View allAll Photos Tagged connotation
Always loved Red..
"Vaidoso" translates into English as "vain" but the portuguese word does not have the negative connotation it has in English. It only means that someone likes and tries to look good.
My mother-in-law was always very "vaidosa" and, at over ninety, with very advanced alzheimer's, and hardly able to move around, she continues to be.
African waist beads are nicknamed “sexy beads” by Peace Corps volunteers because they are worn by women on the hips underneath clothing as a way to seduce/arouse their husbands. Seeing a person’s beads in Benin is equivalent to seeing someone’s thong in America. Different culture, different ways of being sexy. (There are other meanings and histories to these beads if you are interested here: africaisdonesuffering.com/2013/02/waist-beads/ ) On the other hand, infants (boys and girls) up to a year old wear them with their diapers so you can always see those, but those have no sexual connotation (of course!)
The fabric I used were secondhand sheets from a Beninese “thrift shop” AKA mounds of old clothing thrown away from developed countries piled on the side of a street.
Because I noticed the Laurel fits loosely on me, I omitted the zipper and added a bit of smocked beading from dress #11 of “I am Cute Dresses” by Sato Watanabe.
I love this version, however I am unhappy with how the hem “turns inward” where there is beading. I wrote more in my sewing journal here: cathywu.com/journal/treadling/2013/04/25/sexy-beads-colet...
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 While very grand, the Royal had become outdated and no longer met the technical requirements of the touring companies.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.
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.
"Amaryllis belladonna was introduced into cultivation at the beginning of the eighteenth century. It reproduces slowly by either bulb division or seeds and has gradually naturalized from plantings in urban and suburban areas throughout the lower elevations and coastal areas in much of the West Coast of the US since these environments mimic their native South African habitat. Hardiness zones 6–8. It is also naturalized in Australia."
"There is an Amaryllis belladonna hybrid which was bred in the 1800s in Australia. No one knows the exact species it was crossed with to produce color variations of white, cream, peach, magenta and nearly red hues. The hybrids were crossed back onto the original Amaryllis belladonna and with each other to produce naturally seed-bearing crosses that come in a very wide range of flower sizes, shapes, stem heights and intensities of pink. Pure white varieties with bright green stems were bred as well. The hybrids are quite distinct in that the many shades of pink also have stripes, veining, darkened edges, white centers and light-yellow centers, also setting them apart from the original light pink. In addition, the hybrids often produce flowers in a fuller circle rather than the "side-facing" habit of the "old-fashioned" pink. The hybrids are able to adapt to year-round watering and fertilization but can also tolerate completely dry summer conditions if need be."
"A. belladonna has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. (Wikipedia)
Red Amarillis Flower, the Meaning, Symbolism, & Spiritual Significance. (Written by Foliage Friend)
"Some of the content shared in this post is derived from myth, folklore, ancient traditions & legends. The information here should not be considered life or medical advice. Do not consume, expose animals or handle any flowers or plants based on the content of this post."
“The red amaryllis flower is a stunningly beautiful flower that has a rich and complex symbolism and spiritual significance. In this article, we will dive deep into the spiritual meaning of these flowers, their symbolism in literature and art, what they represent in dreams, and the legends, folklore, and mythology associated with them. We will also explore how seeing red amaryllis flowers can impact you spiritually, what they mean in numerology and astrology, and whether they are considered lucky.”
“The red amaryllis flower holds a powerful spiritual meaning. It is associated with love, passion, and creativity. The deep red color of these flowers symbolizes the intensity of emotions and the fire of the spirit. They are also a potent symbol of transformation, growth, and renewal, and are often used in spiritual rituals and ceremonies to invoke these energies.”
“In addition to their spiritual symbolism, red amaryllis flowers have a rich cultural history. In Greek mythology, the amaryllis flower was said to have sprung from the blood of a love-struck shepherd who pierced his heart with an arrow. This legend has contributed to the flower’s association with love and passion.”
“Red amaryllis flowers are also popular in the world of gardening and horticulture. They are known for their striking beauty and are often used in floral arrangements and as decorative plants. In fact, the amaryllis is one of the most popular flowers grown indoors during the winter months, as it can bloom for several weeks and add a touch of color to any space.”
“In literature and art, red amaryllis flowers are often used to symbolize beauty, strength, and elegance. They are a common motif in poetry, where they are used to evoke powerful emotions and a sense of longing. In paintings, they are often depicted as a dramatic and breathtaking centerpiece, symbolizing the radiance and beauty of nature.”
“According to Greek mythology, the amaryllis flower is said to have originated from a love story between a shepherd and a nymph. The shepherd, named Amaryllis, was deeply in love with the nymph, but she did not return his affections. In an attempt to win her over, he pierced his heart with a golden arrow and then walked to her doorstep every day for a month, leaving a trail of blood behind him. On the thirtieth day, a beautiful red flower bloomed where his blood had fallen, and he presented it to the nymph as a symbol of his undying love. Thus, the red amaryllis flower also represents passionate love and devotion.”
“When you dream of red amaryllis flowers, they may represent your deepest desires and passions. They are also a symbol of transformation, growth, and creative energy. Seeing these flowers in your dreams may be a sign that you are ready to embark on a new journey or pursue a new project or passion.”
“Furthermore, red amaryllis flowers are often associated with love and romance. If you dream of these flowers, it may be a sign that you are ready to open your heart to new possibilities in your love life. Alternatively, it could also mean that you are experiencing a deep connection with someone special in your life.”
“These flowers have a long and rich history in legends, folklore, and mythology. In Greek mythology, the amaryllis flower is said to have sprung from the blood of Adonis, the lover of Aphrodite. In Christian tradition, these flowers symbolize the strength and beauty of the Virgin Mary. In Celtic mythology, the amaryllis flower represents the fiery energy of the sun.”
“In addition to these myths and legends, red amaryllis flowers have also been associated with love and passion. In Victorian times, giving someone a red amaryllis was seen as a declaration of love. The flower’s bold and striking appearance was thought to represent the intensity of the giver’s feelings.”
“Red amaryllis flowers are also known for their medicinal properties. In traditional Chinese medicine, the bulbs of the amaryllis plant are used to treat respiratory problems, such as coughs and bronchitis. The plant is also believed to have anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor properties.”
“Seeing red amaryllis flowers can have a powerful impact on you spiritually. They are a potent symbol of love, passion, and creative energy and can help you connect with these energies on a deep level. They can also help you tap into your own inner strength and beauty, helping you to grow and transform on a spiritual level.”
“Red amaryllis flowers are also associated with the root chakra, which is located at the base of the spine and represents our foundation and sense of security. By meditating on or simply admiring these flowers, you can activate and balance your root chakra, promoting feelings of stability and grounding. This can be especially beneficial during times of stress or uncertainty.”
“In numerology, red amaryllis flowers are associated with the number 6. This number is considered to be a symbol of harmony, balance, and energy. It represents the creative energy of the universe and the power of manifestation. It is also associated with the heart chakra, which is the center of love and compassion.”
“The number 6 is also believed to bring a sense of stability and responsibility. It is often associated with family, home, and community. Red amaryllis flowers can be used to enhance these aspects of life and bring a sense of grounding and connection to those around you.”
“Additionally, the color red is often associated with passion and desire, making red amaryllis flowers a great gift for a romantic partner or to enhance feelings of love and intimacy in a relationship.”
“In astrology, red amaryllis flowers are associated with the sign of Aries. This sign is known for its fiery and passionate energy, and its ability to bring about change and transformation. The red amaryllis flower is a symbol of these qualities and can help you connect with the powerful energies of this sign.”
“They are often used in love spells, rituals and are believed to enhance passion and desire or can be used to attract a new lover or strengthen an existing relationship.”
“In some cultures, red amaryllis flowers are also associated with Christmas and the holiday season. They are often used in festive decorations and symbolize love, beauty, and prosperity.”
“Yes, in many cultures, the red amaryllis flower is considered to be a lucky flower. It is said to bring good luck and prosperity and is often used in rituals and ceremonies to invite these energies into one’s life. It is also a popular gift during the holiday season, as it symbolizes love, warmth, and friendship.”
“Aside from its lucky connotations, the red amaryllis flower is also known for its medicinal properties. It contains a compound called lycorine, which has been found to have anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory effects. Additionally, the flower has been used in traditional medicine to treat respiratory illnesses and skin conditions.”
“In conclusion, the red amaryllis flower holds a rich and complex symbolism and spiritual significance. These flowers represent love, passion, creativity, transformation, growth, and renewal. They are a powerful symbol of connection to the universe and can help you tap into your own inner strength and beauty. Whether you see them in your dreams, in literature and art, or in nature, the red amaryllis flower is a potent reminder of the power of the spirit.”
Nandi (Sanskrit: नन्दी, Tamil: நந்தி, Telugu: న౦ది) 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 siddhas) 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 believed to be derived from the ancient word “Pandi” meaning bull or its has origins in the Sanskrit language where it means 'of Shiva', 'attendant of Shiva', or happy.
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 him to pray to Lord Shiva who could provide the boon; nobody else could provide such a boon. Sage Shilada continued his penance for thousand 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 an immortal 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 the bringing up the child, his education etc. By the age of seven the boy was well versed in Veda and all sacred texts. One day the two 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. The boy 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 around his neck which he was wearing, 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. Then 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.
The various descriptions on Nandi in the Hindu Religion texts include:
Some Puranas describe Nandi or Nandikeshvara as bull faced 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 Kannada, Telugu and Tamil languages is used as a metaphor for a person blocking the way. 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 focussed 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
3. Chamundi Hills, Mysore, Karnataka
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
WIKIPEDIA
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
Berlin Inv.-Nr. 20171
Palette with two giraffes separately through a palm-trunk?
Gerzean culture (Naqada II)
Grinding palettes used for eye-paint since the Badarian period began to be adorned with relief carvings. It is not until the Gerzean period when the palettes began to show more detailed work and this art seems to have acquired ritualistic or magical connotations. It is believed that during the Gerzean period that the palettes were not only being used for cosmetic purposes, but also for ceremonial functions.
(The palm tree flanked by two giraffes found also on the Louvre Palette (Four Dogs Palette, Giraffes palette) and the Battlefield Palette held by the British and Ashmolean Museums.
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.
A series of images taken at Salisbury Cathedral on the green where a temporary exhibition of individual sculptures were being shown. The interest for me when photographing sculpture is in the relationship the piece has with the place in which it is displayed. Walking around and trying different view points enabled me to see the connotations that were possible to create.
In giving it the title "Lot's wife", in the deliberate intention of giving it a biblical association.
The narrative of Lot's wife begins in Genesis 19 after two angels arrived in Sodom, at eventide, and were invited to spend the night at Lot's home. As dawn was breaking, Lot's visiting angels urged him to get his family and flee, so as to avoid being caught in the impending disaster for the iniquity of the city. Lot delayed, so the angels took hold of his hand, his wife's hand and his daughters and brought them out of the city. The command was given, "Flee for your life! Do not look behind you, nor stop anywhere in the Plain; flee to the hills, lest you be swept away."[1] Lot objected to the idea of fleeing to the hills and requested safe haven at a little town nearby. The request was granted and the town became known as Zoar. Traveling behind her husband, Lot's wife looked back, and turned into a pillar of salt.
Sculptor Helaine Bloomenfeld
all copyrights reserved ©2013 Art Hutchins ~ Art's Eye photographic©.http://artseyephotographic.zenfolio.com/
Over 20 casts of the Thinker, of various scales, litter the globe. The copy located in the Court of Honor, is a bronze casting by Alexis Rudier commissioned in 1904 during Auguste Rodin's lifetime. It is one of the earliest acquisitions of the more than 70 Rodin sculptures that Mrs. Spreckels purchased and later donated to the Legion of Honor.
