Her Majesty’s Theatre in Ballarat’s Lydiard Street is one of the most intact, commercial nineteenth century theatres in Australia. Originally opened as the Ballarat Academy of Music in order to avoid the negative moral connotations associated with theatres at the time, Her Majesty’s was completed in 1875 to a design by architect George Browne. The Academy had a flat floored auditorium suitable for respectable dances and dinners, and a fully equipped stage. It was built to supersede Ballarat's Theatre Royal (built in 1858), which stood in Sturt Street. While very grand, the Royal had become outdated and no longer met the technical requirements of the touring companies.

 

The Academy was built by the wealthy Clarke family at the initiative of a group of local people who felt that Ballarat, as the premier city of the Victorian goldfields, should have a theatre worthy of its status. They guaranteed to rent it from the Clarkes at 10% of the construction cost, which was £13,000.

 

Built over a disused mineshaft, the original timber theatre initially comprised a theatre with rectangular auditorium, a steep lyre-shaped gallery, three entries leading to separate parts of the auditorium and two shops facing Lydiard Street.

 

Ballarat's handsome new theatre was ready ahead of schedule, and was opened on 7th June 1875. The first production was a comic opera by the French composer Lecocq, "La Fille de Madame Angot," presented by the Royal Opera Bouffe Company run by W. S. Lyster, Australia's first opera impresario.

 

Soon after the Academy opened, the large Supper Room above Lydiard Street was leased to William Bridges, a former miner, who ran it as an art gallery, displaying an excellent collection of European and Australian artworks, including his own tapestries. After Bridges moved his operations to Melbourne in 1883, the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery was formed. The Gallery Society ran the Gallery from the Academy from 1884 until 1890, when the present Art Gallery in Lydiard Street North was opened.

 

For the next twenty five years, the Academy of Music was unchallenged as Ballarat's main theatrical venue. It was never as popular as the old Theatre Royal, however, as the rather cavernous hall lacked the intimacy of the older playhouse. In 1898, when Sir William Clarke died, the building was bought by a local consortium and transformed into the delightful theatrical space we know today.

 

The new owners commissioned Australia's leading theatre architect, William Pitt (1855 – 1918), to remodel the interior and improve the stage facilities. William, who had been apprenticed to George Browne, also designed Melbourne's Princess Theatre amongst many other buildings. The present layout of the auditorium with sloping floor and double balconies, is Pitt's creation. The colour scheme is a recreation of the interior decoration undertaken at that time by Hugh Paterson, one of Melbourne's leading designers.

 

Paterson also decorated the dome and proscenium arch with murals. The mural in the dome depicted a carnival scene, with dancers in fanciful costumes; Comedy and Tragedy were featured on either side of the proscenium arch, with Shakespeare over the top. Unfortunately all the murals were destroyed in 1907 when Government regulations required the proscenium wall to be replaced with a solid firewall. The dome was removed at the same time for structural reasons, and was restored in 1990. The Dress Circle Lobby also dates from 1907.

 

The 1898 theatre was constructed in brick with timber roof construction sheeted with iron. The main body is brick with piers both inside and out. The hipped trussed roof covers both the three-level auditorium and the stage with dressing rooms below. The ground floor and foyer have been considerably altered at various times but the auditorium and stage structure are original as is much of the auditorium ceiling and pilastered walls. The roof over the stage also dates from 1875 and the later inclusion of a fly tower stage in 1898 is fitted around the original trusses. The flying system is the only manual (non counterweight) system in existence in Australia. In the auditorium roof there appears to have been two domes, a small one dating from before 1898 for which the horizontal shutters and tube structure to a former sliding ventilated roof are still in existence. When 1898 dome was removed a false octagonal ceiling was fitted in its place. Internally the circle and gallery levels are horseshoe shaped in plan and are carried on cast iron columns. The balcony balustrading is swag bellied and decorated. It is believed that the wall pilasters, panelled ceilings and proscenium are original decorations and some traces of art nouveau decorative motifs are to be seen where later alterations have been made. The two balconies were constructed in 1898, but one balcony front is the reused 1874 front while the second was made to match. The balconies and cast-iron supporting posts are typical for auditoria design in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. The double balcony, supported on columns, is now the last of this form of theatre in Victoria. The facade of this building is two storeyed in height with stucco ornamentation in a somewhat florid Classical style. The upper storey windows are round headed with archivolts supported by slender columns as are the two ground floor subsidiary entrances. The highly decorated curved entrance has now been lost. The ground floor facade has been much altered and a street awning has been added. The first floor facade is intact but the parapet balustrading and ornamentation has been destroyed.

 

From the First World War on, the Theatre was increasingly used for cinema presentations. A Bio Box (projection room) was built above the Dress Circle Lobby in 1916, and the Theatre was wired for sound in 1930. In 1928, the Hoyts cinema chain took over control over the building through its local subsidiary, Ballarat Theatres Limited, which ran Her Majesty's in tandem with the Regent Theatre (purposely built as a cinema).

 

In 1936, Her Majesty's was leased and operated by Ballarat Amusements, part of the Woodrow Distributing Company, presenting MGM and Paramount movies. Ballarat Amusements ran it until the early 1960s.

 

During the silent movie era, a theatre orchestra provided the film accompaniment. The Ballarat Theatre Organ Society installed the Theatre's Compton Theatre Organ in 1982.

 

Even when Her Majesty's was primarily a cinema, it was always available, to a lesser or greater degree, for live performances. It was used regularly by J. C. Williamson's and other touring companies as well as local groups. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s huge crowds came to see the annual pantomimes staged by the Wavie Williams Pantomime Company. For the last forty years, the Theatre has been used to stage locally produced musical comedies.

 

Television came to Ballarat in 1962, and had an immediate impact on attendances at the local cinemas. Ballarat Amusements decided to cease screenings and Hoyts put the building on the market.

 

In 1965, the Theatre was bought by the Royal South Street Society as the home for its Annual Competitions.The Bolte State Government gave the Society £20,000 towards the purchase price and a further grant towards the adaptation of the building for the Competitions. Further assistance towards both purposes came from local businessman, Alf Reid. It was clearly understood at the time that the Society would be managing the Theatre as a community facility.

 

The Society renamed Her Majesty's the Memorial Theatre, a move which made donations to its renovation appeal tax deductable.

 

The Society was unable to adequately maintain the upkeep of the building, however, and gifted it to the then City of Ballaarat in 1987, reserving the right to hold competitions in the Theatre every year between August and November.

 

The City of Ballarat undertook a major renovation, seeking funding from a wide range of businesses, individuals and organisations. The Theatre reopened as Her Majesty's on the 1st of November, 1990.

 

Her Majesty’s Theatre in Ballarat’s Lydiard Street is one of the most intact, commercial nineteenth century theatres in Australia. Originally opened as the Ballarat Academy of Music in order to avoid the negative moral connotations associated with theatres at the time, Her Majesty’s was completed in 1875 to a design by architect George Browne. The Academy had a flat floored auditorium suitable for respectable dances and dinners, and a fully equipped stage. It was built to supersede Ballarat's Theatre Royal (built in 1858), which stood in Sturt Street. While very grand, the Royal had become outdated and no longer met the technical requirements of the touring companies.

 

The Academy was built by the wealthy Clarke family at the initiative of a group of local people who felt that Ballarat, as the premier city of the Victorian goldfields, should have a theatre worthy of its status. They guaranteed to rent it from the Clarkes at 10% of the construction cost, which was £13,000.

 

Built over a disused mineshaft, the original timber theatre initially comprised a theatre with rectangular auditorium, a steep lyre-shaped gallery, three entries leading to separate parts of the auditorium and two shops facing Lydiard Street.

 

Ballarat's handsome new theatre was ready ahead of schedule, and was opened on 7th June 1875. The first production was a comic opera by the French composer Lecocq, "La Fille de Madame Angot," presented by the Royal Opera Bouffe Company run by W. S. Lyster, Australia's first opera impresario.

 

Soon after the Academy opened, the large Supper Room above Lydiard Street was leased to William Bridges, a former miner, who ran it as an art gallery, displaying an excellent collection of European and Australian artworks, including his own tapestries. After Bridges moved his operations to Melbourne in 1883, the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery was formed. The Gallery Society ran the Gallery from the Academy from 1884 until 1890, when the present Art Gallery in Lydiard Street North was opened.

 

For the next twenty five years, the Academy of Music was unchallenged as Ballarat's main theatrical venue. It was never as popular as the old Theatre Royal, however, as the rather cavernous hall lacked the intimacy of the older playhouse. In 1898, when Sir William Clarke died, the building was bought by a local consortium and transformed into the delightful theatrical space we know today.

 

The new owners commissioned Australia's leading theatre architect, William Pitt (1855 – 1918), to remodel the interior and improve the stage facilities. William, who had been apprenticed to George Browne, also designed Melbourne's Princess Theatre amongst many other buildings. The present layout of the auditorium with sloping floor and double balconies, is Pitt's creation. The colour scheme is a recreation of the interior decoration undertaken at that time by Hugh Paterson, one of Melbourne's leading designers.

 

Paterson also decorated the dome and proscenium arch with murals. The mural in the dome depicted a carnival scene, with dancers in fanciful costumes; Comedy and Tragedy were featured on either side of the proscenium arch, with Shakespeare over the top. Unfortunately all the murals were destroyed in 1907 when Government regulations required the proscenium wall to be replaced with a solid firewall. The dome was removed at the same time for structural reasons, and was restored in 1990. The Dress Circle Lobby also dates from 1907.

 

The 1898 theatre was constructed in brick with timber roof construction sheeted with iron. The main body is brick with piers both inside and out. The hipped trussed roof covers both the three-level auditorium and the stage with dressing rooms below. The ground floor and foyer have been considerably altered at various times but the auditorium and stage structure are original as is much of the auditorium ceiling and pilastered walls. The roof over the stage also dates from 1875 and the later inclusion of a fly tower stage in 1898 is fitted around the original trusses. The flying system is the only manual (non counterweight) system in existence in Australia. In the auditorium roof there appears to have been two domes, a small one dating from before 1898 for which the horizontal shutters and tube structure to a former sliding ventilated roof are still in existence. When 1898 dome was removed a false octagonal ceiling was fitted in its place. Internally the circle and gallery levels are horseshoe shaped in plan and are carried on cast iron columns. The balcony balustrading is swag bellied and decorated. It is believed that the wall pilasters, panelled ceilings and proscenium are original decorations and some traces of art nouveau decorative motifs are to be seen where later alterations have been made. The two balconies were constructed in 1898, but one balcony front is the reused 1874 front while the second was made to match. The balconies and cast-iron supporting posts are typical for auditoria design in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. The double balcony, supported on columns, is now the last of this form of theatre in Victoria. The facade of this building is two storeyed in height with stucco ornamentation in a somewhat florid Classical style. The upper storey windows are round headed with archivolts supported by slender columns as are the two ground floor subsidiary entrances. The highly decorated curved entrance has now been lost. The ground floor facade has been much altered and a street awning has been added. The first floor facade is intact but the parapet balustrading and ornamentation has been destroyed.

 

From the First World War on, the Theatre was increasingly used for cinema presentations. A Bio Box (projection room) was built above the Dress Circle Lobby in 1916, and the Theatre was wired for sound in 1930. In 1928, the Hoyts cinema chain took over control over the building through its local subsidiary, Ballarat Theatres Limited, which ran Her Majesty's in tandem with the Regent Theatre (purposely built as a cinema).

 

In 1936, Her Majesty's was leased and operated by Ballarat Amusements, part of the Woodrow Distributing Company, presenting MGM and Paramount movies. Ballarat Amusements ran it until the early 1960s.

 

During the silent movie era, a theatre orchestra provided the film accompaniment. The Ballarat Theatre Organ Society installed the Theatre's Compton Theatre Organ in 1982.

 

Even when Her Majesty's was primarily a cinema, it was always available, to a lesser or greater degree, for live performances. It was used regularly by J. C. Williamson's and other touring companies as well as local groups. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s huge crowds came to see the annual pantomimes staged by the Wavie Williams Pantomime Company. For the last forty years, the Theatre has been used to stage locally produced musical comedies.

 

Television came to Ballarat in 1962, and had an immediate impact on attendances at the local cinemas. Ballarat Amusements decided to cease screenings and Hoyts put the building on the market.

 

In 1965, the Theatre was bought by the Royal South Street Society as the home for its Annual Competitions.The Bolte State Government gave the Society £20,000 towards the purchase price and a further grant towards the adaptation of the building for the Competitions. Further assistance towards both purposes came from local businessman, Alf Reid. It was clearly understood at the time that the Society would be managing the Theatre as a community facility.

 

The Society renamed Her Majesty's the Memorial Theatre, a move which made donations to its renovation appeal tax deductable.

 

The Society was unable to adequately maintain the upkeep of the building, however, and gifted it to the then City of Ballaarat in 1987, reserving the right to hold competitions in the Theatre every year between August and November.

 

The City of Ballarat undertook a major renovation, seeking funding from a wide range of businesses, individuals and organisations. The Theatre reopened as Her Majesty's on the 1st of November, 1990.

 

Palace of Fontainebleau

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Palace and Park of Fontainebleau

Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List

 

Location of Palace of Fontainebleau in France.

The Palace of Fontainebleau, located 55 kilometres from the centre of Paris, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The palace as it is today is the work of many French monarchs, building on an early 16th-century structure of Francis I. The building is arranged around a series of courtyards. The commune of Fontainebleau has grown up around the remainder of the Forest of Fontainebleau, a former royal hunting park. This forest is now home to many endangered species of Europe.

 

The throne room, formerly the King’s bedroom from Henry IV to Louis XVI, it was converted into the throne room by Napoleon

The older château on this site was already used in the latter part of the 12th century by King Louis VII, for whom Thomas Becket consecrated the chapel. Fontainebleau was a favourite residence of Philip Augustus (Philip II) and Louis IX. The creator of the present edifice was Francis I, under whom the architect Gilles le Breton erected most of the buildings of the Cour Ovale, including the Porte Dorée, its southern entrance. The king also invited the architect Sebastiano Serlio to France, and Leonardo da Vinci. The Gallery of Francis I, with its frescoes framed in stucco by Rosso Fiorentino, carried out between 1522 and 1540, was the first great decorated gallery built in France. Broadly speaking, at Fontainebleau the Renaissance was introduced to France. The Salle des Fêtes, in the reign of Henry II, was decorated by the Italian Mannerist painters, Francesco Primaticcio and Niccolò dell'Abbate. Benvenuto Cellini's "Nymph of Fontainebleau", commissioned for the château, is at the Louvre.

 

Another campaign of extensive construction was undertaken by King Henry II and Catherine de' Medici, who commissioned architects Philibert Delorme and Jean Bullant. To the Fontainebleau of François I and Henry II, King Henry IV added the court that carries his name, the Cour des Princes, with the adjoining Galerie de Diane de Poitiers and the Galerie des Cerfs, used as a library. A "second school of Fontainebleau" decorators, less ambitious and original than the first, evolved from these additional projects. Henry IV pierced the wooded park with a 1200m canal (which can be fished today) and ordered the planting of pines, elms and fruit trees. The park stretches of an area more than 80 hectares, enclosed by walls and pierced rectilinear paths. Henry IV's gardener, Claude Mollet, trained at Château d'Anet, laid out patterned parterres. Preserved on the grounds is Henry IV's jeu de paume (real tennis court). It is the largest such court in the world, and one of the few publicly owned.

 

Philip the Fair (Philip IV), Henry III and Louis XIII were all born in the palace, and Philip died there. Christina of Sweden lived there for years, following her abdication in 1654. In 1685 Fontainebleau saw the signing of the Edict of Fontainebleau, which revoked the Edict of Nantes (1598). Royal guests of the Bourbon kings were housed at Fontainebleau, including Peter the Great of Russia and Christian VII of Denmark.

 

Revolution and Empire

By the late 18th century, the château had fallen into disrepair; during the French Revolution many of the original furnishings were sold, in the long Revolutionary sales of the contents of all the royal châteaux, intended as a way of raising money for the nation and ensuring that the Bourbons could not return to their comforts. Nevertheless, within a decade Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte began to transform the Château de Fontainebleau into a symbol of his grandeur, as an alternative to the empty Palace of Versailles, with its Bourbon connotations. Napoleon hosted Pope Pius VII there in 1804, when he came to consecrate the emperor, and again in 1812–1814, when he was Napoleon's prisoner. With modifications of the château's structure, including the cobblestone entrance wide enough for his carriage, Napoleon helped make the château the place that visitors see today. At Fontainebleau Napoleon abdicated for the first time, bade farewell to his Old Guard and went into exile in 1814.Fontainebleau was also the setting of the Second Empire court of his nephew Napoleon III.

 

Today

The château is now home to the Écoles d'Art Américaines, a school of art, architecture, and music for students from the United States. The school was founded by General Pershing when his men were stationed there during the First World War.

  

Palacio de Fontainebleau

Palacio y parque de Fontainebleau. Nombre descrito en la Lista del Patrimonio de la Humanidad.

 

Coordenadas48°24′07″N 02°41′53″E País Francia

 

La Sala de espectáculos del Palacio de Fontainebleau, en 1855.

El Palacio de Fontainebleau, en francés Château de Fontainebleau, es uno de los mayores palacios reales franceses. Está localizado en la ciudad de Fontainebleau, departamento de Sena y Marne, en el norte de Francia.

 

El palacio refleja, actualmente, las aportaciones constructivas y decorativas de varios monarcas franceses, a partir de una estructura inicial de Francisco I. El edificio se desarrolla alrededor de una serie de patios.

 

La ciudad de Fontainebleau creció en su entorno y en lo que restaba de la «floresta de Fontainebleau» (en español bosque de Fontainebleau), un antiguo parque real de caza.

 

Este palacio introdujo en Francia el Manierismo italiano, en la decoración de interiores y en los jardines, adaptándolo. El manierismo francés en la decoración de interiores del siglo XVI es conocido como «estilo Fontainebleau»: combina escultura, forja, pintura, estuco y carpintería. En jardinería supuso la introducción del parterre.

 

El ideal de belleza femenina en Fontainebleau es, también, manierista: una pequeña y graciosa cabeza en un cuello esbelto, torso y brazos exageradamente largos, pechos pequeños y altos; es casi un regreso a las bellezas del gótico tardío. Los nuevos ideales de Fontainebleau fueron plasmados en refinados y detallados grabados que circularon entre artistas y entendidos.

 

A través de los grabados realizados por la «Escuela de Fontainebleau», este nuevo estilo fue transmitido a otros centros del norte de Europa, especialmente en Amberes, Bélgica, Alemania y, más tarde, también Londres.

 

El viejo castillo que se erigía en este lugar ya era usado al final del siglo XII por el rey Luis VII, para quien Thomas Becket consagró la capilla. Fontainebleau fue una de las residencias favoritas de Felipe II y de Luis IX. El creador del edificio actual fue Francisco I, para quien el arquitecto Gilles le Breton construyó la mayor parte del Cour Ovale (Patio Ovalado), incluyendo la Porte Dorée (Puerta Dorada), en su entrada sur. Este rey también invitó a Sebastiano Serlio y Leonardo da Vinci. La Galería de Francisco I, con sus frescos hechos en estuco por Rosso Fiorentino, fue construida entre 1522 y 1540, siendo la primera gran galería decorada construida en Francia.

 

El Renacimiento fue introducido en Francia por el Palacio de Fontainebleau, por influencia de Enrique II y Catalina de Médici, que contrataron a los arquitectos Philibert Delorme y Jean Bullant, con los que llevaron a cabo una importante campaña de remodelaciones. La Salle des Fêtes (Salón de Baile) fue decorada por los pintores manieristas italianos Francesco Primaticcio y Niccolò dell'Abbate. La «Ninfa de Fontainebleau», de Benvenuto Cellini, encargada para el palacio, está en el Louvre.

 

Al Fontainebleau de Francisco I y Enrique II, Enrique IV añadió el patio que lleva su nombre, el Cour des Princes (Patio de los Príncipes), la Galerie de Diane de Poitiers (Galería de Diana de Poitiers) y la Galerie des Cerfs (Galería de los Ciervos), usada como biblioteca. Una «segunda escuela de decoradores de Fontainebleau», menos ambiciosa y original que la primera, estuvo involucrada en estos proyectos. Enrique IV perforó el parque forestal con un canal de 1200 metros, donde actualmente se puede pescar, y ordenó la plantación de pinos, olmos y frutales. Su jardinero, Claude Mollet, con habilidades ya probadas en el Château d'Anet, ejecutó los parterres.

 

Tres siglos después el palacio entró en decadencia; durante la Revolución francesa mucho del mobiliario original se dispersó en las ventas revolucionarias del contenido de todos los palacios reales, concebidas como una forma de conseguir dinero para la nación y asegurar que los Borbones no podrían volver a sus dominios. Dentro de la década siguiente, el emperador Napoleón Bonaparte comenzó a transformar el Château de Fontainebleau en un símbolo de su grandeza, como una alternativa al Palacio de Versalles que tenía connotaciones borbónicas. En Fontainebleau, Napoleón I de Francia firmó su abdicación, con el Tratado de Fontainebleau. Se despidió de su Vieja Guardia y partió al exilio.

 

Con modificaciones en la estructura del palacio, incluyendo la entrada de cantería suficientemente ancha para su carruaje, Napoleón ayudó a hacer del palacio el lugar que los visitantes conocen actualmente. Fontainebleau fue el escenario de la Corte del Segundo Imperio de su sobrino Napoleón III. Felipe IV, Enrique III y Luis XIII nacieron en este palacio, y el primer de estos reyes también murió aquí. Cristina de Suecia vivió en Fontainebleau durante varios años, después de abdicar en 1654. En 1685 Fontainebleau fue el escenario de la firma del Edicto de Fontainebleau, el cual revocó el Edicto de Nantes (1598). Huéspedes reales de los reyes de la dinastía de los Borbones fueron instalados en Fontainebleau: Pedro I de Rusia y Cristián VII de Dinamarca, y también, en la época de Napoleón, el Papa Pío VII, en 1804 cuando vino a consagrar a Napoleón como Emperador, y entre 1812 y 1814, cuando fue su prisionero.

 

Actualmente, parte del palacio alberga las Écoles d'Art Américaines (Escuelas de Artes Americanas), una escuela de arte, arquitectura y música para estudiantes de los EUA. Preservado en los campos está el jeu de paume (campo de tenis real) de Enrique IV. Es el mayor campo de tenis de este género en el mundo, y uno de los pocos de propiedad pública.

 

En 1981, el Château de Fontainebleau fue clasificado Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la Unesco.

  

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontainebleau

  

The ex elephant house, one of my aunties had her 70th Birthday here. I wondered out loud if there were any connotations to this location as the other location was the Lion enclosure. Now when I was told about the Lion enclosure I had visions of my Uncle (as a birthday present to his Wife) being tossed into the pit while we all gently clapped as he ran in fear. Was not to be as the rain washed that one. But back to the Elephant house, We will not talk about Elephants tonight said my cousin in a deep mainly voice, the deep mainly voice was because he was talking to the wolf and trying to exert some kinda seriousness. Soooo then said the Wolf shall we talk about Hippopotamus'ssssss then? That's when my Auntie came in and I shut up for a bit, I love this Auntie to bits. But what a great place for a dinner, and the wander around the zoo in the dark; its another world.

D700~Tokina 28-70mm~2.8 AT-X Pro

Topazed to ping the pic, then a low key filter to give it the edge

Her Majesty’s Theatre in Ballarat’s Lydiard Street is one of the most intact, commercial nineteenth century theatres in Australia. Originally opened as the Ballarat Academy of Music in order to avoid the negative moral connotations associated with theatres at the time, Her Majesty’s was completed in 1875 to a design by architect George Browne. The Academy had a flat floored auditorium suitable for respectable dances and dinners, and a fully equipped stage. It was built to supersede Ballarat's Theatre Royal (built in 1858), which stood in Sturt Street. While very grand, the Royal had become outdated and no longer met the technical requirements of the touring companies.

 

The Academy was built by the wealthy Clarke family at the initiative of a group of local people who felt that Ballarat, as the premier city of the Victorian goldfields, should have a theatre worthy of its status. They guaranteed to rent it from the Clarkes at 10% of the construction cost, which was £13,000.

 

Built over a disused mineshaft, the original timber theatre initially comprised a theatre with rectangular auditorium, a steep lyre-shaped gallery, three entries leading to separate parts of the auditorium and two shops facing Lydiard Street.

 

Ballarat's handsome new theatre was ready ahead of schedule, and was opened on 7th June 1875. The first production was a comic opera by the French composer Lecocq, "La Fille de Madame Angot," presented by the Royal Opera Bouffe Company run by W. S. Lyster, Australia's first opera impresario.

 

Soon after the Academy opened, the large Supper Room above Lydiard Street was leased to William Bridges, a former miner, who ran it as an art gallery, displaying an excellent collection of European and Australian artworks, including his own tapestries. After Bridges moved his operations to Melbourne in 1883, the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery was formed. The Gallery Society ran the Gallery from the Academy from 1884 until 1890, when the present Art Gallery in Lydiard Street North was opened.

 

For the next twenty five years, the Academy of Music was unchallenged as Ballarat's main theatrical venue. It was never as popular as the old Theatre Royal, however, as the rather cavernous hall lacked the intimacy of the older playhouse. In 1898, when Sir William Clarke died, the building was bought by a local consortium and transformed into the delightful theatrical space we know today.

 

The new owners commissioned Australia's leading theatre architect, William Pitt (1855 – 1918), to remodel the interior and improve the stage facilities. William, who had been apprenticed to George Browne, also designed Melbourne's Princess Theatre amongst many other buildings. The present layout of the auditorium with sloping floor and double balconies, is Pitt's creation. The colour scheme is a recreation of the interior decoration undertaken at that time by Hugh Paterson, one of Melbourne's leading designers.

 

Paterson also decorated the dome and proscenium arch with murals. The mural in the dome depicted a carnival scene, with dancers in fanciful costumes; Comedy and Tragedy were featured on either side of the proscenium arch, with Shakespeare over the top. Unfortunately all the murals were destroyed in 1907 when Government regulations required the proscenium wall to be replaced with a solid firewall. The dome was removed at the same time for structural reasons, and was restored in 1990. The Dress Circle Lobby also dates from 1907.

 

The 1898 theatre was constructed in brick with timber roof construction sheeted with iron. The main body is brick with piers both inside and out. The hipped trussed roof covers both the three-level auditorium and the stage with dressing rooms below. The ground floor and foyer have been considerably altered at various times but the auditorium and stage structure are original as is much of the auditorium ceiling and pilastered walls. The roof over the stage also dates from 1875 and the later inclusion of a fly tower stage in 1898 is fitted around the original trusses. The flying system is the only manual (non counterweight) system in existence in Australia. In the auditorium roof there appears to have been two domes, a small one dating from before 1898 for which the horizontal shutters and tube structure to a former sliding ventilated roof are still in existence. When 1898 dome was removed a false octagonal ceiling was fitted in its place. Internally the circle and gallery levels are horseshoe shaped in plan and are carried on cast iron columns. The balcony balustrading is swag bellied and decorated. It is believed that the wall pilasters, panelled ceilings and proscenium are original decorations and some traces of art nouveau decorative motifs are to be seen where later alterations have been made. The two balconies were constructed in 1898, but one balcony front is the reused 1874 front while the second was made to match. The balconies and cast-iron supporting posts are typical for auditoria design in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. The double balcony, supported on columns, is now the last of this form of theatre in Victoria. The facade of this building is two storeyed in height with stucco ornamentation in a somewhat florid Classical style. The upper storey windows are round headed with archivolts supported by slender columns as are the two ground floor subsidiary entrances. The highly decorated curved entrance has now been lost. The ground floor facade has been much altered and a street awning has been added. The first floor facade is intact but the parapet balustrading and ornamentation has been destroyed.

 

From the First World War on, the Theatre was increasingly used for cinema presentations. A Bio Box (projection room) was built above the Dress Circle Lobby in 1916, and the Theatre was wired for sound in 1930. In 1928, the Hoyts cinema chain took over control over the building through its local subsidiary, Ballarat Theatres Limited, which ran Her Majesty's in tandem with the Regent Theatre (purposely built as a cinema).

 

In 1936, Her Majesty's was leased and operated by Ballarat Amusements, part of the Woodrow Distributing Company, presenting MGM and Paramount movies. Ballarat Amusements ran it until the early 1960s.

 

During the silent movie era, a theatre orchestra provided the film accompaniment. The Ballarat Theatre Organ Society installed the Theatre's Compton Theatre Organ in 1982.

 

Even when Her Majesty's was primarily a cinema, it was always available, to a lesser or greater degree, for live performances. It was used regularly by J. C. Williamson's and other touring companies as well as local groups. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s huge crowds came to see the annual pantomimes staged by the Wavie Williams Pantomime Company. For the last forty years, the Theatre has been used to stage locally produced musical comedies.

 

Television came to Ballarat in 1962, and had an immediate impact on attendances at the local cinemas. Ballarat Amusements decided to cease screenings and Hoyts put the building on the market.

 

In 1965, the Theatre was bought by the Royal South Street Society as the home for its Annual Competitions.The Bolte State Government gave the Society £20,000 towards the purchase price and a further grant towards the adaptation of the building for the Competitions. Further assistance towards both purposes came from local businessman, Alf Reid. It was clearly understood at the time that the Society would be managing the Theatre as a community facility.

 

The Society renamed Her Majesty's the Memorial Theatre, a move which made donations to its renovation appeal tax deductable.

 

The Society was unable to adequately maintain the upkeep of the building, however, and gifted it to the then City of Ballaarat in 1987, reserving the right to hold competitions in the Theatre every year between August and November.

 

The City of Ballarat undertook a major renovation, seeking funding from a wide range of businesses, individuals and organisations. The Theatre reopened as Her Majesty's on the 1st of November, 1990.

 

The Dakshinkali Temple is located 22 kilometers from Kathmandu next to the village of Pharping. It's one of the main temples in Nepal. Twice every week thousands of people come here to worship the goddess Kali by sacrificing life animals, particularly cockerels and uncastrated male goats.

 

GODDESS KALI

Kālī (/ˈkɑːli/; Sanskrit: काली & Bengali: কালী; IPA: [kɑːliː]), also known as Kālikā (Sanskrit: कालिका), is the Hindu goddess associated with empowerment, or shakti. She is the fierce aspect of the goddess Durga. The name of Kali means black one and force of time; she is therefore called the Goddess of Time, Change, Power, Creation, Preservation, and Destruction. Her earliest appearance is that of a destroyer principally of evil forces. Various Shakta Hindu cosmologies, as well as Shākta Tantric beliefs, worship her as the ultimate reality or Brahman; and recent devotional movements re-imagine Kāli as a benevolent mother goddess. She is often portrayed standing or dancing on her husband, the god Shiva, who lies calm and prostrate beneath her. Worshipped throughout India but particularly South India, Bengal, and Assam, Kali is both geographically and culturally marginal.

 

ETYMOLOGY

Kālī is the feminine form of kālam ("black, dark coloured"). Kāla primarily means "time", but also means "black"; hence, Kālī means "the black one" or "beyond time". Kāli is strongly associated with Shiva, and Shaivas derive the masculine Kāla (an epithet of Shiva) from her feminine name. A nineteenth-century Sanskrit dictionary, the Shabdakalpadrum, states: कालः शिवः। तस्य पत्नीति - काली। kālaḥ śivaḥ। tasya patnīti kālī - "Shiva is Kāla, thus, his consort is Kāli".

 

Other names include Kālarātri ("black night"), as described above, and Kālikā ("relating to time"), and Kallie ("black alchemist"). Coburn notes that the name Kālī can be used as a proper name, or as a description of color.

 

Kāli's association with darkness stands in contrast to her consort, Shiva, whose body is covered by the white ashes of the cremation ground (Sanskrit: śmaśāna) where he meditates, and with which Kāli is also associated, as śmaśāna-kālī.

 

ORIGINS

Hugh Urban notes that although the word Kālī appears as early as the Atharva Veda, the first use of it as a proper name is in the Kathaka Grhya Sutra (19.7). Kali is the name of one of the seven tongues of Agni, the [Rigvedic] God of Fire, in the Mundaka Upanishad (2:4), but it is unlikely that this refers to the goddess. The first appearance of Kāli in her present form is in the Sauptika Parvan of the Mahabharata (10.8.64). She is called Kālarātri (literally, "black night") and appears to the Pandava soldiers in dreams, until finally she appears amidst the fighting during an attack by Drona's son Ashwatthama. She most famously appears in the sixth century Devi Mahatmyam as one of the shaktis of Mahadevi, and defeats the demon Raktabija ("Bloodseed"). The tenth-century Kalika Purana venerates Kāli as the ultimate reality.

 

According to David Kinsley, Kāli is first mentioned in Hinduism as a distinct goddess around 600 CE, and these texts "usually place her on the periphery of Hindu society or on the battlefield." She is often regarded as the Shakti of Shiva, and is closely associated with him in various Puranas. The Kalika Purana depicts her as the "Adi Shakti" (Fundamental Power) and "Para Prakriti" or beyond nature.

 

WORSHIP AND MANTRA

Kali could be considered a general concept, like Durga, and is mostly worshiped in the Kali Kula sect of worship. The closest way of direct worship is Maha Kali or Bhadra Kali (Bhadra in Sanskrit means 'gentle'). Kali is worshiped as one of the 10 Mahavidya forms of Adi Parashakti (Goddess Durga) or Bhagavathy according to the region. The mantra for worship is

 

Sanskrit: सर्वमङ्गलमाङ्गल्ये शिवे सर्वार्थसाधिके । शरण्ये त्र्यम्बके गौरि नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते ॥

 

ॐ जयंती मंगल काली भद्रकाली कपालिनी । दुर्गा शिवा क्षमा धात्री स्वाहा स्वधा नमोऽस्तु‍ते ॥

 

(Sarvamaṅgalamāṅgalyē śivē sarvārthasādhikē . śaraṇyē tryambakē gauri nārāyaṇi namō'stu tē.

 

Oṃ jayantī mangala kālī bhadrakālī kapālinī . durgā śivā ksamā dhātrī svāhā svadhā namō'stu‍tē.)

 

YANTRA

Goddesses play an important role in the study and practice of Tantra Yoga, and are affirmed to be as central to discerning the nature of reality as are the male deities. Although Parvati is often said to be the recipient and student of Shiva's wisdom in the form of Tantras, it is Kali who seems to dominate much of the Tantric iconography, texts, and rituals. In many sources Kāli is praised as the highest reality or greatest of all deities. The Nirvana-tantra says the gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva all arise from her like bubbles in the sea, ceaselessly arising and passing away, leaving their original source unchanged. The Niruttara-tantra and the Picchila-tantra declare all of Kāli's mantras to be the greatest and the Yogini-tantra, Kamakhya-tantra and the Niruttara-tantra all proclaim Kāli vidyas (manifestations of Mahadevi, or "divinity itself"). They declare her to be an essence of her own form (svarupa) of the Mahadevi.In the Mahanirvana-tantra, Kāli is one of the epithets for the primordial sakti, and in one passage Shiva praises her:At the dissolution of things, it is Kāla [Time]. Who will devour all, and by reason of this He is called Mahākāla [an epithet of Lord Shiva], and since Thou devourest Mahākāla Himself, it is Thou who art the Supreme Primordial Kālika. Because Thou devourest Kāla, Thou art Kāli, the original form of all things, and because Thou art the Origin of and devourest all things Thou art called the Adya [the Primordial One]. Re-assuming after Dissolution Thine own form, dark and formless, Thou alone remainest as One ineffable and inconceivable. Though having a form, yet art Thou formless; though Thyself without beginning, multiform by the power of Maya, Thou art the Beginning of all, Creatrix, Protectress, and Destructress that Thou art. The figure of Kāli conveys death, destruction, and the consuming aspects of reality. As such, she is also a "forbidden thing", or even death itself. In the Pancatattva ritual, the sadhaka boldly seeks to confront Kali, and thereby assimilates and transforms her into a vehicle of salvation. This is clear in the work of the Karpuradi-stotra, a short praise of Kāli describing the Pancatattva ritual unto her, performed on cremation grounds. (Samahana-sadhana)He, O Mahākāli who in the cremation-ground, naked, and with dishevelled hair, intently meditates upon Thee and recites Thy mantra, and with each recitation makes offering to Thee of a thousand Akanda flowers with seed, becomes without any effort a Lord of the earth. Oh Kāli, whoever on Tuesday at midnight, having uttered Thy mantra, makes offering even but once with devotion to Thee of a hair of his Shakti [his energy/female companion] in the cremation-ground, becomes a great poet, a Lord of the earth, and ever goes mounted upon an elephant.The Karpuradi-stotra clearly indicates that Kāli is more than a terrible, vicious, slayer of demons who serves Durga or Shiva. Here, she is identified as the supreme mistress of the universe, associated with the five elements. In union with Lord Shiva, she creates and destroys worlds. Her appearance also takes a different turn, befitting her role as ruler of the world and object of meditation. In contrast to her terrible aspects, she takes on hints of a more benign dimension. She is described as young and beautiful, has a gentle smile, and makes gestures with her two right hands to dispel any fear and offer boons. The more positive features exposed offer the distillation of divine wrath into a goddess of salvation, who rids the sadhaka of fear. Here, Kali appears as a symbol of triumph over death.

