in the development of Persian and Central Asian architecture, which was revived after the Arab conquest of the region. The overall structure is made similar to ancient Persian fire temples, commonly known as chartaqi in Persian. The architects continued to use an ancient tradition of baked brick construction, but to a much higher standard than had been seen before. The site is unique for its architectural style which combines both Zoroastrian motifs from the native Sogdian and Sassanid cultures, as well as Islamic motifs introduced from Arabia and Persia.
The building's facade is covered in intricately decorated brick work, which features circular patterns reminiscent of the sun - a common image in Zoroastrian art from the region at that time which is reminiscent of the Zoroastrian god, Ahura Mazda, who is typically represented by fire and light. The building's shape is cuboid, and reminiscent of the Ka'aba in Makkah, while the heavy corner buttresses are derived from Sogdian architectural styles. The syncretic style of the shrine is reflective of the 9th and 10th centuries - a time when the region still had large populations of Zoroastrians who had begun to convert to Islam around that time.
The height of the shrine is approximately 35 feet, with four identically designed facades which gently slope inwards with increasing height. The building's architectural engineers included four internal arches for support, upon which the dome is placed. The building's "four arch" design was adopted for use in several shrines throughout Central Asia. At the top of each side of the shrine are ten small windows which provided ventilation for the interior portion of the mausoleum.
Varanasi is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. The city has a syncretic tradition of Islamic artisanship that underpins its religious tourism. Located in the middle-Ganges valley in the southeastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi lies on the left bank of the river. It is 692 kilometres to the southeast of India's capital New Delhi and 320 kilometres to the southeast of the state capital, Lucknow. It lies 121 kilometres (75 mi) downstream of Prayagraj, where the confluence with the Yamuna river is another major Hindu pilgrimage site.
Varanasi is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities. Kashi, its ancient name, was associated with a kingdom of the same name of 2,500 years ago. The Lion capital of Ashoka at nearby Sarnath has been interpreted to be a commemoration of the Buddha's first sermon there in the fifth century BCE. In the 8th century, Adi Shankara established the worship of Shiva as an official sect of Varanasi. Tulsidas wrote his Awadhi language epic, the Ramcharitmanas, a Bhakti movement reworking of the Sanskrit Ramayana, in Varanasi. Several other major figures of the Bhakti movement were born in Varanasi, including Kabir and Ravidas. In the 16th century, Rajput nobles in the service of the Mughal emperor Akbar, sponsored work on Hindu temples in the city in an empire-wide architectural style. In 1740, Benares Estate, a zamindari estate, was established in the vicinity of the city in the Mughal Empire's semi-autonomous province of Awadh. Under the Treaty of Faizabad, the East India Company acquired Benares city in 1775. The city became a part of the Benares Division of British India's Ceded and Conquered Provinces in 1805, the North-Western Provinces in 1836, United Provinces in 1902, and of the Republic of India's state of Uttar Pradesh in 1950.
Silk weaving, carpets, crafts and tourism employ a significant number of the local population, as do the Banaras Locomotive Works and Bharat Heavy Electricals. The city is known worldwide for its many ghats—steps leading down the steep river bank to the water—where pilgrims perform rituals. Of particular note are the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the Panchganga Ghat, the Manikarnika Ghat, and the Harishchandra Ghat, the last two being where Hindus cremate their dead. The Hindu genealogy registers at Varanasi are kept here. Among the notable temples in Varanasi are the Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Shiva, the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, and the Durga Temple.
The city has long been an educational and musical centre: many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians live or have lived in the city, and it was the place where the Benares gharana form of Hindustani classical music was developed. In the 20th-century, the Hindi-Urdu writer Premchand and the shehnai player Bismillah Khan were associated with the city. India's oldest Sanskrit college, the Benares Sanskrit College, was founded by Jonathan Duncan, the resident of the East India Company in 1791. Later, education in Benares was greatly influenced by the rise of Indian nationalism in the late 19th-century. Annie Besant founded the Central Hindu College in 1898. In 1916, she and Madan Mohan Malviya founded the Banaras Hindu University, India's first modern residential university. Kashi Vidyapith was established in 1921, a response to Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement.
Ostara V2
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Jakob Grimm, in his Teutonic Mythology, maintained that "Ostara, Eástre, was goddess of the growing light of spring." Holy water in the form of the dew, or water collected from brooks, was gathered at this time; washing with it was said to restore youth. Beautiful maidens in sheer white were said to seen frolicking in the country side. Also according to Grimm, the white maiden of Osterrode was said to appear with a large batch of keys at her belt, and stride to the brook to collect water on Easter morning. Ostara is usually experienced as a young maiden wreathed in flowers or new greenery, and often dances. She is often joyous, but can just as easily turn suddenly solemn, like the spring weather that can quickly turn to rain. Like Spring itself, she is capricious, innocent and knowing by turns. Hail to the Maiden of Spring, the dawning of the year! Bring freshness into all our lives. The Wheel of the Year is an annual cycle of seasonal festivals, observed by many modern Pagans, consisting of the year's chief solar events (solstices and equinoxes) and the midpoints between them. While names for each festival vary among diverse pagan traditions, syncretic treatments often refer to the four solar events as "quarter days" and the four midpoint events as "cross-quarter days", particularly in Wicca. Differing sects of modern Paganism also vary regarding the precise timing of each celebration, based on distinctions such as lunar phase and geographic hemisphere. Observing the cycle of the seasons has been important to many people, both ancient and modern. Contemporary Pagan festivals that rely on the Wheel are based to varying degrees on folk traditions, regardless of actual historical pagan practices. Among Wiccans, each festival is also referred to as a sabbat, based on the term was passed down from the Middle Ages, when the terminology for Jewish Shabbat was commingled with that of other heretical celebrations. Contemporary conceptions of the Wheel of the Year calendar were largely influenced by mid-20th century British Paganism.
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One of the largest necropolises in the world, with a diameter of approximately 8 kilometers, Makli Hill is supposed to be the burial place of some 125,000 Sufi saints. It is located on the outskirts of Thatta, the capital of lower Sind until the seventeenth century, in what is the southeastern province of present-day Pakistan. [1]
Legends abound about its inception, but it is generally believed that the cemetery grew around the shrine of the fourteenth-century Sufi, Hamad Jamali. The tombs and gravestones spread over the cemetery are material documents marking the social and political history of Sind.
Imperial mausoleums are divided into two major groups, those from the Samma (1352–1520) and Tarkhan (1556–1592) periods. The tomb of the Samma king, Jam Nizam al-Din (reigned 1461–1509), is an impressive square structure built of sandstone and decorated with floral and geometric medallions. Similar to this is the mausoleum of Isa Khan Tarkhan II (d. 1651), a two-story stone building with majestic cupolas and balconies. In contrast to the syncretic architecture of these two monuments, which integrate Hindu and Islamic motifs, are mausoleums that clearly show the Central Asian roots of the later dynasty. An example is the tomb of Jan Beg Tarkhan (d. 1600), a typical octagonal brick structure whose dome is covered in blue and turquoise glazed tiles. Today, Makli Hill is a United Nations World Heritage Site that is visited by both pilgrims and tourists.