Le Penseur (The Thinker) is Auguste Rodin's most famous work. Originally named The Poet, it was modelled in 1880-1882, as part of a commission by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, to create a monumental portal to act as the door of the museum. The Gates of Hell was based on Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy) of Dante Alighieri, with each statue representing one of the main characters. The Thinker was originally meant to depict Dante in front of the Gates of Hell, pondering his poem. In the final sculpture, a miniature sits atop the tympanon, pondering the hellish fate of those beneath him. The Thinker was exhibited in its original size (71.5cm) in Copenhagen in 1888.
Rodin enlarged the figure in a monumental bronze cast (1.84m high) in 1902, which he exhibited at the Spring Salon of 1904. The Thinker became property of the City of Paris, thanks to a subscription organized by Gabriel Mouret, the editor of Les Arts de la vie and on April 21 1906 was the first work by Rodin to be erected in public, when it was installed in front of the Panthéon. Here, over a period of intense political and social upheaval, it was seen as a symbol of working class heroes and adopted as a Socalist icon. Under the auspice that it hindered public ceremonies, it was moved to the recently opened Musée Rodin in 1922.
Over time, The Thinker was detached from his personal connection to Dante and came to represent, in the collective popular conscience, the power of thought and intellectual activity. This connotation is not all that removed from Rodin's broader intent. The Thinker is depicted in the nude as a heroic figure in the tradition of Michelangelo. Depicted in sober meditation, lost in contemplation and battling with an internal struggle, Rodin described him as "not a dreamer; he is a creator." Effort is expressed through the contraction of each and every muscle. Thus the work of the mind becomes palpable.
The California Palace of the Legion of Honor, often shortened to just the Legion of Honor, located at 100 34th Avenue in Lincoln Park, displays a collection spanning more than 6,000 years of ancient and European art as part of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF). A gift of Alma de Bretteville Spreckels, wife of sugar magnate Adolph Spreckels, the neoclassical building was dedicated to the 3,600 California men who perished on French battlefields during World War I. It was designed as a three-quarter-scale version of the Palais de la Légion d'Honneur, also known as the Hôtel de Salm in Paris, by George Applegarth and Henri Guillaume and completed in 1924. A 1995 renovation realized a 42 percent increase in square footage, including six additional special exhibition galleries set around the pyramid skylight visible in the Legion courtyard otherwise dominated by Auguste Rodin's The Thinker.
Lincoln Park, covering about 100 acres of the northwestern corner of the San Francisco Peninsula, was dedicated to President Abraham Lincoln in 1909. The park is the Western Terminus of Lincoln Highway, which was conceived and mapped in 1913 as the first coast-to-coast road across America, traversing 14 states. It stands on land that was a cemetery during the late 1860s. After local enthusiasts laid out a three-hole golf course in 1902, the land was turned over to the parks commission in 1909 and the graves were relocated. The course was expanded to 14 holes by 1914 and to a full 18 by 1917. The San Francisco Holocaust Memorial, designed by George Segal, was dedicated in the park in 1984.
In 1932 the Swallow Side Car Company built this beauty. In 1933 they changed their name to SS Automobiles Ltd., and after the war in 1945 SS Changed its name to Jaguar - no doubt due to the unfortunate connotation "SS" had taken on after the Nazis used it --- Palos Verdes Concours - Trump National Golf Course - Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
1933-1945
The outer castle gate was 1933/1934 converted into a war memorial. In the 30s it became common practice to use the space for mass events, the speakers most of the time speaking from the balcony of the New Castle to the crowd of people (1932 rally during the visit of Hermann Goring, 1934 rally of the Fatherland Front, 1938 Nazi rally for Adolf Hitler [whereby the Heroe's square internationally became the synonym for Annexation; the play "Heldenplatz" by Thomas Bernhard (premiere November 4, 1988 at the Burgtheater) in this context before and after the premiere caused heated discussions]). During the Second World War at Heldenplatz were held outdoor exhibitions (for example, "The victory in the West", 1940).
Second Republic
1945-1953 the Heldenplatz by the Soviet Element of the Allied Council (which had housed his "officers' house" and other facilities in the Hofburg) was used for events which one wanted to give a military context. From 31 October 1953 followed on Heldenplatz the ceremony for the handover of the command of the Vienna Inter Allied Command, taking place monthly; until its dissolution this practice was continued. Furthermore, the space has been used for large gatherings and events (for example, 1983 rally to mark the visit of Pope John Paul II, 1984 rally against the construction of the Danube power plant Hainburg, 1993 final rally of the campaign "SOS Fellow Human Being" ["Sea of Light"]). - Military Celebration of the Armed Forces (compilation of Martin Senekowitsch [according to Guard Chronicle of Guard Battalion]): The Heldenplatz was in the Second Republic often the scene of military celebrations. From November 2, 1955 every year: Heroes ceremony for the fallen soldiers of both World Wars at the crypt of the Castle gate. March 13, 1963: commemoration of the "Anschluss" of Austria in 1938. 18 October 1963: 300th anniversary of Prince Eugene. February 12, 1964: commemoration of February 1934. April 27, 1965: commemoration of the victims of the Nazi regime. 16 May 1965, 14 May 1966, 15 May, 1967 to 1970: Big Tattoo. 8 July 1974 and 8 July 1980: Swearing-in of Federal President Dr Rudolf Kirchschläger. September 6, 1975: Big tattoo (20 years Garrison Wien). April 27, 1981: Republic Celebration. July 7, 1986: Big Tattoo (departure of President Rudolf Kirchschläger). July 8, 1986 respectively July 6, 1992: Big Tattoo (swearing-in respectively departure of Federal President Dr Kurt Waldheim). July 8, 1992: Swearing-in of Federal President Dr Thomas Klestil.
Symbolic meaning
The Heroes Square already by the Habsburgs was laid out as a place of political representation. In the First Republic it served the Nazis before being banned as a symbolic parade ground. This was opposed by the Dolfuss-Schuschnigg regime holding the pan-German Catholics Day 1933 and other celebrations. However, a particular importance gained the Heldenplatz on March 15, 1938 after the Nazi takeover. On this day, Adolf Hitler as part of a mass event announced "the entry of my homeland into the German Reich". Due to this symbolic charging, the Heldenplatz also in the Second Republic in the collective memory remained connected with the "Annexation", although there was no lack of attempts of a new symbolic connotation. Artistic expression this found in the play by Thomas Bernhard entitled "Heldenplatz" and premiered in 1988 and in a poem by Ernst Jandl. From the 1990s, however, events as the Sea of Light of the action "Fellow Human Being" on January 23, 1993 as well as the demonstration against the new government of ÖVP (Austrian People's Party) and FPÖ (Freedom Party of Austria) on February 19, 2000 increased who saw themselves as counterpoints to March 15, 1938.
1933-1945
Das Äußere Burgtor wurde 1933/1934 zu einem Heldendenkmal umgestaltet. In den 30er Jahren begann es sich einzubürgern, den Platz für Massenveranstaltungen zu benutzen, wobei die Redner meist vom Balkon der Neuen Burg zur Menge sprachen (1932 Kundgebung beim Hermann-Göring-Besuch, 1934 Kundgebung der Vaterländischen Front, 1938 nationalsozialistische Kundgebung für Adolf Hitler [wodurch der Heldenplatz international zu einem Synonym für den "Anschluss" wurde; das Stück "Heldenplatz" von Thomas Bernhard (Uraufführung 4. November 1988 im Burgtheater) sorgte in diesem Zusammenhang vor und nach der Premiere für erregte Diskussionen]). Während des Zweiten Weltkriegs wurden auf dem Heldenplatz Freiluftausstellungen veranstaltet (beispielsweise "Der Sieg im Westen", 1940).
Zweite Republik
1945-1953 wurde der Heldenplatz vom sowjetrussischen Element des Alliierten Rats (das in der Hofburg sein "Offiziershaus" und andere Einrichtungen untergebracht hatte) für Veranstaltungen genutzt, denen man einen militärischen Rahmen geben wollte. Ab 31. Oktober 1953 erfolgte auf dem Heldenplatz die monatlich stattfindende Zeremonie der Kommandoübergabe der Wiener Interalliierten Kommandantur; bis zu deren Auflösung wurde an dieser Praxis festgehalten. Weiterhin wurde der Platz für große Versammlungen und Veranstaltungen genutzt (beispielsweise 1983 Kundgebung anlässlich des Besuchs Papst Johannes Pauls II., 1984 Kundgebung gegen den Bau des Donaukraftwerks Hainburg, 1993 Abschlusskundgebung der Aktion "SOS Mitmensch" ["Lichtermeer"]). - Militärische Feiern des Bundesheeres (Zusammenstellung von Martin Senekowitsch [laut Gardechronik des Gardebataillons]): Der Heldenplatz war in der Zweiten Republik oftmals Schauplatz militärischer Feierlichkeiten. Ab 2. November 1955 jedes Jahr: Heldenehrung für die Gefallenen beider Weltkriege bei der Krypta des Äußeren Burgtors. 13. März 1963: Gedenkfeier anlässlich des "Anschlusses" Österreichs 1938. 18. Oktober 1963: 300. Geburtstag des Prinzen Eugen. 12. Februar 1964: Gedenken an den Februar 1934. 27. April 1965: Gedenken an die Opfer des NS-Regimes. 16. Mai 1965, 14. Mai 1966, 15. Mai 1967-1970: Großer Zapfenstreich. 8. Juli 1974 und 8. Juli 1980: Angelobung von Bundespräsident Dr. Rudolf Kirchschläger. 6. September 1975: Großer Zapfenstreich (20 Jahre Garnison Wien). 27. April 1981: Republikfeier. 7. Juli 1986: Großer Zapfenstreich (Verabschiedung von Bundespräsident Rudolf Kirchschläger). 8. Juli 1986 beziehungsweise 6. Juli 1992: Großer Zapfenstreich (Angelobung beziehungsweise Verabschiedung von Bundespräsident Dr. Kurt Waldheim). 8. Juli 1992: Angelobung von Bundespräsident Dr. Thomas Klestil.
Symbolische Bedeutung
Der Heldenplatz wurde schon von den Habsburgern als Ort der politischen Repräsentation angelegt. In der Ersten Republik diente er vor deren Verbot den Nationalsozialisten als symbolischer Aufmarschplatz. Dem setzte das Dolfuss-Schuschnigg-Regime die Abhaltung des gesamtdeutschen Katholikentages 1933 und andere Feiern dagegen. Eine besondere Bedeutung erhielt der Heldenplatz jedoch am 15.3.1938 nach der NS-Machtübernahme. An diesem Tag verkündete Adolf Hitler im Rahmen einer Massenveranstaltung "den Eintritt meiner Heimat in das Deutsche Reich". Auf Grund dieser symbolischen Aufladung blieb der Heldenplatz auch in der Zweiten Republik im kollektiven Gedächtnis mit dem "Anschluss" verbunden, obwohl es nicht an Versuchen einer symbolischen Neubestzung des Ortes fehlte. Künstlerischen Ausdruck fand dies auch im 1988 uraufgeführten Theaterstück Thomas Bernhards mit dem Titel "Heldenplatz" und in einem Gedicht von Ernst Jandl. Ab den 1990er Jahren mehrten sich allerdings Veranstaltungen wie das Lichtermeer der Aktion Mitmensch" am 23.1.1993 sowie die Demonstration gegen die Regierungsbildung von ÖVP und FPÖ am 19.2.2000 die sich als Kontrapunkte zum 15.3.1938 verstanden haben.
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.
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
Note the grasp. Boobies are part of the sulid family, closely related to the more politely named gannets. The connotations of the term "booby", like that of "fanny", depend on where the English speaker hails from.
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.
(further pictures and information about Vienna are available at the end of page by copying the corresponding link!)