 

BENGALI TRADITION

Kali is also a central figure in late medieval Bengali devotional literature, with such devotees as Ramprasad Sen (1718–75). With the exception of being associated with Parvati as Shiva's consort, Kāli is rarely pictured in Hindu legends and iconography as a motherly figure until Bengali devotions beginning in the early eighteenth century. Even in Bengāli tradition her appearance and habits change little, if at all.

 

The Tantric approach to Kāli is to display courage by confronting her on cremation grounds in the dead of night, despite her terrible appearance. In contrast, the Bengali devotee appropriates Kāli's teachings adopting the attitude of a child, coming to love her unreservedly. In both cases, the goal of the devotee is to become reconciled with death and to learn acceptance of the way that things are. These themes are well addressed in Rāmprasād's work. Rāmprasād comments in many of his other songs that Kāli is indifferent to his wellbeing, causes him to suffer, brings his worldly desires to nothing and his worldly goods to ruin. He also states that she does not behave like a mother should and that she ignores his pleas:

 

Can mercy be found in the heart of her who was born of the stone? [a reference to Kali as the daughter of Himalaya]

Were she not merciless, would she kick the breast of her lord?

Men call you merciful, but there is no trace of mercy in you, Mother.

You have cut off the heads of the children of others, and these you wear as a garland around your neck.

It matters not how much I call you "Mother, Mother." You hear me, but you will not listen.

 

To be a child of Kāli, Rāmprasād asserts, is to be denied of earthly delights and pleasures. Kāli is said to refrain from giving that which is expected. To the devotee, it is perhaps her very refusal to do so that enables her devotees to reflect on dimensions of themselves and of reality that go beyond the material world.

 

A significant portion of Bengali devotional music features Kāli as its central theme and is known as Shyama Sangeet ("Music of the Night"). Mostly sung by male vocalists, today even women have taken to this form of music. One of the finest singers of Shyāma Sāngeet is Pannalal Bhattacharya.

 

In Bengal, Kāli is venerated in the festival Kali Puja, the new moon day of Ashwin month which coincides with Diwali festival.

 

In a unique form of Kāli worship, Shantipur worships Kāli in the form of a hand painted image of the deity known as Poteshwari (meaning the deity drawn on a piece of cloth).

 

LEGENDS

SLAYER AND RAKTABIJA

In Kāli's most famous legend, Devi Durga (Adi Parashakti) and her assistants, the Matrikas, wound the demon Raktabija, in various ways and with a variety of weapons in an attempt to destroy him. They soon find that they have worsened the situation for with every drop of blood that is dripped from Raktabija he reproduces a clone of himself. The battlefield becomes increasingly filled with his duplicates. Durga, in need of help, summons Kāli to combat the demons. It is said, in some versions, that Goddess Durga actually assumes the form of Goddess Kāli at this time. The Devi Mahatmyam describes:

 

Out of the surface of her (Durga's) forehead, fierce with frown, issued suddenly Kali of terrible countenance, armed with a sword and noose. Bearing the strange khatvanga (skull-topped staff ), decorated with a garland of skulls, clad in a tiger's skin, very appalling owing to her emaciated flesh, with gaping mouth, fearful with her tongue lolling out, having deep reddish eyes, filling the regions of the sky with her roars, falling upon impetuously and slaughtering the great asuras in that army, she devoured those hordes of the foes of the devas.

 

Kali consumes Raktabija and his duplicates, and dances on the corpses of the slain. In the Devi Mahatmya version of this story, Kali is also described as a Matrika and as a Shakti or power of Devi. She is given the epithet Cāṃuṇḍā (Chamunda), i.e. the slayer of the demons Chanda and Munda. Chamunda is very often identified with Kali and is very much like her in appearance and habit.

  

DAKSHINA KALI

In her most famous pose as Daksinakali, popular legends say that Kali, drunk on the blood of her victims, is about to destroy the whole universe when, urged by all the gods, Shiva lies in her way to stop her, and she steps upon his chest. Recognizing Shiva beneath her feet, she calms herself. Though not included in any of the puranas, popular legends state that Kali was ashamed at the prospect of keeping her husband beneath her feet and thus stuck her tongue out in shame. The Devi-Bhagavata Purana, which goes into great depths about the goddess Kali, reveals the tongue's actual symbolism.

 

The characteristic icons that depict Kali are the following; unbridled matted hair, open blood shot eyes, open mouth and a drooping tongue; in her hands, she holds a Khadga (bent sword or scimitar) and a human head; she has a girdle of human hands across her waist, and Shiva lies beneath her feet. The drooping out-stuck tongue represents her blood-thirst. Lord Shiva beneath her feet represents matter, as Kali energy. The depiction of Kali on Shiva shows that without energy, matter lies "dead". This concept has been simplified to a folk-tale depicting a wife placing her foot

 

on her husband and sticking her tongue out in shame. In tantric contexts, the tongue is seen to denote the element (guna) of rajas (energy and action) controlled by sattva.

 

If Kali steps on Shiva with her right foot and holds the sword in her left hand, she is considered to be Dakshina Kali. The Dakshina Kali Temple has important religious associations with the Jagannath Temple and it is believed that Daksinakali is the guardian of the kitchen of the Lord Jagannath Temple. Puranic tradition says that in Puri, Lord Jagannath is regarded as Daksinakalika. Goddess Dakshinakali plays an important role in the 'Niti' of Saptapuri Amavasya.

 

One South Indian tradition tells of a dance contest between Shiva and Kali. After defeating the two demons Sumbha and Nisumbha, Kali takes up residence in the forest of Thiruvalankadu or Thiruvalangadu. She terrorizes the surrounding area with her fierce, disruptive nature. One of Shiva's devotees becomes distracted while performing austerities, and asks Shiva to rid the forest of the destructive goddess. When Shiva arrives, Kali threatens him, and Shiva challenges Kali to a dance contest, wherein Kali matches Shiva until Shiva takes the "Urdhvatandava" step, vertically raising his right leg. Kali refuses to perform this step, which would not befit her as a woman, and becomes pacified.

 

SMASHAN KALI

If the Kali steps out with the left foot and holds the sword in her right hand, she is the terrible form of Mother, the Smashan Kali of the cremation ground. She is worshiped by tantrics, the followers of Tantra, who believe that one's spiritual discipline practiced in a smashan (cremation ground) brings success quickly. Sarda Devi, the consort of Ramakrishna Paramhansa, worshipped Smashan Kali at Dakshineshwar.

 

MATERNAL KALI

At the time of samundra manthan when amrit came out, along with that came out poison which was going to destroy the world hence on the request of all the gods, Lord Shiva drank it to save the world but as he is beyond death he didn't die but was very much in pain due to the poison effect hence he became a child so that Kali can feed him with her milk which will sooth out the poison effect.

 

MAHAKALI

Mahakali (Sanskrit: Mahākālī, Devanagari: महाकाली), literally translated as Great Kali, is sometimes considered as a greater form of Kali, identified with the Ultimate reality of Brahman. It can also be used as an honorific of the Goddess Kali, signifying her greatness by the prefix "Mahā-". Mahakali, in Sanskrit, is etymologically the feminized variant of Mahakala or Great Time (which is interpreted also as Death), an epithet of the God Shiva in Hinduism. Mahakali is the presiding Goddess of the first episode of the Devi Mahatmya. Here she is depicted as Devi in her universal form as Shakti. Here Devi serves as the agent who allows the cosmic order to be restored.

 

Kali is depicted in the Mahakali form as having ten heads, ten arms, and ten legs. Each of her ten hands is carrying a various implement which vary in different accounts, but each of these represent the power of one of the Devas or Hindu Gods and are often the identifying weapon or ritual item of a given Deva. The implication is that Mahakali subsumes and is responsible for the powers that these deities possess and this is in line with the interpretation that Mahakali is identical with Brahman. While not displaying ten heads, an "ekamukhi" or one headed image may be displayed with ten arms, signifying the same concept: the powers of the various Gods come only through Her grace.

 

ICONOGRAPHY

Kali is portrayed mostly in two forms: the popular four-armed form and the ten-armed Mahakali form. In both of her forms, she is described as being black in color but is most often depicted as blue in popular Indian art. Her eyes are described as red with intoxication, and in absolute rage, her hair is shown disheveled, small fangs sometimes protrude out of her mouth, and her tongue is lolling. She is often shown naked or just wearing a skirt made of human arms and a garland of human heads. She is also accompanied by serpents and a jackal while standing on a seemingly dead Shiva, usually right foot forward to symbolize the more popular Dakshinamarga or right-handed path, as opposed to the more infamous and transgressive Vamamarga or left-handed path.

 

In the ten-armed form of Mahakali she is depicted as shining like a blue stone. She has ten faces, ten feet, and three eyes for each head. She has ornaments decked on all her limbs. There is no association with Shiva.

 

The Kalika Purana describes Kali as possessing a soothing dark complexion, as perfectly beautiful, riding a lion, four-armed, holding a sword and blue lotuses, her hair unrestrained, body firm and youthful.

 

In spite of her seemingly terrible form, Kali Ma is often considered the kindest and most loving of all the Hindu goddesses, as she is regarded by her devotees as the Mother of the whole Universe. And because of her terrible form, she is also often seen as a great protector. When the Bengali saint Ramakrishna once asked a devotee why one would prefer to worship Mother over him, this devotee rhetorically replied, "Maharaj", when they are in trouble your devotees come running to you. But, where do you run when you are in trouble?"

 

According to Ramakrishna, darkness is the Ultimate Mother, or Kali:

 

My Mother is the principle of consciousness. She is Akhanda Satchidananda;

indivisible Reality, Awareness, and Bliss. The night sky between the stars is perfectly black.

The waters of the ocean depths are the same; The infinite is always mysteriously dark.

This inebriating darkness is my beloved Kali.

—Sri Ramakrishna

This is clear in the works of such contemporary artists as Charles Wish, and Tyeb Mehta, who sometimes take great liberties with the traditional, accepted symbolism, but still demonstrate a true reverence for the Shakta sect.

 

POPULAR FORM

Classic depictions of Kali share several features, as follows:

 

Kali's most common four armed iconographic image shows each hand carrying variously a sword, a trishul (trident), a severed head, and a bowl or skull-cup (kapala) catching the blood of the severed head.

 

Two of these hands (usually the left) are holding a sword and a severed head. The Sword signifies Divine Knowledge and the Human Head signifies human Ego which must be slain by Divine Knowledge in order to attain Moksha. The other two hands (usually the right) are in the abhaya (fearlessness) and varada (blessing) mudras, which means her initiated devotees (or anyone worshipping her with a true heart) will be saved as she will guide them here and in the hereafter.

 

She has a garland consisting of human heads, variously enumerated at 108 (an auspicious number in Hinduism and the number of countable beads on a Japa Mala or rosary for repetition of Mantras) or 51, which represents Varnamala or the Garland of letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, Devanagari. Hindus believe Sanskrit is a language of dynamism, and each of these letters represents a form of energy, or a form of Kali. Therefore, she is generally seen as the mother of language, and all mantras.

 

She is often depicted naked which symbolizes her being beyond the covering of Maya since she is pure (nirguna) being-consciousness-bliss and far above prakriti. She is shown as very dark as she is brahman in its supreme unmanifest state. She has no permanent qualities - she will continue to exist even when the universe ends. It is therefore believed that the concepts of color, light, good, bad do not apply to her - she is the pure, un-manifested energy, the Adi-shakti.

 

Kali as the Symbol of Creation , Freedom , Preservation and Destruction

 

The head that hangs in Kali's hand is a symbol of Ego and the scimitar which she is holding represents power and energy.It is believed that Kali is protecting the human race by that scimitar and also destroying the negativity and ego within human being. The body lying under Kali symbolizes ruination, is actually a form of Shiva. Kali steps her leg on the chest of the body and suppress ruination . Since she is standing on the pure white chest of Lord Shiva who, as pure primal awareness, lays in a passive reclining position, peacefully lies with his eyes half open in a state of bliss. Her hair is long, black and flowing freely depicting Her freedom from convention and the confines of conceptualization. The white teeth which Kali has stands for conscience and her red tongue represents greed. By pressing her white teeth on her tongue Kali refers to control greed.The goddess may appear terrible from outside but every symbol in Kali signifies truth of life. Since the earth was created out of darkness, the dark black color of Kali symbolizes the color from which everything was born. Her right hand side arms she shows the Abhaya mudra(gesture of fearlessness) and Vara mudra (gesture of welcome and charity) respectively . But on the other arm in left side she holds a bloody scimitar and a severed head depicting destruction and end of ego.

Kali as the Symbol of Mother Nature

 

The name Kali means Kala or force of time. When there were neither the creation, nor the sun, the moon, the planets, and the earth, there was only darkness and everything was created from the darkness. The Dark appearance of kali represents the darkness from which everything was born. Her complexion is deep blue, like the sky and ocean water as blue. As she is also the goddess of Preservation Kali is worshiped as mother to preserve the nature.Kali is standing calm on Shiva, her appearance represents the preservation of mother nature. Her free, long and black hair represents nature's freedom from civilization. Under the third eye of kali, the signs of both sun, moon and fire are visible which represent the driving forces of nature.

 

SHIVA IN KALI ICONOGRAPHY

In both these images she is shown standing on the prone, inert or dead body of Shiva. There is a legend for the reason behind her standing on what appears to be Shiva's corpse, which translates as follows:

 

Once Kali had destroyed all the demons in battle, she began a terrific dance out of the sheer joy of victory. All the worlds or lokas began to tremble and sway under the impact of her dance. So, at the request of all the Gods, Shiva himself asked her to desist from this behavior. However, she was too intoxicated to listen. Hence, Shiva lay like a corpse among the slain demons in order to absorb the shock of the dance into himself. When Kali eventually stepped upon Shiva, she realized she was trampling and hurting her husband and bit her tongue in shame.

 

The story described here is a popular folk tale and not described or hinted in any of the puranas. The puranic interpretation is as follows:

 

Once, Parvati asks Shiva to chose the one form among her 10 forms which he likes most. To her surprise, Shiva reveals that he is most comfortable with her Kali form, in which she is bereft of her jewellery, her human-form, her clothes, her emotions and where she is only raw, chaotic energy, where she is as terrible as time itself and even greater than time. As Parvati takes the form of Kali, Shiva lies at her feet and requests her to place her foot on his chest, upon his heart. Once in this form, Shiva requests her to have this place, below her feet in her iconic image which would be worshiped throughout.

 

This idea has been explored in the Devi-Bhagavata Purana [28] and is most popular in the Shyama Sangeet, devotional songs to Kali from the 12th to 15th centuries.

 

The Tantric interpretation of Kali standing on top of her husband is as follows:

 

The Shiv tattava (Divine Consciousness as Shiva) is inactive, while the Shakti tattava (Divine Energy as Kali) is active. Shiva and Kali represent Brahman, the Absolute pure consciousness which is beyond all names, forms and activities. Kali, on the other hand, represents the potential (and manifested) energy responsible for all names, forms and activities. She is his Shakti, or creative power, and is seen as the substance behind the entire content of all consciousness. She can never exist apart from Shiva or act independently of him, just as Shiva remains a mere corpse without Kali i.e., Shakti, all the matter/energy of the universe, is not distinct from Shiva, or Brahman, but is rather the dynamic power of Brahman. Hence, Kali is Para Brahman in the feminine and dynamic aspect while Shiva is the male aspect and static. She stands as the absolute basis for all life, energy and beneath her feet lies, Shiva, a metaphor for mass, which cannot retain its form without energy.

 

While this is an advanced concept in monistic Shaktism, it also agrees with the Nondual Trika philosophy of Kashmir, popularly known as Kashmir Shaivism and associated most famously with Abhinavagupta. There is a colloquial saying that "Shiva without Shakti is Shava" which means that without the power of action (Shakti) that is Mahakali (represented as the short "i" in Devanagari) Shiva (or consciousness itself) is inactive; Shava means corpse in Sanskrit and the play on words is that all Sanskrit consonants are assumed to be followed by a short letter "a" unless otherwise noted. The short letter "i" represents the female power or Shakti that activates Creation. This is often the explanation for why She is standing on Shiva, who is either Her husband and complement in Shaktism or the Supreme Godhead in Shaivism.

 

To properly understand this complex Tantric symbolism it is important to remember that the meaning behind Shiva and Kali does not stray from the non-dualistic parlance of Shankara or the Upanisads. According to both the Mahanirvana and Kularnava Tantras, there are two distinct ways of perceiving the same absolute reality. The first is a transcendental plane which is often described as static, yet infinite. It is here that there is no matter, there is no universe and only consciousness exists. This form of reality is known as Shiva, the absolute Sat-Chit-Ananda - existence, knowledge and bliss. The second is an active plane, an immanent plane, the plane of matter, of Maya, i.e., where the illusion of space-time and the appearance of an actual universe does exist. This form of reality is known as Kali or Shakti, and (in its entirety) is still specified as the same Absolute Sat-Chit-Ananda. It is here in this second plane that the universe (as we commonly know it) is experienced and is described by the Tantric seer as the play of Shakti, or God as Mother Kali.

 

From a Tantric perspective, when one meditates on reality at rest, as absolute pure consciousness (without the activities of creation, preservation or dissolution) one refers to this as Shiva or Brahman. When one meditates on reality as dynamic and creative, as the Absolute content of pure consciousness (with all the activities of creation, preservation or dissolution) one refers to it as Kali or Shakti. However, in either case the yogini or yogi is interested in one and the same reality - the only difference being in name and fluctuating aspects of appearance. It is this which is generally accepted as the meaning of Kali standing on the chest of Shiva.

 

Although there is often controversy surrounding the images of divine copulation, the general consensus is benign and free from any carnal impurities in its substance. In Tantra the human body is a symbol for the microcosm of the universe; therefore sexual process is responsible for the creation of the world. Although theoretically Shiva and Kali (or Shakti) are inseparable, like fire and its power to burn, in the case of creation they are often seen as having separate roles. With Shiva as male and Kali as female it is only by their union that creation may transpire. This reminds us of the prakrti and purusa doctrine of Samkhya wherein prakāśa- vimarśa has no practical value, just as without prakrti, purusa is quite inactive. This (once again) stresses the interdependencies of Shiva and Shakti and the vitality of their union.

 

Gopi Krishna proposed that Kali standing on the dead Shiva or Shava (Sanskrit for dead body) symbolised the helplessness of a person undergoing the changing process (psychologically and physiologically) in the body conducted by the Kundalini Shakti.

 

DEVELOPMENT

In the later traditions, Kali has become inextricably linked with Shiva. The unleashed form of Kali often becomes wild and uncontrollable, and only Shiva is able to tame her just as only Kali can tame Shiva. This is both because she is often a transformed version of one of his consorts and because he is able to match her wildness.

 

The ancient text of Kali Kautuvam describes her competition with Shiva in dance, from which the sacred 108 Karanas appeared. Shiva won the competition by acting the urdva tandava, one of the Karanas, by raising his feet to his head. Other texts describe Shiva appearing as a crying infant and appealing to her maternal instincts. While Shiva is said to be able to tame her, the iconography often presents her dancing on his fallen body, and there are accounts of the two of them dancing together, and driving each other to such wildness that the world comes close to unravelling.

 

Shiva's involvement with Tantra and Kali's dark nature have led to her becoming an important Tantric figure. To the Tantric worshippers, it was essential to face her Curse, the terror of death, as willingly as they accepted Blessings from her beautiful, nurturing, maternal aspect. For them, wisdom meant learning that no coin has only one side: as death cannot exist without life, so life cannot exist without death. Kali's role sometimes grew beyond that of a chaos - which could be confronted - to that of one who could bring wisdom, and she is given great metaphysical significance by some Tantric texts. The Nirvāna-tantra clearly presents her uncontrolled nature as the Ultimate Reality, claiming that the trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra arise and disappear from her like bubbles from the sea. Although this is an extreme case, the Yogini-tantra, Kamakhya-tantra and the Niruttara-tantra declare her the svarupa (own-being) of the Mahadevi (the great Goddess, who is in this case seen as the combination of all devis).The final stage of development is the worshipping of Kali as the Great Mother, devoid of her usual violence. This practice is a break from the more traditional depictions. The pioneers of this tradition are the 18th century Shakta poets such as Ramprasad Sen, who show an awareness of Kali's ambivalent nature. Ramakrishna, the 19th century Bengali saint, was also a great devotee of Kali; the western popularity of whom may have contributed to the more modern, equivocal interpretations of this Goddess. Rachel McDermott's work, however, suggests that for the common, modern worshipper, Kali is not seen as fearful, and only those educated in old traditions see her as having a wrathful component. Some credit to the development of Devi must also be given to Samkhya. Commonly referred to as the Devi of delusion, Mahamaya or Durga, acting in the confines of (but not being bound by) the nature of the three gunas, takes three forms: Maha-Kali, Maha-Lakshmi and Maha-Saraswati, being her tamas-ika, rajas-ika and sattva-ika forms. In this sense, Kali is simply part of a larger whole.

 

Like Sir John Woodroffe and Georg Feuerstein, many Tantric scholars (as well as sincere practitioners) agree that, no matter how propitious or appalling you describe them, Shiva and Devi are simply recognizable symbols for everyday, abstract (yet tangible) concepts such as perception, knowledge, space-time, causation and the process of liberating oneself from the confines of such things. Shiva, symbolizing pure, absolute consciousness, and Devi, symbolizing the entire content of that consciousness, are ultimately one and the same - totality incarnate, a micro-macro-cosmic amalgamation of all subjects, all objects and all phenomenal relations between the "two." Like man and woman who both share many common, human traits yet at the same time they are still different and, therefore, may also be seen as complementary.

 

Worshippers prescribe various benign and horrific qualities to Devi simply out of practicality. They do this so they may have a variety of symbols to choose from, symbols which they can identify and relate with from the perspective of their own, ever-changing time, place and personal level of unfolding. Just like modern chemists or physicists use a variety of molecular and atomic models to describe what is unperceivable through rudimentary, sensory input, the scientists of ontology and epistemology must do the same. One of the underlying distinctions of Tantra, in comparison to other religions, is that it allows the devotee the liberty to choose from a vast array of complementary symbols and rhetoric which suit one's evolving needs and tastes. From an aesthetic standpoint, nothing is interdict and nothing is orthodox. In this sense, the projection of some of Devi's more gentle qualities onto Kali is not sacrilege and the development of Kali really lies in the practitioner, not the murthi.

 

A TIME magazine article of October 27, 1947, used Kali as a symbol and metaphor for the human suffering in British India during its partition that year. In 1971, Ms. Magazine used an image of Kali, her multiple arms juggling modern tasks, as a symbol of modern womanhood on its inaugural issue.

 

Swami Vivekananda wrote his favorite poem Kali the Mother in 1898.

 

KALI IN NEOPAGAN AND NEW AGE PRACTICE

An academic study of Western Kali enthusiasts noted that, "as shown in the histories of all cross-cultural religious transplants, Kali devotionalism in the West must take on its own indigenous forms if it is to adapt to its new environment."[60] The adoption of Kali by the West has raised accusations of cultural appropriation:

 

A variety of writers and thinkers have found Kali an exciting figure for reflection and exploration, notably feminists and participants in New Age spirituality who are attracted to goddess worship. [For them], Kali is a symbol of wholeness and healing, associated especially with repressed female power and sexuality. [However, such interpretations often exhibit] confusion and misrepresentation, stemming from a lack of knowledge of Hindu history among these authors, [who only rarely] draw upon materials written by scholars of the Hindu religious tradition. The majority instead rely chiefly on other popular feminist sources, almost none of which base their interpretations on a close reading of Kali's Indian background. The most important issue arising from this discussion - even more important than the question of 'correct' interpretation - concerns the adoption of other people's religious symbols. It is hard to import the worship of a goddess from another culture: religious associations and connotations have to be learned, imagined or intuited when the deep symbolic meanings embedded in the native culture are not available.

 

INCARNATIONS OF KALI

Draupadi, Wife of Pandavas, was an avatar of Kali, who born to assist Lord Krishna to destroy arrogant kings of India. There is a temple dedicated to this incarnation at Banni Mata Temple at Himachal Pradesh. The vedic deity Nirriti or the Puranic deity Alakshmi is often considered as incarnations of Kali.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Red and white stripe thigh high Christmas stockings Wearing Christmas stockings on Christmas Eve and Christmas day is a classical traditional custom for celebrate the Christmas holiday.

 

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The whole set is done using cross processed and heavily overexposed Kodak Ektar 25 slide.

 

1996

Hans Memling, Seligenstadt ca. 1433 - Brügge 1494

Verkündigung an Maria (1480 - 1489)

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

 

Memling modeled this Annunciation on the left wing of Rogier van der Weyden’s Saint Columba Altarpiece (now in Munich), but his innovative rendition portrays the Virgin swooning and supported by two angels, rather than kneeling. Like other fifteenth-century Flemish painters working in the wake of Jan van Eyck, Hans Memling cloaked religious imagery in the pictorial language of everyday life, paying close attention to naturalistic detail. This Annunciation takes place in a comfortably appointed bedchamber, though many of the domestic furnishings have symbolic connotations. The carafe of water, through which light passes uncorrupted, and the vase of lilies are symbols of the Virgin's purity, while the empty candleholder signifies her imminent role as bearer of Christ, light of the world. Gabriel's priestly garb alludes to the ritual of the Mass and, therefore, the incarnation of Christ. A soft glowing light falls on the Virgin and suffuses the room, elevating the scene from the realm of the ordinary and signaling the sacred nature of the drama.

Source: MEG

Her Majesty’s Theatre in Ballarat’s Lydiard Street is one of the most intact, commercial nineteenth century theatres in Australia. Originally opened as the Ballarat Academy of Music in order to avoid the negative moral connotations associated with theatres at the time, Her Majesty’s was completed in 1875 to a design by architect George Browne. The Academy had a flat floored auditorium suitable for respectable dances and dinners, and a fully equipped stage. It was built to supersede Ballarat's Theatre Royal (built in 1858), which stood in Sturt Street. While very grand, the Royal had become outdated and no longer met the technical requirements of the touring companies.

 

The Academy was built by the wealthy Clarke family at the initiative of a group of local people who felt that Ballarat, as the premier city of the Victorian goldfields, should have a theatre worthy of its status. They guaranteed to rent it from the Clarkes at 10% of the construction cost, which was £13,000.

 

Built over a disused mineshaft, the original timber theatre initially comprised a theatre with rectangular auditorium, a steep lyre-shaped gallery, three entries leading to separate parts of the auditorium and two shops facing Lydiard Street.

 

Ballarat's handsome new theatre was ready ahead of schedule, and was opened on 7th June 1875. The first production was a comic opera by the French composer Lecocq, "La Fille de Madame Angot," presented by the Royal Opera Bouffe Company run by W. S. Lyster, Australia's first opera impresario.

 

Soon after the Academy opened, the large Supper Room above Lydiard Street was leased to William Bridges, a former miner, who ran it as an art gallery, displaying an excellent collection of European and Australian artworks, including his own tapestries. After Bridges moved his operations to Melbourne in 1883, the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery was formed. The Gallery Society ran the Gallery from the Academy from 1884 until 1890, when the present Art Gallery in Lydiard Street North was opened.

 

For the next twenty five years, the Academy of Music was unchallenged as Ballarat's main theatrical venue. It was never as popular as the old Theatre Royal, however, as the rather cavernous hall lacked the intimacy of the older playhouse. In 1898, when Sir William Clarke died, the building was bought by a local consortium and transformed into the delightful theatrical space we know today.

 

The new owners commissioned Australia's leading theatre architect, William Pitt (1855 – 1918), to remodel the interior and improve the stage facilities. William, who had been apprenticed to George Browne, also designed Melbourne's Princess Theatre amongst many other buildings. The present layout of the auditorium with sloping floor and double balconies, is Pitt's creation. The colour scheme is a recreation of the interior decoration undertaken at that time by Hugh Paterson, one of Melbourne's leading designers.

 

Paterson also decorated the dome and proscenium arch with murals. The mural in the dome depicted a carnival scene, with dancers in fanciful costumes; Comedy and Tragedy were featured on either side of the proscenium arch, with Shakespeare over the top. Unfortunately all the murals were destroyed in 1907 when Government regulations required the proscenium wall to be replaced with a solid firewall. The dome was removed at the same time for structural reasons, and was restored in 1990. The Dress Circle Lobby also dates from 1907.

 

The 1898 theatre was constructed in brick with timber roof construction sheeted with iron. The main body is brick with piers both inside and out. The hipped trussed roof covers both the three-level auditorium and the stage with dressing rooms below. The ground floor and foyer have been considerably altered at various times but the auditorium and stage structure are original as is much of the auditorium ceiling and pilastered walls. The roof over the stage also dates from 1875 and the later inclusion of a fly tower stage in 1898 is fitted around the original trusses. The flying system is the only manual (non counterweight) system in existence in Australia. In the auditorium roof there appears to have been two domes, a small one dating from before 1898 for which the horizontal shutters and tube structure to a former sliding ventilated roof are still in existence. When 1898 dome was removed a false octagonal ceiling was fitted in its place. Internally the circle and gallery levels are horseshoe shaped in plan and are carried on cast iron columns. The balcony balustrading is swag bellied and decorated. It is believed that the wall pilasters, panelled ceilings and proscenium are original decorations and some traces of art nouveau decorative motifs are to be seen where later alterations have been made. The two balconies were constructed in 1898, but one balcony front is the reused 1874 front while the second was made to match. The balconies and cast-iron supporting posts are typical for auditoria design in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. The double balcony, supported on columns, is now the last of this form of theatre in Victoria. The facade of this building is two storeyed in height with stucco ornamentation in a somewhat florid Classical style. The upper storey windows are round headed with archivolts supported by slender columns as are the two ground floor subsidiary entrances. The highly decorated curved entrance has now been lost. The ground floor facade has been much altered and a street awning has been added. The first floor facade is intact but the parapet balustrading and ornamentation has been destroyed.

 

From the First World War on, the Theatre was increasingly used for cinema presentations. A Bio Box (projection room) was built above the Dress Circle Lobby in 1916, and the Theatre was wired for sound in 1930. In 1928, the Hoyts cinema chain took over control over the building through its local subsidiary, Ballarat Theatres Limited, which ran Her Majesty's in tandem with the Regent Theatre (purposely built as a cinema).

 

In 1936, Her Majesty's was leased and operated by Ballarat Amusements, part of the Woodrow Distributing Company, presenting MGM and Paramount movies. Ballarat Amusements ran it until the early 1960s.

 

During the silent movie era, a theatre orchestra provided the film accompaniment. The Ballarat Theatre Organ Society installed the Theatre's Compton Theatre Organ in 1982.

 

Even when Her Majesty's was primarily a cinema, it was always available, to a lesser or greater degree, for live performances. It was used regularly by J. C. Williamson's and other touring companies as well as local groups. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s huge crowds came to see the annual pantomimes staged by the Wavie Williams Pantomime Company. For the last forty years, the Theatre has been used to stage locally produced musical comedies.

 

Television came to Ballarat in 1962, and had an immediate impact on attendances at the local cinemas. Ballarat Amusements decided to cease screenings and Hoyts put the building on the market.

 

In 1965, the Theatre was bought by the Royal South Street Society as the home for its Annual Competitions.The Bolte State Government gave the Society £20,000 towards the purchase price and a further grant towards the adaptation of the building for the Competitions. Further assistance towards both purposes came from local businessman, Alf Reid. It was clearly understood at the time that the Society would be managing the Theatre as a community facility.

 

The Society renamed Her Majesty's the Memorial Theatre, a move which made donations to its renovation appeal tax deductable.

 

The Society was unable to adequately maintain the upkeep of the building, however, and gifted it to the then City of Ballaarat in 1987, reserving the right to hold competitions in the Theatre every year between August and November.

 

The City of Ballarat undertook a major renovation, seeking funding from a wide range of businesses, individuals and organisations. The Theatre reopened as Her Majesty's on the 1st of November, 1990.

 

Varanus salvator, commonly known as the water monitor, is a large lizard native to South and Southeast Asia. Water monitors are one of the most common monitor lizards found throughout Asia. They range from Sri Lanka and coastal northeast India to Indochina, the Malay Peninsula, and various islands of Indonesia, living in areas close to water.

 

The species is known as Malayan water monitor, Asian water monitor, common water monitor, two-banded monitor, and as rice lizard, ring lizard, plain lizard and no-mark lizard, as well as simply "water monitor".

 

The water monitor is a large species of monitor lizard. Breeding maturity is attained for males when they are a relatively modest 40 cm (16 in) long and weigh 1 kg (2.2 lb), and for females at 50 cm (20 in). However, they grow much larger throughout life, with males being larger than females. Adults rarely exceed 1.5–2 m (4.9–6.6 ft) in length, but the largest specimen on record, from Sri Lanka, measured 3.21 m (10.5 ft). A common mature weight of V. salvator can be 19.5 kg (43 lb). However, 80 males killed for the leather trade in Sumatra averaged only 3.42 kg (7.5 lb) and 56.6 cm (22.3 in) snout-to-vent and 142 cm (56 in) in total length; 42 females averaged only 3.52 kg (7.8 lb) and 59 cm (23 in) snout-to-vent and 149.6 cm (58.9 in) in total length, although unskinned outsized specimens weighed 16 to 20 kg (35 to 44 lb). Another study from the same area by the same authors similarly estimated mean body mass for mature specimens at 20 kg (44 lb) while yet another study found a series of adults to weigh 7.6 kg (17 lb). The maximum weight of the species is over 50 kg (110 lb). In exceptional cases, the species has been reported to attain 75 to 90 kg (165 to 198 lb), though most such reports are unverified and may be unreliable. They are the world's second-heaviest lizard, after the Komodo dragon. Their bodies are muscular, with long, powerful, laterally compressed tails.

 

The generic name Varanus is derived from the Arabic waral (ورل), which translates as "monitor". The specific name is the Latin word for "saviour", denoting a possible religious connotation. The water monitor is occasionally confused with the crocodile monitor (V. salvadorii) because of their similar scientific names.

 

In Thailand, the local word for a water monitor, hia (เหี้ย), is used as an insulting word for bad and evil things, including bad persons. The word is also thought to bring bad luck, so some people prefer to call the animals 'silver-and-gold' (ตัวเงินตัวทอง) to avoid the jinx.

 

The origin of this offensive meaning can be traced back to a time when more people lived in rural areas in close proximity to monitor lizards. Traditionally, Thai villagers lived in two-story houses; the top floor was for living, while the ground floor was designed to be a space for domestic animals such as pigs, chickens, and dogs. Water monitors would enter the ground floor and eat or maim the domestic animals, also hence the other name dtua gin gai (ตัวกินไก่ ‘chicken eater’).

 

In Indonesian and Malay, the water monitor is called biawak air, to differentiate it from the biawak pasir ("sand lizard"), Leiolepis belliana.

 

Water monitors defend themselves using their tails, claws, and jaws. They are excellent swimmers, using the raised fin on their tails to steer through water. They are carnivores, and consume a wide range of prey. They are known to eat fish, frogs, rodents, birds, crabs, and snakes. They have also been known to eat turtles, as well as young crocodiles and crocodile eggs. Water monitors have been observed eating catfish in a fashion similar to a mammalian carnivore, tearing off chunks of meat with their sharp teeth while holding it with their front legs and then separating different parts of the fish for sequential consumption.

 

Like the Komodo dragon, the water monitor will often eat carrion. They have a keen sense of smell and can smell a carcass from far away. They are known to feed on dead human bodies. While on the one hand their presence can be helpful in locating a missing person in forensic investigations, on the other hand they can inflict further injuries to the corpse, complicating ascertainment of the cause of death.

