View allAll Photos Tagged Transformative
after a good rain the desert will transform into green space, taken with Leica M240 and Zeiss 50mm f/1.5
Sonnar T*
An immersive Klimt and Hundertwasser experience at the historical site "Phoenix des Lumières". This former steel mill, once known as the Phoenixhalle (3,000m² building), has been transformed to house a digital art center.
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SPNC - Year 4 - Instruction # 12
"Transform the ordinary into the extraordinary"
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On my ~long~ way home yesterday from an appointment, I spotted this marvelous work of art down an upcoming street in East Harlem, so I asked the taxi driver to turn left, then stop for a moment to view this gem...and make some shots. I immediately recognized the face to the right as "Lady Day," more commonly known as Billie Holiday.
I had a bit more trouble discerning the the portrait to the left. At first, I thought it was "La Lupe," a fiery, sexy Cuban singer (1939-1992). When I looked at the photos later, however, I realized that the artist meant to be portray the young Celia Cruz, also a Cuban singer, who was the undisputed queen Afro-Caribbean music for nearly 50 years.
It certainly was a stroke of luck that this young man came along, not walking too fast, so that I was able to add him to the frame, just between the two late, great, divas. It's as if he just entered a new, enchanted world--right in the middle of his own neighborhood!
After taking several shots of this heavenly mural, I sad to the taxi driver, "Para mi, eso es oro." (For me, this is *gold*.)
Fellow flickrites, you will understand...
East Harlem // Spanish Harlem; "El Barrio"
New York, NY USA
Behold! The incredible transforming Batmobile, Batman's latest means of transportation and crime fighting! Inspired by the cartoon series Batman: The Brave and the Bold, this beast can turn into a giant Bat-mech! Check out the other pictures to see how! That way the Dark Knight can take on evil doers of any shapes and sizes!
Through one of the alternate plain glass windows in the Round Church (1185) - Temple Church, London. Built by the Knights Templar, the soldier monks who protected pilgrims to the Holy Land during the crusades.
The cold, grey and windy day outside was transformed by the random ripples in the old glass.
"The Reynolds-Morris House is a historic house at 225 South 8th Street in the Washington Square West neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Built in 1786–87 by John and William Reynolds, it is a well-preserved example of a Philadelphia Georgian townhouse. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1967, and is currently operated as a hotel.
The Reynolds-Morris House stands one block west of Washington Square in Philadelphia's Center City, on the east side of South 8th Street between St. James and Locust Streets. It is a 3+1⁄2-story brick building, with a gabled roof pierced by pedimented gable dormers. It is five bays wide, with the main entrance at the center, framed by pilasters and a half-round transom topped by a gable. The walls are laid in Flemish bond, with projecting stringcourses between the floors. Sash windows are set under heavy splayed stone lintels with scoring that is intended to resemble keystoning. The interior spaces are adorned with high quality Federal period woodwork.
The house is a rare example of a double rowhouse, built on two lots in 1786–87 by John and William Reynods. It was sold in 1817 to Luke Wistar Morris, the son of captain Samuel Morris of the First City Troop, of the prominent Morris family, who occupied the house for 120 years. Although it was built as a rowhouse, the neighboring houses were bought and torn down by the Morrises in the early 20th century. The historic home was later transformed into a boutique hotel amid a greater series of renovations during the early 21st century. Debuting as the Morris House Hotel in 2004, the building was inducted into Historic Hotels of America, an official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, in 2022.
Washington Square West is a neighborhood Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The neighborhood roughly corresponds to the area between 7th and Broad Streets and between Chestnut and South Streets, bordering on the Independence Mall tourist area directly northeast, Market East to the north, Old City and Society Hill to the East, Bella Vista directly south, Hawthorne to the southwest, and mid-town Philadelphia and Rittenhouse Square to the west. In addition to being a desirable residential community, it is considered a hip, trendy neighborhood that offers a diverse array of shops, restaurants, and coffee houses. Washington Square West contains many gay-friendly establishments and hosts annual events celebrating LGBT culture in Philadelphia including OutFest. The area takes its name from Washington Square, a historic urban park in the northeastern corner of the neighborhood.
Philadelphia's Antique Row lies in the area, as does the nation's oldest hospital, Pennsylvania Hospital, and Philadelphia's oldest Jewish burial ground, Mikveh Israel Cemetery. Educational and medical facilities associated with Thomas Jefferson University, a leading regional medical university and health care center, are located within the neighborhood. The one-time headquarters of the former Curtis Publishing Company and the University of the Arts lie at the edges of the neighborhood.
Washington Square West's real estate is mixed commercial, residential and service industries, characterized by two, three, and four-story rowhouses interspersed with condominiums, mid-rise apartments, hospitals and offices with ground-floor retail. The neighborhood follows William Penn's original grid layout for the city, with many one-lane and pedestrian side streets added later as the population became denser. In addition to the block-sized Washington Square Park to the East, the neighborhood contains the smaller Kahn Park, named after the Philadelphia architect Louis Kahn who resided in the neighborhood.
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City, and the 68th-largest city in the world. Since 1854, the city has been coextensive with Philadelphia County, the most populous county in Pennsylvania and the urban core of the Delaware Valley, the nation's seventh-largest and world's 68th-largest metropolitan region, with 6.245 million residents as of 2020. The city's population as of the 2020 census was 1,603,797, and over 56 million people live within 250 mi (400 km) of Philadelphia.
Philadelphia was founded in 1682 by William Penn, an English Quaker. The city served as capital of the Pennsylvania Colony during the British colonial era and went on to play a historic and vital role as the central meeting place for the nation's founding fathers whose plans and actions in Philadelphia ultimately inspired the American Revolution and the nation's independence. Philadelphia hosted the First Continental Congress in 1774 following the Boston Tea Party, preserved the Liberty Bell, and hosted the Second Continental Congress during which the founders signed the Declaration of Independence, which historian Joseph Ellis has described as "the most potent and consequential words in American history". Once the Revolutionary War commenced, both the Battle of Germantown and the Siege of Fort Mifflin were fought within Philadelphia's city limits. The U.S. Constitution was later ratified in Philadelphia at the Philadelphia Convention of 1787. Philadelphia remained the nation's largest city until 1790, when it was surpassed by New York City, and served as the nation's first capital from May 10, 1775, until December 12, 1776, and on four subsequent occasions during and following the American Revolution, including from 1790 to 1800 while the new national capital of Washington, D.C. was under construction.
During the 19th and 20th centuries, Philadelphia emerged as a major national industrial center and railroad hub. The city’s blossoming industrial sector attracted European immigrants, predominantly from Germany and Ireland, the two largest reported ancestry groups in the city as of 2015. In the 20th century, immigrant waves from Italy and elsewhere in Southern Europe arrived. Following the end of the Civil War in 1865, Philadelphia became a leading destination for African Americans in the Great Migration. In the 20th century, Puerto Rican Americans moved to the city in large numbers. Between 1890 and 1950, Philadelphia's population doubled to 2.07 million. Philadelphia has since attracted immigrants from East and South Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.
With 18 four-year universities and colleges, Philadelphia is one of the nation's leading centers for higher education and academic research. As of 2021, the Philadelphia metropolitan area was the nation's ninth-largest metropolitan economy with a gross metropolitan product (GMP) of US$479 billion. Philadelphia is the largest center of economic activity in Pennsylvania and the broader multi-state Delaware Valley region; the city is home to five Fortune 500 corporate headquarters as of 2022. The Philadelphia skyline, which includes several globally renowned commercial skyscrapers, is expanding, primarily with new residential high-rise condominiums. The city and the Delaware Valley are a biotechnology and venture capital hub; and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, owned by NASDAQ, is the nation's oldest stock exchange and a global leader in options trading. 30th Street Station, the city's primary rail station, is the third-busiest Amtrak hub in the nation, and the city's multimodal transport and logistics infrastructure, including Philadelphia International Airport, the PhilaPort seaport, freight rail infrastructure, roadway traffic capacity, and warehouse storage space, are all expanding.
Philadelphia is a national cultural hub, hosting more outdoor sculptures and murals than any other American city. Fairmount Park, when combined with adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park in the same watershed, is 2,052 acres (830 ha), representing one of the nation's largest contiguous urban parks and the 45th largest urban park in the world. The city is known for its arts, culture, cuisine, and colonial and Revolution-era history; in 2016, it attracted 42 million domestic tourists who spent $6.8 billion, representing $11 billion in total economic impact to the city and surrounding Pennsylvania counties.
With five professional sports teams and a hugely loyal fan base, the city is often ranked as the nation's best city for professional sports fans. The city has a culturally and philanthropically active LGBTQ+ community. Philadelphia also has played an immensely influential historic and ongoing role in the development and evolution of American music, especially R&B, soul, and rock.
Philadelphia is a city of many firsts, including the nation's first library (1731), hospital (1751), medical school (1765), national capital (1774), university (by some accounts) (1779), stock exchange (1790), zoo (1874), and business school (1881). Philadelphia contains 67 National Historic Landmarks, including Independence Hall. From the city's 17th century founding through the present, Philadelphia has been the birthplace or home to an extensive number of prominent and influential Americans. In 2021, Time magazine named Philadelphia one of the world's greatest 100 places." - info from Wikipedia.
The fall of 2022 I did my 3rd major cycling tour. I began my adventure in Montreal, Canada and finished in Savannah, GA. This tour took me through the oldest parts of Quebec and the 13 original US states. During this adventure I cycled 7,126 km over the course of 2.5 months and took more than 68,000 photos. As with my previous tours, a major focus was to photograph historic architecture.
Now on Instagram.
This shows my first mech called the ARMARILLO. (pronounced like armadillo) the frame is complete, however I will be adding more to this mech. He will have 2 huge devices, 1 on each shoulder. They will transform so that it will encase him in a sphere and be able to roll with the mech inside. Stay tuned for more pics coming that will show the frame and everything else in greater detail. (Including the pilot)
++++++++ FROM WIKIPEDIA ++++++++++
Kalimpong is a hill station in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located at an average elevation of 1,250 metres (4,101 ft). The town is the headquarters of the Kalimpong district.The Indian Army's 27 Mountain Division is located on the outskirts of the town.
Kalimpong is known for its educational institutions, many of which were established during the British colonial period.[5] It used to be a gateway in the trade between Tibet and India before China's annexation of Tibet and the Sino-Indian War. Kalimpong and neighbouring Darjeeling were major centres calling for a separate Gorkhaland state in the 1980s, and more recently in 2010.
The municipality sits on a ridge overlooking the Teesta River and is a tourist destination owing to its temperate climate, magnificent Himalayan beauty and proximity to popular tourist locations in the region. Horticulture is important to Kalimpong: It has a flower market notable for its wide array of orchids; nurseries, which export Himalayan grown flower bulbs, tubers and rhizomes, contribute to the economy of Kalimpong.[2] Home to Nepalisindigenous Lepchas, other ethnic groups and non-native immigrants from other parts of India, the town is a religious centre of Buddhism. The Tibetan Buddhist monastery Zang Dhok Palri Phodang holds a number of rare Tibetan Buddhist scriptures.[6]
The Kalimpong Science Centre, established under the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) in 2008 is a recent addition to its many tourist attractions. The Science Centre, which provides for scientific awareness among the students of the town and the locals sits atop the Deolo Hill.
Name origin
The precise etymology of the name Kalimpong remains unclear. There are many theories on the origin of the name. One widely accepted theory claims that the name "Kalimpong" means "Assembly (or Stockade) of the King's Ministers" in Tibetan, derived from kalon ("King's ministers") and pong ("stockade"). It may be derived from the translation "ridge where we play" from Lepcha, as it was known to be the place for traditional tribal gatherings for summer sporting events. People from the hills call the area Kalempung ("the black spurs").[7]
According to K.P. Tamsang, author of The Untold and Unknown Reality about the Lepchas, the term Kalimpong is deduced from the name Kalenpung, which in Lepcha means "Hillock of Assemblage";[8] in time, the name was distorted to Kalebung, and later further contorted to Kalimpong. Another possible derivation points to Kaulim, a fibrous plant found in abundance in the region.[9]
History
Katherine Graham Memorial Chapel, Dr. Graham's Homes
The Clock Tower of Kalimpong.
Until the mid-19th century, the area around Kalimpong was ruled in succession by the Sikkimese and Bhutanese kingdoms.[8][10] Under Sikkimese rule, the area was known as Dalingkot.[11] In 1706, the king of Bhutan won this territory from the Sikkimese monarch and renamed it Kalimpong.[11] Overlooking the Teesta Valley, Kalimpong is believed to have once been the forward position of the Bhutanese in the 18th century. The area was sparsely populated by the indigenous Lepcha community and migrant Bhutia and Limbu tribes.
After the Anglo-Bhutan War in 1864, the Treaty of Sinchula (1865) was signed, in which Bhutanese held territory east of the Teesta River was ceded to the British East India Company.[8] At that time, Kalimpong was a hamlet, with only two or three families known to reside there.[12] The first recorded mention of the town was a fleeting reference made that year by Ashley Eden, a government official with the Bengal Civil Service. Kalimpong was added to district of Darjeeling in 1866. In 1866–1867 an Anglo-Bhutanese commission demarcated the common boundaries between the two, thereby giving shape to the Kalimpong subdivision and the Darjeeling district.[13]
After the war, the region became a subdivision of the Western Duars district, and the following year it was merged with the district of Darjeeling.[8] The temperate climate prompted the British to develop the town as an alternative hill station to Darjeeling, to escape the scorching summer heat in the plains. Kalimpong's proximity to the Nathu La and Jelep La passes (La means "pass"), offshoots of the ancient Silk Road, was an added advantage. It soon became an important trading outpost in the trade of furs, wools and food grains between India and Tibet.[14] The increase in commerce attracted large numbers of Nepali's from the neighbouring Nepal and the lower regions of Sikkim, the areas where, Nepali's were residing since the Gorkha invasion of Sikkim in 1790. The movement of people into the area, transformed Kalimpong from a small hamlet with a few houses, to a thriving town with increased economic prosperity. Britain assigned a plot within Kalimpong to the influential Bhutanese Dorji family, through which trade and relations with Bhutan flowed. This later became Bhutan House, a Bhutanese administrative and cultural centre.[15][16][17]
The arrival of Scottish missionaries saw the construction of schools and welfare centres for the British.[12] Rev. W. Macfarlane in the early 1870s established the first schools in the area.[12] The Scottish University Mission Institution was opened in 1886, followed by the Kalimpong Girls High School. In 1900, Reverend J.A. Graham founded the Dr. Graham's Homes for destitute Anglo-Indian students.[12] The young missionary (and aspiring writer and poet) Aeneas Francon Williams, aged 24, arrived in Kalimpong in 1910 to take up the post of assistant schoolmaster at Dr. Graham's Homes,[18] where he later became Bursar and remained working at the school for the next fourteen years.[19] From 1907 onwards, most schools in Kalimpong had started offering education to Indian students. By 1911, the population comprised many ethnic groups, including Nepalis, Lepchas, Tibetans, Muslims, the Anglo-Indian communities. Hence by 1911, the population had swollen to 7,880.[12]
Following Indian independence in 1947, Kalimpong became part of the state of West Bengal, after Bengal was partitioned between India and East Pakistan. With China's annexation of Tibet in 1959, many Buddhist monks fled Tibet and established monasteries in Kalimpong. These monks brought many rare Buddhist scriptures with them. In 1962, the permanent closure of the Jelep Pass after the Sino-Indian War disrupted trade between Tibet and India, and led to a slowdown in Kalimpong's economy. In 1976, the visiting Dalai Lama consecrated the Zang Dhok Palri Phodang monastery, which houses many of the scriptures.[12]
Most large houses in Kalimpong were built during the British era. In the background is Mount Kangchenjunga.
Morgan House is a classic example of colonial architecture in Kalimpong.
Between 1986 and 1988, the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland and Kamtapur based on ethnic lines grew strong. Riots between the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) and the West Bengal government reached a stand-off after a forty-day strike. The town was virtually under siege, and the state government called in the Indian army to maintain law and order. This led to the formation of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, a body that was given semi-autonomous powers to govern the Darjeeling district, except the area under the Siliguri subdivision. Since 2007, the demand for a separate Gorkhaland state has been revived by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and its supporters in the Darjeeling hills.[20] The Kamtapur People's Party and its supporters' movement for a separate Kamtapur state covering North Bengal have gained momentum.[21]
Geography
A view from the Deolo Resort, atop Deolo Hill, Kalimpong's highest point
The town centre is on a ridge connecting two hills, Deolo Hill and Durpin Hill,[12] at an elevation of 1,247 m (4,091 ft). Deolo, the highest point in Kalimpong, has an altitude of 1,704 m (5,591 ft) and Durpin Hill is at an elevation of 1,372 m (4,501 ft). The River Teesta flows in the valley below and separates Kalimpong from the state of Sikkim. The soil in the Kalimpong area is typically reddish in color. Occasional dark soils are found due to extensive existence of phyllite and schists.[22] The Shiwalik Hills, like most of the Himalayan foothills, have steep slopes and soft, loose topsoil, leading to frequent landslides in the monsoon season.[22] The hills are nestled within higher peaks and the snow-clad Himalayan ranges tower over the town in the distance. Mount Kanchenjunga at 8,586 m (28,169 ft) the world's third tallest peak,[23] is clearly visible from Kalimpong.[2]
View of the Himalaya range
Kalimpong has five distinct seasons: spring, summer, autumn, winter and the monsoons. The annual temperature ranges from a high of 30 °C (86 °F) to a low of 9 °C (48 °F). Summers are mild, with an average maximum temperature of 30 °C (86 °F) in August.[24] Summers are followed by the monsoon rains which lash the town between June and September. The monsoons are severe, often causing landslides which sequester the town from the rest of India. Winter lasts from December to February, with the maximum temperature being around 15 °C (59 °F). During the monsoon and winter seasons, Kalimpong is often enveloped by fog.[25]
Economy
Oranges grown in the hillsides are exported to many parts of India.
Tourism is the most significant contributor to Kalimpong's economy.[26] The summer and spring seasons are the most popular with tourists, keeping many of town's residents employed directly and indirectly. The town—earlier an important trade post between India and Tibet—hopes to boost its economy after the reopening of the Nathu La (pass) in April 2006.[27] Though this has resumed Indo–China border trades,[28] it is expected that Kalimpong will have a better chance of revival as a hub for Indo–China trades if the demand of local leaders for reopening of Jelep La pass also is met.[28]
Kalimpong is a major ginger growing area of India. Kalimpong and the state of Sikkim together contribute 15 percent of ginger produced in India.[29] The Darjeeling Himalayan hill region is internationally famous for its tea industry.[30] However, most of the tea gardens are on the western side of Teesta river (towards the town of Darjeeling) and so tea gardens near Kalimpong contribute only 4 percent of total tea production of the region. In Kalimpong division, 90 percent of land is cultivable but only 10 percent is used for tea production.[31] Kalimpong is well known for its flower export industry—especially for its wide array of indigenous orchids and gladioli.[32]
A significant contributor to the town's economy is education sector.[26] The schools of Kalimpong, besides imparting education to the locals, attract a significant number of students from the plains, the neighbouring state of Sikkim and countries such as Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Thailand.[26]
Many establishments cater to the Indian army bases near the town, providing it with essential supplies. Small contributions to the economy come by the way of the sale of traditional arts and crafts of Sikkim and Tibet. Government efforts related to sericulture, seismology, and fisheries provide a steady source of employment to many of its residents.
Kalimpong is well renowned for its cheese, noodles and lollipops. Kalimpong exports a wide range of traditional handicrafts, wood-carvings, embroidered items, bags and purses with tapestry work, copper ware, scrolls, Tibetan jewellery and artifacts.[32][33]
Transport
NH31A winds along the banks of the river Teesta near Kalimpong.
Kalimpong is located off the National Highway 31A (NH31A), which links Sevok to Gangtok. The NH31A is an offshoot of the NH 31, which connects Sevok to Siliguri.[34] These two National Highways together, via Sevok, links Kalimpong to the plains.[35] Regular bus services and hired vehicles connect Kalimpong with Siliguri and the neighbouring towns of Kurseong, Darjeeling and Gangtok. Four wheel drives are popular means of transport, as they can easily navigate the steep slopes in the region. However, road communication often get disrupted in the monsoons due to landslides. In the town, people usually travel by foot. Residents also use bicycle, two-wheelers and hired taxis for short distances.
The nearest airport is in Bagdogra near Siliguri, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) from Kalimpong. Air India, Jet Airways and Druk Air (Bhutan) are the four major carriers that connect the airport to Delhi, Kolkata, Paro (Bhutan), Guwahati and Bangkok (Thailand). The closest major railway station is New Jalpaiguri, on the outskirts of Siliguri,[2] which is connected with almost all major cities of the country.
Demographics
Population growth
At the 2011 India census,[37] Kalimpong town area had a population of 42,988, of which 52% were male and 48% female.[37]
At the 2001 census,[38] Kalimpong had an average literacy rate of 79%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy was 84%, and female literacy was 73%. In Kalimpong, 8% of the population was under 6 years of age. The Scheduled castes and scheduled tribes population for Kalimpong was 5,100 and 5,121 respectively.[39]
Civic administration
Kalimpong is the headquarters of the Kalimpong district. The semi-autonomous Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), set up by the West Bengal government in 1988, administers this district as well as the Darjeeling Sadar and Kurseong subdivisions.[40] Kalimpong elects eight councillors to the DGHC, who manages the departments of Public Health, Education, Public Works, Transport, Tourism, Market, Small scale industries, Agriculture, Agricultural waterways, Forest (except reserved forests), Water, Livestock, Vocational Training and Sports and Youth services.[41] The district administration of Darjeeling, which is the authoritative body for the departments of election, panchayat, law and order, revenue, etc., also acts as an interface of communication between the Council and the State Government.[41] The rural area in the district covers three community development blocks Kalimpong I, Kalimpong II and Gorubathan consisting of forty-two gram panchayats.[42] A Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) presides over the Kalimpong subdivision. Kalimpong has a police station that serves the municipality and 18 gram panchayats of Kalimpong–I CD block.[43]
The Kalimpong municipality, which was established in 1945,[39] is in charge of the infrastructure of the town such as potable water and roads. The municipal area is divided into twenty-three wards.[44] Kalimpong municipality is constructing additional water storage tanks to meet the requirement of potable water, and it needs an increase of water supply from the 'Neora Khola Water Supply Scheme' for this purpose.[45] Often, landslides occurring in monsoon season cause havoc to the roads in and around Kalimpong.[46] The West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Corporation Limited (WBSEDCL) provides electricity here.[47] Renewable Energy Development Agency of the state has plans to promote usage of solar street lights in Kalimpong and proposed an energy park here to sell renewable energy gadgets.[48] The Public Works Department is responsible for the road connecting the town to the National Highway–NH-31A.[49] The Kalimpong municipality has a total of 10 health care units, with a total of 433 bed capacity.[50]
The Kalimpong assembly constituency, which is an assembly segment of the Darjeeling parliamentary constituency, elects one member of the Vidhan Sabha of West Bengal.[51]
People, culture, and cuisine
The Zang Dhok Palri Phodang monastery atop Durpin Hill
The original settlers of Kalimpong are the Lepchas, although the majority of the populace are ethnic Nepali, having migrated from Nepal to Kalimpong in search of jobs while it was under British rule.[52]
Indigenous ethnic groups include the Newars, Bhutia, Sherpas, Limbus, Rais, Magars,[53] Chettris, Bahuns, Thakuris, Gurungs, Tamangs, Yolmos, Bhujels, Sunuwars, Sarkis, Damais and the Kamis.[54] The other non-native communities as old as the Nepalese are the Bengalis, Muslims, Anglo-Indians, Chinese, Biharis and Tibetans who escaped to Kalimpong after fleeing the Communist Chinese invasion of Tibet. Kalimpong is home to Trinley Thaye Dorje—one of the 17th Karmapa incarnations.[55] Kalimpong is the closest Indian town to Bhutan's western border, and has a small number of Bhutanese nationals residing here. Hinduism is the largest religion followed by Nijananda Sampradaya, Buddhism and Christianity.[53] Islam has a minuscule presence in this region, The Oldest settlers include people residing since the mid of 19th Century and also mostly Tibetan Muslims who fled in 1959 after Chinese invasion of Tibet.[56] The Buddhist monastery Zang Dhok Palri Phodang holds a number of rare Tibetan Buddhist scriptures.[6] There is a Mosque, Kalimpong Anjuman Islamia Established in 1887 in the bazaar area of Kalimpong.[57]
Popular Hindu festivals include Dashain, Tihar, Cultural Programme and the Tibetan festival of Losar. Languages spoken in Kalimpong include Nepali, which is the predominant language; Lepcha, Limbu, Tamang, Kirat, Hindi, English and Bengali.[2] Though there is a growing interest in cricket as a winter sport in Darjeeling Hills, football still remains the most popular sport in Kalimpong.[58] Every year since 1947, the Independence Shield Football Tournament is organized here as part of the two-day-long Independence Day celebrations.[59] Former captain of India national football team, Pem Dorjee hails from Kalimpong.[60]
A popular snack in Kalimpong is the momo, steamed dumplings made of pork, beef or vegetable cooked in a wrapping of flour and served with watery soup. Wai-Wai is a packaged Nepalese snack made of noodles which are eaten either dry or in soup form. Churpee, a kind of hard cheese made from yak's or chauri's (a hybrid of yak and cattle) milk, is sometimes chewed.[61] A form of noodle called Thukpa, served in soup form is popular in Kalimpong.[62] There are a large number of restaurants which offer a wide variety of cuisines, ranging from Indian to continental, to cater to the tourists. Tea is the most popular beverage in Kalimpong, procured from the famed Darjeeling tea gardens. Kalimpong has a golf course besides Kalimpong Circuit House.[2][63]
The cultural centres in Kalimpong include, the Lepcha Museum and the Zang Dhok Palri Phodang monastery. The Lepcha Museum, a kilometre away from the town centre, showcases the culture of the Lepcha community, the indigenous peoples of Sikkim. The Zang Dhok Palri Phodong monastery has 108 volumes of the Kangyur, and belongs to the Gelug of Buddhism.
Media
Kalimpong has access to most of the television channels aired in the rest of India. Cable Television still provides service to many homes in the town and it's outskirts, while DTH connections are now practically mandatory throughout the country. Besides mainstream Indian channels, many Nepali-language channels such as Dainandini DD, Kalimpong Television KTv, Haal Khabar (an association of the Hill Channel Network), Jan Sarokar, Himalayan People's Channel (HPC), and Kalimpong Times are broadcast in Kalimpong. These channels, which mainly broadcast locally relevant news, are produced by regional media houses and news networks, and are broadcast through the local cable network, which is now slowly becoming defunct due to the Indian government's ruling on mandatory digitization of TV channels. The movie production houses like JBU films produces the movies on the nepali and other languages.
Newspapers in Kalimpong include English language dailies The Statesman and The Telegraph, which are printed in Siliguri,[65][66] and The Economic Times and the Hindustan Times, which are printed in Kolkata.
Among other languages, Nepali, Hindi and Bengali are prominent vernacular languages used in this region.[25] Newspapers in all these four languages are available in the Darjeeling Hills region. Of the largely circulated Nepali newspapers Himalay Darpan, Swarnabhumi and some Sikkim-based Nepali newspapers like Hamro Prajashakti and Samay Dainik are read most.[67] The Tibet Mirror was the first Tibetan-language newspaper published in Kalimpong in 1925.[68] while Himalayan Times was the first English to have come out from Kalimpong in the year 1947, it was closed down in the year 1962 after the Chinese aggression but was started once again and is now in regular print. Internet service and Internet cafés are well established; these are mostly served through broadband, data card of different mobile services, WLL, dialup lines,[69][70] Kalimpong News, Kalimpong Online News, Kalimpong Times and KTV are the main online news sites that collect and present local and North Bengal & Sikkim news from its own agencies like KalimNews and other newspapers. Besides this there are others like kalimpong.info, kalimpongexpress.blogspot.com and several others. All India Radio and several other National and Private Channels including FM Radio are received in Kalimpong.
The area is serviced by major telecommunication companies of India with most types of cellular services in most areas.
Education
There are fifteen major schools in Kalimpong, the most notable ones being Scottish Universities Mission Institution, Dr. Graham's Homes, St Joseph's Convent, St. Augustine's School, Rockvale Academy, Saptashri Gyanpeeth, Springdale Academy, St. Philomenas School, Kalimpong Girls' High School, Kumdini Homes, Chandramaya High School, Lolay Sampu High School and Gandhi Ashram School. The Scottish Universities Mission Institution was the first school that was opened in 1886. The schools offer education up to high secondary standard, following which students may choose to join a Junior College or carry on with additional two years of schooling.
Kalimpong College, Cluny Women's College and Rockvale Management College are the main colleges in the town. Former two are affiliated to the North Bengal University and the latter affiliated to West Bengal University of Technology and apart from these, Good Shepherd IHM (Hotel management Institution) offers courses on hospitality sectors. Most students however, choose to further their studies in Siliguri, Kolkata, and other colleges in the Indian metropolis. The Tharpa Choling Monastery, at Tirpai Hill near Kalimpong, is managed by Yellow Hat sect and has a library of Tibetan manuscripts and thankas.
Flora and fauna
The area around Kalimpong lies in the Eastern Himalayas, which is classified as an ecological hotspot, one of only three among the ecoregions of India. Neora Valley National Park lies within the Kalimpong subdivision and is home to tigers.[72] Acacia is the most commonly found species at lower altitudes, while cinnamon, ficus, bamboo and cardamom, are found in the hillsides around Kalimpong. The forests found at higher altitudes are made up of pine trees and other evergreen alpine vegetation. Seven species of rhododendrons are found in the region east of Kalimpong. The temperate deciduous forests include oak, birch, maple and alder. Three hundred species of orchid are found around Kalimpong.
The Red panda, Clouded leopard, Siberian weasel, Asiatic black bear,[75] barking deer,[76] Himalayan tahr, goral, gaur[76] and pangolin are some of the fauna found near Kalimpong. Avifauna of the region include the pheasants, cuckoos, minivets, flycatchers, bulbuls, orioles, owls, partridges, sunbirds, warblers, swallows, swifts and woodpeckers.
Kalimpong is a major production centre of gladioli in India,[78] and orchids, which are exported to many parts of the world. The Rishi Bankim Chandra Park is an ecological museums within Kalimpong Citrus Dieback Research Station at Kalimpong works towards control of diseases, plant protection and production of disease free orange seedlings.
Kalimpong is also famous for their rich practice of cactus cultivation. Its nurseries attract people from far and wide for the absolutely stunning collection of cacti they cultivate. The strains of cacti, though not indigenous to the locale, have been carefully cultivated over the years, and now the town boasts one of the most fascinating and exhaustive collections of the Cactaceae family. The plants have adapted well to the altitude and environment, and now prove to be one of the chief draws of tourism to the township.
West Bengal (/bɛŋˈɡɔːl/, Bengali: Paschim Banga [ˈpoʃtʃim ˈbɔŋgo] (About this soundlisten)) is a state in the eastern region of India along the Bay of Bengal. With over 91 million inhabitants, it is the fourth-most populous state and the fourteenth-largest state by area in India. Covering an area of 88,752 km2 (34,267 sq mi), it is also the eighth-most populous country subdivision of the world. Part of the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent, it borders Bangladesh in the east, and Nepal and Bhutan in the north. It also borders the Indian states of Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata, the third-largest metropolis, and seventh largest city by population in India. West Bengal includes the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region, the Ganges delta, the Rarh region and the coastal Sundarbans. The state's main ethnic group are the Bengalis, with the Bengali Hindus forming the demographic majority.
The area's early history featured a succession of Indian empires, internal squabbling, and a tussle between Hinduism and Buddhism for dominance. Ancient Bengal was the site of several major Janapadas, while the earliest cities date back to the Vedic period. The region was part of several ancient pan−Indian empires, including the Vangas, Mauryans, and the Guptas. The citadel of Gauḍa served as the capital of the Gauḍa Kingdom, the Pala Empire, and the Sena Empire. Islam was introduced through trade with the Abbasid Caliphate, but following the Ghurid conquests led by Bakhtiyar Khalji and the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate, the Muslim faith spread across the entire Bengal region. During the Bengal Sultanate, the territory was a major trading nation in the world, and was often referred by the Europeans as the "richest country to trade with". It was absorbed into the Mughal Empire in 1576. Simultaneously, some parts of the region were ruled by several Hindu states, and Baro-Bhuyan landlords, and part of it was briefly overrun by the Suri Empire. Following the death of Emperor Aurangzeb in the early 1700s, the proto-industrialised Mughal Bengal became a semi-independent state under the Nawabs of Bengal, and showed signs of the first Industrial revolution.[8][9] The region was later conquered by the British East India Company at the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and became part of the Bengal Presidency.[10][11]
The region was a hotbed of the Indian independence movement and has remained one of India's great artistic and intellectual centres.[12] Following widespread religious violence, the Bengal Legislative Council and the Bengal Legislative Assembly voted on the Partition of Bengal in 1947 along religious lines into two independent dominions: West Bengal, a Hindu-majority Indian state, and East Bengal, a Muslim-majority province of Pakistan which later became the independent Bangladesh.