Annexation 1938
Propaganda for the by Schuschnigg planned plebiscite - © Christian Brandstätter Verlag Gesellschaft mbH
Propaganda for the by Schuschnigg planned plebiscite.
Campaign advertising of Fatherland Front. Departure from Josef place.
10/11 March 1938. Photo: Leo Ernst - Albert Hilscher
from "Hans Petschar; Anschluss - A Chronology of pictures"
© Christian Brandstätter Verlag Gesellschaft mbH
The "Anschluss" represents itself as a triple assumption of power:
... as massive military threat by the invasion of the Wehrmacht, accompanied by an yet earlier onset of police action by Himmler's Gestapo; as a takeover by local Nazis and sympathizers who were already in lower as well as higher positions of the "corporate state (Ständestaat)"; and as demonstrative takeover "from below" by threatening street demonstrations, open deployment of previously banned party formations and symbolic actions.
Spontaneous victory celebrations of the National Socialists in Vienna - © Christian Brandstätter Verlag Gesellschaft mbH
Spontaneous victory celebrations of the National Socialists in Vienna.
NS-squad on a truck. 11/12 March 1938. Photo: Dietrich
from "Hans Petschar; Anschluss - A Chronology of pictures"
© Christian Brandstätter Verlag Gesellschaft mbH
The propaganda on this occasion took on a key role. Its effectiveness resulted from the confluence of staging and fascination. Propaganda replaced real power where it not yet could be exercised, intimidated political opponents and raised hopes among supporters. The structure of the necessary propaganda apparatus created simultaneously the foundations for the future party apparatus of the NSDAP as an organization penetrating the society as a whole.
Hitler Youth marched in Vienna. 11/12 March 1938. Photo: Albert Hirscher - © Christian Brandstätter Verlag Gesellschaft mbH
Hitler Youth marched in Vienna. 11/12 March 1938. Photo: Albert Hirscher
from "Hans Petschar; Connection - A Chronology of pictures"
© Christian Brandstätter Verlag Gesellschaft mbH
Even children were mobilized to support the "Anschluss" propagandistically, they were as bearers of hopes of the new era addressees of Nazi propaganda. National Socialism in Austria also meant a significant change in the school system, which itself unresistingly and quite readily adapted to the new conditions.
Marching in of troops of the German Wehrmacht in Vienna - © Christian Brandstätter Verlag Gesellschaft mbH
Marching in of troops of the German Wehrmacht in Vienna.
An armored car is visited by Wiener youth.
13 March 1938. Photo: Albert Hilscher
from "Hans Petschar; Anschluss - A Chronology of pictures"
© Christian Brandstätter Verlag Gesellschaft mbH
Orientated toward the capturing of the "whole" person, the individual as less as possible should be given individual leeway. Personal decisions about connotations of one's life and insight into overall socio-political correlations were not even allowed to arise. Despite the apparent devotion to the children, was this state-imposed education determined by an inhuman ideology of humiliation (Erniedrigungsideologie), which found its expression in racial anti-Semitism, the doctrine of life unworthy of being lived and the devaluation of everything foreign. Companionable acting in the sense of solidarity with the weak, in this system of education had no place. In its place came the mutual monitoring and disciplining for unscrupulous execution of commands given from "above.
Demonstration of the HJ with Baldur von Schirach at Heldenplatz in Vienna.
13 March 1938. Photo: Dietrich
from "Hans Petschar; Annexation - A Chronology of pictures"
© Christian Brandstätter Verlag Gesellschaft mbH
Central guideline of the National Socialist policy in the cultural sector was the exclusion of Jewish artists, which was marked out in Germany since 1933 through a series of bureaucratic measures: compulsory membership in the corresponding professional chambers of the Reich Chamber of Culture as an absolute professional requirement, while rejection of "non-Aryans"; total political supervision of the theater of the spoken word and music theater, but also of the literature and publishing industry as well as the film production by the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda headed by Joseph Goebbels.
Hitler in Vienna - © Christian Brandstätter Verlag Gesellschaft mbH
Hitler in Vienna. Driving on the ring road.
14 March 1938. Photo: Albert Hilscher
from "Hans Petschar; Anschluss - A Chronology of pictures"
© Christian Brandstätter Verlag Gesellschaft mbH
Politically "unreliable and unsuitable" as communists, socialists, conservatives with an anti-Nazi attitude, religious activists and homosexuals were also "as parasites of culture" eliminated. Simultaneously, the advanced civilization operation should be exploited for the stabilization of leadership (Herrschaftsstablisierung), ultimately no new "essentially German" ("blood and soil") cultural movement being created, but the bourgeois approaches to the classics forced (under exclusion of the heritage of dead and living Jewish artists). The high representatives of the regime were satisfied to document toward the inside and abroad that the apparently revolutionary Nazi regime stood in the succession of civil and monarchical rulers. More intense became the Nazi commitment in the entertainment industry, especially in the film, in which the "Wien-Film" productions full of platitudinous operetta bliss further succeeded. Entertainment was a psychologically skilfully orchestrated attempt to divert attention from political repression and massive racist persecution. Artists (females and males), for the time being - with a few exceptions of resistance - rapidly in the new polictical system fell into line, partly too because the working and production conditions at the moment due to increased government spending were much better than in the times of high unemployment.
Parade in Vienna - © Christian Brandstätter Publishing company mbH
Parade in Vienna. German armored vehicles in University Street;
in the background right, the Votive Church. 03/15/1938
from "Hans Petschar; Connection - A Chronology of pictures"
© Christian Brandstätter Verlag Gesellschaft mbH
Political instrumentalization mostly only in the private sector and occasionally assistance for persecuted colleagues was opposed. The National Socialist state sought immediately after the "Anschluss" also to win over the women. The propaganda especially the mothers put in the center. This pretended respect of motherhood should serve to encourage women for giving birth as much as possible of "racially valuable" children to counteract the purportedly looming descent of the German people by falling fertility rates.
A symbolic poster.
The men are at the front;
the women produce weapons.
Title page of exhibition catalog to exhibition "Degenerate Music".
Women, preferably, should be restricted to the household or social care professions. However, during the war there was an acute shortage of manpower, so that also mothers as workers were forced in the defense industry. The education of girls was clearly targeted at household and motherhood. In the "mandatory year" young girls had to work unpaid in agriculture, in large families or in homes of high-ranking Nazis. In this way, they should practice their future work as a housewife and mother.
Göring at the Heldenplatz - © Christian Brandstätter Verlag Gesellschaft mbH
Göring at the Heldenplatz. 27 March 1938
from "Hans Petschar; Anschluss - A Chronology of pictures"
© Christian Brandstätter Verlag Gesellschaft mbH
In political terms, however, women were excluded from any participation, the National Socialist Women's Organization at all levels was subordinated male functionaries. Many women nevertheless found it exciting now being courted propagandistically, and complied with the Nazi standards. Women also participated in acts of persecution and thus became co-participants in the National Socialist crimes. The appreciation but went only to aligned women and corresponding to racist standards. Those who opposed the regime were as ruthlessly persecuted as women who built relationships with Jews, prisoners of war or foreign workers. Despite the threat of persecution, many women offered resistance against Nazism. They were detained in prisons or concentration camps; even young mothers were executed. From Eastern Europe as forced laborers in the German Empire brought women were deprived of all their rights; them it was even forbidden to have children, and with them forced abortions were carried out, if they became pregnant just the same.
In the Nazi propaganda the "national" motives of the "Anschluss" stood in the foreground.
March of the Austrian Legion by the gate Heldentor - © Christian Brandstätter Verlag Gesellschaft mbH
March of the Austrian Legion by the Heldentor.
01 April 1938. Photo: Albert Hilscher
from "Hans Petschar; Connection - A Chronology of pictures"
© Christian Brandstätter Verlag Gesellschaft mbH
But the real reason for the invasion of Austria was another one, 1938 the German armaments industry reached the limit of its capacity. The continuation of the rearmament seemed questioned. Because there was a lack of raw materials, labor force, free industrial capacities and - not least - of foreign exchange for imports of goods essential for armament. Not the highway construction or other job-creation measures had since 1933 reduced unemployment in the German Reich, but the preparation of a new war.
Glue action of HJ - © Christian Brandstätter Verlag Gesellschaft mbH
Glue action of the HJ. March 1938
from "Hans Petschar; Anschluss - A Chronology of pictures"
© Christian Brandstätter Verlag Gesellschaft mbH
The "blitzkrieg" concept Germany should enable to incorporate one country after another into its sphere of influence and with the so obtained increase in economic power to eliminate the each next opponent. In the framework of the second four-year plan, which in 1936 was elaborated under the leadership of Hermann Göring, in addition to the development of substitutes (eg for rubber and oil), the securing of the access to non-substitutable goods (such as the iron ore from the Styrian Erzberg) had top priority.
It is therefore no coincidence that Austria and the so-called Sudeten German areas of Czechoslovakia with their rich economic resources yet before 1938 were in the field of view of National Socialism and that those countries then were "annexed" the first. Of interest in Austria next to the Erzberg were the unused water forces, the oil deposits in the March field, heavy industry, mechanical engineering and the gold and currency reserves of the Austrian National Bank, which exceeded those of the German Reichsbank in 1938 by a multiple.
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.
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
Bali is an island and province of Indonesia. The province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nusa Ceningan. It is located at the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. Its capital of Denpasar is located at the southern part of the island.
With a population of 3,890,757 in the 2010 census, and 4,225,000 as of January 2014, the island is home to most of Indonesia's Hindu minority. According to the 2010 Census, 83.5% of Bali's population adhered to Balinese Hinduism, followed by 13.4% Muslim, Christianity at 2.5%, and Buddhism 0.5%.
Bali is a popular tourist destination, which has seen a significant rise in numbers since the 1980s. It is renowned for its highly developed arts, including traditional and modern dance, sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking, and music. The Indonesian International Film Festival is held every year in Bali.
Bali is part of the Coral Triangle, the area with the highest biodiversity of marine species. In this area alone over 500 reef building coral species can be found. For comparison, this is about 7 times as many as in the entire Caribbean. There is a wide range of dive sites with high quality reefs, all with their own specific attractions. Many sites can have strong currents and swell, so diving without a knowledgeable guide is inadvisable. Most recently, Bali was the host of the 2011 ASEAN Summit, 2013 APEC and Miss World 2013.
HISTORY
ANCIENT
Bali was inhabited around 2000 BC by Austronesian people who migrated originally from Southeast Asia and Oceania through Maritime Southeast Asia. Culturally and linguistically, the Balinese are closely related to the people of the Indonesian archipelago, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Oceania. Stone tools dating from this time have been found near the village of Cekik in the island's west.
In ancient Bali, nine Hindu sects existed, namely Pasupata, Bhairawa, Siwa Shidanta, Waisnawa, Bodha, Brahma, Resi, Sora and Ganapatya. Each sect revered a specific deity as its personal Godhead.
Inscriptions from 896 and 911 don't mention a king, until 914, when Sri Kesarivarma is mentioned. They also reveal an independent Bali, with a distinct dialect, where Buddhism and Sivaism were practiced simultaneously. Mpu Sindok's great granddaughter, Mahendradatta (Gunapriyadharmapatni), married the Bali king Udayana Warmadewa (Dharmodayanavarmadeva) around 989, giving birth to Airlangga around 1001. This marriage also brought more Hinduism and Javanese culture to Bali. Princess Sakalendukirana appeared in 1098. Suradhipa reigned from 1115 to 1119, and Jayasakti from 1146 until 1150. Jayapangus appears on inscriptions between 1178 and 1181, while Adikuntiketana and his son Paramesvara in 1204.
Balinese culture was strongly influenced by Indian, Chinese, and particularly Hindu culture, beginning around the 1st century AD. The name Bali dwipa ("Bali island") has been discovered from various inscriptions, including the Blanjong pillar inscription written by Sri Kesari Warmadewa in 914 AD and mentioning "Walidwipa". It was during this time that the people developed their complex irrigation system subak to grow rice in wet-field cultivation. Some religious and cultural traditions still practised today can be traced to this period.