 

The first description of the water monitor and its behavior in English literature was made in 1681 by Robert Knox, who had had carefully observed the lizard during his long confinement in the Kingdom of Kandy: “There is a Creature here called Kobberaguion, resembling an Alligator. The biggest may be five or six feet long, speckled black and white. He lives most upon the Land, but will take the water and dive under it: hath a long blue forked tongue like a sting, which he puts forth and hisseth and gapeth, but doth not bite nor sting, tho the appearance of him would scare those that knew not what he was. He is not afraid of people, but will lie gaping and hissing at them in the way, and will scarce stir out of it. He will come and eat Carrion with the Dogs and Jackals, and will not be scared away by them, but if they come near to bark or snap at him, with his tail, which is long like a whip, he will so slash them, that they will run away and howl.”

 

Water monitors should be handled with care since they have many sharp teeth and can give gashing bites that can sever tendons and veins, causing extensive bleeding. The bite of a large pet water monitor was described by its American owner as being worse than that of a rattlesnake.

 

The possibility of venom in the genus Varanus is widely debated. Previously, venom was thought to be unique to Serpentes (snakes) and Heloderma (venomous lizards). The aftereffects of a Varanus bite were thought to be due to oral bacteria alone, but recent studies have shown venom glands are likely to be present in the mouths of several, if not all, of the species. The venom may be used as a defensive mechanism to fend off predators, to help digest food, to sustain oral hygiene, and possibly to help in capturing and killing prey. Varanus salvator has not yet been specifically tested, but its bites are likely to be consistent with the venomous bites from other varanid lizards.

 

Monitor lizards are traded globally and are the most common type of lizard to be exported from Southeast Asia, with 8.1 million exported between 1998 and 2007. Water monitors are used by humans for a variety of purposes and are one of the most exploited varanids. They are hunted predominantly for their skins for use in fashion accessories such as shoes, belts and handbags which are shipped globally, with as many as 1.5 million skins traded annually. Other uses include as a perceived remedy for common skin ailments and eczema, a perceived aphrodisiaca, novelty food in Indonesia and as pets.

 

In Nepal's Chitwan National Park it is a protected species under the Wild Animals Protection Act of 2002. In Hong Kong, it is a protected species under Wild Animals Protection Ordinance Cap 170. In Malaysia, this species is one of the most common wild animals, with numbers comparable to the population of macaques there. Although many fall victim to humans via roadkill and animal cruelty, they still thrive in most states of Malaysia, especially in the shrubs of the east coast states such as Pahang and Terengganu. In Thailand, all monitor lizards are protected species. They are still very common in large urban areas in Thailand and are frequently seen in Bangkok canals and parks.

 

Loss of habitat and hunting has exterminated water monitors from most of mainland India. In other areas they survive despite being hunted, due in part to the fact that larger ones, including large females that breed large numbers of eggs, have tough skins that are not desirable.

 

In Sri Lanka, they are protected by locals who value their predation of "crabs that would otherwise undermine the banks of rice fields". They are also protected due to eating venomous snakes.

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The Chinese dragon or Oriental dragon is a mythical creature in East Asian culture with a Chinese origin. It is visualized these days as a long, scaled, snake-like creature with four legs and five claws on each (though it did not always have five claws). In contrast to the European dragon which stands on four legs and which is usually portrayed as evil, the Chinese dragon has long been a potent symbol of auspicious power in Chinese folklore and art. The Chinese dragon is traditionally also the embodiment of the concept of yang (male) and associated with the weather as the bringer of rain and water in an agriculturally water-driven nation. Its female counterpart is the Fenghuang (usually translated as a phoenix).

 

The dragon is sometimes used in the West as a national emblem of China. However, this usage within both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China on Taiwan is rare. Firstly, the dragon was historically the symbol of the Emperor of China. Starting with the Yuan Dynasty, regular citizens were forbidden to associate themselves with the symbol. The dragon re-emerged during the Qing Dynasty and appeared on national flags.

 

Secondly, in European-influenced cultures, the dragon has aggressive, warlike connotations that the Chinese government wishes to avoid. It is for these reasons that the giant panda is far more often used within China as a national emblem than the dragon. In Hong Kong, however, the dragon is part of the design of Brand Hong Kong, a symbol used to promote Hong Kong as an international brand name.

 

Many Chinese people often use the term "Descendants of the Dragon" (龍的傳人) as a sign of ethnic identity, as part of a trend started in the 1970s when different Asian nationalities were looking for animal symbols for representations. The wolf was used among the Mongols, the monkey among Tibetans.

 

In Chinese culture today, it is mostly used for decorative purposes. It is a taboo to disfigure a depiction of a dragon; for example, an advertisement campaign commissioned by Nike, which featured the American basketball player LeBron James slaying a dragon (as well as beating up an old Kung Fu master), was immediately banned by the Chinese government after public outcry over disrespect.[3]

 

A number of Chinese proverbs and idioms also feature references to the dragon, for example: "Hoping one's son will become a dragon" (望子成龍, i.e. be as successful and powerful as a dragon).

The area that became Mayes County is rich in history, containing the location of the first white settlement in what is now called Oklahoma. In 1796, Major Jean Pierre Chouteau, an Osage Indian trader and agent, established a trading post at the junction of the Grand/Neosho River and Saline Creek, at what is today called Salina. Flat boats plied their trade along the river and as early as 1817 keel boats from Ft. Smith (Arkansas) were known to travel up the river to the Chouteau Trading Post. The trading post flourished through the Osage occupation of the area, which ended with the formation of Indian Territory and this area was assigned to the Cherokee Nation. Christian missions were established here as early as 1820/1823.

But even before 1890 the nonIndian population, both legal and illegal, had grown to over 70 percent of the total population of Indian Territory. The first U.S. census of Indian Territory in 1900 shows a further influx of nonIndians had occurred between 1890 and 1900; most of the nonIndians being former residents of the adjacent states of Arkansas, Missouri, Texas and Kansas. Prior to the land allotment, the lands of the Five Civilized Tribes had been held in tribal ownership. No individual Indian owned any land, but were free to use as much as they needed if it did not infringe upon their neighbor's needs. However, they did own their improvements; the home, barn, the planted crops, cleared fields and such. While these improvements could be traded or sold, tribal law restricted the transaction to another citizen of the same tribe.

The land was distributed by allotment to citizens of these Nations on the basis of their enrollment on the 1902/1906 Dawes Roll. The average land allotment to each Cherokee "citizen by blood" was 110 acres of average grade land. Freedman (the former slaves of the Cherokees) were allotted 40 acres each of the Nation's land. But since the Indians had no concept of land ownership, in just a few short years most of the land was in the hands of non-Indians.

Mayes County was formed at statehood (1907) from parts of the Cherokee Nation, plus a small area of the Creek Nation of Indian Territory and was named in honor of Samuel Houston Mayes, who served his people and the Cherokee Nation as Principal Chief from 1895 to 1899.

In the beginning.... Indians called the locale around Pryor "Coo-Y-Yah" meaning place of the huckleberries. In commemoration, today, a street bears the name.

Nathaniel Pryor, great grandnephew of Pocahontas, and a scout with the Lewis and Clark Expedition, married an Osage Indian and set up a trading post near what is now the City of Pryor, Oklahoma.

Nathaniel Pryor's gravesite had been on private property five miles southeast of Pryor for many years but in 1982 the Mayes County Historical Society moved the grave to the Fairview Cemetery, east of Pryor.

The first United States Post Office opened in the Archer & Bryan Store, on the Texas Trail, July 15,1870. This was known as Pryor's Creek, with the possessive connotation. On November 27, 1878 a new post office by the name of Pryor Creek (the 'S had been dropped) was opened.

The MK&T (now Union Pacific) Railroad determined the final location of the City of Pryor Creek when it opened the depot in what was then Coo-Y-Yah. The post office officially dropped the word "Creek" from the name on January 26,1909 although all other legal records retain the word.

The first school was a subscription school organized in 1887 in a one-room building. By 1894 the school had enlarged to rooms, and in 1896, a large, two story, eight-room building was erected.

On June 28,1898, by Act of Congress, towns were given permission to incorporate under the laws of Arkansas, and to create public school systems. The first free public school system in the city opened October 2, 1902. An additional building was erected in 1915 which was used for the high school and the 1908 building was designated a grade school.

Oklahoma became the forty-sixth in the union a state in 1907, and boundaries were set that included Pryor Creek and the surrounding area. Today, the Arkansas border is roughly 39 miles from the community.

Oklahoma itself is named from two words in the Choctaw Indian language - "Okla" meaning people and "humma" meaning red, literally meaning red people. There are descendants of sixty-seven tribes living in the state.

The flags of Spain, France, Napoleon, Mexico, Texas, Confederate States and Great Britain flew over the area until replaced by the flag of the United States of America.

Pryor Creek was incorporated as a city under the laws of the State of Oklahoma. A city charter was adopted at a citywide vote on January 16, 1951. Governor Johnson Murray signed the charter for the State of Oklahoma on January 30, 1951.

In 1963 the voters of the community decided not to drop the word "Creek" from the city's name, as the feeling was one of historical significance. Therefore "Pryor Creek" remains the official name, although most residents and visitors know the community simply as Pryor.

Today the population of Mayes County is very diversified. Many descendants of those original Indian land owners still reside here, and are very proud of their Indian ancestry.

Mayes County is diversified as to its resources, as well. Originally cattle country and farming, the building of power dams on the Neosho/Grand River has brought both industry and recreation to the county. The many miles of shoreline has attracted sport fishermen from all over the United States. Of the four dams located in Mayes County, the Markham Ferry Dam contains the waters of Lake Hudson. This lake has over 200 miles of shoreline in Mayes County, while nearby "Grand Lake of the Cherokees" has over 1,600 miles of shoreline covering parts of four northeastern Oklahoma counties. The lakes are stocked regularly with hybrid stripers, and has a profusion of native fish: white and black bass, catfish, and crappie, to name only a few.

The abundance of labor, fresh water, power and a steam plant has attracted industry to The Mid America Industrial Park. This park contains 9,000 acres, and at this time has sixty plants and companies; employing over 3,800 people. The park is located between Pryor Creek ("Pryor") and Chouteau, on the east side of Highway 69, which is the main route between St Louis Missouri and Dallas, Texas.

Sunshine, clear blue water and friendly people await visitors in the Mayes County communities.

Attractions include the magnificent mile long Pensacola Dam which is the world's largest multiple arch dam.

The town of Disney welcome's you to the annual Picture in Scripture Amphitheater where record breaking crowds watch a cast of 60 perform the biblical account of Jonah, Jesus, and the great whale.

This region has a rich cultural history. Until the 1830's this area was part of the hunting ground of the Osage Indian tribe. In 1796, Major Jean Pierre Chouteau opened a trading post near present day Salina, on the shores of Lake Hudson. The trading post encouraged fur trapping along the Grand River and its tributaries. This site significantly became the oldest white settlement in the state, and the Chouteau Museum commemorates this colorful history.

Near the town of Chouteau is Mazi which is near where the Union Mission was established in 1820. It was at this mission that the first school in the state was organized in 1821, the first printing press was located, and the first book published in Oklahoma was printed in 1835.

 

Palace of Fontainebleau

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Palace and Park of Fontainebleau

Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List

 

Location of Palace of Fontainebleau in France.

The Palace of Fontainebleau, located 55 kilometres from the centre of Paris, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The palace as it is today is the work of many French monarchs, building on an early 16th-century structure of Francis I. The building is arranged around a series of courtyards. The commune of Fontainebleau has grown up around the remainder of the Forest of Fontainebleau, a former royal hunting park. This forest is now home to many endangered species of Europe.

 

The throne room, formerly the King’s bedroom from Henry IV to Louis XVI, it was converted into the throne room by Napoleon

The older château on this site was already used in the latter part of the 12th century by King Louis VII, for whom Thomas Becket consecrated the chapel. Fontainebleau was a favourite residence of Philip Augustus (Philip II) and Louis IX. The creator of the present edifice was Francis I, under whom the architect Gilles le Breton erected most of the buildings of the Cour Ovale, including the Porte Dorée, its southern entrance. The king also invited the architect Sebastiano Serlio to France, and Leonardo da Vinci. The Gallery of Francis I, with its frescoes framed in stucco by Rosso Fiorentino, carried out between 1522 and 1540, was the first great decorated gallery built in France. Broadly speaking, at Fontainebleau the Renaissance was introduced to France. The Salle des Fêtes, in the reign of Henry II, was decorated by the Italian Mannerist painters, Francesco Primaticcio and Niccolò dell'Abbate. Benvenuto Cellini's "Nymph of Fontainebleau", commissioned for the château, is at the Louvre.

 

Another campaign of extensive construction was undertaken by King Henry II and Catherine de' Medici, who commissioned architects Philibert Delorme and Jean Bullant. To the Fontainebleau of François I and Henry II, King Henry IV added the court that carries his name, the Cour des Princes, with the adjoining Galerie de Diane de Poitiers and the Galerie des Cerfs, used as a library. A "second school of Fontainebleau" decorators, less ambitious and original than the first, evolved from these additional projects. Henry IV pierced the wooded park with a 1200m canal (which can be fished today) and ordered the planting of pines, elms and fruit trees. The park stretches of an area more than 80 hectares, enclosed by walls and pierced rectilinear paths. Henry IV's gardener, Claude Mollet, trained at Château d'Anet, laid out patterned parterres. Preserved on the grounds is Henry IV's jeu de paume (real tennis court). It is the largest such court in the world, and one of the few publicly owned.

 

Philip the Fair (Philip IV), Henry III and Louis XIII were all born in the palace, and Philip died there. Christina of Sweden lived there for years, following her abdication in 1654. In 1685 Fontainebleau saw the signing of the Edict of Fontainebleau, which revoked the Edict of Nantes (1598). Royal guests of the Bourbon kings were housed at Fontainebleau, including Peter the Great of Russia and Christian VII of Denmark.

 

Revolution and Empire

By the late 18th century, the château had fallen into disrepair; during the French Revolution many of the original furnishings were sold, in the long Revolutionary sales of the contents of all the royal châteaux, intended as a way of raising money for the nation and ensuring that the Bourbons could not return to their comforts. Nevertheless, within a decade Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte began to transform the Château de Fontainebleau into a symbol of his grandeur, as an alternative to the empty Palace of Versailles, with its Bourbon connotations. Napoleon hosted Pope Pius VII there in 1804, when he came to consecrate the emperor, and again in 1812–1814, when he was Napoleon's prisoner. With modifications of the château's structure, including the cobblestone entrance wide enough for his carriage, Napoleon helped make the château the place that visitors see today. At Fontainebleau Napoleon abdicated for the first time, bade farewell to his Old Guard and went into exile in 1814.Fontainebleau was also the setting of the Second Empire court of his nephew Napoleon III.

 

Today

The château is now home to the Écoles d'Art Américaines, a school of art, architecture, and music for students from the United States. The school was founded by General Pershing when his men were stationed there during the First World War.

  

Palacio de Fontainebleau

Palacio y parque de Fontainebleau. Nombre descrito en la Lista del Patrimonio de la Humanidad.

 

Coordenadas48°24′07″N 02°41′53″E País Francia

 

La Sala de espectáculos del Palacio de Fontainebleau, en 1855.

El Palacio de Fontainebleau, en francés Château de Fontainebleau, es uno de los mayores palacios reales franceses. Está localizado en la ciudad de Fontainebleau, departamento de Sena y Marne, en el norte de Francia.

 

El palacio refleja, actualmente, las aportaciones constructivas y decorativas de varios monarcas franceses, a partir de una estructura inicial de Francisco I. El edificio se desarrolla alrededor de una serie de patios.

 

La ciudad de Fontainebleau creció en su entorno y en lo que restaba de la «floresta de Fontainebleau» (en español bosque de Fontainebleau), un antiguo parque real de caza.

 

Este palacio introdujo en Francia el Manierismo italiano, en la decoración de interiores y en los jardines, adaptándolo. El manierismo francés en la decoración de interiores del siglo XVI es conocido como «estilo Fontainebleau»: combina escultura, forja, pintura, estuco y carpintería. En jardinería supuso la introducción del parterre.

 

El ideal de belleza femenina en Fontainebleau es, también, manierista: una pequeña y graciosa cabeza en un cuello esbelto, torso y brazos exageradamente largos, pechos pequeños y altos; es casi un regreso a las bellezas del gótico tardío. Los nuevos ideales de Fontainebleau fueron plasmados en refinados y detallados grabados que circularon entre artistas y entendidos.

 

A través de los grabados realizados por la «Escuela de Fontainebleau», este nuevo estilo fue transmitido a otros centros del norte de Europa, especialmente en Amberes, Bélgica, Alemania y, más tarde, también Londres.

 

El viejo castillo que se erigía en este lugar ya era usado al final del siglo XII por el rey Luis VII, para quien Thomas Becket consagró la capilla. Fontainebleau fue una de las residencias favoritas de Felipe II y de Luis IX. El creador del edificio actual fue Francisco I, para quien el arquitecto Gilles le Breton construyó la mayor parte del Cour Ovale (Patio Ovalado), incluyendo la Porte Dorée (Puerta Dorada), en su entrada sur. Este rey también invitó a Sebastiano Serlio y Leonardo da Vinci. La Galería de Francisco I, con sus frescos hechos en estuco por Rosso Fiorentino, fue construida entre 1522 y 1540, siendo la primera gran galería decorada construida en Francia.

 

El Renacimiento fue introducido en Francia por el Palacio de Fontainebleau, por influencia de Enrique II y Catalina de Médici, que contrataron a los arquitectos Philibert Delorme y Jean Bullant, con los que llevaron a cabo una importante campaña de remodelaciones. La Salle des Fêtes (Salón de Baile) fue decorada por los pintores manieristas italianos Francesco Primaticcio y Niccolò dell'Abbate. La «Ninfa de Fontainebleau», de Benvenuto Cellini, encargada para el palacio, está en el Louvre.

 

Al Fontainebleau de Francisco I y Enrique II, Enrique IV añadió el patio que lleva su nombre, el Cour des Princes (Patio de los Príncipes), la Galerie de Diane de Poitiers (Galería de Diana de Poitiers) y la Galerie des Cerfs (Galería de los Ciervos), usada como biblioteca. Una «segunda escuela de decoradores de Fontainebleau», menos ambiciosa y original que la primera, estuvo involucrada en estos proyectos. Enrique IV perforó el parque forestal con un canal de 1200 metros, donde actualmente se puede pescar, y ordenó la plantación de pinos, olmos y frutales. Su jardinero, Claude Mollet, con habilidades ya probadas en el Château d'Anet, ejecutó los parterres.

 

Tres siglos después el palacio entró en decadencia; durante la Revolución francesa mucho del mobiliario original se dispersó en las ventas revolucionarias del contenido de todos los palacios reales, concebidas como una forma de conseguir dinero para la nación y asegurar que los Borbones no podrían volver a sus dominios. Dentro de la década siguiente, el emperador Napoleón Bonaparte comenzó a transformar el Château de Fontainebleau en un símbolo de su grandeza, como una alternativa al Palacio de Versalles que tenía connotaciones borbónicas. En Fontainebleau, Napoleón I de Francia firmó su abdicación, con el Tratado de Fontainebleau. Se despidió de su Vieja Guardia y partió al exilio.

 

Con modificaciones en la estructura del palacio, incluyendo la entrada de cantería suficientemente ancha para su carruaje, Napoleón ayudó a hacer del palacio el lugar que los visitantes conocen actualmente. Fontainebleau fue el escenario de la Corte del Segundo Imperio de su sobrino Napoleón III. Felipe IV, Enrique III y Luis XIII nacieron en este palacio, y el primer de estos reyes también murió aquí. Cristina de Suecia vivió en Fontainebleau durante varios años, después de abdicar en 1654. En 1685 Fontainebleau fue el escenario de la firma del Edicto de Fontainebleau, el cual revocó el Edicto de Nantes (1598). Huéspedes reales de los reyes de la dinastía de los Borbones fueron instalados en Fontainebleau: Pedro I de Rusia y Cristián VII de Dinamarca, y también, en la época de Napoleón, el Papa Pío VII, en 1804 cuando vino a consagrar a Napoleón como Emperador, y entre 1812 y 1814, cuando fue su prisionero.

 

Actualmente, parte del palacio alberga las Écoles d'Art Américaines (Escuelas de Artes Americanas), una escuela de arte, arquitectura y música para estudiantes de los EUA. Preservado en los campos está el jeu de paume (campo de tenis real) de Enrique IV. Es el mayor campo de tenis de este género en el mundo, y uno de los pocos de propiedad pública.

 

En 1981, el Château de Fontainebleau fue clasificado Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la Unesco.

  

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontainebleau

  

OM PARVAT

Om Parvat (also Adi Kailash, Little Kailash, Jonglingkong Peak,Baba Kailash, chhota Kailash)[3] is a mountain in the Himalayanmountain range, lying in the Darchula district of western Nepal and inPithoragarh District, Uttarakhand, India. It is considered sacred by Hindusand its snow deposition pattern resembles the sacred 'OM' (ॐ). Its appearance is distinctly similar to Mount Kailash in Tibet.[4] Near Om Parvat lie Parvati Lake and Jonglingkong Lake. Jonglingkong Lake is sacred, as Mansarovar, to the Hindus. Opposite to this peak is a mountain called Parwati Muhar. The Om Parvat is the fruit of discord between India and Nepal who do not reach agreement about the border line between the two countries. The Om Parvat is currently on the Indo-Nepalese border face "Om/ॐ" in India and the back of the mountain inNepal.

This peak was attempted for the first time by an Indo-British team including Martin Moran, T. Rankin, M. Singh, S. Ward, A. Williams and R. Ausden. The climbers promised not to ascend the final 10 metres (30 ft) out of respect for the peak's holy status. However, they were stopped around 200 m (660 ft) short of the summit by very loose snow and rock conditions.[4]

The first ascent of Adi Kailash came on October 8, 2004. The team comprised Tim Woodward, Jack Pearse, Andy Perkins (UK); Jason Hubert, Martin Welch, Diarmid Hearns, Amanda George (Scotland); and Paul Zuchowski (USA). They did not ascend the final few metres, again out of respect for the sacred nature of the summit.

Om Parvat can be viewed en route to the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra from the last camp below Lipu Lekh pass at Nabhidhang. Many trekkers to Adi Kailash often make a diversion to view Om Parvat. Om Parvat and Adi Kailash or Baba Kailash are not one and the same. Om Parvat is located near Nabhi Dhang (Nepal),The Chhota Kailash is located near Sinla pass, Near Brahma Parvat.

The best view of Om Parvat which "Om" drawn by the snow is the view from the district of Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand, India), which faces the mountain and hence to the "Om". By Kailash Mansarovar Foundation Swami Bikash Giri www.sumeruparvat.com , www.naturalitem.com

  

OM

Auṃ or Oṃ, Sanskrit: ॐ) is a sacred sound and a spiritual icon in Indian religions. It is also a mantra in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.

Om is part of the iconography found in ancient and medieval era manuscripts, temples, monasteries and spiritual retreats in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The symbol has a spiritual meaning in all Indian dharmas, but the meaning and connotations of Om vary between the diverse schools within and across the various traditions.

In Hinduism, Om is one of the most important spiritual symbols (pratima). It refers to Atman (soul, self within) andBrahman (ultimate reality, entirety of the universe, truth, divine, supreme spirit, cosmic principles, knowledge). The syllable is often found at the beginning and the end of chapters in the Vedas, the Upanishads, and other Hindu texts. It is a sacred spiritual incantation made before and during the recitation of spiritual texts, during puja and private prayers, in ceremonies of rites of passages (sanskara) such as weddings, and sometimes during meditative and spiritual activities such as Yoga.

Vedic literature

The syllable "Om" is described with various meanings in the Vedas and different early Upanishads.[19] The meanings include "the sacred sound, the Yes!, the Vedas, the Udgitha (song of the universe), the infinite, the all encompassing, the whole world, the truth, the ultimate reality, the finest essence, the cause of the Universe, the essence of life, theBrahman, the Atman, the vehicle of deepest knowledge, and Self-knowledge".

Vedas

The chapters in Vedas, and numerous hymns, chants and benedictions therein use the syllable Om. The Gayatri mantra from the Rig Veda, for example, begins with Om. The mantra is extracted from the 10th verse of Hymn 62 in Book III of the Rig Veda.These recitations continue to be in use, and major incantations and ceremonial functions begin and end with Om.

ॐ भूर्भुवस्व: |

तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यम् |

भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि |

धियो यो न: प्रचोदयात् ||

 

Om. Earth, atmosphere, heaven.

Let us think on that desirable splendour

of Savitr, the Inspirer. May he stimulate

us to insightful thoughts.

Om is a common symbol found in the ancient texts of Hinduism, such as in the first line of Rig veda (top), as well as a icon in temples and spiritual retreats.

The Chandogya Upanishad is one of the oldest Upanishads of Hinduism. It opens with the recommendation that "let a man meditate on Om". It calls the syllable Om as udgitha (उद्गीथ, song, chant), and asserts that the significance of the syllable is thus: the essence of all beings is earth, the essence of earth is water, the essence of water are the plants, the essence of plants is man, the essence of man is speech, the essence of speech is the Rig Veda, the essence of the Rig Veda is the Sama Veda, and the essence of Sama Veda is the udgitha (song, Om).

Rik (ऋच्, Ṛc) is speech, states the text, and Sāman (सामन्) is breath; they are pairs, and because they have love and desire for each other, speech and breath find themselves together and mate to produce song. The highest song is Om, asserts section 1.1 of Chandogya Upanishad. It is the symbol of awe, of reverence, of threefold knowledge because Adhvaryu invokes it, the Hotr recites it, and Udgatr sings it.

The second volume of the first chapter continues its discussion of syllable Om, explaining its use as a struggle between Devas (gods) and Asuras (demons). Max Muller states that this struggle between gods and demons is considered allegorical by ancient Indian scholars, as good and evil inclinations within man, respectively. The legend in section 1.2 of Chandogya Upanishad states that gods took the Udgitha (song of Om) unto themselves, thinking, "with this [song] we shall overcome the demons". The syllable Om is thus implied as that which inspires the good inclinations within each person.

Chandogya Upanishad's exposition of syllable Om in its opening chapter combines etymological speculations, symbolism, metric structure and philosophical themes. In the second chapter of the Chandogya Upanishad, the meaning and significance of Om evolves into a philosophical discourse, such as in section 2.10 where Om is linked to the Highest Self, and section 2.23 where the text asserts Om is the essence of three forms of knowledge, Om is Brahman and "Om is all this [observed world]".

Katha Upanishad

The Katha Upanishad is the legendary story of a little boy, Nachiketa – the son of sage Vajasravasa, who meetsYama – the Indian deity of death. Their conversation evolves to a discussion of the nature of man, knowledge,Atman (Soul, Self) and moksha (liberation). In section 1.2, Katha Upanishad characterizes Knowledge/Wisdom as the pursuit of good, and Ignorance/Delusion as the pursuit of pleasant, that the essence of Veda is make man liberated and free, look past what has happened and what has not happened, free from the past and the future, beyond good and evil, and one word for this essence is the word Om.

The word which all the Vedas proclaim,

That which is expressed in every Tapas (penance, austerity, meditation),

That for which they live the life of a Brahmacharin,

Understand that word in its essence: Om! that is the word.

Yes, this syllable is Brahman,

This syllable is the highest.

He who knows that syllable,

Whatever he desires, is his.

— Katha Upanishad,

Maitri Upanishad

The Maitrayaniya Upanishad in sixth Prapathakas (lesson) discusses the meaning and significance of Om. The text asserts that Om represents Brahman-Atman. The three roots of the syllable, states the Maitri Upanishad, are A + U + M. The sound is the body of Soul, and it repeatedly manifests in three: as gender-endowed body - feminine, masculine, neuter; as light-endowed body - Agni, Vayu and Aditya; as deity-endowed body - Brahma, Rudra and Vishnu; as mouth-endowed body - Garhapatya, Dakshinagni and Ahavaniya; as knowledge-endowed body - Rig, Saman and Yajur; as world-endowed body - Bhūr, Bhuvaḥ and Svaḥ; as time-endowed body - Past, Present and Future; as heat-endowed body - Breath, Fire and Sun; as growth-endowed body - Food, Water and Moon; as thought-endowed body - intellect, mind and pysche. Brahman exists in two forms - the material form, and the immaterial formless. The material form is changing, unreal. The immaterial formless isn't changing, real. The immortal formless is truth, the truth is the Brahman, the Brahman is the light, the light is the Sun which is the syllable Om as the Self.

The world is Om, its light is Sun, and the Sun is also the light of the syllable Om, asserts the Upanishad. Meditating on Om, is acknowledging and meditating on the Brahman-Atman (Soul, Self).

Mundaka Upanishad

The Mundaka Upanishad in the second Mundakam (part), suggests the means to knowing the Self and the Brahman to be meditation, self-reflection and introspection, that can be aided by the symbol Om.

That which is flaming, which is subtler than the subtle,

on which the worlds are set, and their inhabitants –

That is the indestructible Brahman. It is life, it is speech, it is mind. That is the real. It is immortal.

It is a mark to be penetrated. Penetrate It, my friend.

 

Taking as a bow the great weapon of the Upanishad,

one should put upon it an arrow sharpened by meditation,

Stretching it with a thought directed to the essence of That,

Penetrate that Imperishable as the mark, my friend.

 

Om is the bow, the arrow is the Soul, Brahman the mark,

By the undistracted man is It to be penetrated,

One should come to be in It,

as the arrow becomes one with the mark.

— Mundaka Upanishad, 2.2.2 - 2.2.4

Adi Shankara, in his review of the Mundaka Upanishad, states Om as a symbolism for Atman (soul, self).

Mandukya Upanishad

The Mandukya Upanishad opens by declaring, "Om!, this syllable is this whole world". Thereafter it presents various explanations and theories on what it means and signifies. This discussion is built on a structure of "four fourths" or "fourfold", derived from A + U + M + "silence" (or without an element).

Aum as all states of time

In verse 1, the Upanishad states that time is threefold: the past, the present and the future, that these three are "Aum". The four fourth of time is that which transcends time, that too is "Aum" expressed.

Aum as all states of Atman

In verse 2, states the Upanishad, everything is Brahman, but Brahman is Atman (the Soul, Self), and that the Atman is fourfold. Johnston summarizes these four states of Self, respectively, as seeking the physical, seeking inner thought, seeking the causes and spiritual consciousness, and the fourth state is realizing oneness with the Self, the Eternal.

Aum as all states of consciousness

In verses 3 to 6, the Mandukya Upanishad enumerates four states of consciousness: wakeful, dream, deep sleep and the state of ekatma (being one with Self, the oneness of Self). These four are A + U + M + "without an element" respectively.

Aum as all of knowledge

In verses 9 to 12, the Mandukya Upanishad enumerates fourfold etymological roots of the syllable "Aum". It states that the first element of "Aum" is A, which is from Apti (obtaining, reaching) or from Adimatva (being first). The second element is U, which is from Utkarsa (exaltation) or from Ubhayatva(intermediateness). The third element is M, from Miti (erecting, constructing) or from Mi Minati, or apīti (annihilation). The fourth is without an element, without development, beyond the expanse of universe. In this way, states the Upanishad, the syllable Om is indeed the Atman (the self).

Shvetashvatara Upanishad

The Shvetashvatara Upanishad, in verses 1.14 to 1.16, suggests meditating with the help of syllable Om, where one's perishable body is like one fuel-stick and the syllable Om is the second fuel-stick, which with discipline and diligent rubbing of the sticks unleashes the concealed fire of thought and awareness within. Such knowledge, asserts the Upanishad, is the goal of Upanishads. The text asserts that Om is a tool of meditation empowering one to know the God within oneself, to realize one's Atman (Soul, Self).

Epics

The Bhagavad Gita, in the Epic Mahabharata, mentions the meaning and significance of Om in several verses. For example, Fowler notes that verse 9.17 of the Bhagavad Gita synthesizes the competing dualistic and monist streams of thought in Hinduism, by using "Om which is the symbol for the indescribable, impersonal Brahman".

I am the Father of this world, Mother, Ordainer, Grandfather, the Thing to be known, the Purifier, the syllable Om, Rik, Saman and also Yajus.

— Krishna to Arjuna, Bhagavad Gita 9.17,

The significance of the sacred syllable in the Hindu traditions, is similarly highlighted in various of its verses, such as verse 17.24 where the importance of Omduring prayers, charity and meditative practices is explained as follows,

Therefore, uttering Om, the acts of yajna (fire ritual), dāna (charity) and tapas (austerity) as enjoined in the scriptures, are always begun by those who study the Brahman.

— Bhagavad Gita

Yoga Sutra

The aphoristic verse 1.27 of Pantanjali's Yogasutra links Om to Yoga practice, as follows,

तस्य वाचकः प्रणवः ॥२७॥

His word is Om.

— Yogasutra 1.27,

Johnston states this verse highlights the importance of Om in the meditative practice of Yoga, where it symbolizes three worlds in the Soul; the three times – past, present and future eternity, the three divine powers – creation, preservation and transformation in one Being; and three essences in one Spirit – immortality, omniscience and joy. It is, asserts Johnston, a symbol for the perfected Spiritual Man (his emphasis). BY KAILASH MANSAROVAR FOUNDATION SWAMI BIKASH GIRI www.sumeruparvat.com , www.naturalitem.com

  

Commentary.

 

The cliffs north of Newquay at Watergate Bay are epic, dramatic and magnificent.

No part is more iconic than the legendary cliffs, stacks and beaches of Bedruthan Steps.

There are actual steps down to the beach, that need regular repair, due to storm damage.

However, the word “steps” has another connotation.

Bedruthan, so the legend goes, was a local giant.

He used the stacks on the beach as mere stepping stones to cross the bay and summit the cliffs.

The surf here is exhilarating but the tide and rip currents are particularly dangerous.

It is an excellent place to view the best of Cornwall, but it is probably best advised to leave swimming to the many safer beaches around this marvellous coastline.

 

The English Rose

 

The English rose is an iconic symbol of the British isles that evokes royalty, war and beautiful women - a potent combination. For this project i wanted to celebrate the beauty of the roses from which these connotations are born.

 

To capture these wonderful blooms i worked with David Austin Roses, the most renowned grower of English roses.

 

Over the course of two summers I set up a small studio at the headquarters of David Austin in Wolverhampton, using a bright blue background as a stark contrast to the array of colours you find in roses.

 

I was assisted by senior rosarian Michael Marriott who selected the best examples of each variety of rose for me to photograph.

 

My goal was simple to capture the diversity and beauty of this symbolic flower.

  

Her Majesty’s Theatre in Ballarat’s Lydiard Street is one of the most intact, commercial nineteenth century theatres in Australia. Originally opened as the Ballarat Academy of Music in order to avoid the negative moral connotations associated with theatres at the time, Her Majesty’s was completed in 1875 to a design by architect George Browne. The Academy had a flat floored auditorium suitable for respectable dances and dinners, and a fully equipped stage. It was built to supersede Ballarat's Theatre Royal (built in 1858), which stood in Sturt Street. While very grand, the Royal had become outdated and no longer met the technical requirements of the touring companies.

 

The Academy was built by the wealthy Clarke family at the initiative of a group of local people who felt that Ballarat, as the premier city of the Victorian goldfields, should have a theatre worthy of its status. They guaranteed to rent it from the Clarkes at 10% of the construction cost, which was £13,000.

 

Built over a disused mineshaft, the original timber theatre initially comprised a theatre with rectangular auditorium, a steep lyre-shaped gallery, three entries leading to separate parts of the auditorium and two shops facing Lydiard Street.

 

Ballarat's handsome new theatre was ready ahead of schedule, and was opened on 7th June 1875. The first production was a comic opera by the French composer Lecocq, "La Fille de Madame Angot," presented by the Royal Opera Bouffe Company run by W. S. Lyster, Australia's first opera impresario.

 

Soon after the Academy opened, the large Supper Room above Lydiard Street was leased to William Bridges, a former miner, who ran it as an art gallery, displaying an excellent collection of European and Australian artworks, including his own tapestries. After Bridges moved his operations to Melbourne in 1883, the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery was formed. The Gallery Society ran the Gallery from the Academy from 1884 until 1890, when the present Art Gallery in Lydiard Street North was opened.

 

For the next twenty five years, the Academy of Music was unchallenged as Ballarat's main theatrical venue. It was never as popular as the old Theatre Royal, however, as the rather cavernous hall lacked the intimacy of the older playhouse. In 1898, when Sir William Clarke died, the building was bought by a local consortium and transformed into the delightful theatrical space we know today.