Post Indian independence, West Bengal's economy is based on agricultural production and small and medium-sized enterprises.[13] For many decades the state underwent political violence and economic stagnation.[14] Today, the economy of West Bengal is the sixth-largest state economy in India with a gross state domestic product (GSDP) of ₹12.54 lakh crore (US$180 billion),[3] and has the country's 23rd-highest GSDP per capita of ₹115,748 (US$1,600).[3] West Bengal also has the 28th-highest ranking among Indian states in human development index, with the index value being less than that of India.[5] The state government debt of ₹4.0 lakh crore (US$56 billion), or 32.6% of GSDP, is fifth highest India, but has dropped from 40.65% since 2010–11.[15][16] There is moderate unemployment.[17] West Bengal has two World Heritage sites and ranks as the seventh-most visited tourist destination in India.
Pierre Séguier, Lieutenant criminel à Provins puis contrôleur des ligues Suisses acheta vers 1627 cette maison bâtie vers 1623 (donnant également au 7, rue du Prévôt ).
Un siècle plus tard, en 1728, un de ses descendants, Louis-Anne Séguier, obtint du commissaire général de voirie d’ajouter sur la façade un balcon de « vingt-quatre pieds vingt pouces (huit mètres) de long ». Ce superbe balcon en fer forgé aux motifs curvilignes repose sur quatre consoles rocaille, chimères aux ailes déployées, animal mythique qui orne aussi les vantaux de la porte cochère. Ce thème fréquent à cette époque se rapproche de celui de l’hôtel Chenizot, au 51 rue Saint-Louis en île. Séguier, en effet, loua en 1729 cette maison à Angélique-Marguéritte veuve du marquis de Roncherolle. Il est intéressant de noter qu'en 1719 Jean-François Guyot de Chenizot, avait transformé cette demeure du début du 17e siècle en installant aussi un balcon soutenu par des chimères consoles dans le même style rocaille en faisant appel à l'architecte Pierre de Vigny.....
« Le Marais » de Danielle Chadych éd. Parigramme.
Sickert transformed how everyday modern like was depicted. He defied what he called “(John singer) Sargent confection” and “wiggle and chiffon school of portraiture,” choosing instead uncompromising realism. Here, in this drab interior, the woman’s blank expression and the laboured, diagonal pastel marks tracking across her face conceal rather then reveal her identity. Despite its title (“Woman of the Venetian people”), the work was likely completed in London – the hoop-backed chair and iron bedstead are common props from Sickert’s studio there.
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), often referred to mononymously as Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines during a transformative era in race relations, led him to both great success and initial controversy.
Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, with his family when he was 13 years old. His music career began there in 1954, recording at Sun Records with producer Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring the sound of African-American music to a wider audience. Presley, on rhythm acoustic guitar, and accompanied by lead guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, was a pioneer of rockabilly, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country music and rhythm and blues. In 1955, drummer D. J. Fontana joined to complete the lineup of Presley's classic quartet and RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, who would manage him for more than two decades. Presley's first RCA Victor single, "Heartbreak Hotel", was released in January 1956 and became a number-one hit in the United States. Within a year, RCA would sell ten million Presley singles. With a series of successful network television appearances and chart-topping records, Presley became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll; though his performative style and promotion of the then-marginalized sound of African Americans[6] led to him being widely considered a threat to the moral well-being of the White American youth.
In November 1956, Presley made his film debut in Love Me Tender. Drafted into military service in 1958, Presley relaunched his recording career two years later with some of his most commercially successful work. He held few concerts, however, and guided by Parker, proceeded to devote much of the 1960s to making Hollywood films and soundtrack albums, most of them critically derided. Some of his most famous films included Jailhouse Rock (1957), Blue Hawaii (1961), and Viva Las Vegas (1964). In 1968, following a seven-year break from live performances, he returned to the stage in the acclaimed television comeback special Elvis, which led to an extended Las Vegas concert residency and a string of highly profitable tours. In 1973, Presley gave the first concert by a solo artist to be broadcast around the world, Aloha from Hawaii. Years of prescription drug abuse and unhealthy eating habits severely compromised his health, and he died suddenly in 1977 at his Graceland estate at the age of 42.
Having sold over 400 million records worldwide, Presley is recognized as the best-selling solo music artist of all time by Guinness World Records. He was commercially successful in many genres, including pop, country, rhythm & blues, adult contemporary, and gospel. Presley won three Grammy Awards, received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36, and has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame. He holds several records, including the most RIAA-certified gold and platinum albums, the most albums charted on the Billboard 200, the most number-one albums by a solo artist on the UK Albums Chart, and the most number-one singles by any act on the UK Singles Chart. In 2018, Presley was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, to Vernon Elvis (April 10, 1916 – June 26, 1979) and Gladys Love (née Smith; April 25, 1912 – August 14, 1958) Presley in a two-room shotgun house that his father built for the occasion. Elvis's identical twin brother, Jesse Garon Presley, was delivered 35 minutes before him, stillborn. Presley became close to both parents and formed an especially close bond with his mother. The family attended an Assembly of God church, where he found his initial musical inspiration.
Presley's father Vernon was of German, Scottish and English origins. He was a descendant of the Harrison family of Virginia through his ancestor Tunis Hood. Presley's mother Gladys was Scots-Irish with some French Norman ancestry. His mother and the rest of the family believed that her great-great-grandmother, Morning Dove White, was Cherokee. This belief was restated by Elvis's granddaughter Riley Keough in 2017. Elaine Dundy, in her biography, supports the belief.
Vernon moved from one odd job to the next, showing little ambition. The family often relied on help from neighbors and government food assistance. In 1938, they lost their home after Vernon was found guilty of altering a check written by his landowner and sometime-employer. He was jailed for eight months, while Gladys and Elvis moved in with relatives.
In September 1941, Presley entered first grade at East Tupelo Consolidated, where his teachers regarded him as "average". He was encouraged to enter a singing contest after impressing his schoolteacher with a rendition of Red Foley's country song "Old Shep" during morning prayers. The contest, held at the Mississippi–Alabama Fair and Dairy Show on October 3, 1945, was his first public performance. The ten-year-old Presley stood on a chair to reach the microphone and sang "Old Shep". He recalled placing fifth. A few months later, Presley received his first guitar for his birthday; he had hoped for something else—by different accounts, either a bicycle or a rifle. Over the following year, he received basic guitar lessons from two of his uncles and the new pastor at the family's church. Presley recalled, "I took the guitar, and I watched people, and I learned to play a little bit. But I would never sing in public. I was very shy about it."
In September 1946, Presley entered a new school, Milam, for sixth grade; he was regarded as a loner. The following year, he began bringing his guitar to school on a daily basis. He played and sang during lunchtime and was often teased as a "trashy" kid who played hillbilly music. By then, the family was living in a largely black neighborhood. Presley was a devotee of Mississippi Slim's show on the Tupelo radio station WELO. He was described as "crazy about music" by Slim's younger brother, who was one of Presley's classmates and often took him into the station. Slim supplemented Presley's guitar instruction by demonstrating chord techniques. When his protégé was 12 years old, Slim scheduled him for two on-air performances. Presley was overcome by stage fright the first time, but succeeded in performing the following week.
In November 1948, the family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. After residing for nearly a year in rooming houses, they were granted a two-bedroom apartment in the public housing complex known as the Lauderdale Courts. Enrolled at L. C. Humes High School, Presley received only a C in music in eighth grade. When his music teacher told him that he had no aptitude for singing, he brought in his guitar the next day and sang a recent hit, "Keep Them Cold Icy Fingers Off Me", to prove otherwise. A classmate later recalled that the teacher "agreed that Elvis was right when he said that she didn't appreciate his kind of singing". He was usually too shy to perform openly and was occasionally bullied by classmates who viewed him as a "mama's boy".
In 1950, he began practicing guitar regularly under the tutelage of Lee Denson, a neighbor two and a half years his senior. They and three other boys—including two future rockabilly pioneers, brothers Dorsey and Johnny Burnette—formed a loose musical collective that played frequently around the Courts. That September, he began working as an usher at Loew's State Theater. Other jobs followed at Precision Tool, Loew's again, and MARL Metal Products. Presley also helped Jewish neighbors, the Fruchters, by being their shabbos goy.
During his junior year, Presley began to stand out more among his classmates, largely because of his appearance: he grew his sideburns and styled his hair with rose oil and Vaseline. In his free time, he would head down to Beale Street, the heart of Memphis's thriving blues scene, and gaze longingly at the wild, flashy clothes in the windows of Lansky Brothers. By his senior year, he was wearing those clothes. Overcoming his reticence about performing outside the Lauderdale Courts, he competed in Humes' Annual "Minstrel" show in April 1953. Singing and playing guitar, he opened with "Till I Waltz Again with You", a recent hit for Teresa Brewer. Presley recalled that the performance did much for his reputation: "I wasn't popular in school ... I failed music—only thing I ever failed. And then they entered me in this talent show ... when I came onstage I heard people kind of rumbling and whispering and so forth, 'cause nobody knew I even sang. It was amazing how popular I became in school after that."
Presley, who received no formal music training and could not read music, studied and played by ear. He also frequented record stores that provided jukeboxes and listening booths to customers. He knew all of Hank Snow's songs, and he loved records by other country singers such as Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, Ted Daffan, Jimmie Rodgers, Jimmie Davis, and Bob Wills. The Southern gospel singer Jake Hess, one of his favorite performers, was a significant influence on his ballad-singing style. He was a regular audience member at the monthly All-Night Singings downtown, where many of the white gospel groups that performed reflected the influence of African-American spiritual music. He adored the music of black gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
Like some of his peers, he may have attended blues venues—of necessity, in the segregated South—only on nights designated for exclusively white audiences. He certainly listened to the regional radio stations, such as WDIA-AM, that played "race records": spirituals, blues, and the modern, backbeat-heavy sound of rhythm and blues. Many of his future recordings were inspired by local African-American musicians such as Arthur Crudup and Rufus Thomas. B.B. King recalled that he had known Presley before he was popular when they both used to frequent Beale Street. By the time he graduated from high school in June 1953, Presley had already singled out music as his future.
Graceland is a mansion on a 13.8-acre (5.6-hectare) estate in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, which was once owned by the rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. His daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, inherited Graceland after his death in 1977. Following Lisa Marie Presley's death in 2023, the mansion is to be inherited by her daughters. In addition to being the final resting place of Elvis Presley himself, the property contains the graves of his parents, paternal grandmother and grandson, and contains a memorial to Presley's stillborn twin brother. In addition, Lisa Marie Presley will be buried there.
Graceland is located at 3764 Elvis Presley Boulevard in the Whitehaven neighborhood, about nine miles (14 kilometers) south of central Memphis and fewer than four miles (6.4 km) north of the Mississippi border.[5] It was opened to the public as a house museum on June 7, 1982. The site was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on November 7, 1991, becoming the first site recognized for significance related to rock music. Graceland was declared a National Historic Landmark on March 27, 2006, also a first for such a site. Graceland attracts more than 650,000 visitors annually.
Graceland Farms was originally owned by Stephen C. Toof, founder of S.C. Toof & Co., the oldest commercial printing firm in Memphis. He worked previously as the pressroom foreman of the Memphis newspaper, the Memphis Daily Appeal. The "grounds" (before the mansion was built in 1939) were named after Toof's daughter, Grace. She inherited the farm/property from her father in 1894. After her death, the property was passed to her niece Ruth Moore, a Memphis socialite. Together with her husband, Thomas Moore, Ruth Moore commissioned construction of a 10,266-square-foot (953.7 m2) Colonial Revival style mansion in 1939. The house was designed by architects Furbringer and Ehrman.
After Elvis Presley began his musical career, he purchased a $40,000 home for himself and his family at 1034 Audubon Drive in Memphis. As his success and fame grew, especially after his appearances on television, the number of fans who would congregate outside the house multiplied. Presley's neighbors, although happy to have a celebrity living nearby, soon concluded that the constant gathering of fans and journalists was a nuisance.
In early 1957, Presley gave his parents, Vernon and Gladys Presley, a budget of $100,000 and asked them to find a "farmhouse"-like property to purchase, with buffer space around it. At the time, Graceland was located in southern Shelby County, several miles south of Memphis' main urban area. In later years, Memphis would expand with residential developments, resulting in Graceland being surrounded by other properties. Presley purchased Graceland on March 19, 1957, for the amount of $102,500.
Later that year, Presley invited Richard Williams and singer Buzz Cason to the house. Cason said: "We proceeded to clown around on the front porch, striking our best rock 'n' roll poses and snapping pictures with the little camera. We peeked in the not-yet-curtained windows and got a kick out of the pastel colored walls in the front rooms with shades of bright reds and purples that Elvis most certainly had picked out." Presley was fond of claiming that the US government had mooted a visit to Graceland by Nikita Khrushchev of the Soviet Union, "to see how in America a fellow can start out with nothing and, you know, make good."
After Gladys died in 1958 aged 46, Presley's father Vernon remarried to Dee Stanley in 1960, and the couple lived at Graceland for a time. There was some discord between Presley and his stepmother Dee at Graceland, however. Elaine Dundy, who wrote about Presley and his mother, said that
"Vernon had settled down with Dee where Gladys had once reigned, while Dee herself – when Elvis was away – had taken over the role of mistress of Graceland so thoroughly as to rearrange the furniture and replace the very curtains that Gladys had approved of." This was too much for the singer, who still loved his late mother deeply. One afternoon, "a van arrived ... and all Dee's household's goods, clothes, 'improvements,' and her own menagerie of pets, were loaded on ... while Vernon, Dee and her three children went by car to a nearby house on Hermitage until they finally settled into a house on Dolan Drive which ran alongside Elvis' estate."
According to Mark Crispin Miller, Graceland became for Presley "the home of the organization that was himself, was tended by a large vague clan of Presleys and deputy Presleys, each squandering the vast gratuities which Elvis used to keep his whole world smiling." The author adds that Presley's father Vernon "had a swimming pool in his bedroom", that there "was a jukebox next to the swimming pool, containing Elvis' favorite records", and that the singer himself "would spend hours in his bedroom, watching his property on a closed-circuit television." According to the singer's cousin, Billy Smith, Presley spent the night at Graceland with Smith and his wife Jo many times: "we were all three there talking for hours about everything in the world! Sometimes he would have a bad dream and come looking for me to talk to, and he would actually fall asleep in our bed with us."
Priscilla Beaulieu lived at Graceland for five years before she and Presley wed in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 1, 1967. Their daughter Lisa Marie Presley was born on February 1, 1968, and spent the first years of her life on the estate. After her parents divorced in 1972, her mother moved with the girl to California. Every year around Christmas, Lisa Marie Presley and all her family would go to Graceland to celebrate Christmas together. Lisa Marie often returned to Graceland for visits.
When Elvis would tour, staying in hotels, "the rooms would be remodeled in advance of his arrival, so as to make the same configurations of space as he had at home – the Graceland mansion. His furniture would arrive, and he could unwind after his performances in surroundings which were completely familiar and comforting." 'The Jungle Room' was described as being "an example of particularly lurid kitsch."[
On August 16, 1977, Presley died aged 42 at Graceland. The official cause of death was cardiac arrhythmia, although later toxicology reports strongly suggested that polypharmacy was the primary cause of death; "fourteen drugs were found in Elvis' system, with several drugs such as codeine in significant quantities. Presley lay in repose in a 900-pound (410 kg), copper-lined coffin just inside the foyer; more than 3,500 of his mourning fans passed by to pay their respects. A private funeral with 200 mourners was held on August 18, 1977, in the house, with the casket placed in front of the stained glass doorway of the music room. Graceland continued to be occupied by members of the family until the death of Presley's aunt Delta in 1993, who had moved in at Elvis's invitation after her husband's death. Elvis's daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, inherited the estate in 1993 when she turned 25.
Presley's tombstone, along with those of his parents Gladys and Vernon Presley, and his grandmother Minnie Mae Presley, are installed in the Meditation Garden next to the mansion. They can be visited during the mansion tours or for free before the mansion tours begin. A memorial gravestone for Presley's stillborn twin brother, Jesse Garon, is also at the site.
In 2019, the owners of Graceland threatened to leave Memphis unless the city provided tax incentives. The Memphis City Council subsequently voted on a deal to help fund a $100 million expansion of Graceland.
Constructed at the top of a hill and surrounded by rolling pastures and a grove of oak trees, Graceland is designed by the Memphis architectural firm, Furbringer and Erhmanis. It's a two-story, five-bay residence in the Colonial Revival style, with a side-facing gabled roof covered in asphalt shingles, a central two-story projecting pedimented portico, and two one-story wings on the north and south sides. Attached to the wing is an additional one-story stuccoed wing, which was originally a garage that houses up to four cars. The mansion has two chimneys; one on the north side's exterior wall, the second rising through the south side's roof ridge. The central block's front and side facades are veneered with tan Tishomingo limestone from Mississippi and its rear wall is stuccoed, as are the one-story wings. The front facade fenestration on the first floor includes 9x9 double-hung windows set in arched openings with wooden panels above, and 6x6 double-hung windows on the second floor.
Flanked by two marble lions, four stone steps ascend from the driveway to the two-story central projecting pedimented portico. The pediment has dentils and a small, leaded oval window in the center while the portico contains four Corinthian columns with capitals modeled after architect James Stuart's conjectural porticos for the "Tower of the Winds" in Athens, Greece. The portico's cornered columns are matched by pilasters on the front facade. The doorway has a broken arched pediment, full entablature, and engaged columns while its transom and sidelights contain elaborate and colorful stained glass. And above the main entrance is another rectangular window, completed with a shallow iron balcony.
Graceland is 17,552 square feet (1,630.6 m2) and has a total of 23 rooms, including eight bedrooms and bathrooms. To the right of the Entrance Hall, through an elliptical-arched opening with classical details, is the Living Room. The Living Room contains a 15-foot-long (4.6 m) white couch against the wall overlooking the front yard. To the left are two white sofas, a china cabinet and a fireplace with a mirrored wall. The painting that hangs in the room was Elvis' last Christmas present from his father, Vernon, and also displayed are photographs of Elvis' parents Vernon and Gladys, Elvis and Lisa Marie. Behind an adjoined doorway is the Music Room, framed by vivid large peacocks set in stained glass and contains a black baby grand piano and a 1950s style TV. And the third adjacent room is a bedroom that was occupied by Elvis' parents. The walls, carpet, dresser, and queen size bed are bright white with the bed draped in a velvet-looking dark purple bedspread along with an en-suite full bathroom done in pink.
To the left of the Entrance Hall, mirroring the Living Room, is the Dining Room, headlined by a massive crystal chandelier. It features six plush chairs in golden metal frames set around a marble table, all of which are placed on black marble flooring in the center with carpet around the perimeter. Connected to the Dining Room is the Kitchen, which was used by Elvis' aunt Delta until her death in 1993 before it was opened to the public two years later.
The original one-story wing on the north end of the residence includes a mechanical room, bedroom, and bath. In the mid-1960s, Presley enlarged the house to create a den known as the Jungle Room which features an indoor waterfall of cut field stone on the north wall. The room also contains items both related to and imported from the state of Hawaii because, after starring in the tropical film "Blue Hawaii" (1961), the musician wanted to bring some memorabilia from The Aloha State to his mansion, which gives visitors the same feeling. In 1976, the Jungle Room was converted into a recording studio, where he recorded the bulk of his final two albums, From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee (1976) and Moody Blue (1977); these were his final known recordings in a studio setting.[27] During the mid-1960s expansion of the house, Presley constructed a large wing on the south side of the main house that was a sidewalk, between the music room in the original one-story wing and the swimming pool area, that connected to the house by a small enclosed gallery. The new wing initially housed a slot car track and to store his many items of appreciation, but was later remodeled to what is now known as the Trophy Building, which now features an exhibit about the Presley family, and includes Priscilla's wedding dress, Elvis' wedding tuxedo, Lisa Marie's toy chest and baby clothes and more.
The Entrance Hall contains a white staircase leading to the house's second floor with a wall of mirrors. However, the second floor is not open to visitors, out of respect for the Presley family, and partially to avoid any improper focus on the bathroom which was the site of his death. Still, it features Elvis' bedroom at the southwest corner that connects to his dressing room and bathroom in the northwest. His daughter Lisa Marie's bedroom is in the northeast corner, and in the southeast is a bedroom that served as a private personal office for the musician. The floor has been untouched since the day Elvis died and is rarely seen by non-family members.
Downstairs in the basement is the TV room, where Elvis often watched three television sets at once, and was within close reach of a wet bar. The three TV sets are built into the room's south wall and there's a stereo, and cabinets for Elvis' record collection. And painted on the west wall is The King's 1970s logo of a lightning bolt and cloud with the initials TCB, both of which represent 'taking care of business in a flash'. And the last room in the mansion opposite of the TV room is the billiard room; an avid billiards player, Elvis bought the pool table in 1960 and had the walls and ceiling covered with 350–400 yards of pleated cotton fabric after the two basement rooms were remodeled in 1974. The pool balls are arranged just the way they were in the musician's final days along with a strict warning sign to visitors that says "Please Do Not Touch! Thank You!" in capital letters. And in one corner of the pool table, there's a rip in the green felt, which was caused by one of Elvis' friends in a failed attempt of a trick shot.
Critics such as Albert Goldman write: "Though it cost a lot of money to fill up Graceland with the things that appealed to Elvis Presley, nothing in the house is worth a dime." In chapter 1 of his book, Elvis (1981), the author describes Graceland as looking like a brothel: "it appears to have been lifted from some turn-of-the-century bordello down in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Lulu White or the Countess Willie Piazza might have contrived this plushy parlor for the entertainment of Gyp the Blood. The room is a gaudy mélange of red velour and gilded tassels, Louis XV furniture and porcelain bric-a-brac..." And he dismisses the interior as "bizarre," "garish" and "phony," adding that "King Elvis's obsession with royal red reaches an intensity that makes you gag."
In similar terms, Greil Marcus writes that people who visited the inside of Graceland—"people who to a real degree shared Elvis Presley’s class background, and whose lives were formed by his music—have returned with one word to describe what they saw: ‘Tacky.’ Tacky, garish, tasteless—words others translated as white trash."
According to Karal Ann Marling, Graceland is "a Technicolor illusion. The façade is Gone With the Wind all the way. The den in the back is Mogambo with a hint of Blue Hawaii. Living in Graceland was like living on a Hollywood backlot, where patches of tropical scenery alternated with the blackened ruins of antebellum Atlanta. It was like living in a Memphis movie theater... Diehard fans are sometimes disappointed by the formal rooms along the highway side of Graceland. They’re beautiful, in a chilly blue-and-white way, but remote and overarranged." The Jungle Room's "overt bad taste" lets nonbelievers "recoil in horror and imagine themselves a notch or two higher than Elvis on the class scale."
After purchasing the property Presley spent in excess of $500,000 carrying out extensive modifications to suit his needs including a pink Alabama fieldstone wall surrounding the grounds that has several years' worth of graffiti (signatures and messages) from visitors, who simply refer to it as "the wall". Designed and built by Abe Sauer is the wrought-iron front gate shaped like a book of sheet music, along with green colored musical notes and two mirrored silhouettes of Elvis playing his guitar. Sauer also installed a kidney shaped swimming pool and a racquetball court, which is reminiscent of an old country club, furnished in dark leather and a functional bar. There is a sunken sitting area with the ever-present stereo system found throughout Graceland, as well as the dark brown upright piano upon which Elvis played for what were to be his last songs, Willie Nelson's "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" and "Unchained Melody".
However, reports conflict about which one was the last song. The sitting area has a floor-to-ceiling shatterproof window designed to watch the many racquetball games that took place there when Elvis was alive. In the early hours of the morning on which Elvis died, he played a game of racquetball with his girlfriend Ginger Alden, his first cousin Billy Smith and Billy's wife Jo before ending the game with the song on the piano before walking into the main house to wash his hair and go to bed. Today the two story court has been restored to the way it was when Elvis used the building.
Elsewhere on the estate is a small white building that served as an office for Vernon, along with an old smokehouse that housed a shooting range and a fully functional stable of horses.
One of Presley's better known modifications was the addition of the Meditation Garden, designed and built by architect Bernard Grenadier. It was used by the musician to reflect on any problems or situations that arose during his life. It is also where his entire family is buried: himself (1935–1977), his parents Gladys (1912–1958) and Vernon (1916–1979), and grandmother Minnie Mae Hood (1890–1980) while a small stone memorializes his twin brother Jesse Garon, who died at birth thirty minutes before Elvis was born on January 8, 1935. In late 2020, Lisa Marie's son Benjamin Keough was laid to rest on the opposite end of the Meditation Garden after his death from suicide in July of that year. Lisa Marie Presley died from sudden cardiac arrest in January 2023 and is buried next to her son.
After Elvis Presley's death in 1977, Vernon Presley served as executor of his estate. Upon his death in 1979, he chose Priscilla to serve as the estate executor for Elvis's only child, Lisa Marie, who was only 11. Graceland itself cost $500,000 a year in upkeep, and expenses had dwindled Elvis's and Priscilla's daughter Lisa Marie's inheritance to only $1 million. Taxes were due on the property; those and other expenses due came to over $500,000. Faced with having to sell Graceland, Priscilla examined other famous houses/museums, and hired a CEO, Jack Soden, to turn Graceland into a moneymaker. Graceland was opened to the public on June 7, 1982. Priscilla's gamble paid off; after only a month of opening Graceland's doors the estate made back all the money it had invested. Priscilla Presley became the chairwoman and president of Elvis Presley Enterprises, or EPE, stating at that time she would do so until Lisa Marie reached 21 years of age. The enterprise's fortunes soared and eventually the trust grew to be worth over $100 million.
An annual procession through the estate and past Elvis's grave is held on the anniversary of his death. Known as Elvis Week, it includes a full schedule of speakers and events, including the only Elvis Mass at St. Paul's Church, the highlight for many Elvis fans of all faiths. The 20th Anniversary in 1997 had several hundred media groups from around the world that were present resulting in the event gaining its greatest media publicity.
One of the largest gatherings assembled on the 25th anniversary in 2002 with one estimate of 40,000 people in attendance, despite the heavy rain. On the 38th anniversary of Elvis's death, an estimated 30,000 people attended the Candlelight Vigil during the night of August 15–16, 2015. On the 40th anniversary of Elvis's death, on August 15–16, 2017, at least 50,000 fans were expected to attend the Candlelight Vigil. No official figure seems to have been released, maybe because, for the first time, attendees had to pay at least the lowest tour fare, $28.75, to cover the extra security costs due to a larger than usual crowd.
For many of the hundreds of thousands of people who visit Graceland each year, the visit takes on a quasi-religious perspective. They may plan for years to journey to the home of the 'King' of rock and roll. On site, headphones narrate the salient events of Elvis's life and introduce the relics that adorn the rooms and corridors. The rhetorical mode is hagiographic, celebrating the life of an extraordinary man, emphasizing his generosity, his kindness and good fellowship, how he was at once a poor boy who made good, an extraordinary musical talent, a sinner and substance abuser, and a religious man devoted to the Gospel and its music. At the meditation garden, containing Elvis's grave, some visitors pray, kneel, or quietly sing one of Elvis's favorite hymns. The brick wall that encloses the mansion's grounds is covered with graffiti that express an admiration for Presley as well as petitions for help and thanks for favors granted.
The Graceland grounds include a new exhibit complex, Elvis Presley's Memphis, which includes a new car museum, Presley Motors, which houses Elvis's Pink Cadillac. The complex features new exhibits and museums, as well as a studio for Sirius Satellite Radio's all-Elvis Presley channel. The service's subscribers all over North America can hear Presley's music from Graceland around the clock. Not far away on display are his two aircraft including Lisa Marie (a Convair 880 jetliner) and Hound Dog II (a Lockheed JetStar business jet). The jets are owned by Graceland and are on permanent static display.
In early August 2005, Lisa Marie Presley sold 85% of the business side of her father's estate. She kept the Graceland property itself, as well as the bulk of the possessions found therein, and she turned over the management of Graceland to CKX, Inc., an entertainment company (on whose board of directors Priscilla Presley sat) that also owns 19 Entertainment, creator of the American Idol TV show.
Graceland Holdings LLC, led by managing partner Joel Weinshanker, is the majority owner of EPE. Lisa Marie Presley's estate retains a 15% ownership in the company.
In August 2018, Gladys Presley's headstone, which contained the Jewish star of David on one side and a cross on the other and was designed by Elvis himself, which become publicly displayed when it placed in Graceland's Mediation Garden after being stored for many years in the Graceland Archive.
Lisa Marie Presley's estate, which is being held in trust for her daughters Riley Keough and Harper and Finley Lockwood, retain 100% sole personal ownership of Graceland Mansion itself and its over 13-acre original grounds as well as Elvis Presley's personal effects – including costumes, wardrobe, awards, furniture, cars, etc. Prior to her death in 2023, Lisa Marie Presley had made the mansion property and her father's personal effects permanently available for tours of Graceland and for use in all of EPE's operations.
According to Elvis Presley's Enterprises, staff at Graceland informally kept a list of celebrities who had visited in the first years following Elvis's death. This practice was not formalized for a decade. Muhammad Ali was an early celebrity visitor in 1978, as was singer Paul Simon. He toured Graceland in the early 80s and afterward wrote a song of the same name; it was the title track of his Grammy-winning album Graceland.
During the Joshua Tree Tour in 1987, U2 toured Graceland. The footage was filmed for the film Rattle & Hum. During the visit, drummer, Larry Mullen Jr., sat on Elvis Presley's motorcycle -- against the rules for Graceland visitors.
On June 30, 2006, then US President George W. Bush hosted Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for a tour of the mansion. It was one of the few private residences on United States soil to have been the site of an official joint-visit by a sitting US president and a serving head of a foreign government. On August 6, 2010, Prince Albert II, Head of State of the Principality of Monaco, and his fiancée (now Princess of Monaco) Charlene Wittstock, toured Graceland while vacationing in the US. On May 26, 2013, Paul McCartney of The Beatles visited Graceland. Prince William and Prince Harry, while in Memphis for a friend's wedding, visited Graceland on May 2, 2014.
The home has also been visited by former US President Jimmy Carter; the late Duchess of Devonshire, the sitting ambassadors of India, France, China, Korea and Israel to the United States; as well as several US governors, members of the US Congress, and at least two Nobel Prize winners, namely singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, a Literature Prize laureate, and the former President of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias, a Peace Prize honoree, who visited it on October 10, 2001.
In May 2016, Graceland welcomed a newlywed couple as its 20 millionth visitor.
In June 2022, actors Austin Butler and Tom Hanks visited the mansion and were interviewed virtually by the Good Morning America news program from the Jungle Room to talk about their biographical film Elvis.
In popular culture
Paul Simon named an album Graceland, as well as its title track. The song won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1987.
The song "Walking in Memphis" by Marc Cohn mentions Graceland; in the second verse, he refers to the mansion and the Jungle Room. This song was later covered by Cher and Lonestar, among others.
The film 3000 Miles to Graceland is about a group of criminals who plan to rob a casino during an international Elvis week, disguised as Elvis impersonators. No scenes take place at or near the estate.
The film Finding Graceland stars Harvey Keitel with Johnathon Schaech. Keitel is an impersonator who claims to be the real Elvis after Schaech picks him up as a hitch-hiker.
In the rock music "mockumentary" This Is Spinal Tap, band members gather around Presley's grave at Graceland and attempt to sing a verse of "Heartbreak Hotel".
Pop punk group Groovie Ghoulies have a song called "Graceland" on their 1997 album Re-Animation Festival.
In the movie Zombieland: Double Tap, the protagonists venture to Graceland in hopes of shelter during a zombie apocalypse, but are distressed to find it in a ruined state.
During the credits of Lilo & Stitch, there's a photograph of Lilo, Nani, David and Stitch visiting the front gates of Graceland. Almost 20 years later, the original painting of that shot was put on display as part of the traveling Walt Disney Archives exhibition at Graceland.
In the season three episode of American Dad “The Vacation Goo”, Steve Smith asks Stan Smith if they can go to Graceland for their next vacation and Stan says “Steve, if you want to pay your respects to a fat man who died on the toilet, we can visit your Aunt Mary’s grave.”
Phoebe Bridgers has a song "Graceland Too" on her second studio album Punisher.
In the third episode of National Treasure: Edge of History, "Graceland Gambit," the main protagonist, Jess (portrayed by Lisette Olivera) is on a treasure hunt that leads her and her friends to Graceland.
Florence + The Machine reference Graceland and Elvis in their song "Morning Elvis" on their 2022 album Dance Fever.
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“Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot; others transform a yellow spot into the sun.”...Pablo Picasso
The Mekong Expedition (1866-1868)
By the mid-1800s, the British controlled foreign trade along China's coast, and French merchants sought a commercial toehold in Asia. Napoleon III's navy, eager for colonial glory, set its sights on Vietnam, and captured Saigon in 1861. A young naval officer, Francis Garnier, enthusiastically advocated exploring the Mekong as a potential route to tap the fabled riches of China. In 1864, he presented his plan to the colony's governor, Admiral La Grandiere, and the "Mekong Expedition Commission" was soon approved. La Grandiere placed Commander Ernest Doudart de Lagree in charge with Garnier as second-in-command, and the crew of 20 set sail aboard two steamers on 5 June 1866.
De Lagree knew about "Khone Falls", but had never seen the so-called impassable rapids around the 4,000 Islands, and assumed he could easily surmount the obstacle. The expedition landed in northeastern Cambodia's Kratie on 7 July, and transferred to canoes to tackle the Sambor rapids. The rainy season current slowed progress, forcing the expedition to hug the eastern bank and push their boats with poles. Gamier thought a strong steamer could overpower the torrent, but as the ride turned rougher, his journal entry states navigating the Mekong to China seemed gravely compromised." They reached calmer waters just below Stung Treng, but as they continued upriver, Garnier became extremely ill and lost consciousness, only to recover in time to face Khone Falls, where the river rushed through rocky cataracts, with drop-offs reaching 20 meters. The expedition realized that this wide, turbulent stretch of the Mekong was nearly insurmountable by steamer. They travelled along the fall's bank past DonHang Khone to Hua Don Khong and calmer waters. The expedition reached Vientiane on 2 April 1867, Luang Prabang on 28 April, and Yunnan on 7 October. De Lagree died from severe dysentery in early 1868, after they passed Kunming on the way to Dail via land, where the now Gamier-led expedition arrived on 1 March. However, the locals refused them passage, leaving a boat ride down the Yangtze to Shanghai as their only way out.
Claiming Strategic Don Khone
During the 1 87Ds, the French were concerned that the British were eyeing the Mekong in northeastern Laos from their Burmese colony while increasing their influence in China and Siam with its disputed border with Laos.
Meanwhile, France's only solid Asian claim was southern Vietnam, (Cochinchina) and a "protectorate" over Cambodia. They wanted to continue the Mekong Expedition's legacy by linking to inner China via the Mekong through Laos, which they needed to control.
In the 1880s, France moved to dominate Vietnam's central (Annam) and northern (Tonkin) regions. They also firmed up their Cambodian position by seizing power from King Norodom with a show of gunboat force, which piqued further interest in the Mekong and overcoming Khone falls.
French Navy Lieutenant Campion first powered a small steamer up Cambodia's Sambor rapids in 1884, and Captain Paul Reveillère guided a steamboat to Don Khone's western shores, anchoring in what he named "Marguerite's Bay" in 1887. Onboard was a representative of Messageries Fluvial de Cochinchine, which held the Mekong navigation concession in Cambodia and Vietnam.
That same year, French businessman, Camille Gauthier, set off from Luang Prabang by raft, and managed to survive Khone Falls to reach Phnom Penh in January 1888. The efforts of both Gauthier and Reveillère led to the same conclusion; forget beating the rapids by boat.
Meanwhile, the French continued negotiating with Siam over the disputed Mekong borders, the failure of which prompted a French blockade of the Chao Praya River below Bangkok in July 1893. The Siamese relented and signed a treaty on 3rd October renouncing any claims on the Mekong's east bank. To hold the river, the French urgently needed gunboats above Khone Falls.
Steaming Ahead
From 1890-1892, Dr Mougeot tried to find a hidden passage around Khone Falls with the French steamboat, Argus, but he failed. The 1893 treaty in which Siam relinquished the Mekong's east bank urgently required gunboats above Don Khone, and the Gouverneur General de l'Indochine sought a new approach. Naval It Georges Simon was tasked with the "mission hydrographique du haut Mekong" to take two gunboats up the Mekong to Don Khone, dissemble them, cross the island, then re-assemble and launch the boats in calmer upriver waters.
In March 1893, the gunboats were ordered from France. Each weighed 22 tons, measured 26 meters, and could be dismantled into five pieces. La Grandiere and Massie arrived in Saigon on 30 July, where they were assembled, armed, and then cast off on 22 August. Meanwhile, Lt Simon contracted Messagieres Fluviales de Cochinchine in Saigon to quickly supply rail tracks and a carriage capable of hauling 35 tons, in the hope of moving the boats in one piece. He completed the 3-km line frog Marguerite Bay to Ban Khone in August. La Grandiere and Massie suffered significant damage in the lower Mekong, but reached Marguerite Bay, and on 12 September, Lt Simon tried and failed to hoist the Massie ashore. He then selected Hang Khone as the landing site and began rerouting the tracks. He also replaced the out-of-order La Grandiere with the heavier Ham Luong, a boat in local service that needed to be disassembled into two pieces for rail shipment. Using manpower to move the train, the boats reached Ban Khone in late October, and were re-floated on 1 November in Hou Behanzin Channel separating Don Khone and Don Det. A repaired La Grandiere completed the rail trip on 5 September 1894, and continued to Vientiane, Luang Prabang, and the Tang Ho rapids near China, the final point for Mekong steamboat navigation. On 15 July 1920, La Grandiere and its valuable cargo sank near Ban Thadeua, some 80 km south of Luang Prabang. Expeditions as recently as 2002 have tried salvage its remains.
The Railway's Rise and Fall
By early 1894, Lt Simon and hundreds of Vietnamese workers completed and improved Don Khone's rail line from Hang Khone to Ban Khone, and upgraded the boat ramps, and their foundations and walls. After the successful three-hour transfer of La Grandiere to Ban Khone Tai in early September, Messageries Fluviales de Cochinchine was contracted on 25 September "for the postal service of the connecting rivers of the upper Mekong," which included rail transport on Don Khone. They then ordered three 60-ton steamboats: the Garcerie, Colombert, and Trentinian.
This required further upgrades to the tracks and piers, which were undertaken from August-October 1896, and the three boats were launched in Ban Khone on 25 October.
Looking to meet growing commercial demand, Messageries Fluviales renewed its Mekong contract in July 1897, and adapted the tracks for steam locomotives, the first of which, the Paul Doumer, was purchased that year. Within a decade, couriers, cargo, and tourists began arriving in Hang Khone, trained to Ban Khone Tai, and transferred to steamers bound for Savannakhet and onward to Vientiane and Luang Prabang. The increased traffic at the beginning the century prompted Messageries Fluviales to extend the railway 2 km to Ban Don Det on northern Don Det Island in 1910. This required the construction of a 13-arch, 158-meter-long, reinforced concrete bridge across Hou Behanzin and improvements to the Hang Khone and Ban Don Det piers. To meet anticipated future demand for passengers and freight, Messageries Fluviales purchased more locomotives. The Ban Khone pavilion's locomotive was Ordered and delivered in 1,929 during the rail line's peak. However, demand never materialized, with dry season (December-May) traffic mostly servicing couriers and passengers, while rainy season brought floods. The construction of a 22-km road bypassing Khone Falls, and the 1937 integration of the road into Colonial Route 13 from Saigon to Luang Prabang dealt the death blow. During World War II, the Japanese controlled Don •Khone, and seem to have used the train for military purposes: When the Japanese left, the jungle moved in, engulfing the locomotives in plant growth and relegating the train tracks to recyclable junk.
The Birth of a Railway
The Don Khone-Don Det railway was born of French colonial necessity, opening the door to Mekong River transport by bypassing the impenetrable "Khone Falls". Until 1893, the Khone Falls' rocky rapids blocked French steamboat navigation up the Mekong from Saigon to inner China, thus hindering its Indochinese ambitions. Tensions were also mounting between France and Siam over disputed land on the Mekong's eastern bank. An 1893 naval blockade of Bangkok led to a border treaty favouring France, and an urgent need to move gunboats abo e Khone Falls to control the Mekong.
Earlier that year, France's "Mission Hydrographique du haut Mekong" ordered a pair of 26-meter-long steam gunboats, La Grandière and Massie, from France, which could be disassembled into five pieces for overland transport past the rapids via Don Khone Island.
Leading the mission was Naval Lt Georges Simon, who wanted to transfer the vessels in one piece along a 3-km railway from the island's western Marguerite Bay to Ban Khone. He ordered 1-meter-wide railway tracks and a 14-wheel carriage with a cradle formed to fit the two boats from Saigon-based Messageries Fluviales rather than prefabricated Decauville narrow tracks from France, due to cost, delivery time, and heavy load requirements. Lt Simon and some 500 Vietnamese workers, many of whom died due to the harsh conditions, spent from June to August 1893 clearing the jungle, building embankments, laying the tracks, and constructing boat ramps at Marguerite Bay and Ban Khone.
The gunboats arrived in Marguerite Bay in early September, but attempts to hoist the 22-ton Massie ashore failed. Lt Simon dismantled the tracks and extended the line south to Hang Khone, where the Massie and the heavier Ham Luong, a two-piece replacement for La Grandiere, could be pulled to land. As the Vietnamese manhandled the boat-laden carriage towards Ban Khone, their workmates dismantled the southern tracks and scurried to complete the northern end. The vessels finally reached Hou Behanzin Channel at Ban Khone and were launched on 1 November 1893.
Hang Khone's Heyday
Hang Khone was not France's first choice for landing two gunboats on Don Khone Island in its attempt to bypass "Khone Falls" and transport them to calmer upriver waters. In 1893, French Naval It Georges Simon laid railway tracks from Don Khone's Marguerite Bay to Ban Khone for transferring the 22-ton La Grandiere and Massie.
Hoisting the Massie ashore proved fruitless, and It Simon rerouted the tracks south to Hang Khone, where his Vietnamese workforce pulled the Massie and two-piece Ham Luong—a heavier replacement for the damaged La Grandiere — to the waiting rail carriage and over the island to be launched near Ban Khone.