The Hindu Majapahit Empire (1293–1520 AD) on eastern Java founded a Balinese colony in 1343. The uncle of Hayam Wuruk is mentioned in the charters of 1384-86. A mass Javanese emigration occurred in the next century.
PORTUGUESE CONTACTS
The first known European contact with Bali is thought to have been made in 1512, when a Portuguese expedition led by Antonio Abreu and Francisco Serrão sighted its northern shores. It was the first expedition of a series of bi-annual fleets to the Moluccas, that throughout the 16th century usually traveled along the coasts of the Sunda Islands. Bali was also mapped in 1512, in the chart of Francisco Rodrigues, aboard the expedition. In 1585, a ship foundered off the Bukit Peninsula and left a few Portuguese in the service of Dewa Agung.
DUTCH EAST INDIA
In 1597 the Dutch explorer Cornelis de Houtman arrived at Bali, and the Dutch East India Company was established in 1602. The Dutch government expanded its control across the Indonesian archipelago during the second half of the 19th century (see Dutch East Indies). Dutch political and economic control over Bali began in the 1840s on the island's north coast, when the Dutch pitted various competing Balinese realms against each other. In the late 1890s, struggles between Balinese kingdoms in the island's south were exploited by the Dutch to increase their control.
In June 1860 the famous Welsh naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, travelled to Bali from Singapore, landing at Buleleng on the northcoast of the island. Wallace's trip to Bali was instrumental in helping him devise his Wallace Line theory. The Wallace Line is a faunal boundary that runs through the strait between Bali and Lombok. It has been found to be a boundary between species of Asiatic origin in the east and a mixture of Australian and Asian species to the west. In his travel memoir The Malay Archipelago, Wallace wrote of his experience in Bali:
I was both astonished and delighted; for as my visit to Java was some years later, I had never beheld so beautiful and well-cultivated a district out of Europe. A slightly undulating plain extends from the seacoast about ten or twelve miles inland, where it is bounded by a fine range of wooded and cultivated hills. Houses and villages, marked out by dense clumps of coconut palms, tamarind and other fruit trees, are dotted about in every direction; while between them extend luxurious rice-grounds, watered by an elaborate system of irrigation that would be the pride of the best cultivated parts of Europe.
The Dutch mounted large naval and ground assaults at the Sanur region in 1906 and were met by the thousands of members of the royal family and their followers who fought against the superior Dutch force in a suicidal puputan defensive assault rather than face the humiliation of surrender. Despite Dutch demands for surrender, an estimated 200 Balinese marched to their death against the invaders. In the Dutch intervention in Bali, a similar massacre occurred in the face of a Dutch assault in Klungkung.
AFTERWARD THE DUTCH GOVERNORS
exercised administrative control over the island, but local control over religion and culture generally remained intact. Dutch rule over Bali came later and was never as well established as in other parts of Indonesia such as Java and Maluku.
n the 1930s, anthropologists Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, artists Miguel Covarrubias and Walter Spies, and musicologist Colin McPhee all spent time here. Their accounts of the island and its peoples created a western image of Bali as "an enchanted land of aesthetes at peace with themselves and nature." Western tourists began to visit the island.
Imperial Japan occupied Bali during World War II. It was not originally a target in their Netherlands East Indies Campaign, but as the airfields on Borneo were inoperative due to heavy rains, the Imperial Japanese Army decided to occupy Bali, which did not suffer from comparable weather. The island had no regular Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) troops. There was only a Native Auxiliary Corps Prajoda (Korps Prajoda) consisting of about 600 native soldiers and several Dutch KNIL officers under command of KNIL Lieutenant Colonel W.P. Roodenburg. On 19 February 1942 the Japanese forces landed near the town of Senoer [Senur]. The island was quickly captured.
During the Japanese occupation, a Balinese military officer, Gusti Ngurah Rai, formed a Balinese 'freedom army'. The harshness of war requisitions made Japanese rule more resented than Dutch rule. Following Japan's Pacific surrender in August 1945, the Dutch returned to Indonesia, including Bali, to reinstate their pre-war colonial administration. This was resisted by the Balinese rebels, who now used recovered Japanese weapons. On 20 November 1946, the Battle of Marga was fought in Tabanan in central Bali. Colonel I Gusti Ngurah Rai, by then 29 years old, finally rallied his forces in east Bali at Marga Rana, where they made a suicide attack on the heavily armed Dutch. The Balinese battalion was entirely wiped out, breaking the last thread of Balinese military resistance.
INDIPENDENCE FROM THE DUTCH
In 1946, the Dutch constituted Bali as one of the 13 administrative districts of the newly proclaimed State of East Indonesia, a rival state to the Republic of Indonesia, which was proclaimed and headed by Sukarno and Hatta. Bali was included in the "Republic of the United States of Indonesia" when the Netherlands recognised Indonesian independence on 29 December 1949.
CONTEMPORARY
The 1963 eruption of Mount Agung killed thousands, created economic havoc and forced many displaced Balinese to be transmigrated to other parts of Indonesia. Mirroring the widening of social divisions across Indonesia in the 1950s and early 1960s, Bali saw conflict between supporters of the traditional caste system, and those rejecting this system. Politically, the opposition was represented by supporters of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and the Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI), with tensions and ill-feeling further increased by the PKI's land reform programs. An attempted coup in Jakarta was put down by forces led by General Suharto.
The army became the dominant power as it instigated a violent anti-communist purge, in which the army blamed the PKI for the coup. Most estimates suggest that at least 500,000 people were killed across Indonesia, with an estimated 80,000 killed in Bali, equivalent to 5% of the island's population. With no Islamic forces involved as in Java and Sumatra, upper-caste PNI landlords led the extermination of PKI members.
As a result of the 1965/66 upheavals, Suharto was able to manoeuvre Sukarno out of the presidency. His "New Order" government reestablished relations with western countries. The pre-War Bali as "paradise" was revived in a modern form. The resulting large growth in tourism has led to a dramatic increase in Balinese standards of living and significant foreign exchange earned for the country. A bombing in 2002 by militant Islamists in the tourist area of Kuta killed 202 people, mostly foreigners. This attack, and another in 2005, severely reduced tourism, producing much economic hardship to the island.
GEOGRAPHY
The island of Bali lies 3.2 km east of Java, and is approximately 8 degrees south of the equator. Bali and Java are separated by the Bali Strait. East to west, the island is approximately 153 km wide and spans approximately 112 km north to south; administratively it covers 5,780 km2, or 5,577 km2 without Nusa Penida District, its population density is roughly 750 people/km2.
Bali's central mountains include several peaks over 3,000 metres in elevation. The highest is Mount Agung (3,031 m), known as the "mother mountain" which is an active volcano rated as one of the world's most likely sites for a massive eruption within the next 100 years. Mountains range from centre to the eastern side, with Mount Agung the easternmost peak. Bali's volcanic nature has contributed to its exceptional fertility and its tall mountain ranges provide the high rainfall that supports the highly productive agriculture sector. South of the mountains is a broad, steadily descending area where most of Bali's large rice crop is grown. The northern side of the mountains slopes more steeply to the sea and is the main coffee producing area of the island, along with rice, vegetables and cattle. The longest river, Ayung River, flows approximately 75 km.
The island is surrounded by coral reefs. Beaches in the south tend to have white sand while those in the north and west have black sand. Bali has no major waterways, although the Ho River is navigable by small sampan boats. Black sand beaches between Pasut and Klatingdukuh are being developed for tourism, but apart from the seaside temple of Tanah Lot, they are not yet used for significant tourism.
The largest city is the provincial capital, Denpasar, near the southern coast. Its population is around 491,500 (2002). Bali's second-largest city is the old colonial capital, Singaraja, which is located on the north coast and is home to around 100,000 people. Other important cities include the beach resort, Kuta, which is practically part of Denpasar's urban area, and Ubud, situated at the north of Denpasar, is the island's cultural centre.
Three small islands lie to the immediate south east and all are administratively part of the Klungkung regency of Bali: Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan. These islands are separated from Bali by the Badung Strait.
To the east, the Lombok Strait separates Bali from Lombok and marks the biogeographical division between the fauna of the Indomalayan ecozone and the distinctly different fauna of Australasia. The transition is known as the Wallace Line, named after Alfred Russel Wallace, who first proposed a transition zone between these two major biomes. When sea levels dropped during the Pleistocene ice age, Bali was connected to Java and Sumatra and to the mainland of Asia and shared the Asian fauna, but the deep water of the Lombok Strait continued to keep Lombok Island and the Lesser Sunda archipelago isolated.
CLIMATE
Being just 8 degrees south of the equator, Bali has a fairly even climate year round.
Day time temperatures at low elevations vary between 20-33⁰ C although it can be much cooler than that in the mountains. The west monsoon is in place from approximately October to April and this can bring significant rain, particularly from December to March. Outside of the monsoon period, humidity is relatively low and any rain unlikely in lowland areas.
ECOLOGY
Bali lies just to the west of the Wallace Line, and thus has a fauna that is Asian in character, with very little Australasian influence, and has more in common with Java than with Lombok. An exception is the yellow-crested cockatoo, a member of a primarily Australasian family. There are around 280 species of birds, including the critically endangered Bali myna, which is endemic. Others Include barn swallow, black-naped oriole, black racket-tailed treepie, crested serpent-eagle, crested treeswift, dollarbird, Java sparrow, lesser adjutant, long-tailed shrike, milky stork, Pacific swallow, red-rumped swallow, sacred kingfisher, sea eagle, woodswallow, savanna nightjar, stork-billed kingfisher, yellow-vented bulbul and great egret.
Until the early 20th century, Bali was home to several large mammals: the wild banteng, leopard and the endemic Bali tiger. The banteng still occurs in its domestic form, whereas leopards are found only in neighbouring Java, and the Bali tiger is extinct. The last definite record of a tiger on Bali dates from 1937, when one was shot, though the subspecies may have survived until the 1940s or 1950s. The relatively small size of the island, conflict with humans, poaching and habitat reduction drove the Bali tiger to extinction. This was the smallest and rarest of all tiger subspecies and was never caught on film or displayed in zoos, whereas few skins or bones remain in museums around the world. Today, the largest mammals are the Javan rusa deer and the wild boar. A second, smaller species of deer, the Indian muntjac, also occurs. Saltwater crocodiles were once present on the island, but became locally extinct sometime during the last century.
Squirrels are quite commonly encountered, less often is the Asian palm civet, which is also kept in coffee farms to produce Kopi Luwak. Bats are well represented, perhaps the most famous place to encounter them remaining the Goa Lawah (Temple of the Bats) where they are worshipped by the locals and also constitute a tourist attraction. They also occur in other cave temples, for instance at Gangga Beach. Two species of monkey occur. The crab-eating macaque, known locally as "kera", is quite common around human settlements and temples, where it becomes accustomed to being fed by humans, particularly in any of the three "monkey forest" temples, such as the popular one in the Ubud area. They are also quite often kept as pets by locals. The second monkey, endemic to Java and some surrounding islands such as Bali, is far rarer and more elusive is the Javan langur, locally known as "lutung". They occur in few places apart from the Bali Barat National Park. They are born an orange colour, though by their first year they would have already changed to a more blackish colouration. In Java however, there is more of a tendency for this species to retain its juvenile orange colour into adulthood, and so you can see a mixture of black and orange monkeys together as a family. Other rarer mammals include the leopard cat, Sunda pangolin and black giant squirrel.
Snakes include the king cobra and reticulated python. The water monitor can grow to at least 1.5 m in length and 50 kg and can move quickly.