 

The new owners commissioned Australia's leading theatre architect, William Pitt (1855 – 1918), to remodel the interior and improve the stage facilities. William, who had been apprenticed to George Browne, also designed Melbourne's Princess Theatre amongst many other buildings. The present layout of the auditorium with sloping floor and double balconies, is Pitt's creation. The colour scheme is a recreation of the interior decoration undertaken at that time by Hugh Paterson, one of Melbourne's leading designers.

 

Paterson also decorated the dome and proscenium arch with murals. The mural in the dome depicted a carnival scene, with dancers in fanciful costumes; Comedy and Tragedy were featured on either side of the proscenium arch, with Shakespeare over the top. Unfortunately all the murals were destroyed in 1907 when Government regulations required the proscenium wall to be replaced with a solid firewall. The dome was removed at the same time for structural reasons, and was restored in 1990. The Dress Circle Lobby also dates from 1907.

 

The 1898 theatre was constructed in brick with timber roof construction sheeted with iron. The main body is brick with piers both inside and out. The hipped trussed roof covers both the three-level auditorium and the stage with dressing rooms below. The ground floor and foyer have been considerably altered at various times but the auditorium and stage structure are original as is much of the auditorium ceiling and pilastered walls. The roof over the stage also dates from 1875 and the later inclusion of a fly tower stage in 1898 is fitted around the original trusses. The flying system is the only manual (non counterweight) system in existence in Australia. In the auditorium roof there appears to have been two domes, a small one dating from before 1898 for which the horizontal shutters and tube structure to a former sliding ventilated roof are still in existence. When 1898 dome was removed a false octagonal ceiling was fitted in its place. Internally the circle and gallery levels are horseshoe shaped in plan and are carried on cast iron columns. The balcony balustrading is swag bellied and decorated. It is believed that the wall pilasters, panelled ceilings and proscenium are original decorations and some traces of art nouveau decorative motifs are to be seen where later alterations have been made. The two balconies were constructed in 1898, but one balcony front is the reused 1874 front while the second was made to match. The balconies and cast-iron supporting posts are typical for auditoria design in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. The double balcony, supported on columns, is now the last of this form of theatre in Victoria. The facade of this building is two storeyed in height with stucco ornamentation in a somewhat florid Classical style. The upper storey windows are round headed with archivolts supported by slender columns as are the two ground floor subsidiary entrances. The highly decorated curved entrance has now been lost. The ground floor facade has been much altered and a street awning has been added. The first floor facade is intact but the parapet balustrading and ornamentation has been destroyed.

 

From the First World War on, the Theatre was increasingly used for cinema presentations. A Bio Box (projection room) was built above the Dress Circle Lobby in 1916, and the Theatre was wired for sound in 1930. In 1928, the Hoyts cinema chain took over control over the building through its local subsidiary, Ballarat Theatres Limited, which ran Her Majesty's in tandem with the Regent Theatre (purposely built as a cinema).

 

In 1936, Her Majesty's was leased and operated by Ballarat Amusements, part of the Woodrow Distributing Company, presenting MGM and Paramount movies. Ballarat Amusements ran it until the early 1960s.

 

During the silent movie era, a theatre orchestra provided the film accompaniment. The Ballarat Theatre Organ Society installed the Theatre's Compton Theatre Organ in 1982.

 

Even when Her Majesty's was primarily a cinema, it was always available, to a lesser or greater degree, for live performances. It was used regularly by J. C. Williamson's and other touring companies as well as local groups. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s huge crowds came to see the annual pantomimes staged by the Wavie Williams Pantomime Company. For the last forty years, the Theatre has been used to stage locally produced musical comedies.

 

Television came to Ballarat in 1962, and had an immediate impact on attendances at the local cinemas. Ballarat Amusements decided to cease screenings and Hoyts put the building on the market.

 

In 1965, the Theatre was bought by the Royal South Street Society as the home for its Annual Competitions.The Bolte State Government gave the Society £20,000 towards the purchase price and a further grant towards the adaptation of the building for the Competitions. Further assistance towards both purposes came from local businessman, Alf Reid. It was clearly understood at the time that the Society would be managing the Theatre as a community facility.

 

The Society renamed Her Majesty's the Memorial Theatre, a move which made donations to its renovation appeal tax deductable.

 

The Society was unable to adequately maintain the upkeep of the building, however, and gifted it to the then City of Ballaarat in 1987, reserving the right to hold competitions in the Theatre every year between August and November.

 

The City of Ballarat undertook a major renovation, seeking funding from a wide range of businesses, individuals and organisations. The Theatre reopened as Her Majesty's on the 1st of November, 1990.

 

Nandi is the name for the bull which serves as the mount (Sanskrit: Vahana) of the god Shiva and as the gatekeeper of Shiva and Parvati. In Hindu Religion, he is the chief guru of eighteen masters (18 Siddhar ) including Patanjali and Thirumular. Temples venerating Shiva display stone images of a seated Nandi, generally facing the main shrine. There are also a number of temples dedicated solely to Nandi.

 

The application of the name Nandi to the bull (Sanskrit: vṛṣabha) is in fact a development of recent centuries, as Gouriswar Bhattacharya has documented in an illustrated article entitled "Nandin and Vṛṣabha". The name Nandi was earlier widely used instead for an anthropomorphic deity who was one of Shiva’s two door-keepers, the other being Mahākāla. The doorways of pre-tenth-century North Indian temples are frequently flanked by images of Mahākāla and Nandi, and it is in this role of Shiva’s watchman that Nandi figures in Kālidāsa’s poem the Kumārasambhava.

 

ETYMOLOGY

The word “Nandi” is derived from the ancient Indian Language of Sanskrit. The Sanskrit word 'Nandi' in English translates as Happy, Joyous or Happy Person.

 

BIRTH OF NANDI

There was a sage named Shilada who underwent severe penance to have a boon — a child with immortality. Lord Indra pleased of the austerities of Shilada appeared in front of him to offer a boon. After hearing the request of Shilada and his desire to have an immortal child, Lord Indra suggested he pray to Lord Shiva: nobody else could provide such a boon. Sage Shilada continued his penance for 1,000 years. He was totally immovable for many years, so the termites settled on his body and slowly started to build up their nest. Finally, his whole body was covered up by them. The insects started to eat his flesh and imbibed his blood. At last, only bones remained.

 

Lord Shiva appeared in front of him and provided the boon for the child. Moreover, Lord Shiva provided Sage Shilada his old form with a single touch. Sage Shilada performed Yagna and a child appeared from the sacrificial fire. His body was clad in armour made out of diamonds. The celestial dancers and singers performed on this auspicious occasion and the deities showered flowers on the child. The boy was named ’Nandi’ — who brings joy. Shilada brought the child home. Immediately the boy lost his divine appearance to an ordinary child. The child completely forgot all about his birth. Sage Shilada was worried about the sudden change. He devoted his time for Nandi's upbringing his education etc. By the age of seven, the boy was well versed in Veda and all sacred texts.

 

One day the deities Mitra and Varuna visited Sage Shilada. At the first sight of the boy, they commented: Though the boy had all auspicious signs, he would have a very short life. He would not live after the age of eight. Sage Shilada was mortified at this remark. Nandi could not bear his father's sorrow; he began to pray to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva appeared before him and blessed him. Lord Shiva adorned the boy with a necklace and made him immortal. Lord Shiva blessed the child and declared that he would be worshiped along with Him and become his vahana (vehicle). Immediately the boy got all the divine powers and transformed into half bull-half human. He and Shilada went to Lord Shiva's abode to live.

 

IN HINDUISM

Bulls appear on the Indus Valley seals, including the 'Pasupati Seal', which depicts a seated figure and, according to some scholars, is similar to Shiva. However, most scholars agree that the horned bull on the Indus Valley seals is not identical to Nandi.

 

DESCRIPTIONS ON NANDI IN HINDU RELIGIOUS TEXTS INCLUDE:

- Some Puranas describe Nandi or Nandikeshvara as bull face with a human body that resembles that of Shiva in proportion and aspect, although with four hands — two hands holding the Parasu (the axe) and Mruga (the antelope) and the other two hands joined together in the Anjali (obeisance). Brahma Vaivarta Purana mentions Krishna himself to have taken the form of a bull as no one else in the Universe can bear Shiva.

- Vehicle of Shiva: The bull Nandi is Shiva's primary vehicle and is the principal gana (follower) of Shiva.

- Gate keeper of Shiva's abode: The close association of Shiva and Nandi explains the presence of a statue of Nandi at the gate of many temples dedicated to Shiva. It also explains why the word "nandi" in the Tamil, Kannada and Telugu languages is used as a metaphor for a person blocking the way.[citation needed] In Sanskrit, a bull is called vrisha, which has another connotation — that of righteousness or Dharma. It is important to seek the blessings of Nandi before proceeding to worship Lord Shiva.

- Chief in Shiva's army: Some Puranas mention that Nandi lead the Shiva Ganas, Shiva's attendants.

- A Guru of Saivism: In addition to being his mount, Nandi is Shiva's foremost disciple. In the Natha/Siddhar tradition, Nandi is one of the primal gurus. He was the guru to Siddhar Thirumulanathar, Patanjalinathar and others.

- From the yogic perspective, Nandi/Nandhi/Nandikeshvara is the mind dedicated to Lord Siva, the Absolute. In other words, to understand and absorb Light, the 'experience and the wisdom' is Nandi which is the Guru within.

- Spiritually, Nandi represents an individual jiva (soul) and the message that the jiva should always be focused on the Atman (Paramatman).

 

LEGENDS

According to some puranas, Nandi was born to sage Shilada who got him by the grace of Shiva.

 

It was Nandi who cursed Ravana (the demon King of Lanka) that his kingdom would be burnt by a monkey (Vanara). And later Hanuman burnt Lanka when he went in search of Sita, who was kept prisoner by Ravana in Ashok Vatika.

 

In one puranic story, it is stated that once Siva and Parvathi were playing a game of dice. For any game there has to be an umpire, who has to declare who is the winner. Siva and Parvathi agreed to have Nandi (the divine bull) as the umpire. Nandi is a favorite of Siva, as he is Siva's vehicle. Although Siva lost the game, Nandi declared him the winner. It is stated that Parvathi was indignant over Nandi's partiality for Siva and cursed him that he should die from an incurable disease. Thereupon Nandi fell at the feet of Parvathi and pleaded for forgiveness. "Mother forgive me. Should I not show at least this amount of gratitude to one who is my master? Is it not humiliating for me to declare that my master has lost the game? To uphold his honor I no doubt uttered a lie. But am I to be punished with such severity for so small an offence?" Nandi prayed for forgiveness in this manner. Parvathi forgave Nandi and taught him the means to atone for his lapse. She told him. "The Chaturdasi day in the month of Bhadrapada is the day when my son's birthday is celebrated. On that day you have to offer to my son what pleases you most (green grass)". This means that one atones for one's sins when one offers to the Lord what is most pleasing and enjoyable to him. For Nandi the most enjoyable and relishing food is green grass. As directed by Parvathi Nandi worshipped Ganapathi by offering green grass. Nandi was then relieved of his dreaded disease. His health improved and by the grace of Parvathi he was redeemed.

 

When the positive forces, the devas, and the negative forces, the asuras, joined together on a rare occasion to churn the ocean with a mountain to obtain the nectar of immortality they utilized Vasuki, the serpent, as the rope. The devas pulled from one end and the asuras from the other. Lots of precious herbs and gems were produced during the Churning and one of them was a poison (halāhala) which became human karma. This "poison" was so dangerous that none of the devas or asuras wanted to go near it. It was extremely sticky and coming into contact with this poison, i.e., human karma, would drag the divinity down to the realms of human suffering and ego. As everyone else ran away, Lord Siva, followed by Nandi, came forward to help as he was the only one who could counteract this deadly poison. Siva took the poison into his hand and drank it, the descent of the poison was in turn stopped at His throat, by His divine consort. Siva is therefore also known as Nīlakaṇṭha (the blue-throated one) and Viṣakaṇṭha (the poison-throated one). Nandi saw some of the poison spill out of Siva's mouth and immediately drank if off the ground. The devas and asuras watching were shocked and wondered aloud what would happen to Nandi. Lord Siva calmed their fears saying, "Nandi has surrendered into me so completely that he has all my powers and my protection".

 

LARGEST NANDIS IN INDIA

1. Lepakshi, Andhra Pradesh

2. Brahadishwara Temple, Tamil Nadu

4. Bull Temple, Bangalore, Karnataka

5. Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu

6. Hoysaleswara Temple, Halebidu, Karnataka

7. Shanthaleswara Temple, Halebidu, Karnataka

8. Vadakkunnathan Temple, Thrissur, Kerala

9. Virupaksha Temple, Hampi, Karnataka

10. Nandi Temple, Western Group of Temples, Khajuraho,

Madhya Pradesh

11. Kedareshvara Temple at Balligavi (Karnataka)

12. Doddabasaveshvara temple, Kurugodu Bellary dist

 

MISCELLANEOUS

The white color of the bull symbolizes purity and justice.

 

Women visit images of Nandi, bringing floral offerings, and touch the stone. Their prayers are for fertility. Additionally, it is also considered a custom among some to whisper the fact of their visit, to that shrine, while requesting the faithful attendant to inform his master of the same.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Palace of Fontainebleau

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Palace and Park of Fontainebleau

Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List

 

Location of Palace of Fontainebleau in France.

The Palace of Fontainebleau, located 55 kilometres from the centre of Paris, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The palace as it is today is the work of many French monarchs, building on an early 16th-century structure of Francis I. The building is arranged around a series of courtyards. The commune of Fontainebleau has grown up around the remainder of the Forest of Fontainebleau, a former royal hunting park. This forest is now home to many endangered species of Europe.

 

The throne room, formerly the King’s bedroom from Henry IV to Louis XVI, it was converted into the throne room by Napoleon

The older château on this site was already used in the latter part of the 12th century by King Louis VII, for whom Thomas Becket consecrated the chapel. Fontainebleau was a favourite residence of Philip Augustus (Philip II) and Louis IX. The creator of the present edifice was Francis I, under whom the architect Gilles le Breton erected most of the buildings of the Cour Ovale, including the Porte Dorée, its southern entrance. The king also invited the architect Sebastiano Serlio to France, and Leonardo da Vinci. The Gallery of Francis I, with its frescoes framed in stucco by Rosso Fiorentino, carried out between 1522 and 1540, was the first great decorated gallery built in France. Broadly speaking, at Fontainebleau the Renaissance was introduced to France. The Salle des Fêtes, in the reign of Henry II, was decorated by the Italian Mannerist painters, Francesco Primaticcio and Niccolò dell'Abbate. Benvenuto Cellini's "Nymph of Fontainebleau", commissioned for the château, is at the Louvre.

 

Another campaign of extensive construction was undertaken by King Henry II and Catherine de' Medici, who commissioned architects Philibert Delorme and Jean Bullant. To the Fontainebleau of François I and Henry II, King Henry IV added the court that carries his name, the Cour des Princes, with the adjoining Galerie de Diane de Poitiers and the Galerie des Cerfs, used as a library. A "second school of Fontainebleau" decorators, less ambitious and original than the first, evolved from these additional projects. Henry IV pierced the wooded park with a 1200m canal (which can be fished today) and ordered the planting of pines, elms and fruit trees. The park stretches of an area more than 80 hectares, enclosed by walls and pierced rectilinear paths. Henry IV's gardener, Claude Mollet, trained at Château d'Anet, laid out patterned parterres. Preserved on the grounds is Henry IV's jeu de paume (real tennis court). It is the largest such court in the world, and one of the few publicly owned.

 

Philip the Fair (Philip IV), Henry III and Louis XIII were all born in the palace, and Philip died there. Christina of Sweden lived there for years, following her abdication in 1654. In 1685 Fontainebleau saw the signing of the Edict of Fontainebleau, which revoked the Edict of Nantes (1598). Royal guests of the Bourbon kings were housed at Fontainebleau, including Peter the Great of Russia and Christian VII of Denmark.

 

Revolution and Empire

By the late 18th century, the château had fallen into disrepair; during the French Revolution many of the original furnishings were sold, in the long Revolutionary sales of the contents of all the royal châteaux, intended as a way of raising money for the nation and ensuring that the Bourbons could not return to their comforts. Nevertheless, within a decade Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte began to transform the Château de Fontainebleau into a symbol of his grandeur, as an alternative to the empty Palace of Versailles, with its Bourbon connotations. Napoleon hosted Pope Pius VII there in 1804, when he came to consecrate the emperor, and again in 1812–1814, when he was Napoleon's prisoner. With modifications of the château's structure, including the cobblestone entrance wide enough for his carriage, Napoleon helped make the château the place that visitors see today. At Fontainebleau Napoleon abdicated for the first time, bade farewell to his Old Guard and went into exile in 1814.Fontainebleau was also the setting of the Second Empire court of his nephew Napoleon III.

 

Today

The château is now home to the Écoles d'Art Américaines, a school of art, architecture, and music for students from the United States. The school was founded by General Pershing when his men were stationed there during the First World War.

  

Palacio de Fontainebleau

Palacio y parque de Fontainebleau. Nombre descrito en la Lista del Patrimonio de la Humanidad.

 

Coordenadas48°24′07″N 02°41′53″E País Francia

 

La Sala de espectáculos del Palacio de Fontainebleau, en 1855.

El Palacio de Fontainebleau, en francés Château de Fontainebleau, es uno de los mayores palacios reales franceses. Está localizado en la ciudad de Fontainebleau, departamento de Sena y Marne, en el norte de Francia.

 

El palacio refleja, actualmente, las aportaciones constructivas y decorativas de varios monarcas franceses, a partir de una estructura inicial de Francisco I. El edificio se desarrolla alrededor de una serie de patios.

 

La ciudad de Fontainebleau creció en su entorno y en lo que restaba de la «floresta de Fontainebleau» (en español bosque de Fontainebleau), un antiguo parque real de caza.

 

Este palacio introdujo en Francia el Manierismo italiano, en la decoración de interiores y en los jardines, adaptándolo. El manierismo francés en la decoración de interiores del siglo XVI es conocido como «estilo Fontainebleau»: combina escultura, forja, pintura, estuco y carpintería. En jardinería supuso la introducción del parterre.

 

El ideal de belleza femenina en Fontainebleau es, también, manierista: una pequeña y graciosa cabeza en un cuello esbelto, torso y brazos exageradamente largos, pechos pequeños y altos; es casi un regreso a las bellezas del gótico tardío. Los nuevos ideales de Fontainebleau fueron plasmados en refinados y detallados grabados que circularon entre artistas y entendidos.

 

A través de los grabados realizados por la «Escuela de Fontainebleau», este nuevo estilo fue transmitido a otros centros del norte de Europa, especialmente en Amberes, Bélgica, Alemania y, más tarde, también Londres.

 

El viejo castillo que se erigía en este lugar ya era usado al final del siglo XII por el rey Luis VII, para quien Thomas Becket consagró la capilla. Fontainebleau fue una de las residencias favoritas de Felipe II y de Luis IX. El creador del edificio actual fue Francisco I, para quien el arquitecto Gilles le Breton construyó la mayor parte del Cour Ovale (Patio Ovalado), incluyendo la Porte Dorée (Puerta Dorada), en su entrada sur. Este rey también invitó a Sebastiano Serlio y Leonardo da Vinci. La Galería de Francisco I, con sus frescos hechos en estuco por Rosso Fiorentino, fue construida entre 1522 y 1540, siendo la primera gran galería decorada construida en Francia.

 

El Renacimiento fue introducido en Francia por el Palacio de Fontainebleau, por influencia de Enrique II y Catalina de Médici, que contrataron a los arquitectos Philibert Delorme y Jean Bullant, con los que llevaron a cabo una importante campaña de remodelaciones. La Salle des Fêtes (Salón de Baile) fue decorada por los pintores manieristas italianos Francesco Primaticcio y Niccolò dell'Abbate. La «Ninfa de Fontainebleau», de Benvenuto Cellini, encargada para el palacio, está en el Louvre.

 

Al Fontainebleau de Francisco I y Enrique II, Enrique IV añadió el patio que lleva su nombre, el Cour des Princes (Patio de los Príncipes), la Galerie de Diane de Poitiers (Galería de Diana de Poitiers) y la Galerie des Cerfs (Galería de los Ciervos), usada como biblioteca. Una «segunda escuela de decoradores de Fontainebleau», menos ambiciosa y original que la primera, estuvo involucrada en estos proyectos. Enrique IV perforó el parque forestal con un canal de 1200 metros, donde actualmente se puede pescar, y ordenó la plantación de pinos, olmos y frutales. Su jardinero, Claude Mollet, con habilidades ya probadas en el Château d'Anet, ejecutó los parterres.

 

Tres siglos después el palacio entró en decadencia; durante la Revolución francesa mucho del mobiliario original se dispersó en las ventas revolucionarias del contenido de todos los palacios reales, concebidas como una forma de conseguir dinero para la nación y asegurar que los Borbones no podrían volver a sus dominios. Dentro de la década siguiente, el emperador Napoleón Bonaparte comenzó a transformar el Château de Fontainebleau en un símbolo de su grandeza, como una alternativa al Palacio de Versalles que tenía connotaciones borbónicas. En Fontainebleau, Napoleón I de Francia firmó su abdicación, con el Tratado de Fontainebleau. Se despidió de su Vieja Guardia y partió al exilio.

 

Con modificaciones en la estructura del palacio, incluyendo la entrada de cantería suficientemente ancha para su carruaje, Napoleón ayudó a hacer del palacio el lugar que los visitantes conocen actualmente. Fontainebleau fue el escenario de la Corte del Segundo Imperio de su sobrino Napoleón III. Felipe IV, Enrique III y Luis XIII nacieron en este palacio, y el primer de estos reyes también murió aquí. Cristina de Suecia vivió en Fontainebleau durante varios años, después de abdicar en 1654. En 1685 Fontainebleau fue el escenario de la firma del Edicto de Fontainebleau, el cual revocó el Edicto de Nantes (1598). Huéspedes reales de los reyes de la dinastía de los Borbones fueron instalados en Fontainebleau: Pedro I de Rusia y Cristián VII de Dinamarca, y también, en la época de Napoleón, el Papa Pío VII, en 1804 cuando vino a consagrar a Napoleón como Emperador, y entre 1812 y 1814, cuando fue su prisionero.

 

Actualmente, parte del palacio alberga las Écoles d'Art Américaines (Escuelas de Artes Americanas), una escuela de arte, arquitectura y música para estudiantes de los EUA. Preservado en los campos está el jeu de paume (campo de tenis real) de Enrique IV. Es el mayor campo de tenis de este género en el mundo, y uno de los pocos de propiedad pública.

 

En 1981, el Château de Fontainebleau fue clasificado Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la Unesco.

  

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontainebleau

  

To we Brits, the Avro Vulcan, much like Concorde, represents a myriad of feelings both of praise and disdain. An engineering marvel from the 1950's, and a symbol of global annihilation, the Vulcan is one of those aircraft with a love/hate relationship, but today among crowds resounds true British innovation and technological might in a time of darkness.

 

It hadn't been 10 years since the end of World War II when such an aircraft had been conceived, and the world had been plunged into yet another war, only this one much more sinister and much greater in scale. The Cold War of 1947 was not a battle of tanks and men, but of words and spies, and the new threat of global destruction through nuclear strikes and bombings. The true destructive power of the Atom Bomb had been demonstrated by the United States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing hundreds of thousands of people and causing widespread devastation. Very soon the nuclear bomb had become the ultimate accessory of warfare, and although the B-29's that delivered the original deadly payload against Japan were capable aircraft, the advent of larger bombs and the coming of the jet age meant that a new breed of aircraft had to be constructed to deliver these instruments of Armageddon. As such, the capitalist powers of NATO and the Soviet led powers of the Warsaw Pact devised a slew of jet powered monstrosities to carry out this world-ending task. The United States developed the B-47 Stratojet and B-52 Stratofortress, the Soviet Union built the Tupolev Tu-16 Badger and Tu-95 Bear, whilst we here in Britain created a trio of V-Bombers, the Handley Page Victor, the Vickers Valiant, and the crown prince of destruction, the Avro Vulcan.

 

Planning of the aircraft itself goes back to 1946 with the proposal of the British Atomic Weapon Programme and Nuclear Deterrent policies, which not only gave the go-ahead to the development of better nuclear weapons, but also aircraft on which to carry them. As such, in January 1947, the Ministry of Supply distributed Specification B.35/46 to UK aviation companies to satisfy Air Staff Operational Requirement OR.229 for "a medium range bomber landplane capable of carrying one 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) bomb to a target 1,500 nautical miles (1,700 mi; 2,800 km) from a base which may be anywhere in the world." The aircraft would have to have a cruising speed upward of 500 knots and a cruising altitude of between 35,000 and 50,000ft. Whilst Handley Page and Vickers set off to create their own designs, Avro technical director Roy Chadwick and chief designer Stuard Davies led the project under designation Avro 698.

 

The desire was to create an aircraft that could fill the specified payload capabilities, but at the same time be faster than other contemporary bombers. Investigations into German swept-wing aircraft such as the prototype Horten Ho 229 helped design what would later be known as the Delta Wing, intended to bring the aircraft as close as possible to that mysterious entity known as the Sound Barrier. Whilst other bombers such as the B-52 and Badger were comparatively slow and lumbering, requiring fighter escorts to carry out their mission, the future Vulcan's design was to make the aircraft as fast as possible so as to outrun contemporary interceptors of the era. Prototypes began with 1949's Avro 707, a proof-of-concept aircraft to show that the Delta Wing concept worked in practice, of which 5 examples were built. These craft were essentially ⅓-scale versions of what was designated under Avro as the 698.

 

Upon successful testing of the 707, the 698 went into prototypical production, and a contract was made with Rolls Royce and Bristol to design engines, which came in the form of the Bristol BE.10 Olympus, later to be known as the Rolls Royce Olympus. Designed back in 1947, the Olympus was originally designed for Bristol's own version of the Vulcan, but after the contract was handed to Avro, the production continued. Several engines were considered, starting with the Rolls Royce Avon engine, and later the Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire ASSa.6, both being tested on prototype Vulcan VX770, which would later become a testbed aircraft for the Rolls Royce Conway engines fitted to later Vickers VC10 Jet Airliners. Olympus engines however were preferred for the much greater amounts of thrust, with early examples providing 10,000lbf, although this would later rise to 20,000lbf on the production Vulcans. Four of these engines were fitted to the aircraft, giving an overall thrust of 80,000lbf, pushing the aircraft to just short of the Sound Barrier at Mach 0.96, or 645mph.

 

In terms of armament, the Vulcan was not intended to be able to defend itself in air-to-air combat, using its aforementioned speed to evade pursuers and anti-aircraft fire. As such, the aircraft's main weaponry was its payload, which could include 21 x 1,000lb conventional air-raid bombs, or one of any of the contemporary nuclear gravity bombs, including the pioneer British nuclear weapon, the Blue Danube bomb, and the later Red Beard and Yellow Sun designs.

 

With all developments completed, the aircraft was christened the name Vulcan, the ancient Roman God of Fire, by far the most terrifying name you could put on a nuclear bomber. Don't get me wrong, B-52 and B-47 sound very military and technical, and NATO codewords for Soviet aircraft such as Badger and Bear sound quite fearsome, but Vulcan and its connotations to the God of Fire truly does make this aircraft sound like the bringer of an inferno! The first prototype made its first flight on August 30th, 1952, fitted with the original Rolls Royce Avon engines, this being followed by a selection of other test flights throughout 1953 using differing engines and additional improvements such as extra fuel tanks in the wing. Two prototypes, VX770 and VX777 were tested between 1952 and 1956, being outshopped in RAF gloss white paint. The first production Vulcan left the ground in February 1955, whilst the second production model dazzled crowds at the 1955 Farnborough Airshow with a spectacular barrel roll, for which the pilot, Roland Falk, was disciplined by the Civil Aviation Authority for performing such a move!

 

Proposals were made to sell these aircraft abroad, but no offers sadly materialised, many Commonwealth countries, such as Australia, choosing instead to buy the later F-111C Starfighters of the USA. September 1956 saw the first Avro Vulcan officially handed over to the RAF, this aircraft being Vulcan B.1 XA897. As part of a goodwill tour, the aircraft flew around the world to the colonies of the British Empire, but ended in tragedy when the aircraft crash landed in bad weather at London Heathrow at the end of the tour on October 1st, 1956. 230 Squadron, Operational Conversion Unit, were the first to receive the Vulcan, later deployed with 83 Squadron in May 1957. In all, 134 of these aircraft were built in two variants, the original B.1, and the latterly improved B.2, which debuted in 1954 with improved electronic countermeasures and the much more powerful Rolls Royce Olympus engines. Proposals were made for a myriad of other variations, including a Missile Carrier and a Delta Winged Jet Airliner. None of these ever went to the prototype stage, although much of the design behind the Vulcan was used to develop the world's first and only supersonic passenger airline, the Bae/Aerospatiale Concorde, in yet another situation where innovations in the world of Military Supremacy have resulted in Civilian Progress.

 

The Vulcan however never did truly find itself in the combat situation it was designed to confront. As the 1960's and 70's wore on the aircraft's role in the possible future nuclear war never happened, and the aircraft spent much of its time simply doing exercises and strategic reconnaissance patrols over Soviet territory. Before the 1960's had finished the original and fearsome V-Bomber force had largely been disbanded from its nuclear role, with the Valiant being retired in 1965 due to prominent fatigue and inter-crystalline corrosion, and the Victor being converted into aerial refuelling tankers in 1969.

 

The only time the Vulcan was ever used in anger against an enemy was in the 1982 Falklands War in the audacious operation known as Black Buck. After the Argentine invasion of the British owned Falklands, a task force was sent to reclaim them, and the plan of Operation Black Buck was to disable the airport at Port Stanley to stop the Argentinian forces from using it as a base for fighter jets. The operation involved a Vulcan flying to the Ascension Islands, then onwards to the Falklands in a non-stop, 6,800 nautical mile air raid. Using squadrons of strategically placed Victor Tankers, the first raid, led by Vulcan XM607, would have 11 Victor tankers refuel one another before the furthest Victor would refuel the Vulcan over the mid-Atlantic. The Vulcan then proceeded to Port Stanley on the Falkland Islands, unleashing its payload of twenty-one 1000lb bombs on the airport before escaping north to a planned rendezvous with a Victor some way off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. Although the damage to the runway was not enough to stop use of the airport, it did show the true capabilities of these mighty aircraft, and took the enemy completely by surprise.

 

This however was not enough to keep the Vulcans alive, and as the 80's dragged on it was clear this tired design mixed with new aircraft and the advent of satellite guided inter-continental ballistic missiles such as Trident had spelled the end for conventional air raids such as those the Vulcan was meant to carry out. After nearly 30 years of devoted service, the Vulcan's were retired in March 1984. Happily though, 18 aircraft have been preserved across the world, of which one example, XH558, remained airworthy for airshows until October 2015 when it was finally retired for good, bringing an end to this magnificent aircraft's time in the air.

 

With the passing of the Vulcan into history though, we can reflect however on its life and times, the fact that such aircraft, instruments of war and destruction, have become such symbols of joy and British engineering. Built during a time when we all thought we'd wake up and be atomized, today the fear of nuclear destruction has passed, the Cold War has passed, and now we can see the Vulcan for what it really is, a marvel of 1950's British engineering, conceived in a time when trains still ran on coal and hot water!

This ones called "Wilson" after the film "Castaway".An inuksuk (plural inuksuit) [1] (from the Inuktitut: ᐃᓄᒃᓱᒃ, plural ᐃᓄᒃᓱᐃᑦ; alternatively inukshuk in English[2] or inukhuk in Inuinnaqtun[3]) is a stone landmark or cairn built by humans, used by the Inuit, Inupiat, Kalaallit, Yupik, and other peoples of the Arctic region of North America. These structures are found from Alaska to Greenland. This region, above the Arctic Circle, is dominated by the tundra biome and has areas with few natural landmarks.

 

The inuksuk may have been used for navigation, as a point of reference, a marker for travel routes, fishing places, camps, hunting grounds, places of veneration, drift fences used in hunting [4] or to mark a food cache.[5] The Inupiat in northern Alaska used inuksuit to assist in the herding of caribou into contained areas for slaughter.[6] Varying in shape and size, the inuksuit have longtime roots in the Inuit culture.

 

Historically, the most common type of inuksuk is a single stone positioned in an upright manner.[7] There is some debate as to whether the appearance of human- or cross-shaped cairns developed in the Inuit culture before the arrival of European missionaries and explorers.[7] The size of some inuksuit suggest that the construction was often a communal effort.[4]

 

At Enukso Point on Baffin Island, there are over 100 inuksuit. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1969.[8][9]

 

This article contains Canadian Aboriginal syllabic characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of syllabics.

Contents [hide]

1 Name

2 Modern usage

3 See also

4 References

5 External links

Name[edit]

  

Inuksuk in the vicinity of Kuujjuarapik, Quebec.

  

Inuksuit at the Foxe Peninsula (Baffin Island), Canada

The word inuksuk means "something which acts for or performs the function of a person". The word comes from the morphemes inuk ("person") and -suk ("ersatz" or "substitute"). It is pronounced inutsuk in Nunavik and the southern part of Baffin Island (see Inuit phonology for the linguistic reasons). In many of the central Nunavut dialects, it has the etymologically related name inuksugaq (plural: inuksugait).

 

Despite the predominant English spelling as inukshuk, both the Government of Nunavut[10] and the Government of Canada through Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada[11] are promoting the Inuit-preferred spelling inuksuk.

 

A structure similar to an inuksuk but meant to represent a human figure, called an inunnguaq (ᐃᓄᙳᐊᖅ, "imitation of a person", plural inunnguat), has become widely familiar to non-Inuit. However, it is not the most common type of inuksuk. It is distinguished from inuksuit in general.

 

The Hammer of Thor, located on the Ungava Peninsula, Quebec may be an inuksuk.[citation needed]

 

Modern usage[edit]

  

An inuksuk on the flag of Nunavut

  

Inuksuk sculpture by David Ruben Piqtoukun in the lobby, Canadian Embassy, Washington, D.C.

  

An inukshuk on the grounds of the National Assembly, Quebec City

Inuksuit continue to serve as an Inuit cultural symbol. For example, an inuksuk is shown on the flag and coat of arms of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, and the flag of Nunatsiavut. The high school in Iqaluit is named Inuksuk High School after the landmarks.

 

Inuksuit—particularly, but not exclusively, of the inunnguaq variety—are also increasingly serving as a mainstream Canadian national symbol. In 1999 Inukshuk was the name for the International Arctic Art & Music Project of ARBOS in the Canadian provinces of Québec, Ontario, Nunavik, and Nunavut; and in Greenland, Austria, Denmark and Norway.[12]

 

On July 13, 2005, Canadian military personnel erected an inuksuk on Hans Island, along with a plaque and a Canadian flag, as part of Canada's longstanding dispute with Denmark over the small Arctic island.[13] The markers have been erected throughout the country, including a nine-metre-high inuksuk that stands in Toronto on the shores of Lake Ontario. Located in Battery Park, it commemorates the World Youth Day 2002 festival that was held in the city in July 2002.

 

Artisan Alvin Kanak of Rankin Inlet, Northwest Territories (now in the territory of Nunavut), created an inuksuk as a gift to the city of Vancouver for Expo 86. The land has since been donated to the city, and is now a protected site.

  

"Ilanaaq", the mascot logo of the 2010 Winter Olympics, located on Whistler Mountain

An inunnguaq is the basis of the logo of the 2010 Winter Olympics designed by Vancouver artist Elena Rivera MacGregor. Its use in this context has been controversial, both among the Inuit and the First Nations of British Columbia. Although the design has been questioned, people believe it pays tribute to the inuksuk that stands at Vancouver's English Bay. Friendship and the welcoming of the world are the meanings of both the English Bay structure and the 2010 Winter Olympics emblem.[citation needed]

 

The Vancouver 2010 logo and the construction of inuksuit around the world have led to increasing recognition of them.[citation needed] There are five authentic inuksuit which were donated—wholly or in part—by the government of Canada: in Brisbane, Australia; Monterrey, Mexico; Oslo, Norway; Washington D.C., United States; and Guatemala City.[14]

  

The Monterrey Inuksuk is unveiled by Canada's ambassador to Mexico and the governor of Nuevo León

The most recent Canadian-donated inuksuk was built in Monterrey in October 2007 by the Inuvialuit artist Bill Nasogaluak. The sculpture was presented to the people of the northern state of Nuevo León as a gift from the Monterrey chapter of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Mexico and the Government of Canada, to mark the chamber’s 10th anniversary in the city. The sculpture stands over the Santa Lucía Riverwalk. Nasogaluak, of Tuktoyaktuk, personally chose the rocks for the structure from a local quarry near Monterrey. The inuksuk contains two rocks which the artist took to Mexico from Canada, one from the high Arctic and another from his home town of Toronto. Together they form the inuksuk’s heart.