Lt Simon ordered more materials and the Vietnamese completed a track and embankment upgrade by early 1894. On 5 September, they transported La Grandiere along the Hang Khone-Ban Khone railway in just three hours. That same year, France contracted Messageries Fluviales de Cochinchine to oversee transport on the Mekong's Lao stretch including Don Khone's railway and ports. The company added three 60-ton steamboats, and to accommodate the larger vessels, which were dismantled at Hang Khone for the move, Lt Simon enlarged the pier's ramps from August-October 1896. Upon renewing its contract in 1897, Messageries Fluviales bought its first steam locomotive; installed reinforced concrete piers, storage depots, and cranes; and improved the river bank to facilitate docking boats in low water. This transformed Hang Khone into the sole gateway for cargo and passengers heading up the Mekong into Laos.
According to villagers' accounts, the pavilion's train engine was originally a French model refurbished by the Japanese during WWII. The structure above the pier housed an engine that drew underground cables through still-visible pulleys up the low-water ramp. Cranes on rails lifted cargo during high waters, and though the track is gone, its position can still be seen, as can the reservoir on the hill.
Conquering Khone Falls
The first of very few steamers to ever conquer Khone Falls was a feat performed by Norwegian Peter Hauff. Born in 1873, Hauff landed a job in 1894 with a large commercial trading firm in Saigon, where he immersed himself in the culture and language, which gained the respect of locals. In 1898, Hauff took a passenger steamer to Hang Khone, hopped on the new locomotive to Ban Khone, and boarded a steamboat to Bassac (Champasak). With trade on the rise with the upper Mekong, Hauff ordered a 16-meter freighter from the experienced Niger River Company in 1902.
Hauff and his 11-man crew received the dismantled vessel, Si-thanh, in Saigon, assembled it and set off to Phnom Penh with an Annamese pilot. During the slow 10-day trip, Hauff fell ill, they lost their way, and the firewood got wet. Hauff hired a Cambodian pilot for the Don Khone voyage, where the French railway would transport Si-thanh. However, Messageries Fluviales, which controlled the island's railway, wanted an "impossible price", and refused to sell him oil or firewood. Hauff declined the exorbitant offer, though he knew about the failed attempts to navigate the falls. Undaunted, he headed to nearby Don Sadam, where an elder suggested he try Hou Sadam Channel, which separated Don Sadam and Don Phapheng islands. With the river level starting to recede, Hauff had little time. He ordered his men to buy coconut oil for lubricant and collect dry wood. They departed the next morning, and fought a strong current, relying on tying ropes to trees to progress one mile. Tree chopping and an anchor chain and winch shortened the second day to some 150 meters. An easy Day 3 preceded a stretch of shallow water that required building a dam of trees behind the boat to move ahead.
Hauff, his crew, and Si-thanh arrived in North Don Khone on their fifth day, and received a hero's welcome at the French government shop. Hauff had accomplished the impossible.
The Railway Reaches Its Peak
After the successful transfer of La Grandière in early September 1894, Messageries Fluviales received the concession for Mekong transport in Laos, including the Don Khone railway. The company decided to upgrade its fleet, adding massive 60-ton steamboats — Garcerie, Colombert and Trentinian. This required rectifying the 1-meter tracks, improving the embankments, and enlarging the piers' ramps from August-October 1896, with the boats launched in Ban Khone on 25 October.
This kicked off a commercial era on Don Khone, as the railway terminals became mandatory transit points for goods and passengers traveling up the Mekong into Lao, while the island's strategic significance remained high.
Eyeing Don Khone's economic potential, Messageries Fluviales renewed its contract in July 1897, and adapted narrower 0.6 meter-wide tracks needed for Decauville locomotives into the line, rather than relying on manpower, and purchased its first steam engine, the Paul Downer. The train now transported cardamom, hides, ivory, precious wood, and benzoin gold from Laos to downriver steamers, while hauling Cambodian and European fabric as well as Western household utensils, tools, and glassware to Don Khone's upriver port. The rising traffic congested the Ban Khone terminal, prompting Messageries Fluviales in 1910 to construct a 13-arch, 158-meter-long, reinforced concrete bridge across the Hou Behanzin Channel to Don Det Island and extend the railway 2 km to Ban Don Det. They also built reinforced concrete piers, low-water docking facilities, storage depots, and gantry cranes, while firming up older tracks for the increase in traffic. Hang Khone's bright future soon dimmed as annual traffic never reached expectations and started declining in 1930. Further, the Mekong's shallow waters (December-May) limited traffic, and rainy season flooding interrupted service. Then in 1937, Colonial Route 13 bypassing Don Khone sealed the train's fate. Local people used some of the old rails for building bridges and other structures. However, remnants of Hang Khone and Ban Don Det's port infrastructure still stand.
Sitting in Ban Khone Tai's railroad yard, where repairs took place, is a locomotive produced for the wider 1-meter track, and dates to 1929 during the railway's glory years. The Japanese modified Hang Khone's engine for military purposes during World War II, after taking control of Don Khone. When the Japanese left, the jungle moved in, engulfing the locomotives in plant growth and relegating the train tracks to recyclable junk.
Primary Source: "Laos, le Chemin de fer des canonnieres" by Jean-Michel Strobino, la Vie du Rail, issue 2329, 23-29 January 1992.
Text from information around the remains of the trains
Union Pacific dispatched a Customer Special through Salt Lake City, Utah on May 20, 2024. Symbol SESML 16 carried a large transformer, en route from East St. Louis, Illinois to Moss Landing, California. The train originated in Mcgehees, Alabama, handled by HLI Rail Rigging Logistics, and shipped by CSX to East St. Louis. The load is mounted to a 12-axle, low boy type flat car. The other seven random freight cars were included for buffering and braking.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
El zorzal común (Turdus philomelos) es un ave de la familia Turdidae que habita buena parte de Eurasia. Presenta dorso marrón y vientre amarillento con manchas oscuras generalmente color café y se clasifica en tres subespecies. Su particular canto, que repite frases musicales, ha merecido frecuentes alusiones poéticas.
El ave se cría en los bosques, jardines y parques, y presenta una conducta migratoria parcial, ya que muchos ejemplares hibernan en el sur de Europa, norte de África y el Medio Oriente. Se lo ha introducido en Nueva Zelanda y Australia; y aunque no se encuentra bajo amenaza global, su población ha disminuido seriamente en varias partes de Europa probablemente a causa de modificaciones en las prácticas agrícolas.[cita requerida]
El zorzal construye un prolijo nido de barro sobre un árbol o arbusto, y empolla cuatro a cinco huevos azules con manchas oscuras. Es un animal omnívoro que tiene la costumbre de utilizar una determinada piedra a modo de yunque donde romper caracoles. De la misma forma que sucede con otros passeriformes, lo afectan parásitos externos e internos, y es víctima de predadores como gatos y aves de presa.
Nombre
Turdus philomelos fue descrito por primera vez por el ornitólogo alemán Christian Ludwig Brehm en 1831, y conserva su nombre científico original. El nombre genérico, «Turdus», es el término latino para Tordo, y «philomelos» refiere a un personaje de la mitología griega, Filomela, a quien le habían cortado la lengua, pero luego los dioses transformaron en un ruiseñor. El nombre deriva del griego antiguo philo- (amante) y melos (canto).
shooting for a blog at -15 celsius (5 F) is not that great...but the result is worth it!
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Model: Julia
Location: St.Albert
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Pointblank from G1 Transformers cartoon series, turns into a futuristic speedster. Transformation doesn't require reassembly of parts.
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The Algarve, Portugal’s southernmost region, is known for its Mediterranean beaches and golf resorts. Whitewashed fishing villages on low cliffs overlooking sandy coves were transformed in the 1960s, and now its central coast between Lagos and Faro is lined with villas, hotels, bars and restaurants. The region's western Atlantic coast and rugged interior are less developed.
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N° de série : 133
Immatriculation : 4-GL
Année de Construction : -
Rafale Solo Display Team
Escadron de Transformation Rafale 3/4 Aquitaine
Dernière représentation de la Patrouille de France - Base Aérienne 701 - Salon-de-Provence
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The west side of the North Terrace in Adelaide is transferring at a high rate to high rise. © Henk Graalman 5140
¿cómo funcionan estas "máquinas" que transforman la leña en carbón? Una vez cargados, se sellan las puertas (tienen una para la carga y otra, en el lado opuesto, para la descarga) y se empieza a prender por un hueco de unos 50 centímetros. "Después se le da unas diez horas de fuego y, una vez que éste «agarra», se tapa la abertura con barro y el horno comienza a trabajar solo."
Luego de 24 horas, el fuego comienza a bajar a las vizcacheras, 12 pequeñas aberturas ubicadas aproximadamente cada un metro y medio en la parte inferior de las paredes. Estas son indispensables para manejar el quemado. Cuando el fuego cae en la primera se la debe tapar, para que la llama se apague en ese sector y "caiga" en el siguiente. Una por una, estas bocas se van sellando en el sentido de las agujas del reloj, hasta que arde el último tronco. Es ésta la fórmula para guiar el fuego y realizar un quemado parejo. "Cuando ya ardió toda la leña, comienza a salir un humo celeste claro al principio y blanco después, entonces se tapa la boca de la chimenea para ahogar el fuego. Acá no podemos usar agua, porque se estropearía el carbón", explicó Jesús.
Todo ese proceso lleva tres días, y se deberán aguardar otros tres para que el horno se enfríe y se pueda sacar la producción. Apenas se vacíe, volverá a llenarse con leña seca y todo empezará otra vez. "No bien se saca, el carbón se carga en un camión y se despacha, para no correr el riesgo de que una lluvia lo moje."
Charcoal production in Santiago del Estero, still using ancient production methods...
"Tout est dans un flux continuel sur la terre. Rien n'y garde une forme constante et arrêtée, et nos affections qui s'attachent aux choses extérieures passent et changent nécessairement comme elles."
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlvUepMa31o&feature=related
Claude Debussy
“Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot; others transform a yellow spot into the sun.”
Pablo Picasso
Step right up and witness the magic of the carnival stage, where glamour meets performance. In this dazzling look, Ivanna commands the spotlight with confidence and poise, framed within a suspended hoop that evokes the elegance of an aerial performer. The sparkling rhinestone lingerie catches every glimmer of light, creating a radiant shimmer against the vibrant carnival backdrop.
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Outfit: Crystal Temptation Set by LAP
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Heels: Lustre Link Heels by LAP
* Step into effortless elegance with these stunning heels designed to elevate any look. Featuring a built-in color picker, you can fully customize different parts and details of the shoes, giving you the freedom to create truly unique styles that perfectly match your outfit. For even more convenience, the full pack includes 8 preset colors, while single color versions are also available for easy styling.
Crafted with both PBR and Non-PBR options, these heels deliver beautiful shine and detail across different viewer settings. Designed to fit Lara X, Legacy, and Reborn mesh bodies, they provide a sleek, flattering finish—making them the perfect statement piece for runway moments, events, or everyday glamour.
LAP
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