The rich coral reefs around the coast, particularly around popular diving spots such as Tulamben, Amed, Menjangan or neighbouring Nusa Penida, host a wide range of marine life, for instance hawksbill turtle, giant sunfish, giant manta ray, giant moray eel, bumphead parrotfish, hammerhead shark, reef shark, barracuda, and sea snakes. Dolphins are commonly encountered on the north coast near Singaraja and Lovina.
A team of scientists conducted a survey from 29 April 2011 to 11 May 2011 at 33 sea sites around Bali. They discovered 952 species of reef fish of which 8 were new discoveries at Pemuteran, Gilimanuk, Nusa Dua, Tulamben and Candidasa, and 393 coral species, including two new ones at Padangbai and between Padangbai and Amed. The average coverage level of healthy coral was 36% (better than in Raja Ampat and Halmahera by 29% or in Fakfak and Kaimana by 25%) with the highest coverage found in Gili Selang and Gili Mimpang in Candidasa, Karangasem regency.
Many plants have been introduced by humans within the last centuries, particularly since the 20th century, making it sometimes hard to distinguish what plants are really native.[citation needed] Among the larger trees the most common are: banyan trees, jackfruit, coconuts, bamboo species, acacia trees and also endless rows of coconuts and banana species. Numerous flowers can be seen: hibiscus, frangipani, bougainvillea, poinsettia, oleander, jasmine, water lily, lotus, roses, begonias, orchids and hydrangeas exist. On higher grounds that receive more moisture, for instance around Kintamani, certain species of fern trees, mushrooms and even pine trees thrive well. Rice comes in many varieties. Other plants with agricultural value include: salak, mangosteen, corn, kintamani orange, coffee and water spinach.
ENVIRONMENT
Some of the worst erosion has occurred in Lebih Beach, where up to 7 metres of land is lost every year. Decades ago, this beach was used for holy pilgrimages with more than 10,000 people, but they have now moved to Masceti Beach.
From ranked third in previous review, in 2010 Bali got score 99.65 of Indonesia's environmental quality index and the highest of all the 33 provinces. The score measured 3 water quality parameters: the level of total suspended solids (TSS), dissolved oxygen (DO) and chemical oxygen demand (COD).
Because of over-exploitation by the tourist industry which covers a massive land area, 200 out of 400 rivers on the island have dried up and based on research, the southern part of Bali would face a water shortage up to 2,500 litres of clean water per second by 2015. To ease the shortage, the central government plans to build a water catchment and processing facility at Petanu River in Gianyar. The 300 litres capacity of water per second will be channelled to Denpasar, Badung and Gianyar in 2013.
ECONOMY
Three decades ago, the Balinese economy was largely agriculture-based in terms of both output and employment. Tourism is now the largest single industry in terms of income, and as a result, Bali is one of Indonesia's wealthiest regions. In 2003, around 80% of Bali's economy was tourism related. By end of June 2011, non-performing loan of all banks in Bali were 2.23%, lower than the average of Indonesian banking industry non-performing loan (about 5%). The economy, however, suffered significantly as a result of the terrorist bombings 2002 and 2005. The tourism industry has since recovered from these events.
AGRICULTURE
Although tourism produces the GDP's largest output, agriculture is still the island's biggest employer; most notably rice cultivation. Crops grown in smaller amounts include fruit, vegetables, Coffea arabica and other cash and subsistence crops. Fishing also provides a significant number of jobs. Bali is also famous for its artisans who produce a vast array of handicrafts, including batik and ikat cloth and clothing, wooden carvings, stone carvings, painted art and silverware. Notably, individual villages typically adopt a single product, such as wind chimes or wooden furniture.
The Arabica coffee production region is the highland region of Kintamani near Mount Batur. Generally, Balinese coffee is processed using the wet method. This results in a sweet, soft coffee with good consistency. Typical flavours include lemon and other citrus notes. Many coffee farmers in Kintamani are members of a traditional farming system called Subak Abian, which is based on the Hindu philosophy of "Tri Hita Karana". According to this philosophy, the three causes of happiness are good relations with God, other people and the environment. The Subak Abian system is ideally suited to the production of fair trade and organic coffee production. Arabica coffee from Kintamani is the first product in Indonesia to request a Geographical Indication.
TOURISM
The tourism industry is primarily focused in the south, while significant in the other parts of the island as well. The main tourist locations are the town of Kuta (with its beach), and its outer suburbs of Legian and Seminyak (which were once independent townships), the east coast town of Sanur (once the only tourist hub), in the center of the island Ubud, to the south of the Ngurah Rai International Airport, Jimbaran, and the newer development of Nusa Dua and Pecatu.
The American government lifted its travel warnings in 2008. The Australian government issued an advice on Friday, 4 May 2012. The overall level of the advice was lowered to 'Exercise a high degree of caution'. The Swedish government issued a new warning on Sunday, 10 June 2012 because of one more tourist who was killed by methanol poisoning. Australia last issued an advice on Monday, 5 January 2015 due to new terrorist threats.
An offshoot of tourism is the growing real estate industry. Bali real estate has been rapidly developing in the main tourist areas of Kuta, Legian, Seminyak and Oberoi. Most recently, high-end 5 star projects are under development on the Bukit peninsula, on the south side of the island. Million dollar villas are being developed along the cliff sides of south Bali, commanding panoramic ocean views. Foreign and domestic (many Jakarta individuals and companies are fairly active) investment into other areas of the island also continues to grow. Land prices, despite the worldwide economic crisis, have remained stable.
In the last half of 2008, Indonesia's currency had dropped approximately 30% against the US dollar, providing many overseas visitors value for their currencies. Visitor arrivals for 2009 were forecast to drop 8% (which would be higher than 2007 levels), due to the worldwide economic crisis which has also affected the global tourist industry, but not due to any travel warnings.
Bali's tourism economy survived the terrorist bombings of 2002 and 2005, and the tourism industry has in fact slowly recovered and surpassed its pre-terrorist bombing levels; the longterm trend has been a steady increase of visitor arrivals. In 2010, Bali received 2.57 million foreign tourists, which surpassed the target of 2.0–2.3 million tourists. The average occupancy of starred hotels achieved 65%, so the island is still able to accommodate tourists for some years without any addition of new rooms/hotels, although at the peak season some of them are fully booked.
Bali received the Best Island award from Travel and Leisure in 2010. The island of Bali won because of its attractive surroundings (both mountain and coastal areas), diverse tourist attractions, excellent international and local restaurants, and the friendliness of the local people. According to BBC Travel released in 2011, Bali is one of the World's Best Islands, ranking second after Santorini, Greece.
In August 2010, the film Eat Pray Love was released in theatres. The movie was based on Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling memoir Eat, Pray, Love. It took place at Ubud and Padang-Padang Beach at Bali. The 2006 book, which spent 57 weeks at the No. 1 spot on the New York Times paperback nonfiction best-seller list, had already fuelled a boom in Eat, Pray, Love-related tourism in Ubud, the hill town and cultural and tourist center that was the focus of Gilbert's quest for balance through traditional spirituality and healing that leads to love.
In January 2016, after music icon David Bowie died, it was revealed that in his will, Bowie asked for his ashes to be scattered in Bali, conforming to Buddhist rituals. He had visited and performed in a number of Southest Asian cities early in his career, including Bangkok and Singapore.
Since 2011, China has displaced Japan as the second-largest supplier of tourists to Bali, while Australia still tops the list. Chinese tourists increased by 17% from last year due to the impact of ACFTA and new direct flights to Bali. In January 2012, Chinese tourists year on year (yoy) increased by 222.18% compared to January 2011, while Japanese tourists declined by 23.54% yoy.
Bali reported that it has 2.88 million foreign tourists and 5 million domestic tourists in 2012, marginally surpassing the expectations of 2.8 million foreign tourists. Forecasts for 2013 are at 3.1 million.
Based on Bank Indonesia survey in May 2013, 34.39 percent of tourists are upper-middle class with spending between $1,286 to $5,592 and dominated by Australia, France, China, Germany and the US with some China tourists move from low spending before to higher spending currently. While 30.26 percent are middle class with spending between $662 to $1,285.
SEX TOURISM
In the twentieth century the incidence of tourism specifically for sex was regularly observed in the era of mass tourism in Indonesia In Bali, prostitution is conducted by both men and women. Bali in particular is notorious for its 'Kuta Cowboys', local gigolos targeting foreign female tourists.
Tens of thousands of single women throng the beaches of Bali in Indonesia every year. For decades, young Balinese men have taken advantage of the louche and laid-back atmosphere to find love and lucre from female tourists—Japanese, European and Australian for the most part—who by all accounts seem perfectly happy with the arrangement.
By 2013, Indonesia was reportedly the number one destination for Australian child sex tourists, mostly starting in Bali but also travelling to other parts of the country. The problem in Bali was highlighted by Luh Ketut Suryani, head of Psychiatry at Udayana University, as early as 2003. Surayani warned that a low level of awareness of paedophilia in Bali had made it the target of international paedophile organisations. On 19 February 2013, government officials announced measures to combat paedophilia in Bali.
TRANSPORTATION
The Ngurah Rai International Airport is located near Jimbaran, on the isthmus at the southernmost part of the island. Lt.Col. Wisnu Airfield is found in north-west Bali.
A coastal road circles the island, and three major two-lane arteries cross the central mountains at passes reaching to 1,750m in height (at Penelokan). The Ngurah Rai Bypass is a four-lane expressway that partly encircles Denpasar. Bali has no railway lines.
In December 2010 the Government of Indonesia invited investors to build a new Tanah Ampo Cruise Terminal at Karangasem, Bali with a projected worth of $30 million. On 17 July 2011 the first cruise ship (Sun Princess) anchored about 400 meters away from the wharf of Tanah Ampo harbour. The current pier is only 154 meters but will eventually be extended to 300–350 meters to accommodate international cruise ships. The harbour here is safer than the existing facility at Benoa and has a scenic backdrop of east Bali mountains and green rice fields. The tender for improvement was subject to delays, and as of July 2013 the situation remained unclear with cruise line operators complaining and even refusing to use the existing facility at Tanah Ampo.
A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by two ministers, Bali's Governor and Indonesian Train Company to build 565 kilometres of railway along the coast around the island. As of July 2015, no details of this proposed railways have been released.
On 16 March 2011 (Tanjung) Benoa port received the "Best Port Welcome 2010" award from London's "Dream World Cruise Destination" magazine. Government plans to expand the role of Benoa port as export-import port to boost Bali's trade and industry sector. The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry has confirmed that 306 cruise liners are heading for Indonesia in 2013 – an increase of 43 percent compared to the previous year.
In May 2011, an integrated Areal Traffic Control System (ATCS) was implemented to reduce traffic jams at four crossing points: Ngurah Rai statue, Dewa Ruci Kuta crossing, Jimbaran crossing and Sanur crossing. ATCS is an integrated system connecting all traffic lights, CCTVs and other traffic signals with a monitoring office at the police headquarters. It has successfully been implemented in other ASEAN countries and will be implemented at other crossings in Bali.
On 21 December 2011 construction started on the Nusa Dua-Benoa-Ngurah Rai International Airport toll road which will also provide a special lane for motorcycles. This has been done by seven state-owned enterprises led by PT Jasa Marga with 60% of shares. PT Jasa Marga Bali Tol will construct the 9.91 kilometres toll road (totally 12.7 kilometres with access road). The construction is estimated to cost Rp.2.49 trillion ($273.9 million). The project goes through 2 kilometres of mangrove forest and through 2.3 kilometres of beach, both within 5.4 hectares area. The elevated toll road is built over the mangrove forest on 18,000 concrete pillars which occupied 2 hectares of mangroves forest. It compensated by new planting of 300,000 mangrove trees along the road. On 21 December 2011 the Dewa Ruci 450 meters underpass has also started on the busy Dewa Ruci junction near Bali Kuta Galeria with an estimated cost of Rp136 billion ($14.9 million) from the state budget. On 23 September 2013, the Bali Mandara Toll Road is opened and the Dewa Ruci Junction (Simpang Siur) underpass is opened before. Both are ease the heavy traffic congestion.
To solve chronic traffic problems, the province will also build a toll road connecting Serangan with Tohpati, a toll road connecting Kuta, Denpasar and Tohpati and a flyover connecting Kuta and Ngurah Rai Airport.
DEMOGRAPHICS
The population of Bali was 3,890,757 as of the 2010 Census; the latest estimate (for January 2014) is 4,225,384. There are an estimated 30,000 expatriates living in Bali.
ETHNIC ORIGINS
A DNA study in 2005 by Karafet et al. found that 12% of Balinese Y-chromosomes are of likely Indian origin, while 84% are of likely Austronesian origin, and 2% of likely Melanesian origin. The study does not correlate the DNA samples to the Balinese caste system.
CASTE SYSTEM
Bali has a caste system based on the Indian Hindu model, with four castes:
- Sudra (Shudra) – peasants constituting close to 93% of Bali's population.
- Wesia (Vaishyas) – the caste of merchants and administrative officials
- Ksatrias (Kshatriyas) – the kingly and warrior caste
- Brahmana (Bramhin) – holy men and priests
RELIGION
Unlike most of Muslim-majority Indonesia, about 83.5% of Bali's population adheres to Balinese Hinduism, formed as a combination of existing local beliefs and Hindu influences from mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. Minority religions include Islam (13.3%), Christianity (1.7%), and Buddhism (0.5%). These figures do not include immigrants from other parts of Indonesia.
Balinese Hinduism is an amalgam in which gods and demigods are worshipped together with Buddhist heroes, the spirits of ancestors, indigenous agricultural deities and sacred places. Religion as it is practised in Bali is a composite belief system that embraces not only theology, philosophy, and mythology, but ancestor worship, animism and magic. It pervades nearly every aspect of traditional life. Caste is observed, though less strictly than in India. With an estimated 20,000 puras (temples) and shrines, Bali is known as the "Island of a Thousand Puras", or "Island of the Gods". This is refer to Mahabarata story that behind Bali became island of god or "pulau dewata" in Indonesian language.
Balinese Hinduism has roots in Indian Hinduism and Buddhism, and adopted the animistic traditions of the indigenous people. This influence strengthened the belief that the gods and goddesses are present in all things. Every element of nature, therefore, possesses its own power, which reflects the power of the gods. A rock, tree, dagger, or woven cloth is a potential home for spirits whose energy can be directed for good or evil. Balinese Hinduism is deeply interwoven with art and ritual. Ritualizing states of self-control are a notable feature of religious expression among the people, who for this reason have become famous for their graceful and decorous behaviour.
Apart from the majority of Balinese Hindus, there also exist Chinese immigrants whose traditions have melded with that of the locals. As a result, these Sino-Balinese not only embrace their original religion, which is a mixture of Buddhism, Christianity, Taoism and Confucianism, but also find a way to harmonise it with the local traditions. Hence, it is not uncommon to find local Sino-Balinese during the local temple's odalan. Moreover, Balinese Hindu priests are invited to perform rites alongside a Chinese priest in the event of the death of a Sino-Balinese. Nevertheless, the Sino-Balinese claim to embrace Buddhism for administrative purposes, such as their Identity Cards.
LANGUAGE
Balinese and Indonesian are the most widely spoken languages in Bali, and the vast majority of Balinese people are bilingual or trilingual. The most common spoken language around the tourist areas is Indonesian, as many people in the tourist sector are not solely Balinese, but migrants from Java, Lombok, Sumatra, and other parts of Indonesia. There are several indigenous Balinese languages, but most Balinese can also use the most widely spoken option: modern common Balinese. The usage of different Balinese languages was traditionally determined by the Balinese caste system and by clan membership, but this tradition is diminishing. Kawi and Sanskrit are also commonly used by some Hindu priests in Bali, for Hinduism literature was mostly written in Sanskrit.
English and Chinese are the next most common languages (and the primary foreign languages) of many Balinese, owing to the requirements of the tourism industry, as well as the English-speaking community and huge Chinese-Indonesian population. Other foreign languages, such as Japanese, Korean, French, Russian or German are often used in multilingual signs for foreign tourists.
CULTURE
Bali is renowned for its diverse and sophisticated art forms, such as painting, sculpture, woodcarving, handcrafts, and performing arts. Balinese cuisine is also distinctive. Balinese percussion orchestra music, known as gamelan, is highly developed and varied. Balinese performing arts often portray stories from Hindu epics such as the Ramayana but with heavy Balinese influence. Famous Balinese dances include pendet, legong, baris, topeng, barong, gong keybar, and kecak (the monkey dance). Bali boasts one of the most diverse and innovative performing arts cultures in the world, with paid performances at thousands of temple festivals, private ceremonies, or public shows.
The Hindu New Year, Nyepi, is celebrated in the spring by a day of silence. On this day everyone stays at home and tourists are encouraged to remain in their hotels. On the day before New Year, large and colourful sculptures of ogoh-ogoh monsters are paraded and finally burned in the evening to drive away evil spirits. Other festivals throughout the year are specified by the Balinese pawukon calendrical system.
Celebrations are held for many occasions such as a tooth-filing (coming-of-age ritual), cremation or odalan (temple festival). One of the most important concepts that Balinese ceremonies have in common is that of désa kala patra, which refers to how ritual performances must be appropriate in both the specific and general social context. Many of the ceremonial art forms such as wayang kulit and topeng are highly improvisatory, providing flexibility for the performer to adapt the performance to the current situation. Many celebrations call for a loud, boisterous atmosphere with lots of activity and the resulting aesthetic, ramé, is distinctively Balinese. Often two or more gamelan ensembles will be performing well within earshot, and sometimes compete with each other to be heard. Likewise, the audience members talk amongst themselves, get up and walk around, or even cheer on the performance, which adds to the many layers of activity and the liveliness typical of ramé.
Kaja and kelod are the Balinese equivalents of North and South, which refer to ones orientation between the island's largest mountain Gunung Agung (kaja), and the sea (kelod). In addition to spatial orientation, kaja and kelod have the connotation of good and evil; gods and ancestors are believed to live on the mountain whereas demons live in the sea. Buildings such as temples and residential homes are spatially oriented by having the most sacred spaces closest to the mountain and the unclean places nearest to the sea.
Most temples have an inner courtyard and an outer courtyard which are arranged with the inner courtyard furthest kaja. These spaces serve as performance venues since most Balinese rituals are accompanied by any combination of music, dance and drama. The performances that take place in the inner courtyard are classified as wali, the most sacred rituals which are offerings exclusively for the gods, while the outer courtyard is where bebali ceremonies are held, which are intended for gods and people. Lastly, performances meant solely for the entertainment of humans take place outside the walls of the temple and are called bali-balihan. This three-tiered system of classification was standardised in 1971 by a committee of Balinese officials and artists to better protect the sanctity of the oldest and most sacred Balinese rituals from being performed for a paying audience.
Tourism, Bali's chief industry, has provided the island with a foreign audience that is eager to pay for entertainment, thus creating new performance opportunities and more demand for performers. The impact of tourism is controversial since before it became integrated into the economy, the Balinese performing arts did not exist as a capitalist venture, and were not performed for entertainment outside of their respective ritual context. Since the 1930s sacred rituals such as the barong dance have been performed both in their original contexts, as well as exclusively for paying tourists. This has led to new versions of many of these performances which have developed according to the preferences of foreign audiences; some villages have a barong mask specifically for non-ritual performances as well as an older mask which is only used for sacred performances.
Balinese society continues to revolve around each family's ancestral village, to which the cycle of life and religion is closely tied. Coercive aspects of traditional society, such as customary law sanctions imposed by traditional authorities such as village councils (including "kasepekang", or shunning) have risen in importance as a consequence of the democratisation and decentralisation of Indonesia since 1998.
WIKIPEDIA
Propaganda, the coordinated attempt to influence public opinion through the use of media, was skillfully used by the Nazi party in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's leadership of Germany (1933 to 1945). Nazi propaganda provided a crucial instrument for acquiring and maintaining power, and for the implementation of their policies, including the pursuit of total war and the extermination of millions of people in the Holocaust.
The pervasive use of propaganda by the Nazis is largely responsible for the word "propaganda" itself acquiring its present negative connotations
For many of us, Easter is a time that carries sacred connotations. For others, spending moments with loved ones or frolicking on an egg hunt with the kids is what the holiday is all about. But we are talking about a different kind of Easter bunny.
We all have secular interests as well, right? Beyond the traditional, we think the new spring season is a time to partake in some erotic intimacy glittering with lots of laughter and good times.
City Girls is rife with soft, sexy bunnies
In our world, pleasure is wild and sweet. Who needs a holiday to celebrate? Just imagine your own private gala with a prized jewel of a woman regaled in luxurious lingerie and sinfully high heels. Think of a lavish evening of living life to the hilt with a sumptuous independent escort! What hobbyist would not gain 10 years of vivacious living? See More... www.miamicitygirls.com/
Montreal 2010 (MUTEK Festival 2010)
at Place Des Festival
www.mutek.org/redirect/http://mutek.org/festivals/montrea...
'Time Drifts' Media Installation by Philipp Geist
02. - 06. June 2010
Time Drifts
The Berlin-based artist Philipp Geist has developed his video installation 'Time Drifts' for the square Place Des Festival next to the Contemporary Art Museum in Montreal. In his installation Geist interprets the themes of space and time. He avoids using canvases and projects directly on parts of the facade, on the ground of the whole square, on stairs, and on fog streaming into the square.
The result is an interplay between the concrete, tangible wall/square and the transparent, dissolving projection ground. Words are projected onto the ground, and they are reflected into the fog. Fog is, similar to time, always in a flux, you cannot hold or keep it. This concept refers to the characteristics of museums and to their function as a place for conservation and for providing the visitor with both facts and imaginations: The dissolving projection ground symbolizes the fragmentary knowledge and understanding of life in the past and present, but knowledge is also secured and preserved in the form of text, clearly visible on the concrete. The people become part of the projected images while walking around the square and entering the building. Thus, Geist develops a dialogue with the location, his artistic work and the visitors.
This methodical approach to the theme 'time' is supported by the projected images themselves. Words that relate to the topic both directly and indirectly cover the whole ground of the square. Some terms and sentences are obvious references, some invite the visitor to think about the phenomenon of time and its historical and cultural connotations. This cultural consideration will be enhanced by the fact that the texts will be in the two official languages of Québec, English and French, and additionally in German, which is the artist's mother tongue. There will be single words, quotations and proverbs by various authors. The installation invites the visitors to stay and contemplate, to detect meanings in the thick carpet of partly overlapping words. The carpet's threads of words are woven chaotically, and it takes time and movements across the square to see and decipher them. It is the poetry of the texts and the dream-like atmosphere that will transform the location.
In the images which are projected onto the facade, Geist creates a pictorial, abstract imagery at the computer which also refers to time. Geometrical, spatial forms like squares, cubes, perforated planes, lines and rays, overlay each other in an on-going process and build up a complete picture in order to dissolve it right away. The various elements create a complex architecture of images which is always in a state of flux. By displaying depth and three-dimensionality, the work symbolises the constantly developing, enlarging space of continuing time lines, and represents the complex networks emerging from different spatial components spreading in the course of time.
Philipp Geist works internationally as a light and multi-media artist in the mediums of video, performance, photography and painting. The Berlin artist Philipp Geist (1976) showed a 4D mapping installation on the facade of the royal throne in Bangkok on the occasion of king Bhumibol's 82nd birthday in December 2009. The one-hour-show was the central part of the celebrations and was seen by 2-3 million of visitors. In 2008, during the 'Long Night of the Museums', he showed his video installation 'time fades' at the Kulturforum. In this installation Geist interprets the themes of space and time. He avoids using canvasses and projects directly on parts of the façade of the architecture and on transparent grounds like sheets of gauze and fog.In September 2007, he realized the video installation 'Time Lines' on the entire front of the Palazzo delle Espozioni in Rome at its re-opening after it had been closed for five years. The installation was opened by the mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni, and was seen by approx. 20.000 visitors. In 2005, he realized the large project 'Winterzauber' ('Winter Magic') for the Lake Side Restaurant in Zurich and in 2006, he opened the Salon Noir within the context of the exhibition 'Melancholie, Genie und Wahnsinn' ('Melancholy, Genius and Insanity') in the Berlin Neuen National Galerie. Together with the symphony orchestra OBC Barcelona and the Finnish sound ensemble Pan Sonic, Geist opened in 2004 the Sonar Festival in Barcelona. His works were shown at the Dissonanze Festival in Rome, at Clubtransmediale in Berlin and at the Mutek Festival in Montreal which is renowned for new media. He has exhibited his live video performances internationally at the Central House of Artists (CHA) in Moscow, the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in London, the National Gallery in Warsaw (Zacheta) and at the opening of the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich.Further projects are characterized by their complexity and the integration of the location, the sound and moving images.
MUTEK FRESHENS UP ITS 11TH EDITION WITH FREE HIGHLIGHTS
FESTIVAL RUNS FROM JUNE 2ND TO 6TH!
Montreal: Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - From June 2nd to the 6th, Montreal falls into the MUTEK groove when the festival sets its artists loose on the city streets! Setting up shop in the heart of the Quartier des Spectacles and then pushing out toward the Monument-National, the SAT, the Metropolis, Club Soda, and Parc Jean-Drapeau, MUTEK 2010 leaves its fingerprints all over the city and proves once and for all that there are innumerable ways in which attendees can experience the festival. In 2010, we all design our own MUTEK! More than 150 artists from a dozen countries are taking part in some 80 performances throughout the 5 days that make up this edition, which includes 6 world premieres, 10 North American premieres, and 16 Canadian premieres.
Inspired by its recent win at the 25th Grand Prix du Conseil des arts de Montreal, the MUTEK festival has pushed the envelope to freshen up its 11th edition with some extraordinary twists for festivalgoers. And many of them are now free to the public! On deck for those who want to discover the festival, MUTEK's outdoor program EXTRA_MUROS returns for a second year to present (in collaboration with Astral Media) two monumentally urbane art installations. Then, on Saturday, June 5th, La Place des Festivals will host an exclusive outdoor free concert featuring Señor Coconut and his Orchestra.
EXTRA_MUROS: The Outdoors Come Alive!
As part of the EXTRA_MUROS series, the Place des Festivals will be graced by the latest creation by Berlin artists Philipp Geist, who has established himself as a master of remodeling public spaces. A new public-art spectacle, TIME DRIFTS interprets themes of time and space by projecting arrangements of light against veils of fog as they drift into all corners of the place des Festivals.
Meanwhile, Melissa Mongiat and Mouna Andraos take over the President Kennedy Pavilion at UQAM with their interactive installation entitled BLOC JAM. An ever-evolving improvisational composition projects as light and orchestrated by cell phones, Bloc Jam is assembled completely by passersby on the street who use their personal technology to add their contributions to the "songs" colouring the wall.
SPECIAL PRESENTATION: Señor Coconut and his Orchestra
Keeping the spirit of the night skies alive, on Saturday, June 5th, MUTEK brings back Uwe Schmidt's Señor Coconut for a spicy-hot soirée, presented by Ubisoft. From Kraftwerk to Daft Punk with some detours via Prince and Eurythmics, Coconut and his Orchestra refashion the pop hits that have marked our collective imaginations into scorching electro-Latino workouts, fired up with dashes of playfulness. Special guests for the evening include the all-new group Le Golden, featuring Jean-Phi Goncalves (Beast) and Alex McMahon (Plaster), among others. A completely free outdoor concert set to take over La Place des festivals in the heart of the Quarteir des Spectacles, this is one event nobody in Montreal should miss!
EXPERIENCE & ECTOPLASMES3
A few steps away at the Monument-National, the festival epicenter, an ensemble of programs unfolds on weekday evening, featuring new projects by the brightest emerging artists from the local scene. Presented from June 2nd to the 4th in collaboration with Bande à Part, the EXPERIENCE series includes notable presentations by Stephen Beaupré's new audio-visual project "Gemmiform" (Wednesday, June 2nd), the world premiere of Aun's "Black Pyramid" (Thursday, June 3rd), as well as performances by Montreal groups Citofono and Jacob & Francis (Friday, June 4th). Coming at the end of each weekday evening, the ECTOPLASMES3 bring together, for its part, thirty high-calibre experimental acts who will undergo any number of spontaneous collaborations.
...and let's not forget!
New branches are all good, but MUTEK never forgets its roots! The mainstays and foundations of the festival still remain and thrive as centerpieces for internationally renowned programming. These include A/VISIONS, featuring Bjork-collaborators Matmos and the legendary Nurse With Wound; NOCTURNES, featuring King Midas Sound, the highly anticipated new live group by Guillaume Coutu Dumont, and a rare Montreal appearance by Theo Parrish; and MUTEK//PIKNICs, where Paul Kalkbrenner and Pépé Bradock are set to take the stage. All in all, MUTEK 2010 features some 150 artists from near and far, coming together over 5 days and five venues. What a way to begin Montreal's festival season in style!
The MUTEK PASSPORT ($210 CDN +tx & sc), WEEKEND PASS ($130 CDN +tx & sc) and individual tickets (starting at $25 +tx & sc) are currently on sale at www.mutek.org, and through the Ticketpro network (www.ticketpro.ca and all outlets).
First of all let me say that I loves swamps — they are magical places — and I also, somewhat separately, love Swamp Thing, or at least the Alan Moore version, so do not think this name has negative connotations.
Swampy and acid green dress with a wavy periwinkle linen peplum flare and hem. It's trimmed with royal blue thread. The skirt and cuffs are made of super lush acid green linen. The skirt is made from truly luscious-quality recycled linen.
This micro image was taken back in 2015 and it has taken a long time to begin to really see and understand the images because of their complexity. When I first started finding these micro images I could clearly see that there was a significance to them, however how in the world could anyone ever begin to understand what one was actually seeing without first looking at stone after stone looking for repeating images; it took me over 150,000 images. We can study all the ancient cultures known throughout time across the globe finding and identifying similarities and significant references to these image such as the bird's beak and the pyramidal dome, but then eventually it comes down to a search for repeating images of the same; over and over again.
1. This micro image field is clearly covered with a thick film of alluvial film that literally takes years to cleanse naturally.
2. The beaked figure on the right is composed of white pigment on the top indicating a sacred connotation, and within the pyramidal dome what seems to be a celestial triangular formation of what seems to complete the pyramidal structure; perhaps the entirety of this structure is a mirror of the previous bluish luminescent figure with outstretched arms, and just facing the opposite direction.
3. This beaked figure (Section III) appears to be part of a greater whole making up a headdress to the left facing figure of man (Section II)following the curved neckline running diagonally in a curved line along the beaked figure's neck line. Once again, if this figure represents a symbolism for our entire galaxy and its significant regions; this perspective must represent the opposite and reverse side of our galaxy from the previous bluish luminescent figure in this series; if these symbols represent a specific celestial portion of our galaxy???.
4. This perspective appears to indicate three specific regions of our galaxy: Section I at the bottom with the bluish pigment, the Eye of Horus, the inverted pyramid, and paired with the small group of three figures in the upper left region with the directional astrolabe marker pointing westward to the blue cloud structure on the far left of this image field. Section II being the left-facing image of man with a secondary image looking downward directly toward the eye of Horus symbol.
5. Above the Eye of Horus symbol is a wide "V" shaped blue pigment edge leading to a group of three micro symbols. The first is a right-facing figure of man with his image flowing into a blue and ochre based pigment field leading into a micro diagram region with a reverse pyramid at the base: perhaps serving as an outline to define the region we call Section I of this celestial styled map?
6. The center micro symbol in this triad of small figures in the far left quadrant of this map diagram with a pyramid base appears to be the common figure with the pyramidal base. The whitened hourglass-like micro figure on the far left of this group of three has a head in the shape of a cello, violin, or bass violin with a blue-green directional angular pointer holding an even smaller figure of a right-facing man with a Roman classical dome headdress pointing in an angular direction to blue cloud-like pigment field in the lower left quadrant of this micro photo at 35x's magnification; this cloud like region possibly mirrors the bluish cloud-like consistency of our Milky Way Galaxy???
In this cloud-like bluish image field is a wide spectrum of images that seem to mirror diagrams associated with ancient nautical maps of shorelines and regions of a continent.
Each and every micro image found on stones from this North American site involve micro images so small they cannot be studied and analyzed without a great deal of time and a minimum of 10x's magnification. Each and every stone is almost like an individual modern book, perhaps containing information related to the specific individuals responsible for actually making each one of these stones.
There are thousands of ancient mounds across the globe and many of these ancient mounds are part of an ancient electromagnetic grid system that our modern world has not yet completely unlocked. Perhaps many of these mounds across the globe contain stones just like this mound that are filled with stones just like this one holding information from our celestial past that we have just not yet unlocked and fully understood. These images appear only as small whitened markings on a stone that could easily be dismissed as nothing, however when there is an ancient mound with thousands upon thousands of these stones; perhaps it is time to take full consideration of their celestial significance within our global passage across deep time???
Wigan Pier
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On the right, the reconstructed Wigan pier
Wigan Pier is the name given today to the area around the canal at the bottom of the Wigan flight of locks on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.[1] It is a popular location for visitors and the local community in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, situated just a few hundred yards south-west of the town centre. The name "Wigan Pier" has humorous connotations since it conjures an image of a seaside pleasure pier, whereas Wigan is in fact an inland and traditionally industrial town.
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Existing buildings
3 Future
4 References
5 External links
History[edit]
The original "pier" at Wigan was a coal loading staithe, probably a wooden jetty, where wagons from a nearby colliery were unloaded into waiting barges on the canal. The original wooden pier is believed to have been demolished in 1929, with the iron from the tippler (a mechanism for tipping coal into the barges) being sold as scrap.[1]
The name Wigan Pier was possibly invented by and was brought to popular attention by George Formby, Sr. in the Music Halls of the early twentieth century and later by George Formby, Jr. who incorporated it into his songs. Someone looking out of an excursion train to Southport in the fog and seeing a coal gantry asked "Where are we?" and was told "Wigan Pier".[2] The tippler became the favoured location when people subsequently wanted to see it. There are references to it in songs such as On the Wigan Boat Express.[3]
In 1937, Wigan was featured in the title of George Orwell's The Road to Wigan Pier, which dealt, in large part, with the living conditions of England's working poor. In response to a critic, Orwell insisted "He [Orwell] liked Wigan very much — the people, not the scenery. Indeed, he has only one fault to find with it, and that is in respect of the celebrated Wigan Pier, which he had set his heart on seeing. Alas! Wigan Pier had been demolished, and even the spot where it used to stand is no longer certain."[4] Some have embraced the Orwellian link, as it has provided the area with a modest tourist base over the years. "It seems funny to celebrate Orwell for highlighting all our bad points, but Wigan wouldn't be anywhere near as famous without him," said the Wigan Pier Experience's manager, Carole Tyldesley. "In the end George Orwell has proved to be a strong marketing tool."[5] Others regard this connection as disappointing, considering it an insinuation that Wigan is no better now than it was at the time of Orwell's writing.[6]
To see the difference, it is worth recalling a description of the canal scene from The Road to Wigan Pier: "I remember a winter afternoon in the dreadful environs of Wigan. All round was the lunar landscape of slag-heaps, and to the north, through the passes, as it were, between the mountains of slag, you could see the factory chimneys sending out their plumes of smoke. The canal path was a mixture of cinders and frozen mud, criss-crossed by the imprints of innumerable clogs, and all round, as far as the slag-heaps in the distance, stretched the ‘flashes’ — pools of stagnant water that had seeped into the hollows caused by the subsidence of ancient pits. It was horribly cold. The ‘flashes’ were covered with ice the colour of raw umber, the bargemen were muffled to the eyes in sacks, the lock gates wore beards of ice. It seemed a world from which vegetation had been banished; nothing existed except smoke, shale, ice, mud, ashes, and foul water."[7]
Today, the slag heaps have been removed or landscaped with trees, the factories are closed or converted to housing and the canal is only used for recreational boating and fishing.
Existing buildings[edit]
The pier was at the end of a narrow gauge tramway from a colliery. The wagons would be brought right to the edge of the canal to be tippled so that their contents went straight into the waiting barges. The original wooden pier is believed to have been demolished in 1929, with the iron from the tippler being sold as scrap. Because of the more recent pride in the area's heritage, a replica tippler, consisting of two curved rails, has been erected at the original location.[1]
The original terminus of the canal, completed 1777
The former Wigan Terminus Warehouses were built in the 18th century and refurbished in the 1980s. Boats could moor inside the building and off-load directly into the warehouse.[8]
A warehouse with covered loading bays, converted into a museum of Victorian life (often mistakenly thought to be Wigan Pier), and the home to The Way We Were museum,[9] was part of the Wigan Pier Experience museum and exhibition centre. The exhibition featured a Victorian school room, a colliery disaster, the Second Boer War and (on the top floor) a complete pub transported from Hope Street and reconstructed by shopping centre developers. The Wigan Pier Theatre Company used these displays to remind present generations of "The Way We Were" – not always a happy life.[10] The attraction closed on 20 December 2007.[11]
Gibson's Warehouse is a Victorian cotton warehouse, originally built in 1777, re-built in 1984 as The Orwell at Wigan Pier, is situated on the canalside.[12]
Trencherfield Mill is a former cotton mill, located across the road from Wigan Pier - currently[when?] being converted into luxury apartments.[13] It still contains the massive working steam engine which will be kept in the new development.
There are several bridges across the canal. Bridge #51 Pottery Changeline is a roving bridge, one which swaps the tow path from one side of the canal to the other, usually in such a way as to allow the horse pulling the barge to pass easily and without disconnecting its tow-rope.[14] Bridge #50 Seven Stars Bridge is adjacent to the Seven Stars public house, taking its name from "The Plough" star constellation.[15]
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 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
The Jaguar SS100 is a British 2-seat sports car built between 1936 and 1940 by SS Cars Ltd of Coventry, England (SS – Swallow Sidecars) . The last one is thought to have been delivered in 1941.
The SS Cars Ltd Model 100 "Jaguar" was so named as the '100' reflecting the capability of the 3.5-litre model to exceed 100 mph - then a remarkable speed for a production vehicle. In common with many products of the thirties, the adoption of an animal name was deemed appropriate, and once approved by Sir William Lyons the name "Jaguar" was given to a new saloon car in 1936, and from that point to all the cars.
Following the Second World War, because of the connotations then attached to the initials ""SS", the company was renamed Jaguar in 1945.
The chassis had a wheelbase of 8 feet 8 inches (2.64 m), and was essentially a shortened version of the one designed for the 2.5-litre saloon, a car produced in much greater numbers, and first been seen in the SS 90 of 1935. Suspension was on half-elliptical springs all round with rigid axles. The engine was a development of the old 2.5-litre Standard pushrod unit converted from side valve to overhead valve with a new cylinder head designed by William Heynes and Harry Weslake. The power output was increased from 70 bhp (52 kW) to 100 bhp (70 kW). Twin SU carburettors were bolted directly to the cylinder head. In 1938 the engine was further enlarged to 3.5 litres and the power increased to 125 bhp (93 kW). The four-speed gearbox had synchromesh on the top 3 ratios. Brakes were by Girling. The complete car weighed just over 23 cwt (2600 pounds, 1150 kg).
On test by the Autocar magazine in 1937 the 2.5-litre (20 RAC hp rating) car was found, with the windscreen lowered, to have a maximum speed of 95 mph (153 km/h) and a 0–60 mph (97 km/h) time of 13.5 seconds. With the 3.5-litre (25 RAC hp rating) the top speed reached the magic 100 mph (160 km/h) with a best of 101 mph (163 km/h) over the quarter mile and the 0–60 mph (97 km/h) coming down to 10.4 seconds.
In 1937 the 2.5-litre car cost £395 and in 1938 the 3.5-litre £445.[3] The coupé, of which only one was made, was listed at £595. A few examples were supplied as chassis-only to external coachbuilders.
Widely considered to be one of the most aesthetically pleasing Jaguar cars it is also one of the rarest, with only 198 of the 2.5-litre and 116 of the 3.5-litre models being made. Most stayed on the home market but 49 were exported. Cars in good condition will now regularly fetch in excess of £300,000. A near concours example was sold by auctioneers Bonhams at the Goodwood Festival of Speed back in 2007 for £199,500 but largely because of the rarity, auction prices for the SS100 have risen very strongly since then.
More recently a perfectly restored example and former Pebble Beach concours winning 1937 S.S. Jaguar 100 3½ Litre Roadster - was sold by Gooding & Co. on 17 August 2010 at their Pebble Beach auction. It fetched an astonishing £666,270 ($1,045,000).[4]
It was on an SS100 that the famous Jaguar 'leaper' was first prominently displayed, despite an inauspicious start. In mid 1936 the first version of the Jaguar vehicle mascot was apparently described by the founder of the company as "looking like a cat shot off a fence". A later publicity photograph of the new Model 100 "Jaguar" (registration mark CKV 250) parked outside the offices of SS Cars Ltd in early 1937 shows a revised Jaguar 'leaper' mascot mounted on he radiator cap. It is this more stylised 'leaper' that became the basis for subsequent mascots and the trade mark for Jaguar Cars Ltd that has been used to the present day.
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.
For our staff meeting the opening activity was being paired up (Zoom breakout room, natch) and were told to share a favorite word.
Mine was in my hand. But more came in the telling. Yes, I love the taste of coffee, but more the connotation of relaxed conversation with friends or family, especially on our old style wood farm table.
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.
In Armenian mythology, the pomegranate is celebrated as a symbol of life and is also believed to keep us safe from evil spirits. It has religious connotations to Christianity and is seen as the blood of Christ. The mythology of ancient Greece regarded this fruit as the symbol of life, marriage and rebirth. The fruit is also used as a holy symbol and respected in zoroastrian worshipping ceremonies and rituals.The pomegranate symbolises the soul’s immortality and the perfection of nature for Zoroastrians. For Muslims, the pomegranate is also a symbol of beauty, it is said to give beauty to those who eat it. Prophet Mohammed has advised pregnant women to eat pomegranates if they wanted beautiful children. Placement of pomegranate trees in the gardens of Eden, brings meaning for Muslims, who as a result believe that it is a holy tree. The Jewish mysticism called Kabbala reveres the pomegranate in many of its rituals. In modern Turkey today, many families throw a pomegranate on the floor and “crack” it on the New Year’s Eve to have a plentiful new year. Pomegranate still life. London, UK. July 16, 2019. Photo: Edmond Terakopian ***Photo taken using a pre-production Lumix S 24-70mm f2.8 lens, running early firmware. This lens is not a final production sample*** COPYRIGHT PHOTO
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
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
A typical Kashmiri Pandit Woman in her traditional attire. This dress had "Naagh" connotations and context with a headgear and extended serpentine tail.
52 in 2013 - Week # 38 - Street Photography
Snohomish, WA
I normally dislike this theme. It's uncomfortable, shooting strangers. I feel like such a voyeur, with the worst possible connotation.
So I was going to go with this horrible multi-pic that I shot with my iPhone on Friday afternoon of some of the walkers in the Susan G. Komen 3Day that were walking or riding by our office in their pink tutus and hats. But it was awful. I wasn't even going to submit it to the group. I uploaded it then I deleted it. I just couldn't be that lazy. I have not been participating well. I've been phoning it in. On Sunday, I would go out and take some real pictures.
But today, it was raining. Then I thought, in the Northwest, the rain does not slow us down. It can't. So I went to downtown Snohomish, and the people were out in force. Some of them even eating outside, in the drizzle. The shots weren't a lot better than my iPhone shots, but hey, at least I put in a little actual EFFORT. And you know, it was even kinda fun. Thinking about what each of these people was up to, how their day might be going. You might even say I enjoyed it.
I love this group for getting me out of my comfort zone. Thanks guys!
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
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
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
Better Larger.
Opened in 1829, the ESP was the first modern prison in the world; it pioneered the idea that if prisoners were given quiet time to reflect rather than being tortured, they would feel penitent (this is the root of the word "penitentiary") and could rejoin society as productive members. Thus, for many decades the prisoners here were kept in their own cells and were prohibited from interacting with their fellow inmates. They exercised in individual, walled outdoor areas that were attached to their cells. It was only much later that "solitary confinement" came to acquire a negative connotation, as a special punishment for infractions committed while already in prison.
Among the ESP's more illustrious inmates in its 142 years of operation were Al Capone (who spent a year here), and the bank robber Willie Sutton. But perhaps its most unusual inmate was a dog, Pep (a black Labrador retriever). Said canine reportedly killed a cat belonging to Pennsylvania governor Gifford Pinchot; the governor retaliated by sentencing the dog to life in prison. I even saw a picture of the dog's admittance papers (he was admitted in 1924). But then the Governor got a lot of bad press over this, so he changed his story and said that the dog was his, and that he had donated it to the prison for the betterment of the inmates. Yeah, right.
In the mid-19th century, the ESP was quite the tourist attraction. Its distinguished visitors in that era included Alexis de Tocqueville and a young Charles Dickens. Before embarking on his first trip to the U.S. in 1842, Dickens said that the two places in this nation that he most wanted to see were Niagara Falls, and the Eastern State Penitentiary.
Dorothea Lange, born in 1895 in New Jersey, produced a considerable number of documentary photographs for the American government during the Great Depression. From 1914-1917, she attended the New York Training School for Teachers and, possibly due to the influence of Arnold Genthe, decided to pursue photography. She took a class with Clarence White in 1918, and, the following year, she moved to San Francisco and established her own portrait studio. In the 1920’s, she grew tired of working in the studio and experimented with outdoor subjects and landscapes. The majority of her notable work, focused on the contemporary human condition, witnessed its greatest extent during the years following the 1929 stock market crash. Lange traveled across the country, meeting truthful victims and recording their plight. Her documentary photography earned her a solo exhibition in 1934, and she continued to communicate her images to the public, publishing An American Exodus, in collaboration with Taylor in 1939. Imbued with political message, her work continued to act as social commentary, and she worked for the FSA and War Relocation Authority. Her later work focuses on religious issues in America, which she began exploring when she received a Guggenheim fellowship in 1941. She died in California in 1965.
Dorothea Lange’s 1938 photograph, The Road West, serves as a perfect example of the road photography that she produced during her documentary work for the American government in the years following the 1929 stock market crash. While many of the images created in these years presents human subjects and their plight, this photo turns the lens on the symbolic and literal connotations of the road. Here, the endless stretch of pavement, in conjunction with the bleak horizon, parallels the turmoil of the contemporary human condition and the troubled absence of assured change and optimism. The photo, symmetrically composed, acts a snapshot representing both the artist’s personal travels and the constant movement of displaced American citizens. The road is a vehicle for both exploration and the endless tomorrows associated with homeless migrants.
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.