 

The inuksuk was also used as the symbol of the Summit of the Americas, because of its connotations of "guidance and unity...towards common goals."[15]

 

Officials in various wilderness parks throughout Canada routinely dismantle inuksuit constructed by hikers and campers, for fear that they could misdirect park visitors from the cairns and other markers that indicate hiking trails. The practice of erecting inuksuit in parks has become so widespread that Killarney Provincial Park, on the north shore of Ontario's Georgian Bay, issued a notice in 2007 urging visitors to "stop the invasion" of inuksuit.[16]

 

A large number of inuksuit have been built in some areas along the Trans-Canada Highway, including Northern Ontario. In 2010, a journalist from Sudbury's Northern Life counted 93 inuksuit along Highway 69 between Sudbury and Parry Sound. The journalist successfully tracked down a person who had built two inuksuit along the route; he attributed his action to having had a "fill the dreams moment where I needed to stop and do it" while driving home from a family funeral.[17]

 

According to Guinness World Records, the tallest inuksuk is in Schomberg, Ontario, Canada. Built in 2007, it is 11.377 m tall.[18]

This is a broadside I designed for extra credit in my creative writing class. Generally, they are done with poetry, but I really just suck at writing poetry, I don't understand poetry, I hate reading poetry, I despise poetry, and I [insert any other negative connotations you can make towards poetry here]... but I'm good at "normal" creative writing.

This story I wrote when we had an assignment to do "risky prose." I did a mix between short talks and instructions. It deals with what I went through to get my solo senior year in my last ice show. I've wanted that solo since my very first ice show when I was 7, and even when I encountered some difficulties, I made it through and got my senior solo, which ended up with me skating to Kristin Chenoweth's "Lion Tamer."

I printed this on tabloid paper, mounted it on some black illustration board. So yeah, since you probably can't read the story on the image, here it is:

  

How to Tame the Lion

 

How to recognize the average figure skater:

Think about those clichés that everyone knew in high school about cheerleaders. It works for figure skaters too, but add money, add selfishness, add competitiveness, and then strap knifes onto the bottom of their feet. Let them loose all together on one ice rink and watch the battles begin.

 

How not to get sucked into the drama:

Start out by injuring yourself, and then do not by any means get it treated, and keep skating with it. Of course, this makes your injury worse, but remember this is all just to make your ungrateful teammates happy. Quit your team after the season ends so that you lose all the friends you had. Change coaches; lose what few friends you have at the rink after quitting the team. Become shy just so that you can focus more on yourself, you do not need them or anyone else. Join other school activities; make it harder for you to get to skating practices. Let the other skaters ignore you, except for when they spread rumors and whisper in front of you. Do not tell them you’re handicapped, just let them assume you are a terrible skater. Let your mom find every excuse for you to quit skating; you do not have as much money as the other families, you are making your injury worse, and you have no friends.

 

How to succeed:

With every stroke on the glassy ice push yourself harder and harder, and find yourself become more in love with the sport than you ever thought possible. Injure yourself after only five years, and even when you have lost your momentum when it comes to progressing, fight through it and ignore those other skaters. This is about you, not them; do not let anyone throw you down. Push through the pain, fight for your goal. Sign up for that final test that will give you a solo your senior year, your 11th and final ice show. Forget everything terrible; forget the deplorable pain in your leg; forget the judging glares from your former friends. Remember this is all about you, and do this for no one else besides you. Put on your best dress; be the sun on raindrops and dumbfound your audience. Take a deep breath, see the steam come from your mouth and know you are going to live through this. Dig your blades into the slick icy surface below you and skate your heart out; after all, skating is your one true love. Smile immensely; the judges are all about that. Receive a well-deserved thunder of applause from your audience, who were filled with those prejudice eyes; the deciding judges gave you above passing scores. When you fill out the form for that last show, circus-themed “The Greatest Show on Ice,” remember to check the line for a solo performance.

 

How to Train:

Do not listen to the livid roars surrounding you, saying you do not deserve a solo. Ignore them all, and know you worked harder than anyone else out there. Find yourself placed with a different coach, rather than the usual choreographer for all the other solos. Take advantage of that; you don’t have to fight the other skaters for time when it comes to working on your solo. Eat, sleep, and breathe solo. The lion can sense your fears and weakness; you must dig your claws into it and prove it wrong. You are not tired; you are not exhausted from balancing skating, school, and life. Whip yourself into shape dear; you better forget your pain, for this is all you have ever wanted. You are going to fight strong to stay awake with every run-through. Don’t be surprised, because you know before you even get on the ice that day the fact that you are going to fall; the difference between you and everyone else is that you are going to get right back up, don’t throw a fit, and you are going to stare it right down in the face. Glare with that grimacing, deathly stare, right into the dangerous eyes of the lion; do this until the very end.

 

How to be the Lion Tamer:

You are standing behind the curtain as the first act, as you mentally prepare yourself to face the lion. Your introduction comes over the speakers, when you glide out to your place. As the music explodes through the rink, you are going to stretch a smile across your face with confidence. After the first few moves, you are going to realize you are all alone, and with a swipe of the lion’s paw from the audience, it is going to knock you down. Shaken, you set yourself right back up to be knocked down again after just a few frantic steps later. You are going to get yourself back up, shake it off, and try to finish strong. You are going to return to the locker room, and while you sit on the bench, hunched over in pain, fighting painful tears and dripping in sweat, your mom will run down from the stands to yell at you for your failure. Your coach will find you in disappointment, but will encourage you that you can do better than this; she will remind you that you still have two more shows. The lion will watch, and uproars of laughter will be sent in your way. The next day you will do all of this the same, but you will shake it off after the first fall. The last night you put this all behind you. You will put on your costume and you will stare into the eyes of the lion. This is your last chance to make the last 11 years of your life worth it. This is all for the child in you, who dreamed of this show since you made your first step onto the ice. When the music starts, you are going to become the lion; strong, fearless, and confident. You will dig your sharp claws into the ice, as everyone watches in amazement. You float across the ice with a whip in one hand, fiercely crack it to please your audiences. With claws out you strike your final finishing pose; there is uproar from the audience, delighted with your performance.

 

How to Keep the Lion’s Heart:

At the grand finale, when the seniors are introduced, skaters and parents will be in tears. Your parents will be the only ones who are all smiles, happy that your skating career is over, while you fight tears. Your coach will find you, and stand there with her arms wrapped around your chilled, fatigued body and her chin resting on your head, as you are about to cry too. You head home to run up to your room and let a river come out of your eyes. Against your better judgment you take off your dress for the last time, wipe off your make-up, and take down your hair. Lay in bed for a sleepless night, feeling as if your life has just found it’s ending. Just know that you defeated the lion, you proved yourself worthy. Forget needing to be accepted by other skaters, forget your weaknesses, skating will always be in your heart.

OM PARVAT

Om Parvat (also Adi Kailash, Little Kailash, Jonglingkong Peak,Baba Kailash, chhota Kailash)[3] is a mountain in the Himalayanmountain range, lying in the Darchula district of western Nepal and inPithoragarh District, Uttarakhand, India. It is considered sacred by Hindusand its snow deposition pattern resembles the sacred 'OM' (ॐ). Its appearance is distinctly similar to Mount Kailash in Tibet.[4] Near Om Parvat lie Parvati Lake and Jonglingkong Lake. Jonglingkong Lake is sacred, as Mansarovar, to the Hindus. Opposite to this peak is a mountain called Parwati Muhar. The Om Parvat is the fruit of discord between India and Nepal who do not reach agreement about the border line between the two countries. The Om Parvat is currently on the Indo-Nepalese border face "Om/ॐ" in India and the back of the mountain inNepal.

This peak was attempted for the first time by an Indo-British team including Martin Moran, T. Rankin, M. Singh, S. Ward, A. Williams and R. Ausden. The climbers promised not to ascend the final 10 metres (30 ft) out of respect for the peak's holy status. However, they were stopped around 200 m (660 ft) short of the summit by very loose snow and rock conditions.[4]

The first ascent of Adi Kailash came on October 8, 2004. The team comprised Tim Woodward, Jack Pearse, Andy Perkins (UK); Jason Hubert, Martin Welch, Diarmid Hearns, Amanda George (Scotland); and Paul Zuchowski (USA). They did not ascend the final few metres, again out of respect for the sacred nature of the summit.

Om Parvat can be viewed en route to the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra from the last camp below Lipu Lekh pass at Nabhidhang. Many trekkers to Adi Kailash often make a diversion to view Om Parvat. Om Parvat and Adi Kailash or Baba Kailash are not one and the same. Om Parvat is located near Nabhi Dhang (Nepal),The Chhota Kailash is located near Sinla pass, Near Brahma Parvat.

The best view of Om Parvat which "Om" drawn by the snow is the view from the district of Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand, India), which faces the mountain and hence to the "Om". By Kailash Mansarovar Foundation Swami Bikash Giri www.sumeruparvat.com , www.naturalitem.com

  

OM

Auṃ or Oṃ, Sanskrit: ॐ) is a sacred sound and a spiritual icon in Indian religions. It is also a mantra in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.

Om is part of the iconography found in ancient and medieval era manuscripts, temples, monasteries and spiritual retreats in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The symbol has a spiritual meaning in all Indian dharmas, but the meaning and connotations of Om vary between the diverse schools within and across the various traditions.

In Hinduism, Om is one of the most important spiritual symbols (pratima). It refers to Atman (soul, self within) andBrahman (ultimate reality, entirety of the universe, truth, divine, supreme spirit, cosmic principles, knowledge). The syllable is often found at the beginning and the end of chapters in the Vedas, the Upanishads, and other Hindu texts. It is a sacred spiritual incantation made before and during the recitation of spiritual texts, during puja and private prayers, in ceremonies of rites of passages (sanskara) such as weddings, and sometimes during meditative and spiritual activities such as Yoga.

Vedic literature

The syllable "Om" is described with various meanings in the Vedas and different early Upanishads.[19] The meanings include "the sacred sound, the Yes!, the Vedas, the Udgitha (song of the universe), the infinite, the all encompassing, the whole world, the truth, the ultimate reality, the finest essence, the cause of the Universe, the essence of life, theBrahman, the Atman, the vehicle of deepest knowledge, and Self-knowledge".

Vedas

The chapters in Vedas, and numerous hymns, chants and benedictions therein use the syllable Om. The Gayatri mantra from the Rig Veda, for example, begins with Om. The mantra is extracted from the 10th verse of Hymn 62 in Book III of the Rig Veda.These recitations continue to be in use, and major incantations and ceremonial functions begin and end with Om.

ॐ भूर्भुवस्व: |

तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यम् |

भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि |

धियो यो न: प्रचोदयात् ||

 

Om. Earth, atmosphere, heaven.

Let us think on that desirable splendour

of Savitr, the Inspirer. May he stimulate

us to insightful thoughts.

Om is a common symbol found in the ancient texts of Hinduism, such as in the first line of Rig veda (top), as well as a icon in temples and spiritual retreats.

The Chandogya Upanishad is one of the oldest Upanishads of Hinduism. It opens with the recommendation that "let a man meditate on Om". It calls the syllable Om as udgitha (उद्गीथ, song, chant), and asserts that the significance of the syllable is thus: the essence of all beings is earth, the essence of earth is water, the essence of water are the plants, the essence of plants is man, the essence of man is speech, the essence of speech is the Rig Veda, the essence of the Rig Veda is the Sama Veda, and the essence of Sama Veda is the udgitha (song, Om).

Rik (ऋच्, Ṛc) is speech, states the text, and Sāman (सामन्) is breath; they are pairs, and because they have love and desire for each other, speech and breath find themselves together and mate to produce song. The highest song is Om, asserts section 1.1 of Chandogya Upanishad. It is the symbol of awe, of reverence, of threefold knowledge because Adhvaryu invokes it, the Hotr recites it, and Udgatr sings it.

The second volume of the first chapter continues its discussion of syllable Om, explaining its use as a struggle between Devas (gods) and Asuras (demons). Max Muller states that this struggle between gods and demons is considered allegorical by ancient Indian scholars, as good and evil inclinations within man, respectively. The legend in section 1.2 of Chandogya Upanishad states that gods took the Udgitha (song of Om) unto themselves, thinking, "with this [song] we shall overcome the demons". The syllable Om is thus implied as that which inspires the good inclinations within each person.

Chandogya Upanishad's exposition of syllable Om in its opening chapter combines etymological speculations, symbolism, metric structure and philosophical themes. In the second chapter of the Chandogya Upanishad, the meaning and significance of Om evolves into a philosophical discourse, such as in section 2.10 where Om is linked to the Highest Self, and section 2.23 where the text asserts Om is the essence of three forms of knowledge, Om is Brahman and "Om is all this [observed world]".

Katha Upanishad

The Katha Upanishad is the legendary story of a little boy, Nachiketa – the son of sage Vajasravasa, who meetsYama – the Indian deity of death. Their conversation evolves to a discussion of the nature of man, knowledge,Atman (Soul, Self) and moksha (liberation). In section 1.2, Katha Upanishad characterizes Knowledge/Wisdom as the pursuit of good, and Ignorance/Delusion as the pursuit of pleasant, that the essence of Veda is make man liberated and free, look past what has happened and what has not happened, free from the past and the future, beyond good and evil, and one word for this essence is the word Om.

The word which all the Vedas proclaim,

That which is expressed in every Tapas (penance, austerity, meditation),

That for which they live the life of a Brahmacharin,

Understand that word in its essence: Om! that is the word.

Yes, this syllable is Brahman,

This syllable is the highest.

He who knows that syllable,

Whatever he desires, is his.

— Katha Upanishad,

Maitri Upanishad

The Maitrayaniya Upanishad in sixth Prapathakas (lesson) discusses the meaning and significance of Om. The text asserts that Om represents Brahman-Atman. The three roots of the syllable, states the Maitri Upanishad, are A + U + M. The sound is the body of Soul, and it repeatedly manifests in three: as gender-endowed body - feminine, masculine, neuter; as light-endowed body - Agni, Vayu and Aditya; as deity-endowed body - Brahma, Rudra and Vishnu; as mouth-endowed body - Garhapatya, Dakshinagni and Ahavaniya; as knowledge-endowed body - Rig, Saman and Yajur; as world-endowed body - Bhūr, Bhuvaḥ and Svaḥ; as time-endowed body - Past, Present and Future; as heat-endowed body - Breath, Fire and Sun; as growth-endowed body - Food, Water and Moon; as thought-endowed body - intellect, mind and pysche. Brahman exists in two forms - the material form, and the immaterial formless. The material form is changing, unreal. The immaterial formless isn't changing, real. The immortal formless is truth, the truth is the Brahman, the Brahman is the light, the light is the Sun which is the syllable Om as the Self.

The world is Om, its light is Sun, and the Sun is also the light of the syllable Om, asserts the Upanishad. Meditating on Om, is acknowledging and meditating on the Brahman-Atman (Soul, Self).

Mundaka Upanishad

The Mundaka Upanishad in the second Mundakam (part), suggests the means to knowing the Self and the Brahman to be meditation, self-reflection and introspection, that can be aided by the symbol Om.

That which is flaming, which is subtler than the subtle,

on which the worlds are set, and their inhabitants –

That is the indestructible Brahman. It is life, it is speech, it is mind. That is the real. It is immortal.

It is a mark to be penetrated. Penetrate It, my friend.

 

Taking as a bow the great weapon of the Upanishad,

one should put upon it an arrow sharpened by meditation,

Stretching it with a thought directed to the essence of That,

Penetrate that Imperishable as the mark, my friend.

 

Om is the bow, the arrow is the Soul, Brahman the mark,

By the undistracted man is It to be penetrated,

One should come to be in It,

as the arrow becomes one with the mark.

— Mundaka Upanishad, 2.2.2 - 2.2.4

Adi Shankara, in his review of the Mundaka Upanishad, states Om as a symbolism for Atman (soul, self).

Mandukya Upanishad

The Mandukya Upanishad opens by declaring, "Om!, this syllable is this whole world". Thereafter it presents various explanations and theories on what it means and signifies. This discussion is built on a structure of "four fourths" or "fourfold", derived from A + U + M + "silence" (or without an element).

Aum as all states of time

In verse 1, the Upanishad states that time is threefold: the past, the present and the future, that these three are "Aum". The four fourth of time is that which transcends time, that too is "Aum" expressed.

Aum as all states of Atman

In verse 2, states the Upanishad, everything is Brahman, but Brahman is Atman (the Soul, Self), and that the Atman is fourfold. Johnston summarizes these four states of Self, respectively, as seeking the physical, seeking inner thought, seeking the causes and spiritual consciousness, and the fourth state is realizing oneness with the Self, the Eternal.

Aum as all states of consciousness

In verses 3 to 6, the Mandukya Upanishad enumerates four states of consciousness: wakeful, dream, deep sleep and the state of ekatma (being one with Self, the oneness of Self). These four are A + U + M + "without an element" respectively.

Aum as all of knowledge

In verses 9 to 12, the Mandukya Upanishad enumerates fourfold etymological roots of the syllable "Aum". It states that the first element of "Aum" is A, which is from Apti (obtaining, reaching) or from Adimatva (being first). The second element is U, which is from Utkarsa (exaltation) or from Ubhayatva(intermediateness). The third element is M, from Miti (erecting, constructing) or from Mi Minati, or apīti (annihilation). The fourth is without an element, without development, beyond the expanse of universe. In this way, states the Upanishad, the syllable Om is indeed the Atman (the self).

Shvetashvatara Upanishad

The Shvetashvatara Upanishad, in verses 1.14 to 1.16, suggests meditating with the help of syllable Om, where one's perishable body is like one fuel-stick and the syllable Om is the second fuel-stick, which with discipline and diligent rubbing of the sticks unleashes the concealed fire of thought and awareness within. Such knowledge, asserts the Upanishad, is the goal of Upanishads. The text asserts that Om is a tool of meditation empowering one to know the God within oneself, to realize one's Atman (Soul, Self).

Epics

The Bhagavad Gita, in the Epic Mahabharata, mentions the meaning and significance of Om in several verses. For example, Fowler notes that verse 9.17 of the Bhagavad Gita synthesizes the competing dualistic and monist streams of thought in Hinduism, by using "Om which is the symbol for the indescribable, impersonal Brahman".

I am the Father of this world, Mother, Ordainer, Grandfather, the Thing to be known, the Purifier, the syllable Om, Rik, Saman and also Yajus.

— Krishna to Arjuna, Bhagavad Gita 9.17,

The significance of the sacred syllable in the Hindu traditions, is similarly highlighted in various of its verses, such as verse 17.24 where the importance of Omduring prayers, charity and meditative practices is explained as follows,

Therefore, uttering Om, the acts of yajna (fire ritual), dāna (charity) and tapas (austerity) as enjoined in the scriptures, are always begun by those who study the Brahman.

— Bhagavad Gita

Yoga Sutra

The aphoristic verse 1.27 of Pantanjali's Yogasutra links Om to Yoga practice, as follows,

तस्य वाचकः प्रणवः ॥२७॥

His word is Om.

— Yogasutra 1.27,

Johnston states this verse highlights the importance of Om in the meditative practice of Yoga, where it symbolizes three worlds in the Soul; the three times – past, present and future eternity, the three divine powers – creation, preservation and transformation in one Being; and three essences in one Spirit – immortality, omniscience and joy. It is, asserts Johnston, a symbol for the perfected Spiritual Man (his emphasis). BY KAILASH MANSAROVAR FOUNDATION SWAMI BIKASH GIRI www.sumeruparvat.com , www.naturalitem.com

  

I changed Thistle's Doll Chateau body for a Dream Valley body. Thoughts?

 

You can see kimono fabric remnants hair accessories in Thistle's hair, and hand dyed habutae (also called habotai, also called "China silk.") The kanji for habutae is 羽二重、 which has a smooth and thin connotation.

The heritage system has witnessed the development of China’s sericulture industry, and enjoys rich cultural connotations. It embodies the historic memories and spirits relating to the ancient course of the Yellow River and the mulberry trees. It shows the experience of planting mulberry trees, combining agriculture and forestry, and the rejuvenation of old trees. It also reflects the philosophy of harmonious development of humans and nature, and offers many lessons for modern agriculture and social development.

 

Photo credit must be given: Photo courtesy of GIAHS Xiajin Yellow River Old Course Ancient Mulberry Grove System, China. Editorial use only.

 

More information:

Xiajin Yellow River Old Course Ancient Mulberry Grove System, China

Wikipedia on Wabi Sabi Suki - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi

"If an object or expression can bring about, within us, a sense of serene melancholy and a spiritual longing, then that object could be said to be wabi-sabi."[2] "[Wabi-sabi] nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect."[3] ... In art books, it is typically defined as ″flawed beauty.″ [4]

 

The words wabi and sabi do not translate easily. Wabi originally referred to the loneliness of living in nature, remote from society; sabi meant "chill", "lean" or "withered". Around the 14th century these meanings began to change, taking on more positive connotations.[1] Wabi now connotes rustic simplicity, freshness or quietness, and can be applied to both natural and human-made objects, or understated elegance. It can also refer to quirks and anomalies arising from the process of construction, which add uniqueness and elegance to the object. Sabi is beauty or serenity that comes with age, when the life of the object and its impermanence are evidenced in its patina and wear, or in any visible repairs.

Her Majesty’s Theatre in Ballarat’s Lydiard Street is one of the most intact, commercial nineteenth century theatres in Australia. Originally opened as the Ballarat Academy of Music in order to avoid the negative moral connotations associated with theatres at the time, Her Majesty’s was completed in 1875 to a design by architect George Browne. The Academy had a flat floored auditorium suitable for respectable dances and dinners, and a fully equipped stage. It was built to supersede Ballarat's Theatre Royal (built in 1858), which stood in Sturt Street. While very grand, the Royal had become outdated and no longer met the technical requirements of the touring companies.

 

The Academy was built by the wealthy Clarke family at the initiative of a group of local people who felt that Ballarat, as the premier city of the Victorian goldfields, should have a theatre worthy of its status. They guaranteed to rent it from the Clarkes at 10% of the construction cost, which was £13,000.

 

Built over a disused mineshaft, the original timber theatre initially comprised a theatre with rectangular auditorium, a steep lyre-shaped gallery, three entries leading to separate parts of the auditorium and two shops facing Lydiard Street.

 

Ballarat's handsome new theatre was ready ahead of schedule, and was opened on 7th June 1875. The first production was a comic opera by the French composer Lecocq, "La Fille de Madame Angot," presented by the Royal Opera Bouffe Company run by W. S. Lyster, Australia's first opera impresario.

 

Soon after the Academy opened, the large Supper Room above Lydiard Street was leased to William Bridges, a former miner, who ran it as an art gallery, displaying an excellent collection of European and Australian artworks, including his own tapestries. After Bridges moved his operations to Melbourne in 1883, the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery was formed. The Gallery Society ran the Gallery from the Academy from 1884 until 1890, when the present Art Gallery in Lydiard Street North was opened.

 

For the next twenty five years, the Academy of Music was unchallenged as Ballarat's main theatrical venue. It was never as popular as the old Theatre Royal, however, as the rather cavernous hall lacked the intimacy of the older playhouse. In 1898, when Sir William Clarke died, the building was bought by a local consortium and transformed into the delightful theatrical space we know today.

 

The new owners commissioned Australia's leading theatre architect, William Pitt (1855 – 1918), to remodel the interior and improve the stage facilities. William, who had been apprenticed to George Browne, also designed Melbourne's Princess Theatre amongst many other buildings. The present layout of the auditorium with sloping floor and double balconies, is Pitt's creation. The colour scheme is a recreation of the interior decoration undertaken at that time by Hugh Paterson, one of Melbourne's leading designers.

 

Paterson also decorated the dome and proscenium arch with murals. The mural in the dome depicted a carnival scene, with dancers in fanciful costumes; Comedy and Tragedy were featured on either side of the proscenium arch, with Shakespeare over the top. Unfortunately all the murals were destroyed in 1907 when Government regulations required the proscenium wall to be replaced with a solid firewall. The dome was removed at the same time for structural reasons, and was restored in 1990. The Dress Circle Lobby also dates from 1907.

 

The 1898 theatre was constructed in brick with timber roof construction sheeted with iron. The main body is brick with piers both inside and out. The hipped trussed roof covers both the three-level auditorium and the stage with dressing rooms below. The ground floor and foyer have been considerably altered at various times but the auditorium and stage structure are original as is much of the auditorium ceiling and pilastered walls. The roof over the stage also dates from 1875 and the later inclusion of a fly tower stage in 1898 is fitted around the original trusses. The flying system is the only manual (non counterweight) system in existence in Australia. In the auditorium roof there appears to have been two domes, a small one dating from before 1898 for which the horizontal shutters and tube structure to a former sliding ventilated roof are still in existence. When 1898 dome was removed a false octagonal ceiling was fitted in its place. Internally the circle and gallery levels are horseshoe shaped in plan and are carried on cast iron columns. The balcony balustrading is swag bellied and decorated. It is believed that the wall pilasters, panelled ceilings and proscenium are original decorations and some traces of art nouveau decorative motifs are to be seen where later alterations have been made. The two balconies were constructed in 1898, but one balcony front is the reused 1874 front while the second was made to match. The balconies and cast-iron supporting posts are typical for auditoria design in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. The double balcony, supported on columns, is now the last of this form of theatre in Victoria. The facade of this building is two storeyed in height with stucco ornamentation in a somewhat florid Classical style. The upper storey windows are round headed with archivolts supported by slender columns as are the two ground floor subsidiary entrances. The highly decorated curved entrance has now been lost. The ground floor facade has been much altered and a street awning has been added. The first floor facade is intact but the parapet balustrading and ornamentation has been destroyed.

 

From the First World War on, the Theatre was increasingly used for cinema presentations. A Bio Box (projection room) was built above the Dress Circle Lobby in 1916, and the Theatre was wired for sound in 1930. In 1928, the Hoyts cinema chain took over control over the building through its local subsidiary, Ballarat Theatres Limited, which ran Her Majesty's in tandem with the Regent Theatre (purposely built as a cinema).

 

In 1936, Her Majesty's was leased and operated by Ballarat Amusements, part of the Woodrow Distributing Company, presenting MGM and Paramount movies. Ballarat Amusements ran it until the early 1960s.

 

During the silent movie era, a theatre orchestra provided the film accompaniment. The Ballarat Theatre Organ Society installed the Theatre's Compton Theatre Organ in 1982.

 

Even when Her Majesty's was primarily a cinema, it was always available, to a lesser or greater degree, for live performances. It was used regularly by J. C. Williamson's and other touring companies as well as local groups. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s huge crowds came to see the annual pantomimes staged by the Wavie Williams Pantomime Company. For the last forty years, the Theatre has been used to stage locally produced musical comedies.

 

Television came to Ballarat in 1962, and had an immediate impact on attendances at the local cinemas. Ballarat Amusements decided to cease screenings and Hoyts put the building on the market.

 

In 1965, the Theatre was bought by the Royal South Street Society as the home for its Annual Competitions.The Bolte State Government gave the Society £20,000 towards the purchase price and a further grant towards the adaptation of the building for the Competitions. Further assistance towards both purposes came from local businessman, Alf Reid. It was clearly understood at the time that the Society would be managing the Theatre as a community facility.

 

The Society renamed Her Majesty's the Memorial Theatre, a move which made donations to its renovation appeal tax deductable.

 

The Society was unable to adequately maintain the upkeep of the building, however, and gifted it to the then City of Ballaarat in 1987, reserving the right to hold competitions in the Theatre every year between August and November.

 

The City of Ballarat undertook a major renovation, seeking funding from a wide range of businesses, individuals and organisations. The Theatre reopened as Her Majesty's on the 1st of November, 1990.

 

Her Majesty’s Theatre in Ballarat’s Lydiard Street is one of the most intact, commercial nineteenth century theatres in Australia. Originally opened as the Ballarat Academy of Music in order to avoid the negative moral connotations associated with theatres at the time, Her Majesty’s was completed in 1875 to a design by architect George Browne. The Academy had a flat floored auditorium suitable for respectable dances and dinners, and a fully equipped stage. It was built to supersede Ballarat's Theatre Royal (built in 1858), which stood in Sturt Street. While very grand, the Royal had become outdated and no longer met the technical requirements of the touring companies.

 

The Academy was built by the wealthy Clarke family at the initiative of a group of local people who felt that Ballarat, as the premier city of the Victorian goldfields, should have a theatre worthy of its status. They guaranteed to rent it from the Clarkes at 10% of the construction cost, which was £13,000.

 

Built over a disused mineshaft, the original timber theatre initially comprised a theatre with rectangular auditorium, a steep lyre-shaped gallery, three entries leading to separate parts of the auditorium and two shops facing Lydiard Street.

 

Ballarat's handsome new theatre was ready ahead of schedule, and was opened on 7th June 1875. The first production was a comic opera by the French composer Lecocq, "La Fille de Madame Angot," presented by the Royal Opera Bouffe Company run by W. S. Lyster, Australia's first opera impresario.

 

Soon after the Academy opened, the large Supper Room above Lydiard Street was leased to William Bridges, a former miner, who ran it as an art gallery, displaying an excellent collection of European and Australian artworks, including his own tapestries. After Bridges moved his operations to Melbourne in 1883, the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery was formed. The Gallery Society ran the Gallery from the Academy from 1884 until 1890, when the present Art Gallery in Lydiard Street North was opened.

 

For the next twenty five years, the Academy of Music was unchallenged as Ballarat's main theatrical venue. It was never as popular as the old Theatre Royal, however, as the rather cavernous hall lacked the intimacy of the older playhouse. In 1898, when Sir William Clarke died, the building was bought by a local consortium and transformed into the delightful theatrical space we know today.

 

The new owners commissioned Australia's leading theatre architect, William Pitt (1855 – 1918), to remodel the interior and improve the stage facilities. William, who had been apprenticed to George Browne, also designed Melbourne's Princess Theatre amongst many other buildings. The present layout of the auditorium with sloping floor and double balconies, is Pitt's creation. The colour scheme is a recreation of the interior decoration undertaken at that time by Hugh Paterson, one of Melbourne's leading designers.

 

Paterson also decorated the dome and proscenium arch with murals. The mural in the dome depicted a carnival scene, with dancers in fanciful costumes; Comedy and Tragedy were featured on either side of the proscenium arch, with Shakespeare over the top. Unfortunately all the murals were destroyed in 1907 when Government regulations required the proscenium wall to be replaced with a solid firewall. The dome was removed at the same time for structural reasons, and was restored in 1990. The Dress Circle Lobby also dates from 1907.

 

The 1898 theatre was constructed in brick with timber roof construction sheeted with iron. The main body is brick with piers both inside and out. The hipped trussed roof covers both the three-level auditorium and the stage with dressing rooms below. The ground floor and foyer have been considerably altered at various times but the auditorium and stage structure are original as is much of the auditorium ceiling and pilastered walls. The roof over the stage also dates from 1875 and the later inclusion of a fly tower stage in 1898 is fitted around the original trusses. The flying system is the only manual (non counterweight) system in existence in Australia. In the auditorium roof there appears to have been two domes, a small one dating from before 1898 for which the horizontal shutters and tube structure to a former sliding ventilated roof are still in existence. When 1898 dome was removed a false octagonal ceiling was fitted in its place. Internally the circle and gallery levels are horseshoe shaped in plan and are carried on cast iron columns. The balcony balustrading is swag bellied and decorated. It is believed that the wall pilasters, panelled ceilings and proscenium are original decorations and some traces of art nouveau decorative motifs are to be seen where later alterations have been made. The two balconies were constructed in 1898, but one balcony front is the reused 1874 front while the second was made to match. The balconies and cast-iron supporting posts are typical for auditoria design in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. The double balcony, supported on columns, is now the last of this form of theatre in Victoria. The facade of this building is two storeyed in height with stucco ornamentation in a somewhat florid Classical style. The upper storey windows are round headed with archivolts supported by slender columns as are the two ground floor subsidiary entrances. The highly decorated curved entrance has now been lost. The ground floor facade has been much altered and a street awning has been added. The first floor facade is intact but the parapet balustrading and ornamentation has been destroyed.

 

From the First World War on, the Theatre was increasingly used for cinema presentations. A Bio Box (projection room) was built above the Dress Circle Lobby in 1916, and the Theatre was wired for sound in 1930. In 1928, the Hoyts cinema chain took over control over the building through its local subsidiary, Ballarat Theatres Limited, which ran Her Majesty's in tandem with the Regent Theatre (purposely built as a cinema).

 

In 1936, Her Majesty's was leased and operated by Ballarat Amusements, part of the Woodrow Distributing Company, presenting MGM and Paramount movies. Ballarat Amusements ran it until the early 1960s.

 

During the silent movie era, a theatre orchestra provided the film accompaniment. The Ballarat Theatre Organ Society installed the Theatre's Compton Theatre Organ in 1982.

 

Even when Her Majesty's was primarily a cinema, it was always available, to a lesser or greater degree, for live performances. It was used regularly by J. C. Williamson's and other touring companies as well as local groups. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s huge crowds came to see the annual pantomimes staged by the Wavie Williams Pantomime Company. For the last forty years, the Theatre has been used to stage locally produced musical comedies.

 

Television came to Ballarat in 1962, and had an immediate impact on attendances at the local cinemas. Ballarat Amusements decided to cease screenings and Hoyts put the building on the market.

 

In 1965, the Theatre was bought by the Royal South Street Society as the home for its Annual Competitions.The Bolte State Government gave the Society £20,000 towards the purchase price and a further grant towards the adaptation of the building for the Competitions. Further assistance towards both purposes came from local businessman, Alf Reid. It was clearly understood at the time that the Society would be managing the Theatre as a community facility.

 

The Society renamed Her Majesty's the Memorial Theatre, a move which made donations to its renovation appeal tax deductable.

 

The Society was unable to adequately maintain the upkeep of the building, however, and gifted it to the then City of Ballaarat in 1987, reserving the right to hold competitions in the Theatre every year between August and November.

 

The City of Ballarat undertook a major renovation, seeking funding from a wide range of businesses, individuals and organisations. The Theatre reopened as Her Majesty's on the 1st of November, 1990.

 

Her Majesty’s Theatre in Ballarat’s Lydiard Street is one of the most intact, commercial nineteenth century theatres in Australia. Originally opened as the Ballarat Academy of Music in order to avoid the negative moral connotations associated with theatres at the time, Her Majesty’s was completed in 1875 to a design by architect George Browne. The Academy had a flat floored auditorium suitable for respectable dances and dinners, and a fully equipped stage. It was built to supersede Ballarat's Theatre Royal (built in 1858), which stood in Sturt Street. While very grand, the Royal had become outdated and no longer met the technical requirements of the touring companies.

 

The Academy was built by the wealthy Clarke family at the initiative of a group of local people who felt that Ballarat, as the premier city of the Victorian goldfields, should have a theatre worthy of its status. They guaranteed to rent it from the Clarkes at 10% of the construction cost, which was £13,000.

 

Built over a disused mineshaft, the original timber theatre initially comprised a theatre with rectangular auditorium, a steep lyre-shaped gallery, three entries leading to separate parts of the auditorium and two shops facing Lydiard Street.

 

Ballarat's handsome new theatre was ready ahead of schedule, and was opened on 7th June 1875. The first production was a comic opera by the French composer Lecocq, "La Fille de Madame Angot," presented by the Royal Opera Bouffe Company run by W. S. Lyster, Australia's first opera impresario.

 

Soon after the Academy opened, the large Supper Room above Lydiard Street was leased to William Bridges, a former miner, who ran it as an art gallery, displaying an excellent collection of European and Australian artworks, including his own tapestries. After Bridges moved his operations to Melbourne in 1883, the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery was formed. The Gallery Society ran the Gallery from the Academy from 1884 until 1890, when the present Art Gallery in Lydiard Street North was opened.

 

For the next twenty five years, the Academy of Music was unchallenged as Ballarat's main theatrical venue. It was never as popular as the old Theatre Royal, however, as the rather cavernous hall lacked the intimacy of the older playhouse. In 1898, when Sir William Clarke died, the building was bought by a local consortium and transformed into the delightful theatrical space we know today.

 

The new owners commissioned Australia's leading theatre architect, William Pitt (1855 – 1918), to remodel the interior and improve the stage facilities. William, who had been apprenticed to George Browne, also designed Melbourne's Princess Theatre amongst many other buildings. The present layout of the auditorium with sloping floor and double balconies, is Pitt's creation. The colour scheme is a recreation of the interior decoration undertaken at that time by Hugh Paterson, one of Melbourne's leading designers.

 

Paterson also decorated the dome and proscenium arch with murals. The mural in the dome depicted a carnival scene, with dancers in fanciful costumes; Comedy and Tragedy were featured on either side of the proscenium arch, with Shakespeare over the top. Unfortunately all the murals were destroyed in 1907 when Government regulations required the proscenium wall to be replaced with a solid firewall. The dome was removed at the same time for structural reasons, and was restored in 1990. The Dress Circle Lobby also dates from 1907.

 

The 1898 theatre was constructed in brick with timber roof construction sheeted with iron. The main body is brick with piers both inside and out. The hipped trussed roof covers both the three-level auditorium and the stage with dressing rooms below. The ground floor and foyer have been considerably altered at various times but the auditorium and stage structure are original as is much of the auditorium ceiling and pilastered walls. The roof over the stage also dates from 1875 and the later inclusion of a fly tower stage in 1898 is fitted around the original trusses. The flying system is the only manual (non counterweight) system in existence in Australia. In the auditorium roof there appears to have been two domes, a small one dating from before 1898 for which the horizontal shutters and tube structure to a former sliding ventilated roof are still in existence. When 1898 dome was removed a false octagonal ceiling was fitted in its place. Internally the circle and gallery levels are horseshoe shaped in plan and are carried on cast iron columns. The balcony balustrading is swag bellied and decorated. It is believed that the wall pilasters, panelled ceilings and proscenium are original decorations and some traces of art nouveau decorative motifs are to be seen where later alterations have been made. The two balconies were constructed in 1898, but one balcony front is the reused 1874 front while the second was made to match. The balconies and cast-iron supporting posts are typical for auditoria design in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. The double balcony, supported on columns, is now the last of this form of theatre in Victoria. The facade of this building is two storeyed in height with stucco ornamentation in a somewhat florid Classical style. The upper storey windows are round headed with archivolts supported by slender columns as are the two ground floor subsidiary entrances. The highly decorated curved entrance has now been lost. The ground floor facade has been much altered and a street awning has been added. The first floor facade is intact but the parapet balustrading and ornamentation has been destroyed.

 

From the First World War on, the Theatre was increasingly used for cinema presentations. A Bio Box (projection room) was built above the Dress Circle Lobby in 1916, and the Theatre was wired for sound in 1930. In 1928, the Hoyts cinema chain took over control over the building through its local subsidiary, Ballarat Theatres Limited, which ran Her Majesty's in tandem with the Regent Theatre (purposely built as a cinema).

 

In 1936, Her Majesty's was leased and operated by Ballarat Amusements, part of the Woodrow Distributing Company, presenting MGM and Paramount movies. Ballarat Amusements ran it until the early 1960s.

 

During the silent movie era, a theatre orchestra provided the film accompaniment. The Ballarat Theatre Organ Society installed the Theatre's Compton Theatre Organ in 1982.

 

Even when Her Majesty's was primarily a cinema, it was always available, to a lesser or greater degree, for live performances. It was used regularly by J. C. Williamson's and other touring companies as well as local groups. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s huge crowds came to see the annual pantomimes staged by the Wavie Williams Pantomime Company. For the last forty years, the Theatre has been used to stage locally produced musical comedies.

 

Television came to Ballarat in 1962, and had an immediate impact on attendances at the local cinemas. Ballarat Amusements decided to cease screenings and Hoyts put the building on the market.

 

In 1965, the Theatre was bought by the Royal South Street Society as the home for its Annual Competitions.The Bolte State Government gave the Society £20,000 towards the purchase price and a further grant towards the adaptation of the building for the Competitions. Further assistance towards both purposes came from local businessman, Alf Reid. It was clearly understood at the time that the Society would be managing the Theatre as a community facility.

 

The Society renamed Her Majesty's the Memorial Theatre, a move which made donations to its renovation appeal tax deductable.

 

The Society was unable to adequately maintain the upkeep of the building, however, and gifted it to the then City of Ballaarat in 1987, reserving the right to hold competitions in the Theatre every year between August and November.

 

The City of Ballarat undertook a major renovation, seeking funding from a wide range of businesses, individuals and organisations. The Theatre reopened as Her Majesty's on the 1st of November, 1990.

 

LIVING DIVINITY – AnanthaRaman’s Talk

 

Talk given by Prof Anantharaman in Swami's Presence on 19th October 2004

  

Respected elders, brothers and sisters and my young friends.

During a very significant speech in 1981, Swami spoke about the 'eight flowers of worship'. Out of these He said that Ahimsa, non-violence, is the most important. Swami's concept of Ahimsa is far beyond the connotations of not causing physical harm. His concept of Ahimsa is not causing harm in word, thought and deed!

I would like to commence today with an offering of such a flower at the Feet of our Lord.

Albert Einstein, the famous physicist, was once asked whether it is possible for him to explain Divinity in scientific terms. He said that it is conceivable but it would make no sense; it would be like explaining Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in the form of an air pressure curve. We have the same kind of a problem in speaking about Bhagavan's Divinity. The Living Divinity cannot be explained in metaphors or examples; the limited cannot comprehend the unlimited; no form can contain it; the wayward cannot measure the stable; or the now measure the ever. We can only repeat the words of Sir Isaac Newton who said after enunciating the principle of gravity "I feel like a little boy playing with the pebbles on the seashore while the ocean of Truth lay all undiscovered before me".

Bhagavantham tells the story of how in the early years Swami once materialised a beautiful sapphire and stuck it on the statue of Shirdi Sai next to him. Bhagavantham was not only a staunch devotee but also a renowned scientist. The scientist in him wondered how the sapphire stood there without any ostensible means of support defying all laws of gravity. He started chuckling to himself, "Here I am accepting the principle miracle of the creation of a sapphire and I am questioning the secondary miracle of the sapphire defying the laws of gravity. Surely one who creates matter can also transcend the laws of matter."

A Malaysian devotee once told me the story of how 20 miles from Prashanti Nilayam his car stopped for want of gas. This was his first visit to Prashanti Nilayam and it was late evening. He was naturally concerned; he prayed to Swami, "Swami, make this car move forward to Prashanti Nilayam this evening." He prayed, asked the driver to start, and the engine stuttered and they started moving to Prashanti Nilayam. Next day the grateful devotee told Swami at Darshan time, "Swami thank you for the Grace of moving this car to Prashanti Nilayam without gas." Swami looked at him and said, "But that was not your only problem." Puzzled he went back, filled gas in the car, started the engine and turned the wheel. The wheel just locked and a mechanic was brought who found out that there was a broken tie-rod end. There was no way this car could have travelled 20 miles with or without gas. How many of us have travelled in cars with our broken tie-rod ends fixed unbeknown to us by this cosmic welder.

On this forum, several devotees in the last few days have shared their experiences of Swami. Each one of us have received this benediction from Swami if only we know where to look for it. Some of these we know; many like the Malaysian devotee we do not know at all. Howard Murphet, whose books have brought more foreign devotees to Swami than any other writer, calls all these 'parables in action'.

Whenever Swami materialises something, blows into something and creates something else or cures an affliction, He is in fact demonstrating these 'parables in action'. Their purpose is not to make us richer, or to cure an affliction but to demonstrate to us and instruct us in the science of being and in the art of living through the demonstration of His Omniwill.

I would like to share with you one such parable, one of many that I was privileged to have. I would like to share with you not the experience but the education behind the experience - it was like learning at the Feet of Divinity.

As an international corporate citizen, I had moved from country to country and finally moved from continent to continent. As the story I am about to tell has a lot of political implications, I seek your indulgence not to name the country where this took place as some of the people involved are still alive today. This country was a totalitarian military state and had had 3 major coups. There were 3 ethnic groups in the country - Muslims with political clout; Christians with economic strength; and tribal leaders who had their own axe to grind. Because of recent struggles there was a distrust of foreigners, particularly Asians. There was no constitution in this country and there was complete anarchy. I had heard of friends who had been taken away in the middle of the night and were never heard of since. There were summary executions - this was the order of the day. You could see bodies tied to automobile tyres and set fire to at the end of the streets; the stench of burning flesh and vulcanised rubber quite often rent the air. This was the background of the country where we wanted to introduce Swami's concept of Education in Human Values. We organised a conference of secondary school teachers and in order to give a big PR event to this incident, I was given the responsibility of inviting the wife of the president of this country to inaugurate the session and preside over the first day. I went and met the president's wife, she listened patiently and ultimately said that her office would get back to us as to whether she can preside or not.

A couple of days later, as I was driving to work I found that there was a big black limousine that was following me. I was concerned because this country had a fearsome secret service system. I made some enquiries with a contact that I had in the government and I learned that an enquiry had been ordered against me. As there was a lot of religious strife in the area in which we were living probably meeting the president's wife the previous week had triggered off a suspicion that our's is might be a religious institution and therefore needs to be followed. In the meantime the wife of the president had declined our invitation. My contact in the government confirmed my suspicion that I was in fact the target of an investigation and said that people were being taken away in the middle of the night never to come back; he strongly advised and cautioned me that I must quietly leave the country. The Indian Ambassador who I consulted one day before the event confirmed this and also strongly advised me to leave the country. I was very concerned and left for home a day before the function.

The day of the conference had come; in order to protect my identity they did not announce my name - they announced me as a spokesperson. My job was to talk about EHV and introduce the speaker of the day who was Victor Kanu. But in view of the religious sensitivity I was advised that I should make no mention of Sai or of the institutions which He heads. With great trepidation I climbed the stage; as I went up I found the same secret service agents who had followed me sitting in the first row - my steps faltered. I started with a silent prayer to Swami, but very soon I threw caution to the winds. Instead of talking about EHV, I spoke about the Author of EHV; I spoke about Swami; I spoke about SanathanaDharma; I spoke about Hinduism; I spoke about everything I was advised about not to speak. I had decided that if I was to go down I would go down with the Name of the Lord on my lips.

The talk was over and I went back home. Thoughts of being picked up and being incarcerated were very much in my mind. I was at home and the phone rang at 9.05 that night. I was certain that it was someone trying to tip me off to leave the country - but it was a friend of mine. He asked me whether I was watching the television. I said, "Why would I watch the television - I am waiting to be picked up!" The television in this country was totally controlled by the government. 9pm was prime time when every single set would be turned on. I turned on the television - I could not believe my eyes. There was full coverage of the morning's programme; my whole speech was telecast; my name and occupation were mentioned; my anonymity was over. Not only that but there was a full presentation of that morning's function; nothing about EHV, but all about Swami, His Teachings, and Hinduism. Swami was presented as an Eastern Messiah. All this happened in a country that was very much opposed to religious activities. It was mind-boggling. I did not know what was happening. The entire prime time news was only about this morning's presentation and covered all that I was advised not to speak about.

Next morning my contact in the government telephoned me. He said something strange is happening here. There was a handwritten ledger on the report that said I must be investigated and this ledger was serially numbered. When he went to that ledger that morning he found that the particular instruction that said I must be investigated was completely missing, but the ledger number continuity was maintained! There was no way that anyone could have torn the paper; only this particular instruction had completely vanished.

And there was more; within a week the Secretary of Education in the country called me and asked me whether I could give a write-up on EHV so that it could be introduced to the country's secondary schools.

More wonders; the Teachers Union, normally a very militant body, invited me to talk to them and they set up a conference which became the focus for introducing EHV at secondary school level in that country. This was the first country outside India to have formally accredited EHV in the secondary school system.

What was happening here? This was not mere materialisation or curing an affliction. This is something that broke barriers. This is something that completely changed the ethos. This is something that created a new order of things. What was Swami trying to convey here? He was only trying to convey that His work will always be done and that His Will will always be supreme. As He said three days ago

"Why does the sun rise; why do the stars hide their splendour in the day and show themselves in the night? Who ordered air to be around us all time; why do these streams roar and gurgle? I created the world with one word at My pleasure; I made mountains rise and with one word I placed knowledge upon mankind."

Sir Arthur Eddington the famous physicist said that the world is a wave of thought. Every law of nature, every action and reaction, every parable and happening that you hear in these forums is a witness to the vital vibration of His Divinity in the gross, subtle and causal cosmos. Swami once wrote,

"I move in the outer space. From those lofty heights I go to the devotee, first as thought, then as fragrance and then as light."

Sai experience is a combination of that light, of that thought and of that fragrance. You have seen here the world come to Swami - I have seen Swami go to the rest of the world. At a UN conference at Osaka , Japan two years ago, I saw 10,000 delegates give a standing ovation to a group of Japanese children performing a ballet on the values of Sathya, Dharma, Shanti and Prema. In probably the most popular square in Spain every Sunday devotees sing songs of peace and harmony watched by residents and visitors.

During a skiing holiday in the Austrian Alps my wife and I attended a Bhajan session at a little hamlet of 200 people, in the middle of nowhere where 20 Austrians who had never stepped out of Europe performed Bhajans and held a workshop. When out of deference to them my wife chose to sing a German song the leader said "No, in Sanskrit please". In the forests of West Africa , I have seen native tribes commence their daily meeting singing the song " Ore Baba, OseBaba".

And at a Sai retreat that I attended a few years ago in Argentina at the time of the Kosovo crisis one young adult asked a question, "If Sai Baba is raising human consciousness why are the children of Kosovo being murdered?" Pat came the answer from another young adult, "When Hitler's hordes roamed through Germany the world kept quiet; they did not even shed a silent tear. But when the children in Kosovo were being murdered the world roared back." That is how Sai Baba is elevating human consciousness - slowly and imperceptibly the world is turning into a golden age.

Swami told Howard Murphet that the golden age was coming. Howard Murphet then asked what work would Prema Sai do? Sai said "He will have plenty of work. Prema Sai will elevate human consciousness to Divine heights. Not only will there be a lot of work but He will also need a lot of help."

What kind of help, wondered Howard Murphet; then he remembered the story of how in a time of great flooding a man stood on top of his roof to escape the waters. When the water was rising higher the man prayed to God to save him. Soon a man came in a boat and asked him to get in. The man said "No, I have prayed to God and He will come and help me." Soon the waters rose nearly to his feet. Then another man came in a helicopter and dropped a rope. The man said "No, I will not come with you; I have prayed to God and He will help me." The laws of nature soon took their course and the man drowned. He went to heaven and asked God why He did not help him in his time of need. God said "I sent you a man with a boat and later, when you refused him another man with a helicopter…but you did not accept that help." The man understood; God is in everybody and He needs a million hands to help Him.

In establishing this, Swami has been saying that His Life is His message. He has been living that message particularly in the last 15 months. Ever since the drama of His fall He has been living one particular message - that He is not the body. Over 2000 years ago at another time and in another place in distant Jerusalem another cosmic being allowed Himself to bleed on the Cross in order to establish to the children of Israel one facet of reality. Everyday, Swami has been establishing with perfect equipoise the same facet of reality to all of us that 'I am not the body'. The reality that 'I am God'; the reality that Brahma Sathyam Jagat Mithya. It is for us to accept or reject this reality.

It's rather like the search for the Holy Grail. There is a lot of wealth and fame and pain in the so-called materialistic success story that I myself tried to follow 30 years ago. But in the evening of my life, like Percival (a Knight) I have come to the Fisher's King to ask Him; "Where does the Holy Grail lie?" The Grail serves the Grail King who lives in the innermost recesses of the castle. When Percival received this answer his search was over. The Grail King is a symbol of man's inner God.

Knowing this truth, it is glorious to be alive today - not only to be alive but to be aware that God is physically here is a privilege that millions never had! The only gratitude that we can offer for this privilege is to lay down our lives as flowers at His Lotus Feet. Sai Ram.

(Prof Anantharaman worked as the CEO of a Transnational Business conglomerate based in Switzerland, as an adjunct professor in several business schools including the Harvard Business School and is currently a faculty member in the School of Business Management at Puttaparthi)

________________________________________

Source: Radio Sai E-Magazine, June 2005

www.radiosai.org/Journals/Vol_03/06JUN01/living_divinity.htm

 

Kung Fu consists of a long history and includes many different disciplines and styles; all of which include a detailed structure of their own. Each variant of Kung Fu comprise of techniques for attack and defence applications and presents them in their own unique way.

 

Alongside the physical aspect of Kung Fu, its philosophy includes many aspects of Chinese culture which were absorbed during its formation and development. The most significant aspect which is found in the Shaolin school, is Ch’an Buddhist philosophy. The Ch’an tradition imparted profound connotations on Shaolin Kung Fu. For a detailed comprehension and practice of Shaolin Kung Fu and Chinese martial arts in general, one should understand Ch’an’s philosophy and practice.

Black Sea Segion, ca. 3rd-1st century B.C.E., H. 22.8 cm.

 

This majestic head of female figure possesses a remarkable presence, which is accentuated by well-preserved surface details. Eyes, nose, and lips are sensitively modeled and embody the grace and grandeur fitting for the representation of a goddess rather than a mortal woman. The figure is crowned by a richly decorated diadem with four multiple chain pendants, each chain terminating in round beads. She is additionally adorned with a necklace, and would have worn metal earrings. The diadem – representing one made of gold embellished with semi-precious or precious stones – is decorated with the heads of figures alternating with cabochon-cut stones secured in round or diamond-shaped settings. Use of gold as a framework for setting precious stones is a technique practiced in the later Hellenistic period. The style of the diadem and necklace, particularly the pendant decorations of the diadem point to jewelry types known from northern Greece and the area of the Black Sea.

 

The diadem crowning this stately figure, as well as her similarly fashioned necklace and the overall richness of ornament, mark her as the representation of a divinity, most likely Aphrodite. Feminine charm, grace and delicacy could not find a more perfect expression than that embodied in this representation of the goddess. The sculpture’s softly modeled face, framed by wavy locks of hair, possesses a serene and outward-looking gaze. Her hair parted above the forehead is held in place by the diadem, with thick, softly modeled tresses flowing back at the sides and covering the tips of the ears. The nose is delicate and well-shaped, the forehead is flat, and the eyes, not deeply set nor wide open, contribute to the face’s dreamy countenance. The modeling of the lips adds to this overall softness of expression. One of the closest parallels for this sculptural type of Aphrodite wearing a diadem can be found in the well-preserved, famous sculpture of a semi-draped Aphrodite known as the Aphrodite of Capua, now in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. An additional, terracotta example of Aphrodite wearing a diadem, and likely based on a similar prototype as the Capua sculpture, can be found in the Staatliche Museum in Berlin.

 

Stylistically such representations of Aphrodite ultimately draw inspiration from the works of the famous late classical sculptor, Praxiteles. Born around 400 B.C., he was active for most of the 4th century, from about 380 B.C onward. While original sculptures by his hand have been lost to us, a long and illustrious career is documented by inscribed statue bases and over one hundred literary sources, ranging from the Hellenistic through the Byzantine periods. Among the most notable references to the sculptor is the one recorded by Pliny (Natural History 36.20-21):

 

“I have mentioned the date of Praxiteles among those sculptors who worked in bronze; yet in his fame as a marble-worker he surpassed even himself. There are works by him at Athens in the Ceramicus (Keramikos), but first and foremost not only of this, but indeed in the whole world, is the Venus (Aphrodite) that many have sailed to Cnidus (Knidos) to see…The shrine she stands in is completely open, so that one can view the image of the goddess from all sides, an arrangement (so it is believed) that she herself favored. The statue is equally admirable from every angle.”

 

Praxiteles died around 325 B.C., but his canon for the representation of both deities and mortals, male figures, and female figures especially, remained influential for the rest of antiquity. Female figures, those of Aphrodite in particular, are considered among the primary creative achievements of this Athenian master. He is the undisputed creator of the greatest of all sculptures of this goddess, the Aphrodite of Knidos, which remained for centuries as the most renowned image of the goddess of love and the embodiment of womanly charm.

 

Aphrodite played a leading role in both Greek myth and religious ritual, and while there is no agreement on her historical origins, the ancient Greeks thought of her as coming from the east (Herodotus 1.105, Pausanias 1.14.7). . In the literary record she is often given the epithet “the Cyprian,” and Paphos in Cyprus was the center of one of her most famous cults. In the Greek language aphrodisia, or the verb aphrodisiazein, refers to the act of love, and the name of the goddess is used in Homer’s Odyssey with the same connotation. In Greece she was worshiped primarily as a figure presiding over sexuality and reproduction, and was therefore associated with marriage. This allowed Aphrodite to be identified with the fecundity of the earth, since the Greeks perceived a bond to exist between human fertility and the fruitfulness of the land. Ancient literature also celebrates the power of love as the dominion of Aphrodite, and among the gods Ares, Adonis, Hermes and Dionysos are identified as her lovers, as well as the mortal Anchises. In the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, Zeus boasts to the gods “that she, Aphrodite, lover of laughter, with a sweet smile had mated the gods with mortal women and they bore mortal sons to immortal gods, and that she mated goddesses with mortal men.” As viewed in art and literature throughout antiquity, Aphrodite proved to be one of the most appropriate subjects for the work of ancient sculptors -- a goddess whose form and expression embodied the xaris, the compelling charm and spiritual grace of Hellenistic sculpture, so evident in this terracotta image.

 

Bibliography

 

For Hellenistic jewelry from Northern Greece and the Black Sea region, see:

HOFFMAN H. - P. DAVIDSON, Greek Gold: Jewelry from the Age of Alexander, Boston, 1965, p. 63, no. 4.

WILLIAMS D. - J. OGDEN, Greek Gold: Jewelry of the Classical World, New York, 1994, p. 94, no. 46.

YALOURIS N. - K. RHOMIOPOULOU, The Search for Alexander, Washington, 1980, p. 143, no. 79A.

For the Capua Aphrodite (Naples 6017), see:

MATTUSCH C. et al., Pompeii and the Roman Villa, Washington, 2008, pp. 236-37, no. 107.

SMITH R. R. R., Hellenistic Sculpture, New York, 1991, p. 81, fig. 105.

For an additional sculpture of Aphrodite wearing a diadem, see:

VERMEULE C., Greek and Roman Sculpture in America, Berkeley, 1981, p. 170, no. 137 (Corcoran Gallery of Art, no. 86.9).

For the Berlin Aphrodite (Berlin Inv. 31272), see:

LULLIES R. - M. HIRMER, Greek Sculpture, New York, 1960, pp. 105-06, pl. 272.

On Praxiteles, see:

STEWART A., Greek Sculpture: An Exploration, New Haven, 1990, pp. 277-281 (with extensive bibliography for Praxiteles).

On Aphrodite, see:

BURKERT W., Greek Religion, Cambridge, 1985, pp. 152-56.

FARNELL L. R., The Cults of the Greek States, Oxford, 1896, especially pp. 618-69 for Aphrodite worship, pp. 670-708 for monuments of Aphrodite, pp. 709-30 for ideal types of Aphrodite, pp. 711-19 particularly for the Aphrodite of Knidos.

GANZ T., Early Greek Myth, Baltimore and London, 1993, pp. 99-105.

Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC), Vol. II, Zurich, 1986, s.v. Aphrodite, pp. 2-151.

OTTO W. F., The Homeric Gods: The Spiritual Significance of Greek Religion, New York, 1955, translated from the German original, 1929, pp. 91-103.

For the Homeric Hymns, see:

Homeric Hymn, to Aphrodite (5.48-52); trans. by C. Boer, The Homeric Hymns, Chicago, 1970, 74.

The English Rose

 

The English rose is an iconic symbol of the British isles that evokes royalty, war and beautiful women - a potent combination. For this project i wanted to celebrate the beauty of the roses from which these connotations are born.

 

To capture these wonderful blooms i worked with David Austin Roses, the most renowned grower of English roses.

 

Over the course of two summers I set up a small studio at the headquarters of David Austin in Wolverhampton, using a bright blue background as a stark contrast to the array of colours you find in roses.

 

I was assisted by senior rosarian Michael Marriott who selected the best examples of each variety of rose for me to photograph.

 

My goal was simple to capture the diversity and beauty of this symbolic flower.

  

Urbex Benelux -

 

The word holiday has differing connotations in different regions. In the United States the word is used exclusively to refer to the nationally, religiously or culturally observed day(s) of rest or celebration, or the events themselves, whereas in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth nations, the word may refer to the period of time where leave from one’s duties has been agreed, and is used as a synonym to the US preferred vacation. This time is usually set aside for rest, travel or the participation in recreational activities, with entire industries targeted to coincide or enhance these experiences. The days of leave may not coincide with any specific customs or laws. Employers and educational institutes may designate ‘holidays’ themselves which may or may not overlap nationally or culturally relevant dates, which again comes under this connotation, but it is the first implication detailed that this article is concerned with.

Her Majesty’s Theatre in Ballarat’s Lydiard Street is one of the most intact, commercial nineteenth century theatres in Australia. Originally opened as the Ballarat Academy of Music in order to avoid the negative moral connotations associated with theatres at the time, Her Majesty’s was completed in 1875 to a design by architect George Browne. The Academy had a flat floored auditorium suitable for respectable dances and dinners, and a fully equipped stage. It was built to supersede Ballarat's Theatre Royal (built in 1858), which stood in Sturt Street. While very grand, the Royal had become outdated and no longer met the technical requirements of the touring companies.

 

The Academy was built by the wealthy Clarke family at the initiative of a group of local people who felt that Ballarat, as the premier city of the Victorian goldfields, should have a theatre worthy of its status. They guaranteed to rent it from the Clarkes at 10% of the construction cost, which was £13,000.

 

Built over a disused mineshaft, the original timber theatre initially comprised a theatre with rectangular auditorium, a steep lyre-shaped gallery, three entries leading to separate parts of the auditorium and two shops facing Lydiard Street.

 

Ballarat's handsome new theatre was ready ahead of schedule, and was opened on 7th June 1875. The first production was a comic opera by the French composer Lecocq, "La Fille de Madame Angot," presented by the Royal Opera Bouffe Company run by W. S. Lyster, Australia's first opera impresario.

 

Soon after the Academy opened, the large Supper Room above Lydiard Street was leased to William Bridges, a former miner, who ran it as an art gallery, displaying an excellent collection of European and Australian artworks, including his own tapestries. After Bridges moved his operations to Melbourne in 1883, the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery was formed. The Gallery Society ran the Gallery from the Academy from 1884 until 1890, when the present Art Gallery in Lydiard Street North was opened.

 

For the next twenty five years, the Academy of Music was unchallenged as Ballarat's main theatrical venue. It was never as popular as the old Theatre Royal, however, as the rather cavernous hall lacked the intimacy of the older playhouse. In 1898, when Sir William Clarke died, the building was bought by a local consortium and transformed into the delightful theatrical space we know today.

 

The new owners commissioned Australia's leading theatre architect, William Pitt (1855 – 1918), to remodel the interior and improve the stage facilities. William, who had been apprenticed to George Browne, also designed Melbourne's Princess Theatre amongst many other buildings. The present layout of the auditorium with sloping floor and double balconies, is Pitt's creation. The colour scheme is a recreation of the interior decoration undertaken at that time by Hugh Paterson, one of Melbourne's leading designers.

 

Paterson also decorated the dome and proscenium arch with murals. The mural in the dome depicted a carnival scene, with dancers in fanciful costumes; Comedy and Tragedy were featured on either side of the proscenium arch, with Shakespeare over the top. Unfortunately all the murals were destroyed in 1907 when Government regulations required the proscenium wall to be replaced with a solid firewall. The dome was removed at the same time for structural reasons, and was restored in 1990. The Dress Circle Lobby also dates from 1907.

 

The 1898 theatre was constructed in brick with timber roof construction sheeted with iron. The main body is brick with piers both inside and out. The hipped trussed roof covers both the three-level auditorium and the stage with dressing rooms below. The ground floor and foyer have been considerably altered at various times but the auditorium and stage structure are original as is much of the auditorium ceiling and pilastered walls. The roof over the stage also dates from 1875 and the later inclusion of a fly tower stage in 1898 is fitted around the original trusses. The flying system is the only manual (non counterweight) system in existence in Australia. In the auditorium roof there appears to have been two domes, a small one dating from before 1898 for which the horizontal shutters and tube structure to a former sliding ventilated roof are still in existence. When 1898 dome was removed a false octagonal ceiling was fitted in its place. Internally the circle and gallery levels are horseshoe shaped in plan and are carried on cast iron columns. The balcony balustrading is swag bellied and decorated. It is believed that the wall pilasters, panelled ceilings and proscenium are original decorations and some traces of art nouveau decorative motifs are to be seen where later alterations have been made. The two balconies were constructed in 1898, but one balcony front is the reused 1874 front while the second was made to match. The balconies and cast-iron supporting posts are typical for auditoria design in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. The double balcony, supported on columns, is now the last of this form of theatre in Victoria. The facade of this building is two storeyed in height with stucco ornamentation in a somewhat florid Classical style. The upper storey windows are round headed with archivolts supported by slender columns as are the two ground floor subsidiary entrances. The highly decorated curved entrance has now been lost. The ground floor facade has been much altered and a street awning has been added. The first floor facade is intact but the parapet balustrading and ornamentation has been destroyed.

 

From the First World War on, the Theatre was increasingly used for cinema presentations. A Bio Box (projection room) was built above the Dress Circle Lobby in 1916, and the Theatre was wired for sound in 1930. In 1928, the Hoyts cinema chain took over control over the building through its local subsidiary, Ballarat Theatres Limited, which ran Her Majesty's in tandem with the Regent Theatre (purposely built as a cinema).

 

In 1936, Her Majesty's was leased and operated by Ballarat Amusements, part of the Woodrow Distributing Company, presenting MGM and Paramount movies. Ballarat Amusements ran it until the early 1960s.

 

During the silent movie era, a theatre orchestra provided the film accompaniment. The Ballarat Theatre Organ Society installed the Theatre's Compton Theatre Organ in 1982.

 

Even when Her Majesty's was primarily a cinema, it was always available, to a lesser or greater degree, for live performances. It was used regularly by J. C. Williamson's and other touring companies as well as local groups. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s huge crowds came to see the annual pantomimes staged by the Wavie Williams Pantomime Company. For the last forty years, the Theatre has been used to stage locally produced musical comedies.

 

Television came to Ballarat in 1962, and had an immediate impact on attendances at the local cinemas. Ballarat Amusements decided to cease screenings and Hoyts put the building on the market.

 

In 1965, the Theatre was bought by the Royal South Street Society as the home for its Annual Competitions.The Bolte State Government gave the Society £20,000 towards the purchase price and a further grant towards the adaptation of the building for the Competitions. Further assistance towards both purposes came from local businessman, Alf Reid. It was clearly understood at the time that the Society would be managing the Theatre as a community facility.

 

The Society renamed Her Majesty's the Memorial Theatre, a move which made donations to its renovation appeal tax deductable.

 

The Society was unable to adequately maintain the upkeep of the building, however, and gifted it to the then City of Ballaarat in 1987, reserving the right to hold competitions in the Theatre every year between August and November.

 

The City of Ballarat undertook a major renovation, seeking funding from a wide range of businesses, individuals and organisations. The Theatre reopened as Her Majesty's on the 1st of November, 1990.

 

No. 1 - 4: Travelling to Ulm in Baden-Württemberg, by train from Stuttgart, via Esslingen (Neckar).

 

Dotted around in that far field are Juniper (Juniperus communis) trees.

 

The Juniper

- is one of the most successful unsuccessful plants in the world. This conifer, which belongs to the Cypress family, has over 50 species found in every continent save Antarctica. There are 15 species in the United States alone, naturally occurring in every state except Hawaii.

 

The common juniper is usually a low-spreading shrub, with small prickly needles set in whorls of three. “Common” is a fitting name: this juniper has the largest range of any woody plant in the world. The shrub’s range circumscribes the northern hemisphere, stretching from Alaska east to Japan.

 

The Rocky Mountain variety is among the tallest junipers, and also among the highest. As the name implies, this tree is found at elevation of 5,000 to 7,500 feet along the Rocky Mountain range in the US and Canada.

 

Tough Times

- rom the scraggly trees in the foothills to the perfectly shaped shrub found on manicured lawns, junipers are everywhere. So what about the unsuccessful part? For starters, it takes 14-18 months for juniper seeds to mature, and even then only one in a hundred will germinate.

 

In the first 20 years of its life, the average juniper will grow to be a full five feet tall. During its entire life span, the hearty rocky mountain juniper may stretch to 25 feet, but even a height of 15 feet is rare. Partially because of their slow rate of growth, junipers are highly susceptible to fire, which will kill all but the thickest of these trees. Seeds rarely survive, and junipers must usually be reintroduced to a scorched area by animals.

Suite 101.com

  

The Juniper Tree is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm.

 

It is tale number 47 and Aarne-Thompson type 720: "my mother slew me, my father ate me". Another such tale is the English The Rose-Tree, although it reverses the sexes from The Juniper Tree; The Juniper Tree follows the more common pattern of having the dead child be the boy.

 

A woman wishes for a child as red as blood and as white as snow. She knows she is about to die, so she requests that she be buried under a juniper tree that they have outside. She gives birth to a boy, and dies a few days later. Her husband grieves, and gets married again. His second wife gives birth to a daughter, Melinda, but hates the son because he would be the one to inherit all the family's money, and she wishes it to be her daughter. One day, she offers the boy an apple that is inside a chest. As he reaches in to get it, she slams its heavy lid on him, knocking his head off. She then takes a bandage and ties his head back to his body, and tells Melinda to ask him for the apple, and if he doesn't give it, to give him a good box on the ear. Melinda kindly asks for the apple, and then boxes him on the ear, resulting in the boy's head falling off. Melinda goes to her mother and tells her in sobs that she killed her brother. Her mother reassures Melinda and turns the boy's body into black puddings.

 

The father eats the puddings, but Melinda takes up the bones and buries them beneath a juniper tree. A beautiful bird flies out of the tree. It goes and sings a song to a goldsmith, who gives it a golden chain, to a shoemaker, who gives it a pair of red shoes, and to millers, who give it a millstone. It then flies back home and sings its song. The father goes out to see what is singing such a beautiful song and the golden chain falls about his neck. Then he says to everyone that a beautiful bird gave him a chain. It sings again, Melinda goes out to see if this is true, and the red shoes fall to her. She comes in giggling happily and tells everyone how happy she is with what the bird gave her. All this time the stepmother is complaining of heat, claiming she has a horrid fire burning in her veins. It sings a third time, the stepmother goes out, and the bird drops the millstone on her, crushing her, and killing her. The father and Melinda go out to see what caused the loud crash, but find nothing but a swirl of smoke and a stone. The brother is standing there, looking happy, and they go inside for dinner.

 

Commentary

Many folklorists interpret evil stepmothers as stemming from actual competition between a woman and her stepchildren for resources. In this tale, the motive is made explicit: the stepmother wants her daughter to inherit everything.

 

The millstone in the story would have had Biblical connotations for the readers of the Grimms' days, especially as the verse Luke 17:2 says that anyone who causes a child to sin would be better off being thrown into the sea with a millstone about his neck; both refer to a millstone as a punishment for those who harm the young and innocent.

 

In his essay "On Fairy-Stories", J.R.R. Tolkien cited The Juniper Tree as an example of the evils of censorship for children; many versions in his day omitted the stew, and Tolkien thought children should not be spared it, unless they were spared the whole fairy tale.

Wikipedia

  

The Juniper shrub (Arkenthos of the ancients),

- which is widely distributed about the world, grows not uncommonly in England as a stiff evergreen conifer on healthy ground, and bears bluish purple berries. These have a sweet, juicy, and, presently, bitter, brown pulp, containing three seeds, and they do not ripen until the second year. The flowers blossom in May and June. Probably the shrub gets its name from the Celtic jeneprus, "rude or rough." Gerard notes that "it grows most commonly very low, like unto our ground furzes." Gum Sandarach, or Pounce, is the product of this tree.

 

Medicinally, the berries and the fragrant tops are employed. They contain "juniperin," sugar, resins, wax, fat, formic and acetic acids, and malates. The fresh tops have a balsamic odour, and a carminative, bitter-sweet taste. The berries afford a yellow aromatic oil, which acts on the kidneys, and gives cordial warmth.

 

to the stomach. Forty berries should yield an ounce of the oil. Steeped in alcohol the berries make a capital ratafia; they are used in several confections, as well as for flavouring gin, being put into a spirit more common than the true geneva of Holland. The French obtain from these berries the Geni?e (Anglice "geneva"), from which we have taken our English word "gin." In France, Savoy, and Italy, the berries are largely collected, and are sometimes eaten as such, fifteen or twenty at a time, to stimulate the kidneys; or they are taken in powder for the same purpose. Being fragrant of smell, they have a warm, sweet, pungent flavour, which becomes bitter on further mastication.

Herbal Gardens

  

To see Large: farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/4493798502_a499bb344f_b.jpg

 

Taken on October 17, 2007 at 10:51

Palace of Fontainebleau

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Palace and Park of Fontainebleau

Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List

 

Location of Palace of Fontainebleau in France.

The Palace of Fontainebleau, located 55 kilometres from the centre of Paris, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The palace as it is today is the work of many French monarchs, building on an early 16th-century structure of Francis I. The building is arranged around a series of courtyards. The commune of Fontainebleau has grown up around the remainder of the Forest of Fontainebleau, a former royal hunting park. This forest is now home to many endangered species of Europe.

 

The throne room, formerly the King’s bedroom from Henry IV to Louis XVI, it was converted into the throne room by Napoleon

The older château on this site was already used in the latter part of the 12th century by King Louis VII, for whom Thomas Becket consecrated the chapel. Fontainebleau was a favourite residence of Philip Augustus (Philip II) and Louis IX. The creator of the present edifice was Francis I, under whom the architect Gilles le Breton erected most of the buildings of the Cour Ovale, including the Porte Dorée, its southern entrance. The king also invited the architect Sebastiano Serlio to France, and Leonardo da Vinci. The Gallery of Francis I, with its frescoes framed in stucco by Rosso Fiorentino, carried out between 1522 and 1540, was the first great decorated gallery built in France. Broadly speaking, at Fontainebleau the Renaissance was introduced to France. The Salle des Fêtes, in the reign of Henry II, was decorated by the Italian Mannerist painters, Francesco Primaticcio and Niccolò dell'Abbate. Benvenuto Cellini's "Nymph of Fontainebleau", commissioned for the château, is at the Louvre.

 

Another campaign of extensive construction was undertaken by King Henry II and Catherine de' Medici, who commissioned architects Philibert Delorme and Jean Bullant. To the Fontainebleau of François I and Henry II, King Henry IV added the court that carries his name, the Cour des Princes, with the adjoining Galerie de Diane de Poitiers and the Galerie des Cerfs, used as a library. A "second school of Fontainebleau" decorators, less ambitious and original than the first, evolved from these additional projects. Henry IV pierced the wooded park with a 1200m canal (which can be fished today) and ordered the planting of pines, elms and fruit trees. The park stretches of an area more than 80 hectares, enclosed by walls and pierced rectilinear paths. Henry IV's gardener, Claude Mollet, trained at Château d'Anet, laid out patterned parterres. Preserved on the grounds is Henry IV's jeu de paume (real tennis court). It is the largest such court in the world, and one of the few publicly owned.

 

Philip the Fair (Philip IV), Henry III and Louis XIII were all born in the palace, and Philip died there. Christina of Sweden lived there for years, following her abdication in 1654. In 1685 Fontainebleau saw the signing of the Edict of Fontainebleau, which revoked the Edict of Nantes (1598). Royal guests of the Bourbon kings were housed at Fontainebleau, including Peter the Great of Russia and Christian VII of Denmark.

 

Revolution and Empire

By the late 18th century, the château had fallen into disrepair; during the French Revolution many of the original furnishings were sold, in the long Revolutionary sales of the contents of all the royal châteaux, intended as a way of raising money for the nation and ensuring that the Bourbons could not return to their comforts. Nevertheless, within a decade Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte began to transform the Château de Fontainebleau into a symbol of his grandeur, as an alternative to the empty Palace of Versailles, with its Bourbon connotations. Napoleon hosted Pope Pius VII there in 1804, when he came to consecrate the emperor, and again in 1812–1814, when he was Napoleon's prisoner. With modifications of the château's structure, including the cobblestone entrance wide enough for his carriage, Napoleon helped make the château the place that visitors see today. At Fontainebleau Napoleon abdicated for the first time, bade farewell to his Old Guard and went into exile in 1814.Fontainebleau was also the setting of the Second Empire court of his nephew Napoleon III.

 

Today

The château is now home to the Écoles d'Art Américaines, a school of art, architecture, and music for students from the United States. The school was founded by General Pershing when his men were stationed there during the First World War.

  

Palacio de Fontainebleau

Palacio y parque de Fontainebleau. Nombre descrito en la Lista del Patrimonio de la Humanidad.

 

Coordenadas48°24′07″N 02°41′53″E País Francia

 

La Sala de espectáculos del Palacio de Fontainebleau, en 1855.

El Palacio de Fontainebleau, en francés Château de Fontainebleau, es uno de los mayores palacios reales franceses. Está localizado en la ciudad de Fontainebleau, departamento de Sena y Marne, en el norte de Francia.

 

El palacio refleja, actualmente, las aportaciones constructivas y decorativas de varios monarcas franceses, a partir de una estructura inicial de Francisco I. El edificio se desarrolla alrededor de una serie de patios.

 

La ciudad de Fontainebleau creció en su entorno y en lo que restaba de la «floresta de Fontainebleau» (en español bosque de Fontainebleau), un antiguo parque real de caza.

 

Este palacio introdujo en Francia el Manierismo italiano, en la decoración de interiores y en los jardines, adaptándolo. El manierismo francés en la decoración de interiores del siglo XVI es conocido como «estilo Fontainebleau»: combina escultura, forja, pintura, estuco y carpintería. En jardinería supuso la introducción del parterre.

 

El ideal de belleza femenina en Fontainebleau es, también, manierista: una pequeña y graciosa cabeza en un cuello esbelto, torso y brazos exageradamente largos, pechos pequeños y altos; es casi un regreso a las bellezas del gótico tardío. Los nuevos ideales de Fontainebleau fueron plasmados en refinados y detallados grabados que circularon entre artistas y entendidos.

 

A través de los grabados realizados por la «Escuela de Fontainebleau», este nuevo estilo fue transmitido a otros centros del norte de Europa, especialmente en Amberes, Bélgica, Alemania y, más tarde, también Londres.

 

El viejo castillo que se erigía en este lugar ya era usado al final del siglo XII por el rey Luis VII, para quien Thomas Becket consagró la capilla. Fontainebleau fue una de las residencias favoritas de Felipe II y de Luis IX. El creador del edificio actual fue Francisco I, para quien el arquitecto Gilles le Breton construyó la mayor parte del Cour Ovale (Patio Ovalado), incluyendo la Porte Dorée (Puerta Dorada), en su entrada sur. Este rey también invitó a Sebastiano Serlio y Leonardo da Vinci. La Galería de Francisco I, con sus frescos hechos en estuco por Rosso Fiorentino, fue construida entre 1522 y 1540, siendo la primera gran galería decorada construida en Francia.

 

El Renacimiento fue introducido en Francia por el Palacio de Fontainebleau, por influencia de Enrique II y Catalina de Médici, que contrataron a los arquitectos Philibert Delorme y Jean Bullant, con los que llevaron a cabo una importante campaña de remodelaciones. La Salle des Fêtes (Salón de Baile) fue decorada por los pintores manieristas italianos Francesco Primaticcio y Niccolò dell'Abbate. La «Ninfa de Fontainebleau», de Benvenuto Cellini, encargada para el palacio, está en el Louvre.

 

Al Fontainebleau de Francisco I y Enrique II, Enrique IV añadió el patio que lleva su nombre, el Cour des Princes (Patio de los Príncipes), la Galerie de Diane de Poitiers (Galería de Diana de Poitiers) y la Galerie des Cerfs (Galería de los Ciervos), usada como biblioteca. Una «segunda escuela de decoradores de Fontainebleau», menos ambiciosa y original que la primera, estuvo involucrada en estos proyectos. Enrique IV perforó el parque forestal con un canal de 1200 metros, donde actualmente se puede pescar, y ordenó la plantación de pinos, olmos y frutales. Su jardinero, Claude Mollet, con habilidades ya probadas en el Château d'Anet, ejecutó los parterres.

 

Tres siglos después el palacio entró en decadencia; durante la Revolución francesa mucho del mobiliario original se dispersó en las ventas revolucionarias del contenido de todos los palacios reales, concebidas como una forma de conseguir dinero para la nación y asegurar que los Borbones no podrían volver a sus dominios. Dentro de la década siguiente, el emperador Napoleón Bonaparte comenzó a transformar el Château de Fontainebleau en un símbolo de su grandeza, como una alternativa al Palacio de Versalles que tenía connotaciones borbónicas. En Fontainebleau, Napoleón I de Francia firmó su abdicación, con el Tratado de Fontainebleau. Se despidió de su Vieja Guardia y partió al exilio.

 

Con modificaciones en la estructura del palacio, incluyendo la entrada de cantería suficientemente ancha para su carruaje, Napoleón ayudó a hacer del palacio el lugar que los visitantes conocen actualmente. Fontainebleau fue el escenario de la Corte del Segundo Imperio de su sobrino Napoleón III. Felipe IV, Enrique III y Luis XIII nacieron en este palacio, y el primer de estos reyes también murió aquí. Cristina de Suecia vivió en Fontainebleau durante varios años, después de abdicar en 1654. En 1685 Fontainebleau fue el escenario de la firma del Edicto de Fontainebleau, el cual revocó el Edicto de Nantes (1598). Huéspedes reales de los reyes de la dinastía de los Borbones fueron instalados en Fontainebleau: Pedro I de Rusia y Cristián VII de Dinamarca, y también, en la época de Napoleón, el Papa Pío VII, en 1804 cuando vino a consagrar a Napoleón como Emperador, y entre 1812 y 1814, cuando fue su prisionero.

 

Actualmente, parte del palacio alberga las Écoles d'Art Américaines (Escuelas de Artes Americanas), una escuela de arte, arquitectura y música para estudiantes de los EUA. Preservado en los campos está el jeu de paume (campo de tenis real) de Enrique IV. Es el mayor campo de tenis de este género en el mundo, y uno de los pocos de propiedad pública.

 

En 1981, el Château de Fontainebleau fue clasificado Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la Unesco.

  

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontainebleau

  

The Hmong (RPA: Hmoob/Moob, IPA: [m̥ɔ̃ŋ]) are an ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity (苗族) in southern China. Hmong groups began a gradual southward migration in the 18th century due to political unrest and to find more arable land.

 

During the first and second Indochina Wars, France and the United States recruited thousands of Hmong people in Laos to fight against forces from north and south Vietnam and communist Pathet Lao insurgents, known as the Secret War, during the Vietnam War and the Laotian Civil War. Hundreds of thousands of Hmong refugees fled to Thailand seeking political asylum. Thousands of these refugees have resettled in Western countries since the late 1970s, mostly the United States, but also in Australia, France, French Guiana, Canada, and Argentina. Others have returned to Laos under United Nations-sponsored repatriation programs.

 

SUBCULTURES

Hmong people have their own terms for their subcultural divisions. Hmong Der and Hmong Leng are the terms for two of the largest groups in America and Southeast Asia. In the Romanized Popular Alphabet, developed in the 1950s in Laos, these terms are written Hmoob Dawb (White Hmong) and Moob Leeg/Moob Ntsuab (Blue/Green Mong). The final consonants indicate with which of the eight lexical tones the word is pronounced.

 

White Hmong and Green Hmong speak mutually intelligible dialects of the Hmong language with some differences in pronunciation and vocabulary. One of the most characteristic differences is the use of the voiceless /m̥/ in White Hmong, indicated by a preceding "H" in Romanized Popular Alphabet. Voiceless nasals are not found in the Green Hmong dialect. Hmong groups are often named after the dominant colors or patterns of their traditional clothing, style of head-dress, or the provinces from which they come.

 

VIETNAM

Vietnamese Hmong women continuing to wear 'traditional' clothing tend to source much of their clothing as 'ready to wear' cotton (as opposed to traditional hemp) from markets, though some add embroidery as a personal touch. In SaPa, now with a 'standardised' clothing look, Black Hmong sub-groups have differentiated themselves by adopting different headwear; those with a large comb embedded in their long hair (but without a hat) call themselves Tao, those with a pillbox hat name themselves Giay, and those with a checked headscarf are Yao. For many, such as Flower Hmong, the heavily beaded skirts and jackets are manufactured in China.

 

NOMENCLATURE

In Southeast Asia, Hmong people are referred to by other names, including: Vietnamese: Mèo or H'Mông; Lao: ແມ້ວ (Maew) or ມົ້ງ (Mong); Thai: แม้ว (Maew) or ม้ง (Mong); Burmese: မုံလူမျိုး (mun lu-myo). The xenonym, "Mèo", and variants thereof, are considered highly derogatory by many Hmong people and are infrequently used today outside of Southeast Asia.

 

The Hmong people were also referred to by some European writers as the "Kings of the Jungle," because they used to live in the jungle of Laos. Because the Hmong lived mainly in the highland areas of Southeast Asia and China, the French occupiers of Southeast Asia gave them the name Montagnards or "mountain people", but this should not be confused with the Degar people of Vietnam, who were also referred to as Montagnards.

 

HMONG, MONG AND MIAO

Some non-Chinese Hmong advocate that the term Hmong be used not only for designating their dialect group, but also for the other Miao groups living in China. They generally claim that the word "Miao" or "Meo" is a derogatory term, with connotations of barbarism, that probably should not be used at all. The term was later adapted by Tai-speaking groups in Southeast Asia where it took on especially insulting associations for Hmong people despite its official status.

 

In modern China, the term "Miao" does not carry these negative associations and people of the various sub-groups that constitute this officially recognized nationality freely identify themselves as Miao or Chinese, typically reserving more specific ethnonyms for intra-ethnic communication. During the struggle for political recognition after 1949, it was actually members of these ethnic minorities who campaigned for identification under the umbrella term "Miao"-taking advantage of its familiarity and associations of historical political oppression.

 

Contemporary transnational interactions between Hmong in the West and Miao groups in China, following the 1975 Hmong diaspora, have led to the development of a global Hmong identity that includes linguistically and culturally related minorities in China that previously had no ethnic affiliation. Scholarly and commercial exchanges, increasingly communicated via the Internet, have also resulted in an exchange of terminology, including Hmu and A Hmao people identifying as Hmong and, to a lesser extent, Hmong people accepting the designation "Miao," within the context of China. Such realignments of identity, while largely the concern of economically elite community leaders, reflect a trend towards the interchangeability of the terms "Hmong" and "Miao."

 

HISTORY

The Hmong claim an origin in the Yellow River region of China. According to Ratliff, there is linguistic evidence to suggest that they have occupied the same areas of southern China for at least the past 2,000 years. Evidence from mitochondrial DNA in Hmong-Mien-speaking populations supports the southern origins of maternal lineages even further back in time, although Hmong-speaking populations show more contact with Han than Mien populations. Chinese sources describe that area being inhabited by 'Miao' people, a group with whom Hmong people are often identified.

 

The ancient town of Zhuolu, is considered to be the legendary birthplace of the Miao. Today, a statue of Chi You, widely proclaimed as the first Hmong king, has been erected in the town. The Guoyu book, considers Chi You’s Jui Li tribe to be related to the ancient ancestors of the Hmong, the San Miao people

 

CULTURE

The Hmong culture usually consists of a dominant hierarchy within the family. Males hold dominance over females and thus, a father is considered the head in each household. Courtships take place during the night when a man goes to visit a woman at her house and tries to woo her with sweet-talks through the thin walls of the house where the woman's bedroom may be located. If a man kidnaps an unwilling woman as a bride, she would have to marry him or risk having a tarnished reputation.

 

Today, bridenapping is uncommon because those marriages can end in divorce since women are no longer afraid of a tarnished reputation. During a marriage, the man pays the woman's family for taking away a daughter who is economically essential to her parents. Hmong women retain their own maiden names following marriage, but attends to the ancestors of their husbands. The children they bear take their husbands' clan names. Consequently, the Hmong favour having sons over daughters because sons perpetuate the clan.

 

The Hmong practice shamanism and ancestor worship. Like other animists, they also believe that all things are endowed with spiritual beings and so should be respected.

 

See Anne Fadiman's ethnography: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down for more info.

 

Hmong families in Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos practice subsistence agriculture, supplemented by hunting and some foraging. Although they have chickens, pigs and cows, the traditional staple of the Hmong consists mostly of vegetable dishes and rice. Domestic animals are highly valued and killed for consumption only during special events such as the New Year's Festival or during events such as a birth, marriage, or funeral ritual.

 

GEOGRAPHY

Roughly 95% of the Hmong live in Asia. Linguistic data show that the Hmong of the Peninsula stem from the Miao of southern China as one among a set of ethnic groups belonging to the Hmong–Mien language family. Linguistically and culturally speaking, the Hmong and the other sub-groups of the Miao have little in common.

 

In China the majority of the Hmong today live in Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan. The Hmong population is estimated at 3 million. No precise census data exist on the Hmong in China since China does not officially recognise the ethnonym Hmong and instead, clusters that group within the wider Miao group (8,940,116 in 2000). A few centuries ago, the lowland Chinese started moving into the mountain ranges of China's southwest. This migration, combined with major social unrest in southern China in the 18th and 19th century, served to cause some minorities of Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan to migrate south. A number of Hmong thus settled in the ranges of the Indochina Peninsula to practise subsistence agriculture.

 

Vietnam, where their presence is attested from the late 18th century onwards, is likely to be the first Indochinese country into which the Hmong migrated. During the colonization of 'Tonkin' (north Vietnam) between 1883 and 1954, a number of Hmong decided to join the Vietnamese Nationalists and Communists, while many Christianized Hmong sided with the French. After the Viet Minh victory, numerous pro-French Hmong had to fall back to Laos and South Vietnam.

At the 2009 national census, there were 1,068,189 Hmong living in Vietnam, the vast majority of them in the north of the country. The traditional trade in coffin wood with China and the cultivation of the opium poppy – both prohibited only in 1993 in Vietnam – long guaranteed a regular cash income. Today, converting to cash cropping is the main economic activity. As in China and Laos, there is a certain degree of participation of Hmong in the local and regional administration. In the late 1990s, several thousands of Hmong have started moving to the Central Highlands and some have crossed the border into Cambodia, constituting the first attested presence of Hmong settlers in that country.

 

In 2005, the Hmong in Laos numbered 460,000. Hmong settlement there is nearly as ancient as in Vietnam. After decades of distant relations with the Lao kingdoms, closer relations between the French military and some Hmong on the Xieng Khouang plateau were set up after World War II. There, a particular rivalry between members of the Lo and Ly clans developed into open enmity, also affecting those connected with them by kinship. Clan leaders took opposite sides and as a consequence, several thousand Hmong participated in the fighting against the Pathet Lao Communists, while perhaps as many were enrolled in the People's Liberation Army. As in Vietnam, numerous Hmong in Laos also genuinely tried to avoid getting involved in the conflict in spite of the extremely difficult material conditions under which they lived during wartime.

 

After the 1975 Communist victory, thousands of Hmong from Laos had to seek refuge abroad. Approximately 30 percent of the Hmong left, although the only concrete figure we have is that of 116,000 Hmong from Laos and Vietnam together seeking refuge in Thailand up to 1990.

 

In 2002 the Hmong in Thailand numbered 151,080. The presence of Hmong settlements there is documented from the end of the 19th century. Initially, the Siamese paid little attention to them. But in the early 1950s, the state suddenly took a number of initiatives aimed at establishing links. Decolonization and nationalism were gaining momentum in the Peninsula and wars of independence were raging. Armed opposition to the state in northern Thailand, triggered by outside influence, started in 1967 while here again, many Hmong refused to take sides in the conflict. Communist guerrilla warfare stopped by 1982 as a result of an international concurrence of events that rendered it pointless. Priority is since given by the Thai state to sedentarizing the mountain population, introducing commercially viable agricultural techniques and national education, with the aim of integrating these non-Tai animists within the national identity.

 

Burma most likely includes a modest number of Hmong (perhaps around 2,500) but no reliable census has been conducted there recently.

 

As result of refugee movements in the wake of the Indochina Wars (1946–1975), in particular in Laos, the largest Hmong community to settle outside Asia went to the United States where approximately 100,000 individuals had already arrived by 1990. California became home to half this group, while the remainder went to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington, Pennsylvania, Montana, and North Carolina. By the same date, 10,000 Hmong had migrated to France, including 1,400 in French Guyana. Canada admitted 900 individuals, while another 360 went to Australia, 260 to China, and 250 to Argentina. Over the following years and until the definitive closure of the last refugee camps in Thailand in 1998, additional numbers of Hmong have left Asia, but the definitive figures are still to be produced.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics.[1] Androgyny may be expressed with regard to gender expression.

 

When androgyny refers to mixed biological sex characteristics in humans, it often refers to conditions in which characteristics of both sexes are expressed in a single individual. These are known as intersex people, or those who are born with congenital variations that complicate assigning their sex at birth, as they do not correspond entirely to the male or female sexes.

 

Etymology

The term derives from Ancient Greek: ἀνδρόγυνος, from ἀνήρ, stem ἀνδρ- (anér, andro-, meaning man) and γυνή (gunē, gyné, meaning woman) through the Latin: androgynus.[2]

 

History

See also: Sexuality in ancient Rome § Hermaphroditism and androgyny

Androgyny is attested from earliest history and across world cultures. In ancient Sumer, androgynous men were heavily involved in the cult of Inanna.[3]: 157–158  A set of priests known as gala worked in Inanna's temples, where they performed elegies and lamentations.[3]: 285  Gala took female names, spoke in the eme-sal dialect, which was traditionally reserved for women, and appear to have engaged in sexual acts with men.[4]

 

In later Mesopotamian cultures, kurgarrū and assinnu were servants of the goddess Ishtar, Inanna's East Semitic equivalent, who dressed in female clothing and performed war dances in Ishtar's temples.[4] Several Akkadian proverbs seem to suggest that they may have also engaged in sexual activity with men.[4] Gwendolyn Leick, an anthropologist known for her writings on Mesopotamia, has compared these individuals to the contemporary Indian hijra.[3]: 158–163  In one Akkadian hymn, Ishtar is described as transforming men into women.[4]

 

The ancient Greek myth of Hermaphroditus and Salmacis, two divinities who fused into a single immortal, provided a frame of reference used in Western culture for centuries. Androgyny and homosexuality are also seen in Plato's Symposium, in a myth where, according to Aristophanes, humanity started as three sexes: male-male people that descended from the sun, female-female people who descended from Earth, and male-female people who came from the Moon.[5] The androgynous humans were spherical and had four legs, four hands and two heads. They were also extremely powerful and dared rebel against the Greek pantheon. "Plato cites the ancient tale of Otus and Ephialtes who rebelled against the gods and drove them from Mount Olympus. Not satisfied with this, they tried to set Mount Ossa atop Mount Olympus, and Mount Pelion atop of Ossa, that they might attack the gods in heaven itself."[6]

 

The gods, angered, divided the primordial humans in two and scattered them across the Earth. The divided searched for their other halves. The women who sought another woman and the men who sought another men were homosexuals.[7]

 

The Mishnah, a foundational text of Rabbinic Judaism from 2nd century Syria Palaestina, uses the term androgynos 32 times. It also recounts the creation of humanity in the Genesis creation narrative in Platonic terms. Genesis Rabbah, a midrashic text written some time after the Mishnah, explains, "Adam, who was created alone and thus embodies all of mankind, was androgynous, i.e. a bi-sexual being, male and female bound together in a single male-female body: 'He created him androgynous . . . He created him double-faced.'"[6] It is one of four additional legal categories of transgressively sexed individuals in the text, alongside the ayelonit, tumtum, and saris. In one mention, Rabbi Meir describes the androgynos as "a creation of its own type, which the sages could not decide whether is male or female".[8]

 

Philosophers such as Philo of Alexandria, and early Christian leaders such as Origen and Gregory of Nyssa, continued to promote the idea of androgyny as humans' original and perfect state during late antiquity."[9] In medieval Europe, the concept of androgyny played an essential role in both Christian theological debate and alchemical theory. Influential theologians such as John of Damascus and John Scotus Eriugena continued to promote the pre-fall androgyny proposed by the early Church Fathers, Other clergy expounded and debated the proper view and treatment of contemporary hermaphrodites.[9]

 

Aristophanes' and Plato's conception are found in theosophy of Neoplatonism and Neo-Pythagoreanism, and Gnosticism. In particular, it was important to Islamic and Jewish philosophy, Kabbalah, and alchemy through the Renaissance and Romanticism.

 

The figure of the Androgyne as an archaic formulation of the coexistence of all attributes, thus including sexual attributes, in the divine unity and perfect man of origins[10] according to Mircea Eliade depicts the coincidentia oppositorum or unity of opposites: in a variety of creation myths, the unique androgynous being appears before the separation of things.[11]

 

Modern history

Western esotericism's embrace of androgyny continued into the modern era. A 1550 anthology of alchemical thought, De Alchemia, included the influential Rosary of the Philosophers, which depicts the sacred marriage of the masculine principle (Sol) with the feminine principle (Luna), producing the "Divine Androgyne," a representation of alchemical Hermetic beliefs in dualism, transformation, and the transcendental perfection of the union of opposites.[12]

 

The symbolism and meaning of androgyny was a central preoccupation of the German mystic Jakob Böhme and the Swedish philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg. The philosophical concept of the "Universal Androgyne" (or "Universal Hermaphrodite") – a perfect merging of the sexes that predated the current corrupted world or was the utopia of the next – is also important in some strains of Rosicrucianism[13][14] and in philosophical traditions such as Swedenborgianism and Theosophy.[citation needed] Twentieth century architect Claude Fayette Bragdon expressed the concept mathematically as a magic square, using it as building block in many of his most noted buildings.[15]

 

In the mid-18th century, the macaronis of the Georgian era of England were a wealthy subculture of young men, known for androgynous gender expression.[16] Their unusually large wigs, lavish fashion, and sentimental behavior prompted backlash from conservative generations of the time. In 1770, the Oxford Dictionary declared, "There is indeed a kind of animal, neither male nor female, a thing of the neuter gender, lately started up among us. It is called a macaroni."[17] An example is portrait artist Richard Cosway, referred to as "the Macaroni artist."[18]

 

Psychological

 

This section needs attention from an expert in psychology. The specific problem is: This article describes personality attributes, but not underlying principles. WikiProject Psychology may be able to help recruit an expert. (December 2018)

In psychological study, various measures have been used to characterize gender, such as the Bem Sex Role Inventory and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire.[19]

 

Masculine traits are categorized as agentic and instrumental, dealing with assertiveness and analytical skill. Feminine traits are categorized as communal and expressive, dealing with empathy and subjectivity.[20] Androgynous individuals exhibit behavior that extends beyond what is normally associated with their given sex.[21] Due to the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics, androgynous individuals have access to a wider array of psychological competencies in regards to emotional regulation, communication styles, and situational adaptability. Androgynous individuals have also been associated with higher levels of creativity and mental health.[22][23]

 

Bem Sex-Role Inventory

The Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) was constructed by the early leading proponent of androgyny, Sandra Bem (1977).[24][25] The BSRI is one of the most widely used gender measures. Based on an individual's responses to the items in the BSRI, they are classified as having one of four gender role orientations: masculine, feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated. Bem understood that both masculine and feminine characteristics could be expressed by anyone and it would determine those gender role orientations.[26]

 

An androgynous person is an individual who has a high degree of both feminine (expressive) and masculine (instrumental) traits. A feminine individual is ranked high on feminine (expressive) traits and ranked low on masculine (instrumental) traits. A masculine individual is ranked high on instrumental traits and ranked low on expressive traits. An undifferentiated person is low on both feminine and masculine traits.[24]

 

According to Sandra Bem, androgynous individuals are more flexible and more mentally healthy than either masculine or feminine individuals; undifferentiated individuals are less competent.[24] More recent research has debunked this idea, at least to some extent, and Bem herself has found weaknesses in her original pioneering work.[citation needed] She preferred to work with gender schema theory.

 

One study found that masculine and androgynous individuals had higher expectations for being able to control the outcomes of their academic efforts than feminine or undifferentiated individuals.[27]

 

Personal Attributes Questionnaire

The Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ) was developed in the 70s by Janet Spence, Robert Helmreich, and Joy Stapp. This test asked subjects to complete a survey consisting of three sets of scales relating to masculinity, femininity, and masculinity-femininity. These scales had sets of adjectives commonly associated with males, females, and both. These descriptors were chosen based on typical characteristics as rated by a population of undergrad students. Similar to the BSRI, the PAQ labeled androgynous individuals as people who ranked highly in both the areas of masculinity and femininity. However, Spence and Helmreich considered androgyny to be a descriptor of high levels of masculinity and femininity as opposed to a category in and of itself.[19]

 

Biological sex

See also: Sex differences in humans

Historically, the word androgynous was applied to humans with a mixture of male and female sex characteristics, and was sometimes used synonymously with the term hermaphrodite[28], though the term is now considered highly offensive [29]. In some disciplines, such as botany, androgynous and hermaphroditic are still used interchangeably.

 

When androgyny is used to refer to physical traits, it often refers to a person whose biological sex is difficult to discern at a glance because of their mixture of male and female characteristics. Because androgyny encompasses additional meanings related to gender identity and gender expression that are distinct from biological sex, today the word androgynous is rarely used to formally describe mixed biological sex characteristics in humans.[30] In modern English, the word intersex is used to more precisely describe individuals with mixed or ambiguous sex characteristics. However, both intersex and non-intersex people can exhibit a mixture of male and female sex traits such as hormone levels, type of internal and external genitalia, and the appearance of secondary sex characteristics.

 

Gender identity

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An individual's gender identity, a personal sense of one's own gender, may be described as androgynous if they feel that they have both masculine and feminine aspects. The word androgyne can refer to a person who does not fit neatly into one of the typical masculine or feminine gender roles of their society, or to a person whose gender is a mixture of male and female, not necessarily half-and-half. Many androgynous individuals identify as being mentally or emotionally both masculine and feminine. They may also identify as "gender-neutral", "genderqueer", or "non-binary".[citation needed][31] A person who is androgynous may engage freely in what is seen as masculine or feminine behaviors as well as tasks. They may have a balanced identity that includes the virtues of both men and women and may disassociate the task with what gender they may be socially or physically assigned to.[32] People who identify as androgynous typically disregard which traits are culturally constructed specifically for males and females within a society, and rather focus on what behavior is most effective within the situational circumstance.[32]

 

Some non-Western cultures recognize additional androgynous gender identities, called third genders.

 

Gender expression

 

Louise Brooks exemplified the flapper. Flappers challenged traditional gender roles and had boyish hair cuts and androgynous figures.[33]

Gender expression that includes a mixture of masculine and feminine characteristics can be described as androgynous. The categories of masculine and feminine in gender expression are socially constructed, and rely on shared conceptions of clothing, behavior, communication style, and other aspects of presentation. In some cultures, androgynous gender expression has been celebrated, while in others, androgynous expression has been limited or suppressed. To say that a culture or relationship is androgynous is to say that it lacks rigid gender roles, or has blurred lines between gender roles.

 

The word genderqueer is often used by androgynous individuals to refer to themselves, but the terms genderqueer and androgynous are neither equivalent nor interchangeable.[34] Genderqueer, by virtue of its ties with queer culture, carries sociopolitical connotations that androgyny does not carry. For the association with homosexuality, some androgynes may find the label genderqueer inaccurate, inapplicable, or offensive. Androgyneity is considered by some to be a viable alternative to androgyn for differentiating internal (psychological) factors from external (visual) factors.[35][unreliable source?]

 

An alternative to androgyny is gender-role transcendence: the view that individual competence should be conceptualized on a personal basis rather than on the basis of masculinity, femininity, or androgyny.[36]

 

In agenderism, the division of people into women and men (in the physical sense), is considered erroneous and artificial.[37] Agendered individuals are those who reject gender labeling in conception of self-identity and other matters.[38][39][40][41] They see their subjectivity through the term person instead of woman or man.[38]: p.16  According to E. O. Wright, genderless people can have traits, behaviors and dispositions that correspond to what is currently viewed as feminine and masculine, and the mix of these would vary across persons. Nevertheless, it does not suggest that everyone would be androgynous in their identities and practices in the absence of gendered relations. What disappears in the idea of genderlessness is any expectation that some characteristics and dispositions are strictly attributed to a person of any biological sex.[42]

 

Contemporary trends

Main article: Androgyny in fashion

 

Labor leader Luisa Capetillo wearing men's clothing

Throughout most of twentieth century Western history, social rules have restricted people's dress according to gender. Trousers were traditionally a male form of dress, frowned upon for women.[43] However, during the 19th century, female spies were introduced and Vivandières wore a certain uniform with a dress over trousers. Women activists during that time would also decide to wear trousers, for example Luisa Capetillo, a women's rights activist and the first woman in Puerto Rico to wear trousers in public.[44]

  

Yves Saint Laurent, the tuxedo suit "Le Smoking", created in 1966

In the 20th century, starting around World War I traditional gender roles blurred and fashion pioneers such as Paul Poiret and Coco Chanel introduced trousers to women's fashion. The "flapper style" for women of this era included trousers and a chic bob, which gave women an androgynous look.[45] Coco Chanel, who had a love for wearing trousers herself, created trouser designs for women such as beach pajamas and horse-riding attire.[43] During the 1930s, glamorous actresses such as Marlene Dietrich fascinated and shocked many with their strong desire to wear trousers and adopt the androgynous style. Dietrich is remembered as one of the first actresses to wear trousers in a premiere.[46]

 

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the women's liberation movement is likely to have contributed to ideas and influenced fashion designers, such as Yves Saint Laurent.[47] Yves Saint Laurent designed the Le Smoking suit and introduced it in 1966, while Helmut Newton's erotized androgynous photographs of the suit made it iconic and a classic.[48]

 

Elvis Presley introduced an androgynous style in rock'n'roll.[49] His pretty face and use of eye makeup often made people think he was a rather "effeminate guy",[50] When the Rolling Stones played London's Hyde Park in 1969, Mick Jagger wore a white "man's dress" designed by Michael Fish.[51] Fish was the most fashionable shirt-maker in London, the inventor of the Kipper tie, and a principal taste-maker of the peacock revolution in men's fashion.[52] His creation for Mick Jagger was considered to be the epitome of the swinging 60s.[53]

  

Pop stars Boy George (pictured) and Annie Lennox appeared on the front cover of Smash Hits magazine in December 1983 in identical makeup, followed by the cover of Newsweek in January 1984 to mark a second British Invasion.[54] Music journalist Sue Steward wrote that the Smash Hits cover "begged the question, 'Which one is the boy?'"[55]

In 1972, David Bowie presented his alter ego Ziggy Stardust, a character that was a symbol of sexual ambiguity when he launched the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and Spiders from Mars.[56] Marc Bolan, the other pioneer of glam rock, performed on the BBC's Top of the Pops in 1971 wearing glitter and satins, with The Independent stating his appearance "permitted a generation of teeny-boppers to begin playing with the idea of androgyny".[57] The 1973 West End musical The Rocky Horror Show also depicted sexual fluidity.[58]

 

Continuing into the 1980s, the rise of avant-garde fashion designers like Yohji Yamamoto,[59] challenged the social constructs around gender. They reinvigorated androgyny in fashion, addressing gender issues. This was also reflected within pop culture icons during the 1980s, such as Grace Jones, Prince, Annie Lennox and Boy George.[54][60]

  

X Japan founder Yoshiki is often labelled androgynous, known for having worn lace dresses and acting effeminate during performances.[61]

Power dressing for women became even more prominent within the 1980s which was previously only something done by men in order to look structured and powerful. However, during the 1980s this began to take a turn as women were entering jobs with equal roles to the men. In the article "The Menswear Phenomenon" by Kathleen Beckett written for Vogue in 1984 the concept of power dressing is explored as women entered these jobs they had no choice but to tailor their wardrobes accordingly, eventually leading the ascension of power dressing as a popular style for women.[62] Women begin to find through fashion they can incite men to pay more attention to the seduction of their mental prowess rather, than the physical attraction of their appearance. This influence in the fashion world quickly makes its way to the world of film, with movies like "Working Girl" using power dressing women as their main subject matter.

 

Japanese designers began popularizing androgynous fashion in the 1980s, as seen in the work of Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo, who brought in a distinct Japanese style that adopted a distinctively gender ambiguous theme. These two designers consider themselves a part of the avant-garde, reinvigorating Japanism.[63] Yamamoto has expressed the lack of necessity behind gender distinctions, stating "I always wonder who decided that there should be a difference in the clothes of men and women" [64]

 

Also during the 1980s, Grace Jones, a singer and fashion model, gender-thwarted appearance in the 1980s, which startled the public. Her androgynous style inspired many and she became an androgynous style icon for modern celebrities.[65]

  

Marilyn Manson as Mechanical Animals' androgynous character "Omega"

Androgyny has been gaining more prominence in popular culture in the early 21st century.[66] Both the fashion industry[67] and pop culture have accepted and even popularized the "androgynous" look, with several current celebrities being hailed as creative trendsetters.

 

The rise of the metrosexual in the first decade of the 2000s has also been described as a related phenomenon associated with this trend. Traditional gender stereotypes have been challenged and changed since the 1960s, which included the hippie movement and flower power. Artists in film such as Leonardo DiCaprio sported the "skinny" look in the 1990s, a departure from traditional masculinity, which resulted in the fad "Leo Mania".[68] Musical stars such as Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, Andre 3000, and the band Placebo have used clothing and makeup to popularize androgynous and genderqueer aesthetics throughout the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s.[69]

 

While the 1990s unrolled and fashion developed an affinity for unisex clothes, there was a rise of designers who favored that look, including Helmut Lang, Giorgio Armani, and Pierre Cardin. Men in catalogues started wearing jewellery, make up, visual kei, and designer stubble. These styles have become a significant mainstream trend of the 21st century, both in the Western world and in Asia.[70] Japanese and Korean cultures have featured the androgynous look as a positive attribute in society, as depicted in both K-pop, J-pop,[71] in anime and manga,[72] as well as the fashion industry.[73]

  

Data source: Google Trends (trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&...)

The 21st century additionally saw global conversations around gender identity which helped further the presence of androgyny in fashion. In the mid-2010s, online searches for the word "nonbinary" skyrocketed, and young people began to see themselves as nonbinary or gender nonconforming.[74] Actor Lachlan Watson, who uses they/them pronouns, posted a photo on Instagram wearing a t-shirt saying "Gender is Over," a riff on the John Lennon and Yoko Ono "War is Over" poster.[75]

 

Singer Billie Eilish has also openly called gender roles "ancient."[76] Since her musical debut in 2016, Eilish has worn both traditionally masculine and feminine silhouettes, wearing a Marilyn Monroe inspired Oscar de la Renta gown to the Met Gala in 2021 to being referred to as a "hey mamas" lesbian after an appearance on Chicken Shop Date in 2024 where she wore an oversized tee, bandana, and backwards cap.[77][78]

 

Symbols and iconography

In the ancient and medieval worlds, androgynous people and hermaphrodites were represented in art by the caduceus, a wand of transformative power in ancient Greco-Roman mythology. The caduceus was created by Tiresias and represents his transformation into a woman by Juno in punishment for striking at mating snakes. The caduceus was later carried by Hermes/Mercury and was the basis for the astronomical symbol for the planet Mercury and the botanical sign for hermaphrodite. That sign is now sometimes used for transgender people.

 

Another common androgyny icon in the medieval and early modern period was the Rebis, a conjoined male and female figure, often with solar and lunar motifs. Still another symbol was what is today called sun cross, which united the cross (or saltire) symbol for male with the circle for female.[79] This sign is now the astronomical symbol for the planet Earth.[80]

 

The caduceus

The caduceus

 

A rebis from 1617

A rebis from 1617

 

Mercury symbol derived from the caduceus

Mercury symbol derived from the caduceus

 

"Rose and Cross" androgyne symbol

"Rose and Cross" androgyne symbol

 

Alternate "rose and cross" version

Alternate "rose and cross" version

See also

List of androgynous people

List of transgender-related topics

Epicenity

Futanari

Gender bender

Gender dysphoria

Gender neutrality

Gonochorism

Gynandromorphism

Gynomorph

Postgenderism

Sexual orientation hypothesis

Soft butch

Third gender

True hermaphroditism

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External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Androgyny.

The dictionary definition of androgyny at Wiktionary

Authority control databases Edit this at Wikidata

Categories: AndrogynyHuman appearanceFashion aestheticsIntersex topics in society

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androgyny

A station approach - with, out of shot to the left, a bridge under the railway. I'm uncertain as to the location but west London rather than south seems likely despite the "Brighton" road connotations of the film - and other shots are in the West Drayton area - any ideas?

The English Rose

 

The English rose is an iconic symbol of the British isles that evokes royalty, war and beautiful women - a potent combination. For this project i wanted to celebrate the beauty of the roses from which these connotations are born.

 

To capture these wonderful blooms i worked with David Austin Roses, the most renowned grower of English roses.

 

Over the course of two summers I set up a small studio at the headquarters of David Austin in Wolverhampton, using a bright blue background as a stark contrast to the array of colours you find in roses.

 

I was assisted by senior rosarian Michael Marriott who selected the best examples of each variety of rose for me to photograph.

 

My goal was simple to capture the diversity and beauty of this symbolic flower.

  

“Anatomical Man” from the Limbourgh brothers' Très riches Heures du duc de Berry (1415). The Latin inscriptions describe the zodiac signs' properties according to the four complexions (hot, cold, wet, dry).

 

Look at the signs of the zodiac. They correspond to each part of the body, starting with Pisces, the feet, and working up their way to the head, with Aries, the ram, that has sacred connotations. In each top corner are painted the arms of the Duke of Berry. Each area is complemented by four Latin inscriptions describing the properties of each sign according to the four complexions (hot, cold, wet or dry), the four temperaments (choleric, melancholic, sanguine and phlegmatic) and the four cardinal points: "Aries, Leo and Sagittarius are warm and dry, choleric, masculine, Eastern" in the upper left; "Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn are cold and dry, melancholy, female, Western" in the upper right; "Gemini, Aquarius and Libra are hot and humid, sanguine, masculine, Southern" in the lower left; "Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces are cold and wet, phlegmatic, feminine, Northern" in the lower right.

 

Source:

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anatomical_Man.jpg

Photo: Roman Circle. Modillion on eave of San Miguel de Fuentidueña, Segovia

The Celtic god Cernunnus, was a divinity with human face and deer’s antlers, who, in medieval times and the Early Middle Ages was incorporated into the known and expanding pantheon of demons. The figure of this god and, above all, his antlers served to enrich the iconography of the devil, who would adopt the deer’s antlers among his variety of horns. So we find horned devils of this type, in the Cantigas de Santa Maria and other manuscripts from the end of the Middle Ages. The deer in medieval iconography, following on from a citation in the Psalms, has a positive connotation, as it represents the Christian soul that goes to drink at a fountain and there, encounters the devil in the form of a serpent. From the moment that this celtic god became known and demonised, the cervid also gained a negative reputation.

To find out more about this subject check the following link:

 

dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=210327

 

In medieval medicine, which is inseparably linked to magic, it was thought that the deer’s heart had bones and that these cured illnesses of the heart.

You can continue reading in the following link:

 

play.google.com/store/books/details?id=QTcPAQAAQBAJ&r...

 

Foto: Círculo Románico. Modillón del alero de San Miguel de Fuentidueña, Segovia .

El dios celta Cernunnos era una divinidad con rostro humano y cornamenta de ciervo, que también en época medieval y desde la Alta Edad Media se incorporó al conocido y engrosado panteón demonológico.

La figura de este dios y sobre todo su cornamenta sirvió para enriquecer la iconografía del diablo que adoptaría como variedad de entre sus cuernos los del ciervo. Así hay diablos astados de esta manera en las Cantigas de Santa María y en otros manuscritos del fin de la Edad Media.

El ciervo en la iconografía medieval y siguiendo una cita de los Salmos, tiene una caracterización positiva ya que representa el alma cristiana que va a beber agua a la fuente y allí se enfrenta al diablo en forma de serpiente. A partir del conocimiento y satanización de este dios celta el cérvido tiene también una imagen negativa.

Para saber más sobre este tema les remito el siguiente link:

 

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En la medicina medieval inseparablemente unida a la magia, se pensaba que el corazón de ciervo tenía huesos y que éstos curaban las enfermedades del corazón.

 

Puede continuar leyendo sobre este tema, en este libro:

play.google.com/store/books/details?id=QTcPAQAAQBAJ&r...

 

By Ian Woo

  

Your cities do not exist. Perhaps they have never existed. Why do you amuse yourself with consolatory fables? 1

  

Kublai Khan to Marco Polo

  

The paintings reveal illuminated matter informed by the grids and structures of a city. Made up of multiple reflections of illusionary glare, the illuminated subjects seem to be exalted, suggestively arranged to appear in an order that resembles building and structures. James McNeil Whistler’s preoccupation with luminosity and visual poetry plays an important role in influencing the way Bao Ling paints and sees. It was Whistler who suggested the importance of the formal arrangement of colour and lines as a way to emphasis the materiality and discreet act of painting over the elaboration of subject matter. The similarities that lie between Bao Ling’s and Whistler’s paintings are their concern with painting as a way to illuminate matter rather than as a medium to give detail to observation.

  

It was in the painting of fireworks; Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket by Whistler that caused a reaction from the noted art critic / artist John Ruskin to commend that it looked like a unresolved painting made out of drips and accidental marks with no concern to the craftsmanship and labor of painting.2 However, the argument would be that painting, as suggested by Whistler, should serve a double fold to represent material as itself as well as that of creating the illusionary. The idea of painting here is pigment being engaged at different levels. One can experience the mark of pigment that is fluid and immediate. At another level, there is the shaping and ordering of form; both characteristics allow a series of dialogue between representation and abstraction. There is a constant shift between these two states of reading, setting up the mind to enable a degree of shift between a formalism of aesthetics to that of representation. Here, we see the language of painting reveal its processes but the structure that governs its flow to become visually comprehensible plays key to enabling the mental state to play language games. This range of illusionary depth provides momentary displacement as the eye tries to make sense of the illuminated subject matter. The momentary displacement that results in this combination resembles the fleeting memory of the registration of a remembered image, one that is unclear, fragmented, in parts. In Bao Ling’s paintings, the parts are situated and differentiated by colours, creating fluctuating optical shifts as one gathers the visual identity from the suggested parts of illuminated matter.

  

In Bao Ling’s nocturnal cityscapes, the spontaneity of painting to capture memory is relayed with acrylic while an overlay of oil paint gives contrast to configure shadow and light to highlight portions to be illuminated. The paint is than brushed and dragged to further distort to create contrasting depths of mutation and saturation in the lighted experience. The structures in Bao Ling’s paintings stand as corridors and towers that reflect on the relationship we have with the world. The viewer seems like the only person looking at the city. The lighted sensation also seems alien, making the city appear without inhabitants, emphasizing only the artificial colours of green, blue, yellow and red as illuminated matter.

  

Metaphorically, the dynamics in Bao Lings painting seems festive and celebrative; bringing comparisons to the notion of the heroic. As Bao Ling talks about light as symbolizing a kind of wishful desire, this aspect really captures the heroic nature of his light subject, where they stand as glimmering perhaps even burning structures of hope, like an iconic mirage within all the darkness that surround us. The depth in his paintings allow one to engage in background foreground shifts in focusing and losing sight of this vision of hope. Perhaps these paintings are an analogy to the manner in which hope can come into being, yet it can also disappear and fade out, if the focus is shifted elsewhere.

  

So where is the location that Bao Ling seem to have captured its heroic subject from? Though he works from photographs as a platform, he also extends and fabricates the structures with distortions and extensions of light, making the original identity of the subject matter seem redundant. But perhaps the identity of the location is unimportant; perhaps it could be anybody’s city or parts of a city. Socially, we understand the city as a melting pot, where cultures are interweaved and challenged, yet on a personal level, it’s conundrum can often leave one alienated causing emotional emptiness and loneliness. In these illuminated paintings, the latter experience of solitude and alienation can be seen as that which desires to be illuminated. This example can be contextualized to the painting’s contrast between shadow and light, where darkness and light plays a role in conjuring a dual experience of dark vacuums being filled with light. But what are the illuminated parts doing in the fulfillment of the voids that make up each painting? It seems that at times, the juxtaposition of warm colours in these illuminated spaces are verging on the fiery, like burning coals, echoing a kind of dream association to ideas of hell and its labyrinth of heated structures and never-ending depths. Yet, next to these fiery spaces are coloured chandelier like structures that offer a sense of stoppage and gaze. The combination blinds with its glare, tempting one to get into the space of its furnace.

  

In these paintings, I suggest that the city is not real, it’s a metaphor…painted from memory. It’s a re-depiction, a trace of its original source that is hinted, mentally made up, like one of the imaginary tales of one of the many intricate architecture of cities told by Marco Polo to an aging Kublai Khan in Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities. Similarly, Bao Ling’s painted cities like Polo’s mental inventions seems to be made up of fire, glaring garnets, illuminated stones and shattered dreams, culminating a city of suspended states like that of one being burnt alive. Some of the buildings look like they are on fire and there is a fluctuating state where its particles of the city seem to be in a mist of being martyred in fire, like a thousand Joan of Arcs’.

  

There is something peculiar about seeing matter or a person being lighted on fire. It is illuminated, beautiful, with an eerie presence; victory portrayed in its final momentary state of existence, like a celebrative performance to mark the end of one’s mortal state, that which is soon to disappear into ashes. But death, the aftermath, that which is burnt is not important, but rather, it’s the moment of burning that is important. It’s the duality of presence and glow, connotations that are remembered from religious characters, historical martyrs and certain ceremonial rituals. It’s a final moment captured in testament to our work and all that has been built, our illuminated farewell to the heroic grandeur of achievement, just before it returns back to the ground, buried with the rest of our historical ruins.

________________________________________________________________________

  

1.I. Calvino, Invisible Cities: Harcourt Brace 1974, p59

2.L. PetersJames McNeil WhistlerTodtri 1996 p51 -52

  

Ian Woo is a painter and musician. He currently lectures at the Faculty of Fine Arts, LASALLESIA College of the Arts, Singapore.

  

Her Majesty’s Theatre in Ballarat’s Lydiard Street is one of the most intact, commercial nineteenth century theatres in Australia. Originally opened as the Ballarat Academy of Music in order to avoid the negative moral connotations associated with theatres at the time, Her Majesty’s was completed in 1875 to a design by architect George Browne. The Academy had a flat floored auditorium suitable for respectable dances and dinners, and a fully equipped stage. It was built to supersede Ballarat's Theatre Royal (built in 1858), which stood in Sturt Street. While very grand, the Royal had become outdated and no longer met the technical requirements of the touring companies.

 

The Academy was built by the wealthy Clarke family at the initiative of a group of local people who felt that Ballarat, as the premier city of the Victorian goldfields, should have a theatre worthy of its status. They guaranteed to rent it from the Clarkes at 10% of the construction cost, which was £13,000.

 

Built over a disused mineshaft, the original timber theatre initially comprised a theatre with rectangular auditorium, a steep lyre-shaped gallery, three entries leading to separate parts of the auditorium and two shops facing Lydiard Street.

 

Ballarat's handsome new theatre was ready ahead of schedule, and was opened on 7th June 1875. The first production was a comic opera by the French composer Lecocq, "La Fille de Madame Angot," presented by the Royal Opera Bouffe Company run by W. S. Lyster, Australia's first opera impresario.

 

Soon after the Academy opened, the large Supper Room above Lydiard Street was leased to William Bridges, a former miner, who ran it as an art gallery, displaying an excellent collection of European and Australian artworks, including his own tapestries. After Bridges moved his operations to Melbourne in 1883, the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery was formed. The Gallery Society ran the Gallery from the Academy from 1884 until 1890, when the present Art Gallery in Lydiard Street North was opened.

 

For the next twenty five years, the Academy of Music was unchallenged as Ballarat's main theatrical venue. It was never as popular as the old Theatre Royal, however, as the rather cavernous hall lacked the intimacy of the older playhouse. In 1898, when Sir William Clarke died, the building was bought by a local consortium and transformed into the delightful theatrical space we know today.

 

The new owners commissioned Australia's leading theatre architect, William Pitt (1855 – 1918), to remodel the interior and improve the stage facilities. William, who had been apprenticed to George Browne, also designed Melbourne's Princess Theatre amongst many other buildings. The present layout of the auditorium with sloping floor and double balconies, is Pitt's creation. The colour scheme is a recreation of the interior decoration undertaken at that time by Hugh Paterson, one of Melbourne's leading designers.

 

Paterson also decorated the dome and proscenium arch with murals. The mural in the dome depicted a carnival scene, with dancers in fanciful costumes; Comedy and Tragedy were featured on either side of the proscenium arch, with Shakespeare over the top. Unfortunately all the murals were destroyed in 1907 when Government regulations required the proscenium wall to be replaced with a solid firewall. The dome was removed at the same time for structural reasons, and was restored in 1990. The Dress Circle Lobby also dates from 1907.

 

The 1898 theatre was constructed in brick with timber roof construction sheeted with iron. The main body is brick with piers both inside and out. The hipped trussed roof covers both the three-level auditorium and the stage with dressing rooms below. The ground floor and foyer have been considerably altered at various times but the auditorium and stage structure are original as is much of the auditorium ceiling and pilastered walls. The roof over the stage also dates from 1875 and the later inclusion of a fly tower stage in 1898 is fitted around the original trusses. The flying system is the only manual (non counterweight) system in existence in Australia. In the auditorium roof there appears to have been two domes, a small one dating from before 1898 for which the horizontal shutters and tube structure to a former sliding ventilated roof are still in existence. When 1898 dome was removed a false octagonal ceiling was fitted in its place. Internally the circle and gallery levels are horseshoe shaped in plan and are carried on cast iron columns. The balcony balustrading is swag bellied and decorated. It is believed that the wall pilasters, panelled ceilings and proscenium are original decorations and some traces of art nouveau decorative motifs are to be seen where later alterations have been made. The two balconies were constructed in 1898, but one balcony front is the reused 1874 front while the second was made to match. The balconies and cast-iron supporting posts are typical for auditoria design in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. The double balcony, supported on columns, is now the last of this form of theatre in Victoria. The facade of this building is two storeyed in height with stucco ornamentation in a somewhat florid Classical style. The upper storey windows are round headed with archivolts supported by slender columns as are the two ground floor subsidiary entrances. The highly decorated curved entrance has now been lost. The ground floor facade has been much altered and a street awning has been added. The first floor facade is intact but the parapet balustrading and ornamentation has been destroyed.

 

From the First World War on, the Theatre was increasingly used for cinema presentations. A Bio Box (projection room) was built above the Dress Circle Lobby in 1916, and the Theatre was wired for sound in 1930. In 1928, the Hoyts cinema chain took over control over the building through its local subsidiary, Ballarat Theatres Limited, which ran Her Majesty's in tandem with the Regent Theatre (purposely built as a cinema).

 

In 1936, Her Majesty's was leased and operated by Ballarat Amusements, part of the Woodrow Distributing Company, presenting MGM and Paramount movies. Ballarat Amusements ran it until the early 1960s.

 

During the silent movie era, a theatre orchestra provided the film accompaniment. The Ballarat Theatre Organ Society installed the Theatre's Compton Theatre Organ in 1982.

 

Even when Her Majesty's was primarily a cinema, it was always available, to a lesser or greater degree, for live performances. It was used regularly by J. C. Williamson's and other touring companies as well as local groups. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s huge crowds came to see the annual pantomimes staged by the Wavie Williams Pantomime Company. For the last forty years, the Theatre has been used to stage locally produced musical comedies.

 

Television came to Ballarat in 1962, and had an immediate impact on attendances at the local cinemas. Ballarat Amusements decided to cease screenings and Hoyts put the building on the market.

 

In 1965, the Theatre was bought by the Royal South Street Society as the home for its Annual Competitions.The Bolte State Government gave the Society £20,000 towards the purchase price and a further grant towards the adaptation of the building for the Competitions. Further assistance towards both purposes came from local businessman, Alf Reid. It was clearly understood at the time that the Society would be managing the Theatre as a community facility.

 

The Society renamed Her Majesty's the Memorial Theatre, a move which made donations to its renovation appeal tax deductable.

 

The Society was unable to adequately maintain the upkeep of the building, however, and gifted it to the then City of Ballaarat in 1987, reserving the right to hold competitions in the Theatre every year between August and November.

 

The City of Ballarat undertook a major renovation, seeking funding from a wide range of businesses, individuals and organisations. The Theatre reopened as Her Majesty's on the 1st of November, 1990.

 

Her Majesty’s Theatre in Ballarat’s Lydiard Street is one of the most intact, commercial nineteenth century theatres in Australia. Originally opened as the Ballarat Academy of Music in order to avoid the negative moral connotations associated with theatres at the time, Her Majesty’s was completed in 1875 to a design by architect George Browne. The Academy had a flat floored auditorium suitable for respectable dances and dinners, and a fully equipped stage. It was built to supersede Ballarat's Theatre Royal (built in 1858), which stood in Sturt Street. While very grand, the Royal had become outdated and no longer met the technical requirements of the touring companies.

 

The Academy was built by the wealthy Clarke family at the initiative of a group of local people who felt that Ballarat, as the premier city of the Victorian goldfields, should have a theatre worthy of its status. They guaranteed to rent it from the Clarkes at 10% of the construction cost, which was £13,000.

 

Built over a disused mineshaft, the original timber theatre initially comprised a theatre with rectangular auditorium, a steep lyre-shaped gallery, three entries leading to separate parts of the auditorium and two shops facing Lydiard Street.

 

Ballarat's handsome new theatre was ready ahead of schedule, and was opened on 7th June 1875. The first production was a comic opera by the French composer Lecocq, "La Fille de Madame Angot," presented by the Royal Opera Bouffe Company run by W. S. Lyster, Australia's first opera impresario.

 

Soon after the Academy opened, the large Supper Room above Lydiard Street was leased to William Bridges, a former miner, who ran it as an art gallery, displaying an excellent collection of European and Australian artworks, including his own tapestries. After Bridges moved his operations to Melbourne in 1883, the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery was formed. The Gallery Society ran the Gallery from the Academy from 1884 until 1890, when the present Art Gallery in Lydiard Street North was opened.

 

For the next twenty five years, the Academy of Music was unchallenged as Ballarat's main theatrical venue. It was never as popular as the old Theatre Royal, however, as the rather cavernous hall lacked the intimacy of the older playhouse. In 1898, when Sir William Clarke died, the building was bought by a local consortium and transformed into the delightful theatrical space we know today.

 

The new owners commissioned Australia's leading theatre architect, William Pitt (1855 – 1918), to remodel the interior and improve the stage facilities. William, who had been apprenticed to George Browne, also designed Melbourne's Princess Theatre amongst many other buildings. The present layout of the auditorium with sloping floor and double balconies, is Pitt's creation. The colour scheme is a recreation of the interior decoration undertaken at that time by Hugh Paterson, one of Melbourne's leading designers.

 

Paterson also decorated the dome and proscenium arch with murals. The mural in the dome depicted a carnival scene, with dancers in fanciful costumes; Comedy and Tragedy were featured on either side of the proscenium arch, with Shakespeare over the top. Unfortunately all the murals were destroyed in 1907 when Government regulations required the proscenium wall to be replaced with a solid firewall. The dome was removed at the same time for structural reasons, and was restored in 1990. The Dress Circle Lobby also dates from 1907.

 

The 1898 theatre was constructed in brick with timber roof construction sheeted with iron. The main body is brick with piers both inside and out. The hipped trussed roof covers both the three-level auditorium and the stage with dressing rooms below. The ground floor and foyer have been considerably altered at various times but the auditorium and stage structure are original as is much of the auditorium ceiling and pilastered walls. The roof over the stage also dates from 1875 and the later inclusion of a fly tower stage in 1898 is fitted around the original trusses. The flying system is the only manual (non counterweight) system in existence in Australia. In the auditorium roof there appears to have been two domes, a small one dating from before 1898 for which the horizontal shutters and tube structure to a former sliding ventilated roof are still in existence. When 1898 dome was removed a false octagonal ceiling was fitted in its place. Internally the circle and gallery levels are horseshoe shaped in plan and are carried on cast iron columns. The balcony balustrading is swag bellied and decorated. It is believed that the wall pilasters, panelled ceilings and proscenium are original decorations and some traces of art nouveau decorative motifs are to be seen where later alterations have been made. The two balconies were constructed in 1898, but one balcony front is the reused 1874 front while the second was made to match. The balconies and cast-iron supporting posts are typical for auditoria design in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. The double balcony, supported on columns, is now the last of this form of theatre in Victoria. The facade of this building is two storeyed in height with stucco ornamentation in a somewhat florid Classical style. The upper storey windows are round headed with archivolts supported by slender columns as are the two ground floor subsidiary entrances. The highly decorated curved entrance has now been lost. The ground floor facade has been much altered and a street awning has been added. The first floor facade is intact but the parapet balustrading and ornamentation has been destroyed.

 

From the First World War on, the Theatre was increasingly used for cinema presentations. A Bio Box (projection room) was built above the Dress Circle Lobby in 1916, and the Theatre was wired for sound in 1930. In 1928, the Hoyts cinema chain took over control over the building through its local subsidiary, Ballarat Theatres Limited, which ran Her Majesty's in tandem with the Regent Theatre (purposely built as a cinema).

 

In 1936, Her Majesty's was leased and operated by Ballarat Amusements, part of the Woodrow Distributing Company, presenting MGM and Paramount movies. Ballarat Amusements ran it until the early 1960s.

 

During the silent movie era, a theatre orchestra provided the film accompaniment. The Ballarat Theatre Organ Society installed the Theatre's Compton Theatre Organ in 1982.

 

Even when Her Majesty's was primarily a cinema, it was always available, to a lesser or greater degree, for live performances. It was used regularly by J. C. Williamson's and other touring companies as well as local groups. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s huge crowds came to see the annual pantomimes staged by the Wavie Williams Pantomime Company. For the last forty years, the Theatre has been used to stage locally produced musical comedies.

 

Television came to Ballarat in 1962, and had an immediate impact on attendances at the local cinemas. Ballarat Amusements decided to cease screenings and Hoyts put the building on the market.

 

In 1965, the Theatre was bought by the Royal South Street Society as the home for its Annual Competitions.The Bolte State Government gave the Society £20,000 towards the purchase price and a further grant towards the adaptation of the building for the Competitions. Further assistance towards both purposes came from local businessman, Alf Reid. It was clearly understood at the time that the Society would be managing the Theatre as a community facility.

 

The Society renamed Her Majesty's the Memorial Theatre, a move which made donations to its renovation appeal tax deductable.

 

The Society was unable to adequately maintain the upkeep of the building, however, and gifted it to the then City of Ballaarat in 1987, reserving the right to hold competitions in the Theatre every year between August and November.

 

The City of Ballarat undertook a major renovation, seeking funding from a wide range of businesses, individuals and organisations. The Theatre reopened as Her Majesty's on the 1st of November, 1990.

 

Palace of Fontainebleau

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Palace and Park of Fontainebleau

Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List

 

Location of Palace of Fontainebleau in France.

The Palace of Fontainebleau, located 55 kilometres from the centre of Paris, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The palace as it is today is the work of many French monarchs, building on an early 16th-century structure of Francis I. The building is arranged around a series of courtyards. The commune of Fontainebleau has grown up around the remainder of the Forest of Fontainebleau, a former royal hunting park. This forest is now home to many endangered species of Europe.

 

The throne room, formerly the King’s bedroom from Henry IV to Louis XVI, it was converted into the throne room by Napoleon

The older château on this site was already used in the latter part of the 12th century by King Louis VII, for whom Thomas Becket consecrated the chapel. Fontainebleau was a favourite residence of Philip Augustus (Philip II) and Louis IX. The creator of the present edifice was Francis I, under whom the architect Gilles le Breton erected most of the buildings of the Cour Ovale, including the Porte Dorée, its southern entrance. The king also invited the architect Sebastiano Serlio to France, and Leonardo da Vinci. The Gallery of Francis I, with its frescoes framed in stucco by Rosso Fiorentino, carried out between 1522 and 1540, was the first great decorated gallery built in France. Broadly speaking, at Fontainebleau the Renaissance was introduced to France. The Salle des Fêtes, in the reign of Henry II, was decorated by the Italian Mannerist painters, Francesco Primaticcio and Niccolò dell'Abbate. Benvenuto Cellini's "Nymph of Fontainebleau", commissioned for the château, is at the Louvre.

 

Another campaign of extensive construction was undertaken by King Henry II and Catherine de' Medici, who commissioned architects Philibert Delorme and Jean Bullant. To the Fontainebleau of François I and Henry II, King Henry IV added the court that carries his name, the Cour des Princes, with the adjoining Galerie de Diane de Poitiers and the Galerie des Cerfs, used as a library. A "second school of Fontainebleau" decorators, less ambitious and original than the first, evolved from these additional projects. Henry IV pierced the wooded park with a 1200m canal (which can be fished today) and ordered the planting of pines, elms and fruit trees. The park stretches of an area more than 80 hectares, enclosed by walls and pierced rectilinear paths. Henry IV's gardener, Claude Mollet, trained at Château d'Anet, laid out patterned parterres. Preserved on the grounds is Henry IV's jeu de paume (real tennis court). It is the largest such court in the world, and one of the few publicly owned.

 

Philip the Fair (Philip IV), Henry III and Louis XIII were all born in the palace, and Philip died there. Christina of Sweden lived there for years, following her abdication in 1654. In 1685 Fontainebleau saw the signing of the Edict of Fontainebleau, which revoked the Edict of Nantes (1598). Royal guests of the Bourbon kings were housed at Fontainebleau, including Peter the Great of Russia and Christian VII of Denmark.

 

Revolution and Empire

By the late 18th century, the château had fallen into disrepair; during the French Revolution many of the original furnishings were sold, in the long Revolutionary sales of the contents of all the royal châteaux, intended as a way of raising money for the nation and ensuring that the Bourbons could not return to their comforts. Nevertheless, within a decade Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte began to transform the Château de Fontainebleau into a symbol of his grandeur, as an alternative to the empty Palace of Versailles, with its Bourbon connotations. Napoleon hosted Pope Pius VII there in 1804, when he came to consecrate the emperor, and again in 1812–1814, when he was Napoleon's prisoner. With modifications of the château's structure, including the cobblestone entrance wide enough for his carriage, Napoleon helped make the château the place that visitors see today. At Fontainebleau Napoleon abdicated for the first time, bade farewell to his Old Guard and went into exile in 1814.Fontainebleau was also the setting of the Second Empire court of his nephew Napoleon III.

 

Today

The château is now home to the Écoles d'Art Américaines, a school of art, architecture, and music for students from the United States. The school was founded by General Pershing when his men were stationed there during the First World War.

  

Palacio de Fontainebleau

Palacio y parque de Fontainebleau. Nombre descrito en la Lista del Patrimonio de la Humanidad.

 

Coordenadas48°24′07″N 02°41′53″E País Francia

 

La Sala de espectáculos del Palacio de Fontainebleau, en 1855.

El Palacio de Fontainebleau, en francés Château de Fontainebleau, es uno de los mayores palacios reales franceses. Está localizado en la ciudad de Fontainebleau, departamento de Sena y Marne, en el norte de Francia.

 

El palacio refleja, actualmente, las aportaciones constructivas y decorativas de varios monarcas franceses, a partir de una estructura inicial de Francisco I. El edificio se desarrolla alrededor de una serie de patios.

 

La ciudad de Fontainebleau creció en su entorno y en lo que restaba de la «floresta de Fontainebleau» (en español bosque de Fontainebleau), un antiguo parque real de caza.

 

Este palacio introdujo en Francia el Manierismo italiano, en la decoración de interiores y en los jardines, adaptándolo. El manierismo francés en la decoración de interiores del siglo XVI es conocido como «estilo Fontainebleau»: combina escultura, forja, pintura, estuco y carpintería. En jardinería supuso la introducción del parterre.

 

El ideal de belleza femenina en Fontainebleau es, también, manierista: una pequeña y graciosa cabeza en un cuello esbelto, torso y brazos exageradamente largos, pechos pequeños y altos; es casi un regreso a las bellezas del gótico tardío. Los nuevos ideales de Fontainebleau fueron plasmados en refinados y detallados grabados que circularon entre artistas y entendidos.

 

A través de los grabados realizados por la «Escuela de Fontainebleau», este nuevo estilo fue transmitido a otros centros del norte de Europa, especialmente en Amberes, Bélgica, Alemania y, más tarde, también Londres.

 

El viejo castillo que se erigía en este lugar ya era usado al final del siglo XII por el rey Luis VII, para quien Thomas Becket consagró la capilla. Fontainebleau fue una de las residencias favoritas de Felipe II y de Luis IX. El creador del edificio actual fue Francisco I, para quien el arquitecto Gilles le Breton construyó la mayor parte del Cour Ovale (Patio Ovalado), incluyendo la Porte Dorée (Puerta Dorada), en su entrada sur. Este rey también invitó a Sebastiano Serlio y Leonardo da Vinci. La Galería de Francisco I, con sus frescos hechos en estuco por Rosso Fiorentino, fue construida entre 1522 y 1540, siendo la primera gran galería decorada construida en Francia.

 

El Renacimiento fue introducido en Francia por el Palacio de Fontainebleau, por influencia de Enrique II y Catalina de Médici, que contrataron a los arquitectos Philibert Delorme y Jean Bullant, con los que llevaron a cabo una importante campaña de remodelaciones. La Salle des Fêtes (Salón de Baile) fue decorada por los pintores manieristas italianos Francesco Primaticcio y Niccolò dell'Abbate. La «Ninfa de Fontainebleau», de Benvenuto Cellini, encargada para el palacio, está en el Louvre.

 

Al Fontainebleau de Francisco I y Enrique II, Enrique IV añadió el patio que lleva su nombre, el Cour des Princes (Patio de los Príncipes), la Galerie de Diane de Poitiers (Galería de Diana de Poitiers) y la Galerie des Cerfs (Galería de los Ciervos), usada como biblioteca. Una «segunda escuela de decoradores de Fontainebleau», menos ambiciosa y original que la primera, estuvo involucrada en estos proyectos. Enrique IV perforó el parque forestal con un canal de 1200 metros, donde actualmente se puede pescar, y ordenó la plantación de pinos, olmos y frutales. Su jardinero, Claude Mollet, con habilidades ya probadas en el Château d'Anet, ejecutó los parterres.

 

Tres siglos después el palacio entró en decadencia; durante la Revolución francesa mucho del mobiliario original se dispersó en las ventas revolucionarias del contenido de todos los palacios reales, concebidas como una forma de conseguir dinero para la nación y asegurar que los Borbones no podrían volver a sus dominios. Dentro de la década siguiente, el emperador Napoleón Bonaparte comenzó a transformar el Château de Fontainebleau en un símbolo de su grandeza, como una alternativa al Palacio de Versalles que tenía connotaciones borbónicas. En Fontainebleau, Napoleón I de Francia firmó su abdicación, con el Tratado de Fontainebleau. Se despidió de su Vieja Guardia y partió al exilio.

 

Con modificaciones en la estructura del palacio, incluyendo la entrada de cantería suficientemente ancha para su carruaje, Napoleón ayudó a hacer del palacio el lugar que los visitantes conocen actualmente. Fontainebleau fue el escenario de la Corte del Segundo Imperio de su sobrino Napoleón III. Felipe IV, Enrique III y Luis XIII nacieron en este palacio, y el primer de estos reyes también murió aquí. Cristina de Suecia vivió en Fontainebleau durante varios años, después de abdicar en 1654. En 1685 Fontainebleau fue el escenario de la firma del Edicto de Fontainebleau, el cual revocó el Edicto de Nantes (1598). Huéspedes reales de los reyes de la dinastía de los Borbones fueron instalados en Fontainebleau: Pedro I de Rusia y Cristián VII de Dinamarca, y también, en la época de Napoleón, el Papa Pío VII, en 1804 cuando vino a consagrar a Napoleón como Emperador, y entre 1812 y 1814, cuando fue su prisionero.

 

Actualmente, parte del palacio alberga las Écoles d'Art Américaines (Escuelas de Artes Americanas), una escuela de arte, arquitectura y música para estudiantes de los EUA. Preservado en los campos está el jeu de paume (campo de tenis real) de Enrique IV. Es el mayor campo de tenis de este género en el mundo, y uno de los pocos de propiedad pública.

 

En 1981, el Château de Fontainebleau fue clasificado Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la Unesco.

  

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontainebleau