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"Life is a flame that is always burning itself out, but it catches fire again every time a child is born."
George Bernard Shaw
exciting! they're alive and - literally - kicking. due in july!
spannend! ze zijn - letterlijk - springlevend. uitgerekend in juli!
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We are expecting our first frost soon. So I had to go out and shoot some of the last flowers of the season.
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Was not expecting to see cosplays of this high a caliber on Monday morning of the con. Kroenen was striking some really nice action poses.
Tech stuff: This is a blended photograph. I took two shots (with and without flash) and both had good and bad elements. Kroenen was from the non-flash picture so I pasted her on top of the flash version - which, oddly enough, was kind of blurry - masked out a helluva lot of her silhouette, added in a bunch of differing layers and filters (Topaz) to even out both cosplayers brightnesses, and blended Kroenen's edges to make her look like she was part of the original photo.
Did it work? Any technical critiques or ideas of what to do differently would be appreciated.
Really wasn't expecting to see this in Dover today!, and this vehicle had brought School Groups to Dover Castle which is now open again daily except Mondays, however these are not the best shots as their groups were about to board them.
And be sure to check by my other acount: www.flickr.com/photos_user.gne?path=&nsid=77145939%40..., to see what else I saw Very Recently!!
Having never been to the "Wild" West Hollywood Halloween Parade before I was unsure of exactly what to expect. I knew about the outrageous Halloween Costumes, and the wild parties from the news media though. I also knew there would be lots of cross dressers.
A meetup group was supposed to meet at a nearby parking structure but it got cancelled at the last minute and naturally I chose to go it alone rather than turn back. What's that we used to say - "Though I be the Lone Survivor..." hmmm, amazing how that Creed still comes in handy 30 some years later...
Parking was challenging but I found a reasonably priced lot about a mile away and grabbed my gear and walked down to the parade route.
I staked myself out under a streetlamp in the middle of Santa Monica Blvd, and tried to get as many of the unique and good costumes as I could. One of the inside jokes is to let the newbies keep asking "What time does the parade start?" All night long. Eventually they figure it out.
These pictures were shot with a brand new Canon 7D with a ringflash. Unfortunately the ringflash blocks the focusing light from the flash unit so there were some challenges focusing in the poor light. With every breakthrough comes new obstacles. Such is life.
The Canon 7D preformed reasonably well under the circumstances. It sure as heck ain't no 1D or 5D, but it is an 18 Megapixel, APS-C 1.6x Crop sensor size, and very practical. It has a bunch of features that the 5Dii doesn't have, although the 5Dii has a much higher quality sensor, which is also slightly larger (21 Megapixel), as well as being full frame. The 7D is also noisier than the 1D or 5d at anything higher than ISO 400, but was useable under the circumstances. It also does video, but I didn't try to use it that night. I've obviously been spoiled by my 1D.
I ran out of biz cards the first hour. If your picture is in here, just use flickr mail to send me your email address, me and I'll send you the file at No Charge.
I'll be back next year - this is a fun parade.
I was in the area, checking up on the Heath Spotted Orchids, and the church was a five minute drive away, in the grounds of a former country house.
I park at the church and find it locked, as expected, but there were directions to a keyholder nearby, walking into the cobbled squares and converted estate buildings now executive housing.
I ring the bell: nothing
I ring again: nothing
I use the knocker: dog barks. Dog attacks the door.
There is angry voices. Or voice. There was the sound of the dog being put into a side room, and the struggle to close the door.
The front door opened: yes?
Can I have the church key, please?
Not sure if I still have it.
Why'd you want it?
To photograph the interior.
Who're with?
I'm with no one, I am photographing all parish churches in the county, and would like to do this one. I showed him my driving licence which should say under job title: obsessive and church crawler.
He seemed satisfied, and let me have the key.
Phew.
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Substantially rebuilt after a fire of 1598. The welcoming interior displays no chancel arch, although the doorways in the arcade show where the medieval rood screen ran the width of the church. The striking east window was designed by Wallace Wood in 1954. There is a good aumbry and piscina nearby. To the north of the chancel stands the excellent tomb chest of Sir John Tufton (d. 1624). The arcade into which it is built was lowered to allow a semi-circular alabaster ceiling to be inserted to set the composition off. Because it is completely free-standing it is one of the easiest tomb chests in Kent to study, with five sons kneeling on the south side and four daughters on the north . In addition there are complicated coats of arms and an inscription which records the rebuilding of the church by Tufton after the fire. On top of the chest lie Sir John and his wife, with their son Nicholas kneeling between their heads. Much of the monument is still covered with its original paint. The organ, which stands in the south aisle, may be the instrument on which Sir Arthur Sullivan composed 'The Lost Chord'. It originally stood in Hothfield Place where Sullivan was a frequent guest.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Hothfield
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HOTHFIELD
IS the next parish northward from Great Chart, and is so called from the bothe, or heath within it. The greatest part of this parish lies within the hundred of Chart and Longbridge, and the remainder in that of Calehill. It is in the division of East Kent.
THE PARISH of Hothfield lies a little more than two miles from Ashford north-westward, the high road from which towards Lenham and Maidstone goes through it over Hothfield heath. It contains about 1250 acres, and fifty houses, the rents of it are about 1300l. per annum. It is not a pleasant, nor is it accounted a healthy situation, owing probably to the many low and watry lands in and about it. The river Stour, which rises at Lenham, runs along the southern side of the parish, which is watered likewise by several small streams, which rise about Charing and Westwell, from under the chalk hills, and join the Stour here. The heath, which contains near one half of the parish, consists mostly of a deep sand, and has much peat on it, which is continually dug by the poor for firing. On the east and west sides of the heath, the latter being called West-street, are two hamlets of houses, which form the scattered village of Hothfield. The Place-house stands on a hill, at a small distance from the corner of the heath southward, with some small plantations of trees about it, forming a principal object to the country round it. It is a square mansion, built of Portland stone, by the late earl of Thanet, on the scite of the antient mansion, close to the church; it has a good prospect round it. The adjoining grass grounds are extensive, and well laid out for the view over them; the water, which rises at no great distance from the house, becomes very soon a tolerable sized stream, and running on in sight of it, joins the Stour a little above Worting mill; these grass lands are fertile and good fatting land, like those mentioned before, near Godington, in Great Chart. The parsonage house, which is a neat dwelling of white stucco, stands at the southern corner of the heath, at the foot of the hill, adjoining the Place grounds, near West-street. Between the heath and Potter's corner, towards Ashford, the soil begins to approach much of the quarry stone.
Though the land in the parish is naturally poor, it is rendered productive by the chalk and lime procured from the down hills. The inhabitants have an unlimited right of commoning with those of the adjoining parish of Westwell, to upwards of five hundred acres of common, which affords them the means of keeping a cow and their poultry, which, with the liberty of digging peat, draws a number of certificated poor to reside here. There is not one dissenter in the parish.
Jack Cade, the noted rebel, in Henry the VI.th's reign, though generally supposed to be taken by Alexander Iden, esq. the sheriff, in a field belonging to Ripple manor, in the adjoining parish of Westwell, was discovered, as some say, in a field in this parish, still named from him, Jack Cade's field, now laid open with the rest of the grounds adjoining to Hothfieldplace.
The plant caryophyllata montena, or water avens, which is a very uncommon one, grows in a wood near Barber's hill, in this parish.
THE MANOR OF HOTHFIELD seems, in very early times, to have had the same owners as the barony of Chilham, and to have continued so, for a considerable length of time after the descendants of Fulbert de Dover were become extinct here. Bartholomew de Badlesmere, who in the 5th year of king Edward II. had a grant of this manor as well as of Chilham in see, appears to have held this manor of Hothfield by grand sergeantry of the archbishop, and accordingly, in the 8th year of it, at the enthroning of archbishop Walter Reynolds, he made his claim, and was allowed to perform the office of chamberlain for that day, and to serve up the water, for the archbishop to wash his hands; for which his fees were, the furniture of his bedchamber, and the bason and towel made use of for that purpose; (fn. 1) and in the next year he obtained of the king, a charter of free-warren for his demesne lands within this manor among others. After this the manor of Hothfield continued to be held by the like service, and continued in the same owners as that of Chilham, (fn. 2) down to Thomas lord Roos, who became entitled to the see of it, who for his attachment to the house of Lancaster, was, with others, attainted, in the 1st year of king Edward IV.'s reign, and his lands confiscated to the crown. But Margaret his mother, being possessed of it for her life, afterwards married Roger Wentworth, esq. whom she survived, and died possessed of it in the 18th year of that reign; upon which, by reason of the above attaint, the crown became entitled to it, the inquisition for which was found in the 4th year of that reign; immediately after which, the king granted it to Sir John Fogge, of Repton, who was comptroller of his household and one of his privy council, for his life. On king Richard III.'s accession to the crown, he took shelter in the abbey of Westminster, from whence he was invited by the king, who in the presence of a numerous assembly gave him his hand, and bid him be confident that from thenceforward he was sure to him in affection. This is rather mentioned, as divers chronicles have erroneously mentioned that he was an attorney, whom this prince had pardoned for forgery. He died possessed of it in the 17th year of Henry VII. where it remained till Henry VIII. granted it, at the very latter end of his reign, to John Tufton, esq. of Northiam, in Sussex, whose lands were disgavelled by the acts of 2 and 3 Edward VI. who afterwards resided at Hothfield, where he kept his shrievalty in the 3d year of queen Elizabeth. He was descended from ancestors who were originally written Toketon, and held lands in Rainham, in this county, as early as king John's reign; (fn. 3) one of whom was seated at Northiam, in Sussex, in king Richard the IId.'s reign, at which time they were written as at present, Tufton, and they continued there till John Tufton, esq. of Northiam, before-mentioned, removed hither. He died in 1567, and was buried in this church, leaving one son John Tufton, who resided at Hothfield-place, and in July, in the 16th year of queen Elizabeth, anno 1573, entertained the queen here, in her progress through this county. In the 17th year of that reign he was sheriff, and being a person of eminent repure and abilities, he was knighted by king James, in his 1st year, and created a baronet at the first institution of that order, on June 19, 1611. He married Olimpia, daughter and heir of Christopher Blower, esq. of Sileham, in Rainham, by whom he had three daughters; and secondly Christian, daughter and coheir of Sir Humphry Brown, a justice of the common pleas. He died in 1624, and was buried in this church, having had by her several sons and daughters. Of the former, Nicholas the eldest, succeeded him in title and estates. Sir Humphry was of Bobbing and the Mote, in Maidstone, and Sir William was of Vinters, in Boxley, both baronets, of whom further mention has already been made in the former parts of this history.
Sir Nicholas Tufton, the eldest son, was by letters patent, dated Nov. 1, anno 2 Charles I. created lord Tufton, baron of Tufton, in Sussex; and on August 5, in the 4th year of that reign, earl of the Isle of Thanet, in this county. He had four sons and nine daughters; of the former, John succeeded him in honors, and Cecil, was father of Sir Charles Tufton, of Twickenham, in Middlesex. John, the eldest son, second earl of Thanet, married in 1629 Margaret, eldest daughter and coheir of Richard, earl of Dorset, by his wife the lady Anne Clifford, sole daughter and heir of George, earl of Cumberland, and baroness of Clifford, Westmoreland, and Vescy, by which marriage these tithes descended afterwards to their issue. In the time of the commonwealth, after king Charles the 1st.'s death, he was, in 1654, appointed sheriff, and however inconsistent it might be to his rank, yet he served the office. He left six sons and six daughters, and was succeeded by Nicholas his eldest son, third earl of Thanet, who by the deaths of his mother in 1676, and of his cousin-german Alethea, then wife of Edward Hungerford, esq. who died s. p. in 1678, he became heir to her, and sole heir to his grandmother Anne, lady Clifford, and consequently to the baronies of Clifford, Westmoreland, and Vescy; dying s. p. he was succeeded as earl of Thanet and lord Clifford, &c. by his next brother John, who, on his mother's death, succeeded likewise by her will to her large estates in Yorkshire and Westmoreland, and to the hereditary in sheriffdoms of the latter and of Cumberland likewise, for it frequently happened in these hereditary sheriffdoms that female heirs became possessed of them, and consequently were sheriffs of those districts; but this was not at all an unusual thing, there being many frequent instances of women bearing that office, as may be seen in most of the books in which any mention is made of it, some instances of which the reader may see in the differtation on the office of sheriff, in vol. i. of this history. That part of their office which was incompatible for a woman to exercise, was always executed by a deputy, or shyre-clerk, in their name. But among the Harleian MSS. is a very remarkable note taken from Mr. Attorney-general Noys reading in Lincoln's inn, in 1632, in which, upon a point, whether the office of a justice of a forest might be executed by a woman; it was said, that Margaret, countess of Richmond, mother to king Henry VII. was a justice of peace; that the lady Bartlet, perhaps meant for Berkley, was also made a justice of the peace by queen Mary, in Gloucestershire; and that in Suffolk one ..... Rowse, a woman, did usually fit upon the bench at assizes and sessions among other justices, gladio cincta. John, earl of Thanet, died unmarried, as did his next brother earl Richard, so that the titles devolved to Thomas Tufton, who became the sixth earl of Thanet, and lord Clifford, which latter title was decreed to him by the house of peers in 1691. He left surviving issue five daughters and coheirs, the eldest of whom, Catherine, married Ed. Watson, viscount Sondes, son and heir of Lewis, earl of Rockingham; and the four others married likewise into noble families. He died at Hothfield in 1729, having by his will bequeathed several legacies to charitable purposes, especially towards the augmentation of small vicarages and curacies. He died without male issue, so that the titles of earl of Thanet and baron Tufton, and of baronet, descended to his nephew Sackville Tufton, eldest surviving son of his brother Sackville Tufton, fifth son of John, second earl of Thanet. But the title of baroness Clifford, which included those of Westmoreland and Vescy, upon the death of Thomas, earl of Thanet, without male issue, became in abeyance between his daughters and coheirs above-mentioned, and in 1734, king George II. confirmed that barony to Margaret, his third surviving daughter and coheir, married to Thomas Coke, lord Lovel, afterwards created earl of Leicester, which title is now again in abeyance by his death s. p. Which Sackville Tufton died in 1721, leaving Sackville the seventh earl of Thanet, whose eldest son of the same name succeeded him as eighth earl of Thanet, and rebuilt the present mansion of Hothfield-place, in which he afterwards resided, but being obliged to travel to Italy for his health, he died there at Nice in 1786, and was brought to England, and buried in the family vault at Rainham, in this county, where his several ancestors, earls of Thanet, with their countesses, and other branches of the family, lie deposited, from the time of their first accession to that title. He married Mary, daughter of lord John Philip Sackville, sister of the present duke of Dorset, by whom he had five sons and two daughters, Elizabeth; and Caroline married to Joseph Foster Barham, esq. Of the former, Sackville, born in 1769, succeeded him in honors; Charles died unmarried; John is M. P. for Appleby; Henry is M. P. for Rochester, and William. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the present right hon. Sackville Tufton, earl of Thanet, baron Tufton, lord of the honor of Skipton, in Craven, and baronet, and hereditary sheriff of the counties of Westmoreland and Cumberland, who is the present possessor of this manor and seat, and resides here, and is at present unmarried. (fn. 4)
The antient arms of Tufton were, Argent, on a pale, sable, an eagle displayed of the field; which coat they continued to bear till Nicholas Tufton, the first earl of Thanet, on his obtaining that earldom, altered it to that of Sable, an eagle displayed, ermine, within a bordure, argent; which coat was confirmed by Sir William Segar, garter, in 1628, and has been borne by his descendants to the present time. The present earl of Thanet bears for his coat of arms that last-mentioned; for his crest, On a wreath, a sea lion, seiant, proper; and for his supporters, Two eagles, their wings expanded, ermine.
SWINFORT, or Swinford, which is its more proper name, is a manor in this parish, lying in the southern part of it, near the river Stour, and probably took its name from some ford in former times over it here. However that be, it had formerly proprietors, who took their name from it; but they were never of any eminence, nor can I discover when they became extinct here; only that in king Henry V.'s reign it was in the possession of Bridges, descended from John atte Bregg, one of those eminent persons, whose effigies, kneeling and habited in armour, was painted in the window often mentioned before, in Great Chart church; and in this family the manor of Swinford continued till the latter end of king James I.'s reign, when it passed by sale from one of them to Sir Nicholas Tufton, afterwards created earl of Thanet, whose son John, earl of Thanet, before the 20th year of that reign, exchanged it for other lands, which lay more convenient to him, with his near neighbour Nicholas Toke, esq. of Godinton, in which family and name it has continued down, in like manner as that feat, to Nicholas Roundell Toke, esq. now of Godinton, the present possessor of it. A court baron is held for this manor.
FAUSLEY, or FOUSLEY, as it is now usually called, is the last manor to be described in this parish; its more antient name was Foughleslee, or, as it was usually pronounced, Faulesley; which name it gave to owners who in early times possessed and resided at it. John de Foughleslee, of Hothfield, was owner of it in the second year of king Richard II. and in his descendants this manor seems to have continued till about the beginning of queen Elizabeth's reign, when it passed by sale to Drury; from which name, at the latter end of it, this manor was conveyed to Paris, who immediately afterwards alienated it to Bull, who soon afterwards reconveyed it back again to the same family, whence, in the next reign of king James I. it was sold to Sir Nicholas Tufton, afterwards created earl of Thanet, in whose successors, earls of Thanet, it has continued down to the right hon. Sackville, earl of Thanet, the present owner of it.
Charities.
RICHARD PARIS, by deed in 1577, gave for the use of the poor, a rent charge of 16s. per annum, out of land called Hanvilles, in this parish; the trustees of which have been long ago deceased, and no new ones appointed since.
THOMAS KIPPS, gent. of Canterbury, by will in 1680, gave for the use of the same, an annual rent charge of 1l. out of lards in Great Chart.
RICHARD MADOCKE, clothier, of this parish, by will in 1596, ordered that the 11l. which he had lent to the parishioners of Hothfield, towards the rebuilding of their church, should, when repaid, be as a stock to the poor of this parish for ever.
SIR JOHN TUFTON, knight and baronet, and Nicholas his son, first earl of Thanet, by their wills in 1620 and in 1630, gave certain sums of money, with which were purchased eight acres of land in the parish of Kingsnoth, of the annual produce of 10l.
DR. JOHN GRANDORGE, by deed in 1713, gave a house and land in Newington, near Hythe, of the annual produce of 7l. which premises are vested in the earl of Thanet.
THOMAS, EARL OF THANET, and SACKVILLE TUFTON. Esq. grandfather of the present earl, by their deeds in 1720 and 1726, gave for a school mistress to teach 24 poor children, a rent charge and a house and two gardens, in Hothfield, the produce in money 20l. The premises were vested in Sir Penyston Lambe and Dr. John Grandorge, long since deceased; since which the trust has not been renewed; and the original writings are in the earl of Thanet's possession.
Such of the above benefactions as have been contributed by the Tufton family, have been ordered by their descendants to be distributed annually by the steward of Hothfield-place for the time being, without the interference of the parish officers, to such as received no relief from this parish; the family looking upon these rather as a private munisicence intended to continue under their direction.
The poor annually relieved are about twenty-five, casually as many.
HOTHFIELD is situated within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Charing.
¶The church, which is small, is dedicated to St. Mary, and consists of three isles and a chancel, having a low spire steeple, covered with shingles at the west end, in which are five bells, and though it stands on a hill, is yet very damp. There is not any painted glass in the windows of it. On the north side in it, is a monument of curious workmanship, having the figures of a man and woman, in full proportion, lying at length on it; at three corners of it are those of two sons and one daughter, kneeling, weeping, all in white marble; round the edges is an inscription, for Sir John Tufton, knight and baronet, and Olympia his wife, daughter and heir of Christopher Blower, esq. On the monument are the arms of Tufton, with quarterings and impalements; on the sides are two inscriptions, one, that he re-edified this church after it was burnt, at his own charge, and under it made a vault for himself and his posterity, and after that he had lived eighty years, departed this life; the other enumerating his good qualities, and saying that by his will he gave perpetual legacies to this parish and that of Rainham. This monument is parted off from the north isle by a strong partition of wooden balustrades, seven feet high. The vault underneath is at most times several feet deep with water, and the few coffins which were remaining in it were some years since removed to the vaults at Rainham, where this family have been deposited ever since. On the north side of the chancel is a smaller one, formerly called St. Margaret's chapel, now shut up, and made no use of. In the south isle is a memorial for Rebecca, wife of William Henman, esq. obt. 1739, and Anna-Rebecca, their daughter, obt. 1752; arms, A lion, between three mascles, impaling a bend, cotized, engrailed. This church, which is a rectory, was always esteemed an appendage to the manor, and has passed accordingly, in like manner with it, down to the right hon. Sackville, earl of Thanet, lord of the manor of Hothfield, the present patron of it.
This rectory is valued in the king's books at 17l. 5s. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 14s. 6d.
There was a pension of ten shillings paid from it to the college of Wye. In 1588 here were communicants one hundred and ninety-three, and it was valued at eighty pounds. In 1640, communicants one hundred and ninety, and valued at only sixty pounds per annum. There is a modus of two pence an acre of the pasture lands in the parish. There are twelve acres of glebe. It is now worth about one hundred and twenty pounds per annum.
Richard Hall, of this parish, by will in 1524, ordered that his feoffees should enfeoffe certain honest persons in his house and garden here, set beside the pelery, to the intent that the yearly serme of them should go to the maintenance of the rode-light within the church.
This church was burnt down in the reign of king James I. and was rebuilt at the sole expence of Sir John Tufton, knight and baronet, who died in 1624. His descendant Thomas, earl of Thanet, who died in 1729, gave the present altar-piece, some of the pewing, and the pulpit.
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I have had a busy week, three previews and a full session on the blog! This is the last for now. Meet Kelly, Eric, and their baby to be. Oh yeah and that is Marco staring at Kelly. We had a beautiful evening this past week at Tinley Park's Centennial Park. The light was great and I cannot wait to sift through the photos. Check out the full preview below!
Also, probably be shooting around the city this evening and maybe catch a sunrise this weekend if anyone is interested!! Hit me up.
View the full preview here: Preview: Kelly + Eric {Expecting}!
Enjoy and don't forget to check out my website for Prints: Christopher|F Photography
My facebook fanpage: Christopher|F Photography fanpage
Traffic queues past the site of Stonehenge on the eve of Summer Solstice.
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» LongExposures website and blog
I was in the area, checking up on the Heath Spotted Orchids, and the church was a five minute drive away, in the grounds of a former country house.
I park at the church and find it locked, as expected, but there were directions to a keyholder nearby, walking into the cobbled squares and converted estate buildings now executive housing.
I ring the bell: nothing
I ring again: nothing
I use the knocker: dog barks. Dog attacks the door.
There is angry voices. Or voice. There was the sound of the dog being put into a side room, and the struggle to close the door.
The front door opened: yes?
Can I have the church key, please?
Not sure if I still have it.
Why'd you want it?
To photograph the interior.
Who're with?
I'm with no one, I am photographing all parish churches in the county, and would like to do this one. I showed him my driving licence which should say under job title: obsessive and church crawler.
He seemed satisfied, and let me have the key.
Phew.
Inside two things you notice; one is the box tomb, finely carved and still with traces of the original paint, and secondly, the organ is in pieces, and apparently the most complicated jigsaw you ever did see
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Substantially rebuilt after a fire of 1598. The welcoming interior displays no chancel arch, although the doorways in the arcade show where the medieval rood screen ran the width of the church. The striking east window was designed by Wallace Wood in 1954. There is a good aumbry and piscina nearby. To the north of the chancel stands the excellent tomb chest of Sir John Tufton (d. 1624). The arcade into which it is built was lowered to allow a semi-circular alabaster ceiling to be inserted to set the composition off. Because it is completely free-standing it is one of the easiest tomb chests in Kent to study, with five sons kneeling on the south side and four daughters on the north . In addition there are complicated coats of arms and an inscription which records the rebuilding of the church by Tufton after the fire. On top of the chest lie Sir John and his wife, with their son Nicholas kneeling between their heads. Much of the monument is still covered with its original paint. The organ, which stands in the south aisle, may be the instrument on which Sir Arthur Sullivan composed 'The Lost Chord'. It originally stood in Hothfield Place where Sullivan was a frequent guest.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Hothfield
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HOTHFIELD
IS the next parish northward from Great Chart, and is so called from the bothe, or heath within it. The greatest part of this parish lies within the hundred of Chart and Longbridge, and the remainder in that of Calehill. It is in the division of East Kent.
THE PARISH of Hothfield lies a little more than two miles from Ashford north-westward, the high road from which towards Lenham and Maidstone goes through it over Hothfield heath. It contains about 1250 acres, and fifty houses, the rents of it are about 1300l. per annum. It is not a pleasant, nor is it accounted a healthy situation, owing probably to the many low and watry lands in and about it. The river Stour, which rises at Lenham, runs along the southern side of the parish, which is watered likewise by several small streams, which rise about Charing and Westwell, from under the chalk hills, and join the Stour here. The heath, which contains near one half of the parish, consists mostly of a deep sand, and has much peat on it, which is continually dug by the poor for firing. On the east and west sides of the heath, the latter being called West-street, are two hamlets of houses, which form the scattered village of Hothfield. The Place-house stands on a hill, at a small distance from the corner of the heath southward, with some small plantations of trees about it, forming a principal object to the country round it. It is a square mansion, built of Portland stone, by the late earl of Thanet, on the scite of the antient mansion, close to the church; it has a good prospect round it. The adjoining grass grounds are extensive, and well laid out for the view over them; the water, which rises at no great distance from the house, becomes very soon a tolerable sized stream, and running on in sight of it, joins the Stour a little above Worting mill; these grass lands are fertile and good fatting land, like those mentioned before, near Godington, in Great Chart. The parsonage house, which is a neat dwelling of white stucco, stands at the southern corner of the heath, at the foot of the hill, adjoining the Place grounds, near West-street. Between the heath and Potter's corner, towards Ashford, the soil begins to approach much of the quarry stone.
Though the land in the parish is naturally poor, it is rendered productive by the chalk and lime procured from the down hills. The inhabitants have an unlimited right of commoning with those of the adjoining parish of Westwell, to upwards of five hundred acres of common, which affords them the means of keeping a cow and their poultry, which, with the liberty of digging peat, draws a number of certificated poor to reside here. There is not one dissenter in the parish.
Jack Cade, the noted rebel, in Henry the VI.th's reign, though generally supposed to be taken by Alexander Iden, esq. the sheriff, in a field belonging to Ripple manor, in the adjoining parish of Westwell, was discovered, as some say, in a field in this parish, still named from him, Jack Cade's field, now laid open with the rest of the grounds adjoining to Hothfieldplace.
The plant caryophyllata montena, or water avens, which is a very uncommon one, grows in a wood near Barber's hill, in this parish.
THE MANOR OF HOTHFIELD seems, in very early times, to have had the same owners as the barony of Chilham, and to have continued so, for a considerable length of time after the descendants of Fulbert de Dover were become extinct here. Bartholomew de Badlesmere, who in the 5th year of king Edward II. had a grant of this manor as well as of Chilham in see, appears to have held this manor of Hothfield by grand sergeantry of the archbishop, and accordingly, in the 8th year of it, at the enthroning of archbishop Walter Reynolds, he made his claim, and was allowed to perform the office of chamberlain for that day, and to serve up the water, for the archbishop to wash his hands; for which his fees were, the furniture of his bedchamber, and the bason and towel made use of for that purpose; (fn. 1) and in the next year he obtained of the king, a charter of free-warren for his demesne lands within this manor among others. After this the manor of Hothfield continued to be held by the like service, and continued in the same owners as that of Chilham, (fn. 2) down to Thomas lord Roos, who became entitled to the see of it, who for his attachment to the house of Lancaster, was, with others, attainted, in the 1st year of king Edward IV.'s reign, and his lands confiscated to the crown. But Margaret his mother, being possessed of it for her life, afterwards married Roger Wentworth, esq. whom she survived, and died possessed of it in the 18th year of that reign; upon which, by reason of the above attaint, the crown became entitled to it, the inquisition for which was found in the 4th year of that reign; immediately after which, the king granted it to Sir John Fogge, of Repton, who was comptroller of his household and one of his privy council, for his life. On king Richard III.'s accession to the crown, he took shelter in the abbey of Westminster, from whence he was invited by the king, who in the presence of a numerous assembly gave him his hand, and bid him be confident that from thenceforward he was sure to him in affection. This is rather mentioned, as divers chronicles have erroneously mentioned that he was an attorney, whom this prince had pardoned for forgery. He died possessed of it in the 17th year of Henry VII. where it remained till Henry VIII. granted it, at the very latter end of his reign, to John Tufton, esq. of Northiam, in Sussex, whose lands were disgavelled by the acts of 2 and 3 Edward VI. who afterwards resided at Hothfield, where he kept his shrievalty in the 3d year of queen Elizabeth. He was descended from ancestors who were originally written Toketon, and held lands in Rainham, in this county, as early as king John's reign; (fn. 3) one of whom was seated at Northiam, in Sussex, in king Richard the IId.'s reign, at which time they were written as at present, Tufton, and they continued there till John Tufton, esq. of Northiam, before-mentioned, removed hither. He died in 1567, and was buried in this church, leaving one son John Tufton, who resided at Hothfield-place, and in July, in the 16th year of queen Elizabeth, anno 1573, entertained the queen here, in her progress through this county. In the 17th year of that reign he was sheriff, and being a person of eminent repure and abilities, he was knighted by king James, in his 1st year, and created a baronet at the first institution of that order, on June 19, 1611. He married Olimpia, daughter and heir of Christopher Blower, esq. of Sileham, in Rainham, by whom he had three daughters; and secondly Christian, daughter and coheir of Sir Humphry Brown, a justice of the common pleas. He died in 1624, and was buried in this church, having had by her several sons and daughters. Of the former, Nicholas the eldest, succeeded him in title and estates. Sir Humphry was of Bobbing and the Mote, in Maidstone, and Sir William was of Vinters, in Boxley, both baronets, of whom further mention has already been made in the former parts of this history.
Sir Nicholas Tufton, the eldest son, was by letters patent, dated Nov. 1, anno 2 Charles I. created lord Tufton, baron of Tufton, in Sussex; and on August 5, in the 4th year of that reign, earl of the Isle of Thanet, in this county. He had four sons and nine daughters; of the former, John succeeded him in honors, and Cecil, was father of Sir Charles Tufton, of Twickenham, in Middlesex. John, the eldest son, second earl of Thanet, married in 1629 Margaret, eldest daughter and coheir of Richard, earl of Dorset, by his wife the lady Anne Clifford, sole daughter and heir of George, earl of Cumberland, and baroness of Clifford, Westmoreland, and Vescy, by which marriage these tithes descended afterwards to their issue. In the time of the commonwealth, after king Charles the 1st.'s death, he was, in 1654, appointed sheriff, and however inconsistent it might be to his rank, yet he served the office. He left six sons and six daughters, and was succeeded by Nicholas his eldest son, third earl of Thanet, who by the deaths of his mother in 1676, and of his cousin-german Alethea, then wife of Edward Hungerford, esq. who died s. p. in 1678, he became heir to her, and sole heir to his grandmother Anne, lady Clifford, and consequently to the baronies of Clifford, Westmoreland, and Vescy; dying s. p. he was succeeded as earl of Thanet and lord Clifford, &c. by his next brother John, who, on his mother's death, succeeded likewise by her will to her large estates in Yorkshire and Westmoreland, and to the hereditary in sheriffdoms of the latter and of Cumberland likewise, for it frequently happened in these hereditary sheriffdoms that female heirs became possessed of them, and consequently were sheriffs of those districts; but this was not at all an unusual thing, there being many frequent instances of women bearing that office, as may be seen in most of the books in which any mention is made of it, some instances of which the reader may see in the differtation on the office of sheriff, in vol. i. of this history. That part of their office which was incompatible for a woman to exercise, was always executed by a deputy, or shyre-clerk, in their name. But among the Harleian MSS. is a very remarkable note taken from Mr. Attorney-general Noys reading in Lincoln's inn, in 1632, in which, upon a point, whether the office of a justice of a forest might be executed by a woman; it was said, that Margaret, countess of Richmond, mother to king Henry VII. was a justice of peace; that the lady Bartlet, perhaps meant for Berkley, was also made a justice of the peace by queen Mary, in Gloucestershire; and that in Suffolk one ..... Rowse, a woman, did usually fit upon the bench at assizes and sessions among other justices, gladio cincta. John, earl of Thanet, died unmarried, as did his next brother earl Richard, so that the titles devolved to Thomas Tufton, who became the sixth earl of Thanet, and lord Clifford, which latter title was decreed to him by the house of peers in 1691. He left surviving issue five daughters and coheirs, the eldest of whom, Catherine, married Ed. Watson, viscount Sondes, son and heir of Lewis, earl of Rockingham; and the four others married likewise into noble families. He died at Hothfield in 1729, having by his will bequeathed several legacies to charitable purposes, especially towards the augmentation of small vicarages and curacies. He died without male issue, so that the titles of earl of Thanet and baron Tufton, and of baronet, descended to his nephew Sackville Tufton, eldest surviving son of his brother Sackville Tufton, fifth son of John, second earl of Thanet. But the title of baroness Clifford, which included those of Westmoreland and Vescy, upon the death of Thomas, earl of Thanet, without male issue, became in abeyance between his daughters and coheirs above-mentioned, and in 1734, king George II. confirmed that barony to Margaret, his third surviving daughter and coheir, married to Thomas Coke, lord Lovel, afterwards created earl of Leicester, which title is now again in abeyance by his death s. p. Which Sackville Tufton died in 1721, leaving Sackville the seventh earl of Thanet, whose eldest son of the same name succeeded him as eighth earl of Thanet, and rebuilt the present mansion of Hothfield-place, in which he afterwards resided, but being obliged to travel to Italy for his health, he died there at Nice in 1786, and was brought to England, and buried in the family vault at Rainham, in this county, where his several ancestors, earls of Thanet, with their countesses, and other branches of the family, lie deposited, from the time of their first accession to that title. He married Mary, daughter of lord John Philip Sackville, sister of the present duke of Dorset, by whom he had five sons and two daughters, Elizabeth; and Caroline married to Joseph Foster Barham, esq. Of the former, Sackville, born in 1769, succeeded him in honors; Charles died unmarried; John is M. P. for Appleby; Henry is M. P. for Rochester, and William. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the present right hon. Sackville Tufton, earl of Thanet, baron Tufton, lord of the honor of Skipton, in Craven, and baronet, and hereditary sheriff of the counties of Westmoreland and Cumberland, who is the present possessor of this manor and seat, and resides here, and is at present unmarried. (fn. 4)
The antient arms of Tufton were, Argent, on a pale, sable, an eagle displayed of the field; which coat they continued to bear till Nicholas Tufton, the first earl of Thanet, on his obtaining that earldom, altered it to that of Sable, an eagle displayed, ermine, within a bordure, argent; which coat was confirmed by Sir William Segar, garter, in 1628, and has been borne by his descendants to the present time. The present earl of Thanet bears for his coat of arms that last-mentioned; for his crest, On a wreath, a sea lion, seiant, proper; and for his supporters, Two eagles, their wings expanded, ermine.
SWINFORT, or Swinford, which is its more proper name, is a manor in this parish, lying in the southern part of it, near the river Stour, and probably took its name from some ford in former times over it here. However that be, it had formerly proprietors, who took their name from it; but they were never of any eminence, nor can I discover when they became extinct here; only that in king Henry V.'s reign it was in the possession of Bridges, descended from John atte Bregg, one of those eminent persons, whose effigies, kneeling and habited in armour, was painted in the window often mentioned before, in Great Chart church; and in this family the manor of Swinford continued till the latter end of king James I.'s reign, when it passed by sale from one of them to Sir Nicholas Tufton, afterwards created earl of Thanet, whose son John, earl of Thanet, before the 20th year of that reign, exchanged it for other lands, which lay more convenient to him, with his near neighbour Nicholas Toke, esq. of Godinton, in which family and name it has continued down, in like manner as that feat, to Nicholas Roundell Toke, esq. now of Godinton, the present possessor of it. A court baron is held for this manor.
FAUSLEY, or FOUSLEY, as it is now usually called, is the last manor to be described in this parish; its more antient name was Foughleslee, or, as it was usually pronounced, Faulesley; which name it gave to owners who in early times possessed and resided at it. John de Foughleslee, of Hothfield, was owner of it in the second year of king Richard II. and in his descendants this manor seems to have continued till about the beginning of queen Elizabeth's reign, when it passed by sale to Drury; from which name, at the latter end of it, this manor was conveyed to Paris, who immediately afterwards alienated it to Bull, who soon afterwards reconveyed it back again to the same family, whence, in the next reign of king James I. it was sold to Sir Nicholas Tufton, afterwards created earl of Thanet, in whose successors, earls of Thanet, it has continued down to the right hon. Sackville, earl of Thanet, the present owner of it.
Charities.
RICHARD PARIS, by deed in 1577, gave for the use of the poor, a rent charge of 16s. per annum, out of land called Hanvilles, in this parish; the trustees of which have been long ago deceased, and no new ones appointed since.
THOMAS KIPPS, gent. of Canterbury, by will in 1680, gave for the use of the same, an annual rent charge of 1l. out of lards in Great Chart.
RICHARD MADOCKE, clothier, of this parish, by will in 1596, ordered that the 11l. which he had lent to the parishioners of Hothfield, towards the rebuilding of their church, should, when repaid, be as a stock to the poor of this parish for ever.
SIR JOHN TUFTON, knight and baronet, and Nicholas his son, first earl of Thanet, by their wills in 1620 and in 1630, gave certain sums of money, with which were purchased eight acres of land in the parish of Kingsnoth, of the annual produce of 10l.
DR. JOHN GRANDORGE, by deed in 1713, gave a house and land in Newington, near Hythe, of the annual produce of 7l. which premises are vested in the earl of Thanet.
THOMAS, EARL OF THANET, and SACKVILLE TUFTON. Esq. grandfather of the present earl, by their deeds in 1720 and 1726, gave for a school mistress to teach 24 poor children, a rent charge and a house and two gardens, in Hothfield, the produce in money 20l. The premises were vested in Sir Penyston Lambe and Dr. John Grandorge, long since deceased; since which the trust has not been renewed; and the original writings are in the earl of Thanet's possession.
Such of the above benefactions as have been contributed by the Tufton family, have been ordered by their descendants to be distributed annually by the steward of Hothfield-place for the time being, without the interference of the parish officers, to such as received no relief from this parish; the family looking upon these rather as a private munisicence intended to continue under their direction.
The poor annually relieved are about twenty-five, casually as many.
HOTHFIELD is situated within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Charing.
¶The church, which is small, is dedicated to St. Mary, and consists of three isles and a chancel, having a low spire steeple, covered with shingles at the west end, in which are five bells, and though it stands on a hill, is yet very damp. There is not any painted glass in the windows of it. On the north side in it, is a monument of curious workmanship, having the figures of a man and woman, in full proportion, lying at length on it; at three corners of it are those of two sons and one daughter, kneeling, weeping, all in white marble; round the edges is an inscription, for Sir John Tufton, knight and baronet, and Olympia his wife, daughter and heir of Christopher Blower, esq. On the monument are the arms of Tufton, with quarterings and impalements; on the sides are two inscriptions, one, that he re-edified this church after it was burnt, at his own charge, and under it made a vault for himself and his posterity, and after that he had lived eighty years, departed this life; the other enumerating his good qualities, and saying that by his will he gave perpetual legacies to this parish and that of Rainham. This monument is parted off from the north isle by a strong partition of wooden balustrades, seven feet high. The vault underneath is at most times several feet deep with water, and the few coffins which were remaining in it were some years since removed to the vaults at Rainham, where this family have been deposited ever since. On the north side of the chancel is a smaller one, formerly called St. Margaret's chapel, now shut up, and made no use of. In the south isle is a memorial for Rebecca, wife of William Henman, esq. obt. 1739, and Anna-Rebecca, their daughter, obt. 1752; arms, A lion, between three mascles, impaling a bend, cotized, engrailed. This church, which is a rectory, was always esteemed an appendage to the manor, and has passed accordingly, in like manner with it, down to the right hon. Sackville, earl of Thanet, lord of the manor of Hothfield, the present patron of it.
This rectory is valued in the king's books at 17l. 5s. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 14s. 6d.
There was a pension of ten shillings paid from it to the college of Wye. In 1588 here were communicants one hundred and ninety-three, and it was valued at eighty pounds. In 1640, communicants one hundred and ninety, and valued at only sixty pounds per annum. There is a modus of two pence an acre of the pasture lands in the parish. There are twelve acres of glebe. It is now worth about one hundred and twenty pounds per annum.
Richard Hall, of this parish, by will in 1524, ordered that his feoffees should enfeoffe certain honest persons in his house and garden here, set beside the pelery, to the intent that the yearly serme of them should go to the maintenance of the rode-light within the church.
This church was burnt down in the reign of king James I. and was rebuilt at the sole expence of Sir John Tufton, knight and baronet, who died in 1624. His descendant Thomas, earl of Thanet, who died in 1729, gave the present altar-piece, some of the pewing, and the pulpit.
Life is all full of expectations. Expectations about some one special, expectations about future, expectations about friends, expectations about job, expectations about ourselves... The list goes on.
Found this pretty model in Trivandrum zoo. My 70-300 did a good job for me reaching this guy on top of a big tree.
[Press L to view large in black]
I wasn't expecting the fog to be so thick or last so long when I planned a sunrise photoshoot. Two hours later it was starting to clear a bit, so I decided to fly the quadcopter to see what was visible. The fog bank was thicker than 100 m, but patches were clearing and I was able to grab a panorama of the old Walker Sawmill.
This whole area was open farmland at the turn of the twentieth century. Thin soil and poor farming practices had left much of it underutilized. James Walker was a Toronto lawyer who came to the area to ski in the 1930’s and took an interest in the abandoned farms in the area. He bought his first four acres on the 6th concession in 1934 for $350.00. When Walker returned home after the Second World War he started buying more properties in the area, eventually amassing 15 of them and 1,800 acres of land. He then began the process of planting forests on the property to help curb the erosion that was taking place.
James Walker turned his properties into a forest by planting over 2,500,000 trees eventually starting a nursery and planting over 300,000 of his own saplings. He planted both scotch and red pine as well as maple, beech, black walnut and oak trees. Many parts of the trails make their way through straight rows of trees and follow old logging roads. Eventually the forest was mature enough that James started to make a profit by selling Christmas Trees, fire wood, hardwood boards, cord wood and pulp wood. He build several structures for his venture that still remain in the forest including the drying shed where wood was left to dry and his own saw mill to cut the wood. Several other of Walkers buildings are in use by the Toronto Region Conservation Authority as equipment sheds and they stand just off the trail on a bit of property that is off limits to the public. The mill is interesting because it has a structure at the rear that resembles a grain elevator. It contains two bays that were fed by a single conveyor belt.
The elevator was likely used in the pulp wood side of the business. Trap doors on the bottom of each bay could be opened to allow the pulp wood to be dumped into trucks or trailers.
You can view a larger version of this panorama here:
www.360cities.net/image/walker-sawmill-in-the-fog-canada
This 360° aerial panorama was stitched from 26 photographs with PTGUI Pro and touched up in Affinity Photo and Aperture.
Original size: 25000 × 12500 (312.5 MP; 642.78 MB).
Location: East Duffins Headwaters, Ontario, Canada
I usually expect to find scarlet elfcup in places where small woody debris and leaf litter has accumulated, and this was no exception. As it often does, it appeared to be growing on the ground (see the first comment below) but in fact scarlet elfcup grows on rotting wood which is often covered in leaf litter and soil. This stick is only as thick as a pencil but it was enough to support the fungus.
Explored 2013/12/29 - #15 !!
I wasn’t expecting so much success…
However, in five days, I got 2537 views and 86 “favs” for my latest MOC, the battleship Iburi!
And for the first time in my life, one of my MOCs was shown at “Brothers Brick” blog! www.brothers-brick.com/2013/08/31/the-battleship-iburi/
It’s a huge honour for me and I’m very grateful to the Brothers Brick team for it!
Thanks for all your support, everybody! :D
Eínon
Ok, I gotten my exercise and had caught double the Amtrak action than expected, should I hang on for outbound #3, the Southwest Chief in an hour? I wasn’t sure, while it was nice out, the shadows were lengthening by the minute and I might have a problem getting a good shot by then. What made up my mind was an eastbound green that appeared on M3; for the next inbound Amtrak perhaps? I gave good odds, plus I belatedly remember that heritage unit #184 would be on the lead. Ok, I was definitely waiting for that! As an added bonus I got in some more exercise since that best light was along the west end of the platform. Nice spot, good light but picketed with the long shadows of platform lights that were bulked out by the Christmas wreaths decorating them. Oh well, I’d just have to hope that I’d get lucky and catch #184 between wreaths! As it turned out I didn’t have to wait long, headlight to the west! I was after a wedgie this time, so I scuttled to the edge of the parking lot to get the angle I wanted. Not trusting my reflexes I machine gunned the train as it went by; couldn’t you slow down just a bit for me? The results were mixed, nicely exposed but every shot was “wreathed” to some extent. Irritating, but quite frankly unavoidable.
Westmont IL / Cass Ave
AMTK e/b Southwest Chief – Train #4
AMTK 184 P42DC (Heritage)
AMTK 205 P42DC
Wasn't expecting to see this in Dover Today!, and for some reason it seems to be all about R&J this week, but I guess they just love coming to Dover, and who doesn't? LOL!
And be sure to check by my other acount: www.flickr.com/photos_user.gne?path=&nsid=77145939%40..., to see what else I saw Very Recently!!
View in Lightbox for better resolution.
Lighting Info:
600EX-RT on a shoot thru brolly at camera right @ 1/128
LED at right of couple @ 1/1
Triggered by ST-E3-RT
DO NOT USE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN PERMISSION.
Copyright © 2009 All rights reserved. Use without permission is illegal.
I recently met Amanda and upon learning that she was expecting her first child, I immediately offered to do some maternity photos for her. After a couple of emails and phone calls, we set up a date and time for a photo session. This morning, I had the great pleasure of photographing her and her husband at their home. To say they were great models would be a serious understatement. These two were awesome and certainly deserve the joy and thrill of having a child.
A very special thanks to my great friend Richard (aka KmountMan) for coming along with me to this shoot and making it an even more fun day. Thanks buddy!!! Richard has posted some of his outstanding shots from the day, here...
Wasn't expecting to see these in Assford!, and the Stagecoach "GoldLine16" Bus was My ride on Route 10 from Folkestone, while the Crosskeys vehicle was on SouthEastern Trains Rail Replacement Service to and from Canterbury West.
And be sure to check by my other acount: www.flickr.com/photos_user.gne?path=&nsid=77145939%40..., to see what else I saw Very Recently!!
Expecting and nursing mothers require social protection but workers in the informal economy are often not covered. Maternity protection has been a primary concern of the ILO since its creation in 1919. Workplace support for mothers who are breastfeeding has been a basic provision of maternity protection.
The Philippines expanded maternity leave benefits in 2019 to align with international labour standards. The ILO also promoted exclusive breastfeeding in the workplace to advance women’s rights to maternity protection and to improve nutrition security for Filipino children. Know more: www.ilo.org/manila/projects/WCMS_379090/lang--en/index.htm
Photo ©ILO / E. Tuyay
November 2011
Manila, Philippines
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 IGO License. To view a copy of this license, visit creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo/deed.en_US.
. . . sadly Non-Hindus are not allowed inside the temple complex
__________________________________________
The Jagannath Temple of Puri (Odia: ଜଗନ୍ନାଥ ମନ୍ଦିର) is a famous, sacred Hindu temple dedicated to Jagannath and located on the eastern coast of India, at Puri in the state of Odisha.
The temple is an important pilgrimage destination for many Hindu traditions, particularly worshippers of god Krishna and god Vishnu, and part of the Char Dham pilgrimages that a Hindu is expected to make in one's lifetime.
Even though most Hindu deities that are worshiped are made out of stone or metal, the image of Jagannath is wooden. Every twelve or nineteen years these wooden figures are ceremoniously replaced by using sacred trees, that have to be carved as an exact replica. The reason behind this ceremonial tradition is the highly secret Navakalevara ('New Body' or 'New Embodiment') ceremony, an intricate set of rituals that accompany the renewal of the wooden statues.
The temple was built in the 12th century atop its ruins by the progenitor of the Eastern Ganga dynasty, King Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva. The temple is famous for its annual Rath Yatra, or chariot festival, in which the three main temple deities are hauled on huge and elaborately decorated temple cars. Since medieval times, it is also associated with intense religious fervour.
The temple is sacred to the Vaishnava traditions and saint Ramananda who was closely associated with the temple. It is also of particular significance to the followers of the Gaudiya Vaishnavism whose founder, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, was attracted to the deity, Jagannath, and lived in Puri for many years.
DEITIES
The central forms of Jagannath, Balabhadra and the goddess Subhadra constitute the trinity of deities sitting on the bejewelled platform or the Ratnabedi in the inner sanctum. The Sudarshan Chakra, deities of Madanmohan, Sridevi and Vishwadhatri are also placed on the Ratnavedi. The deities of Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshan Chakra are made from sacred Neem logs known as Daru Brahma. Depending on the season the deities are adorned in different garbs and jewels. Worship of the deities pre-date the temple structure and may have originated in an ancient tribal shrine.
ORIGINS OF THE TEMPLE
According to the recently discovered copper plates from the Ganga dynasty, the construction of the current Jagannath temple was initiated by the ruler of Kalinga, Anantavarman Chodaganga Dev. The Jaga mohan and the Vimana portions of the temple were built during his reign (1078 - 1148 CE). However, it was only in the year 1174 CE that the Oriya ruler Ananga Bhima Deva rebuilt the temple to give a shape in which it stands today.
Jagannath worship in the temple continued until 1558, when Odisha was attacked by the Afghan general Kalapahad. Subsequently, when Ramachandra Deb established an independent kingdom at Khurda in Orissa, the temple was consecrated and the deities reinstalled.
LEGENDS
Legendary account as found in the Skanda-Purana, Brahma Purana and other Puranas and later Oriya works state that Lord Jagannath was originally worshipped as Lord Neela Madhaba by a Savar king (tribal chief) named Viswavasu. Having heard about the deity, King Indradyumna sent a Brahmin priest, Vidyapati to locate the deity, who was worshipped secretly in a dense forest by Viswavasu. Vidyapati tried his best but could not locate the place. But at last he managed to marry Viswavasu's daughter Lalita. At repeated request of Vidyapti, Viswavasu took his son-in-law blind folded to a cave where Lord Neela Madhaba was worshipped.
Vidyapati was very intelligent. He dropped mustard seeds on the ground on the way. The seeds germinated after a few days, which enabled him to find out the cave later on. On hearing from him, King Indradyumna proceeded immediately to Odra desha Orissa on a pilgrimage to see and worship the Deity. But the deity had disappeared. The king was disappointed. The Deity was hidden in sand. The king was determined not to return without having a darshan of the deity and observed fast unto death at Mount Neela, Then a celestial voice cried 'thou shalt see him.' Afterwards the king performed a horse sacrifice and built a magnificent temple for Vishnu. Sri Narasimha Murti brought by Narada was installed in the temple. During sleep, the king had a vision of Lord Jagannath. Also an astral voice directed him to receive the fragrant tree on the seashore and make idols out of it. Accordingly, the king got the image of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Chakra Sudarshan made out of the wood of the divine tree and installed them in the temple.
INDRADYUMNA´S PRAYER TO LORD BRAHMA
King Indradyumna put up for Jagannath the tallest monument of the world. It was 1,000 cubits high. He invited Lord Brahma, the cosmic creator, consecrate the temple and the images. Brahma came all the way from Heaven for this purpose. Seeing the temple he was immensely pleased with him. Brahma asked Indradyumna as to in what way can he (Brahma) fulfill the king's desire, since was very much pleased with him for his having put the most beautiful Temple for Lord Vishnu. With folded hands, Indradyumna said, "My Lord if you are really pleased with me, kindly bless me with one thing, and it is that I should be issueless and that I should be the last member of my family." In case anybody left alive after him, he would only take pride as the owner of the temple and would not work for the society.
THE EPISODE OF THE LORD´S GRACE DURING A WAR WITH KANCHI
At one time, a king of Kanchi in the down south remarked that the king of Orissa was a chandala (a man of very low caste or status) because, he performs the duties of a sweeper during the Car Festival. When this news reached the ears of the king of Orissa, he led an expedition to Kanchi. Before that, he implored the mercy of Lord Jagannath. The soldiers of Orissa marched towards Kanchi from Cuttack (earlier capital city of Orissa, located on the banks of Mahanadi, at a distance of 30 km from Bhubaneswar. It so happened that when the soldiers, headed by the king Purusottam Dev, reached a place near the Chilika lake, a lady, who was selling curd (yogurt) met him (the king) and presented a golden ring studded with precious gems and submitted. "My Lord, kindly listen to me. A little earlier, two soldiers riding over two horses (white and black in colour), approached me and said we are thirsty give us curds to drink.' I gave them curds. Instead of giving me money, they gave me this ring and said,'the king of Orissa will come here, after some time, on his way to Kanchi. You present it to him and he will pay you the money.' So my Lord, you take it and give me my dues.
It took no time for the king to know that the ring belongs to Lord Jagannath. He was convinced that Jagannath and Balabhadra were proceeding to the battle field ahead of him to help him there. To perpetuate the memory of this great incident, the king founded a village in the Chilika lake area. As the name of the lady was Manika, the name given to the village was Manika Patana. Even to this day, the curds of this village are famous.
LEGEND SURROUNDING THE TEMPLE ORIGIN
The traditional story concerning the origins of the Lord Jagannath temple is that here the original image of Jagannath (a deity form of Vishnu) at the end of Treta yuga manifested near a banyan tree, near seashore in the form of an Indranila nilamani or the Blue Jewel. It was so dazzling that it could grant instant moksha, so the god Dharma or Yama wanted to hide it in the earth, and was successful. In Dvapara Yuga King Indradyumna of Malwa wanted to find that mysterious image and to do so he performed harsh penances to obtain his goal. Vishnu then instructed him to go to the Puri seashore and find a floating log to make an image from its trunk.
The King found the log of wood. He did a yajna from which god Yajna Nrisimha appeared and instructed that Narayana should be made as fourfold expansion, i.e. Paramatma as Vasudeva, his Vyuha as Samkarshana, Yogamaya as Subhadra, and his Vibhava asSudarsana. Vishwakarma appeared in the form of artist and prepared images of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra from the tree. When this log, radiant with light was seen floating in the sea, Narada told the king to make three idols out of it and place them in a pavilion. Indradyumna got Visvakarma, the architect of Gods, to build a magnificent temple to house the idols and Vishnu himself appeared in the guise of a carpenter to make the idols on condition that he was to be left undisturbed until he finished the work.
But just after two weeks, the Queen became very anxious. She took the carpenter to be dead as no sound came from the temple. Therefore, she requested the king to open the door. Thus, they went to see Vishnu at work at which the latter abandoned his work leaving the idols unfinished. The idol was devoid of any hands. But a divine voice told Indradyumana to install them in the temple. It has also been widely believed that in spite of the idol being without hands, it can watch over the world and be its lord. Thus the idiom.
INVASIONS AND DESECRATIONS OF THE TEMPLE
The temple annals, the Madala Panji records that the Jagannath temple at Puri has been invaded and plundered eighteen times. The invasion by Raktabahu has been considered the first invasion on the temple by the Madalapanji.
RANJIT SINGH´S WILL
Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh, had donated massive amounts of gold to the Jagannath temple. In his last will, he also ordered that Koh-i-noor, the most precious and greatest diamond in the world, to be donated to this temple, but the diamond could never actually make its way to the temple because the British, by that time, had annexed the Punjab and all its royal possessions. Thus, claiming that the Koh-i-noor was theirs. It is currently a part of British crown jewels and is located in the Tower of London.
ENTRY AND DARSHAN
Temple has 4 entrances in all directions.Temple security is selective regarding who is allowed entry. Practicing Hindus of non-Indian descent are excluded from premises, as are Hindus of non-Indian origin. Visitors not allowed entry may view the precincts from the roof of the nearby Raghunandan Library and pay their respects to the image of God Jagannath known as Patitapavana at the main entrance to the temple. There is some evidence that this came into force following a series of invasions by foreigners into the temple and surrounding area. Buddhist, and Jain groups are allowed into the temple compound if they are able to prove their Indian ancestry. The temple has slowly started allowing Hindus of non-Indian origin into the area, after an incident in which 3 Balinese Hindus were denied entry, even though Bali is 90% Hindu.
The temple remains open from 5 am to 12 midnight. Unlike many other temples devotees can go behind the idols(go round the idols).All devotees are allowed to go right up to the deities during the Sahana Mela without paying any fees . The Sahana mela or the public darshan is usually following the abakasha puja between around 7 to 8 am in the morning. Special darshan or Parimanik darshan is when devotees on paying 50 Rupees are allowed right up to the deities. Parimanik darshan happens after the dhupa pujas at around 10 am, 1 pm and 8 pm . At all other times devotees can view the deities from some distance for free. The rathyatra occurs every year some time in the month of July. 2 or 6 weeks before Rathyatra (depending upon the year) there is a ritual of Lord undergoing "Bhukaar" (sick) hence the idols are not on "Darshan". Devotees to make a note of this before they plan to visit the lord.
CULTURAL INTEGRITY
Shrikshetra of Puri Jagannath, as is commonly known, can verily be said to be a truthful replica of Indian culture. To understand this culture, one has to have some idea of the history of this land, which again is different from that of other countries of the world.
Starting from Lord Jagannath himself, history has it that he was a tribal deity, adorned by the Sabar people, as a symbol of Narayan. Another legend claims him to be Nilamadhava, an image of Narayana made of blue stone and worshipped by the aboriginals. He was brought to Nilagiri (blue mountain) or Nilachala and installed there as Shri Jagannath in company with Balabhadra and Subhadra. The images made of wood are also claimed to have their distant linkage with the aboriginal system of worshipping wooden poles. To cap it all the Daitapatis, who have a fair share of responsibilities to perform rituals of the Temple, are claimed to be descendants of the aboriginals or hill tribes of Orissa. So we may safely claim that the beginning of the cultural history of Shrikshetra is found in the fusion of Hindu and Tribal Cultures. This has been accepted as a facet of our proud heritage. The three deities came to be claimed as the symbols of Samyak Darshan, Samyak Jnana and Samyak Charita usually regarded as Triratha (of the Jain cult), an assimilation of which leads to Moksha (salvation) or the ultimate bliss...
Jagannath is worshipped as Vishnu or Narayana or Krishna and Lord Balabhadra as Shesha. Simultaneously, the deities are regarded as the bhairava with Vimala (the devi or the consort of Shiva) installed in the campus of the temple. So ultimately we find a fusion of Saivism, Shaktism and Vaishnavism of the Hindu religion with Jainism and up to an extent Buddhism in the culture of Jagannath and the cultural tradition so reverently held together in Shrikshetra.
ACHARYAS AND JAGANNATHA PURI
All of the renowned acharyas including Madhvacharya have been known to visit this kshetra. Adi Shankara established his Govardhana matha here. There is also evidence that Guru Nanak, Kabir, Tulsidas, Ramanujacharya, and Nimbarkacharya had visited this place. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu of Gaudiya Vaishnavism stayed here for 24 years, establishing that the love of god can be spread by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. Srimad Vallabhacharya visited Jagannath Puri and performed a 7-day recitation of Srimad Bhagvat. His sitting place is still famous as "baithakji." It confirms his visit to Puri. A famous incident took place when Vallabhachrya visited. There was a discourse being held between the Brahmins and 4 questions were asked. Who is the highest of Gods, What is the highest of mantras, What is the highest scripture and What is the highest service. The discourse went on for many days with many schools of thought. Finally Shri Vallabh said to ask Lord Jagannath to confirm Shri Vallabh's answers. A pen and paper were left in the inner sanctum. After some time, the doors were opened and 4 answers were written. 1) The Son of Devaki (Krishna) is the God of Gods 2) His name is the highest of mantras 3) His song is the highest scripture (Bhagavat Geeta) 4) Service to Him is the Highest service. The king was shocked and declared Shri Vallabh the winner of the discourse. Some of the pandits who participated became jealous of Shri Vallabh and wanted to test Him. The next day was Ekadashi, a fasting day where one must fast from grains. The pandits gave Shri Vallabh rice Prasad of Shri Jagannathji (The temple is famous for this). If Shri Vallabh ate it, He would break His vow of fasting but if He did not take it, He would disrespect Lord Jagannath. Shri Vallabh accepted the prasad in his hand and spent the rest of the day and night explaining slokas of the greatness of Prasad and ate the rice the next morning.
CHAR DHAM
The temple is one of the holiest Hindu Char Dham (four divine sites) sites comprising Rameswaram, Badrinath, Puri and Dwarka. Though the origins are not clearly known, the Advaita school of Hinduism propagated by Sankaracharya, who created Hindu monastic institutions across India, attributes the origin of Char Dham to the seer. The four monasteries lie across the four corners of India and their attendant temples are Badrinath Temple at Badrinath in the North, Jagannath Temple at Puri in the East, Dwarakadheesh Temple at Dwarka in the West and Ramanathaswamy Temple at Rameswaram in the South. Though ideologically the temples are divided between the sects of Hinduism, namely Saivism and Vaishnavism, the Char Dham pilgrimage is an all Hindu affair. There are four abodes in Himalayas called Chota Char Dham (Chota meaning small): Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri - all of these lie at the foot hills of Himalayas The name Chota was added during the mid of 20th century to differentiate the original Char Dhams. The journey across the four cardinal points in India is considered sacred by Hindus who aspire to visit these temples once in their lifetime. Traditionally the trip starts at the eastern end from Puri, proceeding in clockwise direction in a manner typically followed for circumambulation in Hindu temples.
STRUCTURE
The huge temple complex covers an area of over 37,000 m2, and is surrounded by a high fortified wall. This 6.1 m high wall is known as Meghanada Pacheri. Another wall known as kurma bedha surrounds the main temple. It contains at least 120 temples and shrines. With its sculptural richness and fluidity of the Oriya style of temple architecture, it is one of the most magnificent monuments of India. The temple has four distinct sectional structures, namely -
- Deula, Vimana or Garba griha (Sanctum sanctorum) where the triad deities are lodged on the ratnavedi (Throne of Pearls). In Rekha Deula style;
- Mukhashala (Frontal porch);
- Nata mandir/Natamandapa, which is also known as the Jagamohan (Audience Hall/Dancing Hall), and
- Bhoga Mandapa (Offerings Hall).
The main temple is a curvilinear temple and crowning the top is the 'srichakra' (an eight spoked wheel) of Vishnu. Also known as the "Nilachakra", it is made out of Ashtadhatu and is considered sacrosanct. Among the existing temples in Orissa, the temple of Shri Jagannath is the highest. The temple tower was built on a raised platform of stone and, rising to 65 m above the inner sanctum where the deities reside, dominates the surrounding landscape. The pyramidal roofs of the surrounding temples and adjoining halls, or mandapas, rise in steps toward the tower like a ridge of mountain peaks.
NILA CHAKRA
The Nila Chakra (Blue Discus) is the discus mounted on the top shikhar of the Jagannath Temple. As per custom, everyday a different flag is waved on the Nila Chakra. The flag hoisted on the Nila Cakra is called the Patita Pavana (Purifier of the Fallen) and is equivalent to the image of the deities placed in the sanctum sanctorum .
The Nila Chakra is a disc with eight Navagunjaras carved on the outer circumference, with all facing towards the flagpost above. It is made of alloy of eight metals (Asta-dhatu) and is 3.5 Metres high with a circumference of about 11 metres. During the year 2010, the Nila Chakra was repaired and restored by the Archaeological Survey of India.
The Nila Chakra is distinct from the Sudarshana chakra which has been placed with the deities in the inner sanctorum.
Nila Chakra is the most revered iconic symbol in the Jagannath cult. The Nila Chakra is the only physical object whose markings are used as sacrament and considered sacred in Jagannath worship. It symbolizes protection by Shri Jagannath.
THE SINGHADWARA
The Singahdwara, which in Sanskrit means The Lion Gate, is one of the four gates to the temple and forms the Main entrance. The Singhadwara is so named because two huge statues of crouching lions exist on either side of the entrance. The gate faces east opening on to the Bada Danda or the Grand Road. The Baisi Pahacha or the flight of twenty two steps leads into the temple complex. An idol of Jagannath known as Patitapavana, which in Sanskrit, means the "Saviour of the downtrodden and the fallen" is painted on the right side of the entrance. In ancient times when untouchables were not allowed inside the temple, they could pray to Patita Pavana. The statues of the two guards to the temple Jaya and Vijaya stand on either side of the doorway. Just before the commencement of the Rath Yatra the idols of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are taken out of the temple through this gate. On their return from the Gundicha Temple they have to ceremonially placate Goddess Mahalakshmi, whose statue is carved atop the door, for neglecting to take her with them on the Yatra. Only then the Goddess allows them permission to enter the temple. A magnificent sixteen-sided monolithic pillar known as the Arun stambha stands in front of the main gate. This pillar has an idol of Arun, the charioteer of the Sun God Surya, on its top. One significant thing about Arun stambha is that prior it was located in the Konark Sun temple, later, the Maratha guru Brahmachari Gosain brought this pillar from Konark. The Puri Jagannath Temple was also saved by Maratha emperor Shivaji from being plundered at his times from the Mughals.
OTHER ENTRANCES
Apart from the Singhadwara, which is the main entrance to the temple, there are three other entrances facing north, south and west. They are named after the sculptures of animals guarding them. The other entrances are the Hathidwara or the Elephant Gate, the Vyaghradwara or the Tiger Gate and the Ashwadwara or the Horse Gate.
MINOR TEMPLES
There are numerous smaller temples and shrines within the Temple complex where active worship is regularly conducted. The Vimala Temple (Bimala Temple) is considered one of the most important of the Shaktipeeths marks the spot where the goddess Sati's feet fell. It is located near Rohini Kund in the temple complex. Until food offered to Jagannath is offered to Goddess Vimala it is not considered Mahaprasad.
The temple of Mahalakshmi has an important role in rituals of the main temple. It is said that preparation of naivedya as offering for Jagannath is supervised by Mahalakshmi. The Kanchi Ganesh Temple is dedicated to Uchchhishta Ganapati. Tradition says the King of Kanchipuram (Kanchi) in ancient times gifted the idol, when Gajapati Purushottama Deva married Padmavati, the kanchi princess. There are other shrines namely Muktimandap, Surya, Saraswati, Bhuvaneshwari, Narasimha, Rama, Hanuman and Eshaneshwara.
THE MANDAPAS
There are many Mandapas or Pillared halls on raised platforms within the temple complex meant for religious congregations. The most prominent is the Mukti Mandapa the congregation hall of the holy seat of selected learned brahmins. Here important decisions regarding conduct of daily worship and festivals are taken. The Dola Mandapa is noteworthy for a beautifully carved stone Torana or arch which is used for constructing a swing for the annual Dol Yatra festival. During the festival the idol of Dologobinda is placed on the swing. The Snana Bedi is a rectangular stone platform where idols of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are placed for ceremonial bathing during the annual Snana Yatra
DAILY FOOD OFFERINGS
Daily offerings are made to the Lord six times a day. These include:
- The offering to the Lord in the morning that forms his breakfast and is called Gopala Vallabha Bhoga. Breakfast consists of seven items i.e. Khua, Lahuni, Sweetened coconut grating, Coconut water, and popcorn sweetened with sugar known as Khai, Curd and Ripe bananas.
- The Sakala Dhupa forms his next offering at about 10 AM. This generally consists of 13 items including the Enduri cake & Mantha puli.
- Bada Sankhudi Bhoga forms the next repast & the offering consists of Pakhala with curd and Kanji payas. The offerings are made in the Bhog Mandapa, about 200 feet from the Ratnabedi. This is called Chatra Bhog and was introduced by Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th century to help pilgrims share the temple food.
- The Madhyanha dhupa forms the next offering at the noon.
- The next offering to the Lord is made in the evening at around 8 PM it is Sandhya Dhupa.
- The last offering to the Lord is called the Bada Simhara Bhoga.
The Mahaprasad of Lord Jagannath are distributed amongst the devotees near the Ratnavedi inside the frame of Phokaria, which is being drawn by the Puja pandas using Muruj, except for the Gopal Ballav Bhog and Bhog Mandap Bhoga which are distributed in the Anabsar Pindi & Bhoga Mandap respectively.
ROSAGHARA
The temple's kitchen is considered as the largest kitchen in the world. Tradition maintains that all food cooked in the temple kitchens are supervised by the Goddess Mahalakshmi, the empress of Srimandir herself. It is said that if the food prepared has any fault in it, a shadow dog appears near the temple kitchen. The temple cooks, or Mahasuaras, take this as a sign of displeasure of Mahalakshmi with the food, which is, then, promptly buried and a new batch cooked. All food is cooked following rules as prescribed by Hindu religious texts, the food cooked is pure vegetarian without using onions and garlic. Cooking is done only in earthen pots with water drawn from two special wells near the kitchen called Ganga and Yamuna. There are a total of 56 varieties of naivedhyas offered to the deities, near Ratnabedi as well as in Bhoga Mandap on five particular Muhurta. The most awaited Prasad is Kotho Bhoga or Abadha, offered at mid-day at around 1 pm, depending upon temple rituals. The food after being offered to Jagannath is distributed in reasonable portions as Mahaprasad, which is considered to be divine by the devotees in the Ananda Bazar (an open market, located to the North-east of the Singhadwara inside the Temple complex).
FESTIVALS
There are elaborate daily worship services. There are many festivals each year attended by millions of people. The most important festival is the Rath Yatra or the Chariot festival in June. This spectacular festival includes a procession of three huge chariots bearing the idols of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra through the Bada Danda meaning the Grand Avenue of Puri till their final destination the Gundicha Temple. Early European observers told tales of devotees being crushed under the wheels of these chariots, whether by accident or even as a form of meritorious suicide akin to suttee. These reports gave rise to the loan word juggernaut suggesting an immense, unstoppable, threatening entity or process operated by fanatics. Many festivals like Dol Yatra in spring and Jhulan Yatra in monsoon are celebrated by temple every year.Pavitrotsava and Damanaka utsava are celebrated as per panchanga or panjika.There are special ceremonies in the month of Kartika and Pausha.
The annual shodasha dinatmaka or 16 day puja beginning 8 days prior to Mahalaya of Ashwin month for goddess Vimala and ending on Vijayadashami, is of great importance, in which both the utsava murty of lord Madanmohan and Vimala take part.
- Pana Sankranti: Also known or Vishuva Sankranti and Mesha Sankranti: Special rituals are performed at the temple.
RATH YATRA AT PURI
The Jagannath triad are usually worshiped in the sanctum of the temple at Puri, but once during the month of Asadha (Rainy Season of Orissa, usually falling in month of June or July), they are brought out onto the Bada Danda (main street of Puri) and travel (3 km) to the Shri Gundicha Temple, in huge chariots (ratha), allowing the public to have darśana (Holy view). This festival is known as Rath Yatra, meaning the journey (yatra) of the chariots (ratha). The Rathas are huge wheeled wooden structures, which are built anew every year and are pulled by the devotees. The chariot for Jagannath is approximately 45 feet high and 35 feet square and takes about 2 months to construct. The artists and painters of Puri decorate the cars and paint flower petals and other designs on the wheels, the wood-carved charioteer and horses, and the inverted lotuses on the wall behind the throne. The huge chariots of Jagannath pulled during Rath Yatra is the etymological origin of the English word Juggernaut. The Ratha-Yatra is also termed as the Shri Gundicha yatra.
The most significant ritual associated with the Ratha-Yatra is the chhera pahara." During the festival, the Gajapati King wears the outfit of a sweeper and sweeps all around the deities and chariots in the Chera Pahara (sweeping with water) ritual. The Gajapati King cleanses the road before the chariots with a gold-handled broom and sprinkles sandalwood water and powder with utmost devotion. As per the custom, although the Gajapati King has been considered the most exalted person in the Kalingan kingdom, he still renders the menial service to Jagannath. This ritual signified that under the lordship of Jagannath, there is no distinction between the powerful sovereign Gajapati King and the most humble devotee.
Chera pahara is held on two days, on the first day of the Ratha Yatra, when the deities are taken to garden house at Mausi Maa Temple and again on the last day of the festival, when the deities are ceremoniously brought back to the Shri Mandir.
As per another ritual, when the deities are taken out from the Shri Mandir to the Chariots in Pahandi vijay.
In the Ratha Yatra, the three deities are taken from the Jagannath Temple in the chariots to the Gundicha Temple, where they stay for nine days. Thereafter, the deities again ride the chariots back to Shri Mandir in bahuda yatra. On the way back, the three chariots halt at the Mausi Maa Temple and the deities are offered Poda Pitha, a kind of baked cake which are generally consumed by the Odisha people only.
The observance of the Rath Yatra of Jagannath dates back to the period of the Puranas. Vivid descriptions of this festival are found in Brahma Purana, Padma Purana, and Skanda Purana. Kapila Samhita also refers to Rath Yatra. In Moghul period also, King Ramsingh of Jaipur, Rajasthan has been described as organizing the Rath Yatra in the 18th Century. In Orissa, Kings of Mayurbhanj and Parlakhemundi were organizing the Rath Yatra, though the most grand festival in terms of scale and popularity takes place at Puri.
Moreover, Starza notes that the ruling Ganga dynasty instituted the Rath Yatra at the completion of the great temple around 1150 AD. This festival was one of those Hindu festivals that was reported to the Western world very early. Friar Odoric of Pordenone visited India in 1316-1318, some 20 years after Marco Polo had dictated the account of his travels while in a Genoese prison. In his own account of 1321, Odoric reported how the people put the "idols" on chariots, and the King and Queen and all the people drew them from the "church" with song and music.
CHANDAN YATRA
In Akshaya Tritiya every year the Chandan Yatra festival marks the commencement of the construction of the Chariots of the Rath Yatra.
SNANA PURNIMA
On the Purnima of the month of Jyestha the Gods are ceremonially bathed and decorated every year on the occasion of Snana Yatra.
ANAVASARA OR ANASARA
Literally means vacation. Every year, the main idols of Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra & Sudarshan after the holy Snana Yatra on the jyestha purnima, go to a secret altar named Anavasara Ghar where they remain for the next dark fortnight (Krishna paksha). Hence devotees are not allowed to view them. Instead of this devotees go to nearby place Brahmagiri to see their beloved lord in the form of four handed form Alarnath a form of Vishnu. Then people get the first glimpse of lord on the day before Rath Yatra, which is called 'Navayouvana. It is said that the gods fall in fever after taking a huge bath and they are treated by the special servants named, Daitapatis for 15 days. During this period cooked food is not offered to the deities.
NAVA KALEBARA
One of the most grandiloquent events associated with the Lord Jagannath, Naba Kalabera takes place when one lunar month of Ashadha is followed by another lunar month of Aashadha. This can take place in 8, 12 or even 18 years. Literally meaning the “New Body” (Nava = New, Kalevar = Body), the festival is witnessed by as millions of people and the budget for this event exceeds $500,000. The event involves installation of new images in the temple and burial of the old ones in the temple premises at Koili Vaikuntha. The idols that are currently being worshipped in the temple premises were installed in the year 1996. Next ceremony will be held on 2015. More than 3 million devotees are expected to visit the temple during the Nabakalevara of 2015 making it one of the most visited festivals in the world.
NILADRI BIJE
Celebrated on Asadha Trayodashi. Niladri Bije is the concluding day of Ratha yatra. On this day deities return to the ratna bedi. Lord Jagannath offers Rasgulla to goddess Laxmi to enter in to the temple.
GUPTA GUNDICHA
Celebrated for 16 days from Ashwina Krushna dwitiya to Vijayadashami. As per tradition, the idol of Madhaba, along with the idol of Goddess Durga (known as Durgamadhaba), is taken on a tour of the temple premises. The tour within the temple is observed for the first eight days. For the next eight days, the idols are taken outside the temple on a palanquin to the nearby Narayani temple situated in the Dolamandapa lane. After their worship, they are brought back to the temple.
THE NAME PURUSHOTTAMA KSHETRA AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
Lord Jagannath is the Purushottama as per the scripture, Skanda Purana. In order to teach human beings how to lead a life full of virtue, he has taken the form of Saguna Brahman or Darubrahman. He is the best brother to his siblings, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra. He is the best husband to goddess Shri. The most noteworthy aspect is still in the month of Margashirsha, on three consecutive days during amavasya he does Shraddha to his parents (Kashyapa-Aditi, Dasharatha-Kaushalya, Vasudeva-Devaki, Nanda-Yashoda), along with the king Indradyumna and queen Gundicha. As a master he enjoys every comfort daily and in various festivals. He grants all wishes to his subjects, and those who surrender before him he takes the utmost care of.
CULTURE AND TRADITION OF PURI
Puri is one of the fascinating littoral districts of Orissa. The Cultural heritage of Puri with its long recorded history has its beginnings in the third century B.C. The monuments, religious sanctity, and way of life of the people with their rich tradition is the cultural heart of Orissa. Indeed, Puri is considered the cultural capital of Orissa. The culture here flourished with its manifold activities.
The District has the happy conglomerate of different religions, sects and faith. In the course of history, Hindu, Buddhist, Jaina, Muslim, Christian, and Sikh are found here in the District.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, an incarnation of Lord Krishna, appeared 500 years ago, in the mood of a devotee to taste the sublime emotions of ecstasy by chanting the holy name of Krishna. Stalwart scholars of Puri like Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya (a priest & great Sanskrit pandit) and others followed His teachings. Even kings and ministers of His period became His disciples. Especially King Prataparudra became His great admirer and ardent follower. Thus all cultures and religion became one in Puri after his teachings were given to all with no consideration of caste and creed.
MANAGEMENT
After independence, the State Government, with a view to getting better administrative system, passed " The Puri Shri Jagannath Temple (Administration) Act, 1952. It contained provisions to prepare the Record of Rights and duties of Sevayats and such other persons connected with the system of worship and management of the temple. Subsequently Shri Jagannath Temple Act, 1955 " was enacted to reorganize the management system of the affair of the temple and its properties.
SECURITY
The security at the 12th century Jagannath Temple is increased ahead of Ratha Yatra, the homecoming festival of the deities of Jagannath temple. In the wake of terror alert on 27 June 2012, the security forces were increased to ensure smooth functioning of the crowded Ratha Yatra and Suna Besha.
WIKIPEDIA
Chapter Five…The House of Horrors…The Man in the Old White House…
On January the fifteenth of that year (2010) there was a strong knocking on the porch door of our home around eight PM which in itself is rather unusual. Julia went to the door to find Fred Maybee in a panic. He needed help, there was water leaking from his bedroom ceiling. I got ready, grabbed some tools in my emergency kit, not much as I didn’t know what to expect. What greeted me at the Old White House a while later remains a shocking event in my life. I don’t know that there’s much one could do to prepare themselves for entering a home such as Freds. He opened the rickety front door and then almost immediately turned on a light in this foyer, he stepped through another door to his right, it was a difficult door to open he was lifting the door up and down and over a hump in the floor boards then he turned on a lamp then turned around and turned off the first light in the foyer and closed the difficult door after making sure the front door was locked. As I entered the parlour I could see that the walls were covered in a soot like charcoal covered substance, like ash in a way and there was an odour of improperly burnt furnace oil with a hint of creosote. He shut that light off and led me into the middle room and turned a light on in there. We made a right turn into a bedroom, I’d never seen anything like it, there was a table lamp to the left of this double bed that had never had its bedding changed. Along the right side of the bedroom there was a heavy couch at least fifty years old, I tripped over a ten pound bag of rotting potatoes that had broken open months ago, on top of the soiled couch there was a pile of soiled clothing, from underneath the couch I could see the ends of a few pairs of well worn shoes and slippers, neatly arranged. After the couch there was a dresser a wooden dresser, dark in colour and on that dresser there were at least six old squarish TV sets sitting one atop another, it was like an art installation that was parodying our lives with TVs. Here and there the wallpaper was falling off the walls, I looked up and the ceiling paper was coming off in huge strips, it looked eerie combined with the cobwebs and soot. On the left of the bed there was a night table all very neatly arranged with some books stacked one on top of another and a lamp and a radio, an old radio but not one of those old vintage wooden radios and there was also a black well worn rotary dial phone. Beside that table there was a short stretch of wall with some pictures and photos in frames and some religious art of a Christian origin also in frames, it was hard to see who these images represented as the soot was covering the glass. Fred asked me to look up and in the far back corner, past the six pane by six pane window that could not let a speck of light in because of the layers and layers of old newspapers placed in the window frame and then covered by a tattered cloth blind, I looked up and there was a chunk of plastered ceiling nearly two foot square about to fall on to my head and a steady gush of water, much more than a drip was seeping down onto me, onto the bed, onto the floor, everything was wet and I made damn sure I didn’t have anything electrical in my hand or nearby. Fred went and got this old handmade extension cord with a lamp base plugged into it, it was showing bare wires, he found someplace to plug it in and I examined the ceiling some more, I reached up to feel the water, it was cold, my initial fear was that there had been a roof leak and snow was melting and coming into the house, you would think this if you ever saw the roof materials. I touched the bulbous ceiling and it came crashing down on me at which point Fred started to scream, “You broke my ceiling, oh no, you broke the ceiling what’ll I do now”. It was like a child’s cry, he was so upset, a strange look had taken over his face, I’d been in a few tight spots in life up to that point but I can tell you, I’d never seen behavior like this. He unplugged the lamp at my insistence more for worry of a shock than anything else and I asked him to take me to the room above the ceiling, I had to know what was up there.
We went back through the doors we had came in each light was meticulously turned on and off as we made our way. At the wide wooden stairway there was a small foyer where Fred had two bikes parked, actually crammed in beside each other. The basket of the Red CCM was for the time being used to place the advertising that came in the free weekly paper. I began to notice more papers were strewn all over the middle room floor, not just more but a lifetimes worth of soggy papers were piled in the room and taking up the space where one would normally walk, it was quite slippery. We went up the darkened stairway, when we got to the top he closed the stairway light then put on another light in that upper foyer by walking over to a fixture hanging from the ceiling and pulling a short cord. The only words I can use to describe the entirety of the situation was Hitchkockian. I remember him pointing to a thin doorway and telling me to go in there, which was something I was not looking forward to. I had him go ahead, which he would only do if I promised to shut the light off in the landing. I pulled the lamp cord then followed him into this narrow passage way where there was another closed door and there behind that door was the bathroom. The toilet seat was left up though once white it was a brown colour with finger marks that resembled finger painting and I soon found out why, there were a couple of choice human excrements sitting in the bowl that had not been flushed for a week or so, the water in the bowl smelled like the rot of the Florida Everglades on a hot night in July, the entire room felt and smelled like a cesspool, a threadbare runner all tattered and worn smelled like the urinals at Maple Leaf Gardens between periods. I had to get down on all fours to pull out a few floor boards to find the source of the leak. When I removed a board, I did not require any tools, they had been removed many times before. Fred was adamant that they go back exactly as they came out. I could see the little stream of water flowing along the boards to the hole they had made in the ceiling plaster. Following the stream was simple, the leak was coming from the busted cold water tap of the sink where it had split below the sink at a joint, I expect from freezing I guessed as the house temperature was no more than fourty one degrees and with the bathroom door closed it was easy to ascertain that the pipe had frozen. The sink was one of those heavy cast iron ones from the thirties, the inside of the sink was black as if rotting water had sat in it, but it smelled like a lifetimes worth of urine as did the broken downpipe coming from under the fixture. The drainpipe was coated with ten or more yards of rotting tape, differing kinds of tape, and a substance was oozing out of the tape joints, the smell was unbearable, from a distance it was tolerable, but when you were right beside it the smell overwhelmed, the smell of ammonia from the urine that Fred had been pouring down the sink from his night potty, this is where it was poured. Hanging neatly on little wire towel racks were several threadbare face cloths, they shredded when I touched them, I had to use one to wipe the foul matter from my hands. Fred went into hysterics when it was not placed back on the rack exactly as it had been. Over an old claw tub a string was strung from one side to the other, on the string was a pile of what looked like a bunch of rags and I could see when I got closer that they were articles of clothing, mostly socks, some tea towels, they may have been on that string for a decade as they were quite lifeless. When I went to flush the toilet Fred held me back saying, there’s more to go in there before you do that. My thoughts were he was conserving water, I was wrong the drains were blocked, it wasn’t long before I would see the sewage seeping in the basement of the house.
The only way to stop the flow of water from the broken joint was to turn the water source off. I asked Fred where the water came into the house. We made our way to the main floor. As we left each area Fred would carefully turn off each light which was just the way he did things. While standing at the top of the stairs looking down I felt very much as if I was in an Alfred Hitchcock film, only a set designer could create this deteriorating scenario. We were back in the middle parlour as we past the front parlour and the light with the orange shade was once again turned on I looked more carefully at the surroundings. There was a round thermostat on the soot laden wall sharing space with two interesting paintings of Fred, one was done in a Homer Simpson way the other painting was more in the style of The Scream. When I saw the thermostat I asked Fred what it was set at and he quickly said, “fourty one degrees”. The room was cluttered with a collection of TV sets, hard to say how many, ten maybe more, I could see pieces of furniture further in behind the stacks of TVs, paintings in frames on the walls, an old piano with some other framed pictures on each side, a couch that was piled high with stuff, there was a hundred or so vinyl record albums sitting on a stool ready to fall over, as we came to the other room, there were those papers again on the floor making for a slippery walk as they were all wet and slimy. Fred walked towards the covered window, beside it was a door which he opened and he went into the entrance of that door and found a light switch to turn on a light that shone at the bottom of the steep wooden steps. I followed him down, we passed a hydro meter that was mounted on the right hand wall, at the fourth step from the bottom the step came loose and I almost fell forward onto Fred, at that he stopped and turned then said rather sinisterly, “watch that fourth step” we continued. When we got to the concrete floor I looked around, Fred pointed at the water source coming into the old building, the house was a hundred and fifty years old. In order to get close to the turn off Fred had to remove a collection of five gallon pails filled with an assortment of bicycle parts, old gears and brake pads. There were numerous paint cans. Along the wall there was a wooden shelving system heaving at the weight of the assortment of bicycle lights in one bin, another held bike pedals all rusting from the basement humidity, there were tires as well, old worn rotted tires piled up, it was too much for the eye to catalogue in a quick viewing. We had to keep our heads down as overhead huge pipes attached to an octopus type furnace were hanging, wobbling in places, attached to the ceiling rafters that were like ships beams with thin wires, I noticed on top of the furnace, sitting in what looked like an inch of ash was a small perhaps four inch high blue and white Virgin Mary statue. I looked around I could see chunks of wood, plywood, two by four board, all manner of scrap wood that seemed to have no purpose other than to be made of wood. In my opinion the entire basement was a future site for an epic fire. Someone half my size would be better suited to maneuvering in the space. A galvanized pipe poked through the concrete foundation level with my knees where a well used solid brass tap connected the flow to the house lines. Fred went up the stairs partway to where his tools were stored haphazardly along the right wall of the staircase. There was quite an assortment of things there, rolls of black tape, tins with nails, an assortment of nails in old boxes, some hammers, the odd screwdriver, pliers. They were all visible and sitting on narrow shelving, no more than five inches wide spanning the length of the wall, four shelves in all. Cluttered would be a good way to describe the collection. Fred brought down an old pair of vice grips and said, “here use this to turn the spout off” I placed the grips on the worn and scratched lever as it would not turn by hand, I asked Fred which way to turn it, I gave it a good twist and water gushed everywhere, apparently I had turned it the wrong way and the brass fixture snapped right off. I was concerned as there were electrical outlets nearby, water filled the floor, Fred began screaming at the top of his voice, “Now you’ve broken my plumbing” it was like the cry of a baby banshee in a way, he was out of control. I reached in my pocket, took out my cell phone, called Julia and asked her to call the Public Utilities and have them come over right away.
Within fifteen minutes there was a rap on the front door, a PUC worker asked what the problem was, Fred told him, “the water line broke coming into the house” another worker was on the front lawn using a battery operated tool attached to a handle to poke through the foot or so of snow and detect where the shut off valve was located. I wasn’t watching but I believe they used a torch to soften the ground where the shut off valve was located. They weren’t there a half hour, the water was shut off, Fred kept asking, “is this going to cost me anything”? The workers looked at me a bit bewildered. They drove off in their white van, leaving me with Fred. Nothing could be done at this time of night, I knew how to repair the broken pipe but I would need parts from a hardware store. Fred was calmer now, there was no damage to the house, what had flowed in over the half hour or so had seeped through the mostly earthen floor and into the ground. In the basement I checked the diameters of the incoming pipe and the galvanized house pipe in the house, they were about the same. What troubled me was the rusting on the inside of the pipes. Fred did not want to hear about turning the heat up to keep the pipes from freezing, the temperature he kept the house at was fourty one degrees. From time to time the old furnace would come on, run for five or so minutes and shut off, during these periods the smell of improperly burning fuel oil was strong, but it’s funny, it wasn’t an offensive smell, the invisible soot in the air was a bit scary, as I was imagining my lungs coated in that stuff. I told Fred to go to bed, just not to run any water, that we would fix the problem in the morning, I drove home, exhausted, smelling bad, soot covered, confused and bewildered not only at what I had seen but what had happened, I couldn’t believe someone lived in these circumstances. Through out the visit I had taken several snapshots with a crappy camera to document the scene, and I’m glad I did, if for no other reason than to provide me fresh memories for this story. Years later, I still call the home a set from an Alfred Hitchcock movie.
My usual routine was sped up somewhat the next morning when I called Fred’s number, 742-4208 and there was no reply. I figured he was heading to the PUC offices on Ashburnham Drive to have his water bill adjusted to save money. I got in the truck and sure enough, I caught up to him right at 8:30 as the offices were about to open, he was standing outside the doors, his bike was parked along side the building, he hadn’t put his boots on properly as the wide whale corduroy chocolate brown pant material was not tucked into the grey workers socks, he was wearing a thick grey rubberish coat that reminded me of gear that sailors wore on open seas, it was lined and waterproof, although old and worn it would have been worth a pretty penny in its day as the logo Helly Hanson could be seen. I explained to Fred that he should just continue to pay the water bill because if he told the city authorities to terminate his account they might get suspicious as well they might have rules in place that someone living in a home must have water or the residence could be condemned. After some time, he agreed, we put his bike in the back of the truck and went shopping for parts to repair the busted pipes. At the TSC hardware store we found a one foot chunk of reinforced nylon with a ¾” inch diameter. It’s the type of tubing they use in high pressure situations, particularly on pool filter systems. A lady friend of mine, donated the piece to us once she caught Fred’s thrifty act. We purchased a heavy duty plastic valve to go between the two pieces of tubing which were to be attached to the pipe on either side. Ten two inch clamps were purchased at thirty five cents each, I knew there was loads of black electricians tape at the house. The bill for everything came to $19.75 cents. I had packed a bigger tool kit, as well as my plumbers kit including a hack saw to cut smoothly through the metal pipes and the reinforced plastic tubing. My concern was the broken tap in the bathroom, not so much the repair itself, but the terrible conditions the fixtures and downspout were in, the unhealthy fumes from the years of dumped urine into the sink. I had a spare single tap in my plumbing box that I brought along with the torch and the other tools for cutting pipes, we were lucky as the bottom of the tap led to a length of copper half inch, had it been a galvanized joint, I don’t know if I would have known what to do.
So we get to the house and Fred gets out the unsafe trouble light and I follow him up the Hitchcock stairway, it’s like old hat now, him stopping to turn on the lights and then turning them off as we passed each area. I had brought a chunk of old sleeping bag to place on the floor to work on top of. The old tap came out easily, my concern was the tinder dry wall behind where I had to light the blow torch to make the new connection. I singed the wall and quickly splashed water on it. We put the new tap in, tightened it to the fixture and made a weld for it to stay in place, the weld looked clean and we packed up our tools and headed down to the dungeon being careful not to break our necks on the fourth step from the bottom. The outdoor line repair went as planned, I had to use a bit of Vaseline on one of the pipes to fit it in the reinforced tubing, all the clamps were tightened on, there was one clamp left over, Fred put it in his shirt pocket. I tightened all the clamps again and in my mind went over the work, I demonstrated to Fred the ease with which the new valve worked, showed him the direction to turn it to have it turn on and off. I called the PUC, they were over shortly and with their long tool turned the valve on to allow water back into the house. I yelled to Fred to turn the valve on and I ran into the kitchen to see if any water pressure was building up, within a few moments there was water, I ran upstairs to check the sink faucet which had been left on, the water was running hard, it was ice cold, I turned that tap off, there was no leak, the job was a success, hooray, hooray. I told Fred the good news, the PUC guys had a chuckle at the sight of it all and left. Fred and I went downstairs to look at the new valve, it was holding tight, it looked so new in this sea of old stuff, for extra measure we dipped into a handy tin of roofing tar and applied it along the incoming pipe to prevent further rust.
In the parlour I told Fred to keep that extra clamp he had put in his pocket handy as ‘you never know when you might need it’ I asked him to refund me the $19.75 in repair costs and he said he had no money, I argued with him and actually got a bit testy with him for stiffing me and I gave him an ultimatum, I told him to come to my house with the money or I would put a lien on the house for services rendered and it would be for the labour charges of $500 as well as the $19.75 for the parts, I also told him that it was unlikely that any plumbing company would work in his house under those conditions, it all seemed to go over his head, he was one of those people that if he didn’t want to hear something, he would pretend he didn’t. I left the house not very pleased.
The next day he came over and paid me the $19.75 for the parts. I was serious, I would have went back and undone the work to teach him a lesson. He asked me for the bill for the clamps, the valve and the piece of tubing which was free. He took the bill and folded it carefully and placed it in his wallet. “Why do you need that”? I asked, his response was classic, he said, “well early this morning Wilbur I went to the TSC store to get a .42 cent refund for the one left over clamp and they wouldn’t give it to me, she said I needed the receipt”.
A couple of days later Fred came over to the house again. He looked quite forlorn. “What’s the problem Fred”? He looked at me rather seriously and said, “I want you to put the old tap back on the sink upstairs”. I looked at him for a few moments and told him, “you will have to get used to that new one Fred or pay a plumber to install the old one after he repairs it”. That didn’t go over to well. But what it did was teach me the ‘degree of need Fred had for things to remain the same’. I have done some small research on folks with Aspergers Spectrum and I have learned that this obsessive compulsive behavior is often present. Had the bathroom been in a fit state to work in I would have put the old tap back in, I just felt it was a health issue and Fred was not about to tear up the carpeting or anything else in that bathroom for that matter. In fact, a friend of mine at the time, Rennie an advocate had introduced me to the owner/manager of a big hardware store up on Chemong Road and that shop had given me, an entire new sink, new taps, all the downspout materials, pieces of copper pipe and all the fittings to replace the existing fixture, they were even going to supply one of them fancy vanity cupboards. I had the stuff in my truck and went over to Freds house to give him the good news, Free Stuff. He refused the offer of the parts even with my Free Installation. I left and said to him as I closed the front door, “well, I’ll have to take this stuff back to the Home Hardware Store”. He said, ‘oh no, I want to keep it”. And he would have kept it, he wouldn’t have used it but he wanted to have it, to add to his collections of stuff, to increase his feelings of wealth.
I can illustrate this by telling a short anecdote. A few years later as Fred lay in his bed at the Peterborough Regional Hospital Centre, I think it was his third stay there over a two year period, this would have been in 2012, the winter of. I went to see him and he was moaning about the high cost of heating the house. My services had been removed from the scene so to speak, but I believe I still had a key to the house. Fred asked me to go over, in the dead of that winter and see what was going on. I had told him, that I had been by the house several times and I saw no smoke coming from the chimney, I saw a condemned sign on the oil tank that was located outside the bedroom window on the south side of the house, and this made me somewhat suspicious. Inside the house it was as cold as cold can be, the furnace was turned off, I knew this because I went down to the basement and turned the switch on and the furnace started up. Now, only a few people would know how to turn that switch off, or to be more exact, where that furnace switch was. That solved the smoke coming from the chimney mystery. I went into the kitchen and the left hand tap had blown right off the galvanized pipe that I had repaired several times over the years, blown right off and was sitting in the heavy cast iron sink. There was a pile of ice in the sink and under the sink fixture as it was Freds habit to catch the water from the leaky drain pipes in old metal porcelain dish pan containers. I took the tap and placed it in a grocery store bag. Shortly afterwards I visited Fred at the hospital and to illustrate my point that someone had intentionally turned the heat off thereby causing the taps to burst and the water lines to break. I gave Fred the tap. He didn’t cry, but he was very emotional, like a child with a kitten that has taken ill.
His mind was working overtime, he wouldn’t have known the difference between truth and fiction, he had played so many of the same cards twice that his own mind was tricking him, even with the busted tap in his hands held close to his heart, an object that he knew better than anything, as we would know a sibling or a good friend, or the voice of a dear departed one, he didn’t know if I was telling him the truth, he was being so manipulated by another party who was lying to him about his home, about the conditions there.
A while later, that summer when I took him photos of his house torn down, and his Red CCM bicycle sold at auction along with all the worldly things in that home, his collections, his entire families history, his mother Eleanor’s rosary beads, the family photos for Gods Sake he still could not reconcile these things within his mind. The hospital barred me from seeing Fred because I brought photos that showed the Truth. And that so help me God is the Truth. Amen.
The End.
Expecting and nursing mothers require social protection but workers in the informal economy are often not covered. Maternity protection has been a primary concern of the ILO since its creation in 1919. Workplace support for mothers who are breastfeeding has been a basic provision of maternity protection.
The Philippines expanded maternity leave benefits in 2019 to align with international labour standards. The ILO also promoted exclusive breastfeeding in the workplace to advance women’s rights to maternity protection and to improve nutrition security for Filipino children. Know more: www.ilo.org/manila/projects/WCMS_379090/lang--en/index.htm
Photo ©ILO / E. Tuyay
November 2011
Manila, Philippines
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 IGO License. To view a copy of this license, visit creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo/deed.en_US.
Heres information about central florida broadcast stations
Broadcast Tower,WFTT-TV is the Telefutura affiliate for Tampa Bay, owned by Univision and operated by Entravision, owners of WVEA-TV. The station, which broadcasts on UHF channel 50, is based at WVEA's studios on Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa, and transmits from Riverview. WFTT can be seen on cable throughout the Bay Area on Bright House channel 5, and on Comcast in Sarasota County on channel 23.
With the completion of the 442.550 repeater in Riverview at 805ft in January, the western pointing antenna on the 442.825 repeater caused a expected overlap that was unnecessary. Since 442.550 now blankets Hillsborough County, we have as of April 11th taken the antenna off the west leg of the Pebbledale tower site at 800ft and moved it to the east leg of the tower. What does mean for users? The tower has a 7 foot wide face, which creates a null that is created behind the antenna. This null used to face a huge portion of Polk County. By moving this antenna to the east, the null is now facing essentially Brandon/Riverview, where 442.550 is now located at 805ft. So far we have gotten incredible results from users in eastern Polk County. Some users in Sebring reporting almost full scale signal, and mobile users with hand helds on 27 at 5 watts can use 442.825 now. None of this was previously possible. So with this move, expect to hear more Polk, Osceola and I-4 corridor area users making it into the network.
A nother tower WVEA (channel 62) is Tampa Bay, Florida's first Spanish-language TV station, which had its start in the early-1980s as low-powered W50AC ch.50, which offered programming from the Spanish International Network (SIN), the forerunner of today's Univision. In 1988, to make way for new HSN flagship WBHS (now WFTT-TV), the station relocated to channel 61 and became W61BL. In the mid-1990s, the station was re-called "WVEA-LP". In 2000, WVEA's parent company, Entravision, acquired Sarasota English independent WBSV channel 62, with the intent of moving the transmitter from Venice to the antenna farm at Riverview. WBSV signed on May 3, 1991 as the Sarasota area's own independent station, designed to compete against WWSB and the other stations in the Tampa Bay and nearby Ft. Myers markets. Licensed to Venice, Florida the call letters stood for Bradenton, Sarasota, Venice, the three cities it primarily served. WBSV had a variety of syndicated and local programming, plus infomercials and home shopping programs. early on, they also had its own newscast. But, WBSV was eternally in red ink, and relied more on home shopping and infomercials to keep the station afloat....
And then,WTVT, channel 13, is a television station in Tampa, Florida. It is an owned and operated station of the Fox Broadcasting Company, a subsdiary of the News Corporation. WTVT's studios are located in Tampa, and its transmitter is located in Riverview, Florida.
Overall the WUSF (89.7 FM) is an NPR-member radio station licensed to Tampa, Florida, USA. The station is currently owned by the University of South Florida. WUSF signed on in 1963, seven years after USF's founding in 1956.
WOPX channel 56 is a television station based in Orlando, Florida, USA. An affiliate of the ION Television network, it transmits its analog signal on UHF channel 56 and its digital signal on UHF channel 48, both from a transmitter located near Holopaw. The station signed on the air in 1986.
WIWA (1160 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Spanish language Christian format. Licensed to St. Cloud, Florida, USA, it serves the greater Orlando area. The station is currently owned by Centro De La Familia Cristiana Inc.
WAFZ-FM (92.1 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a Regional Mexican format. Licensed to Immokalee, Florida, USA, the station is currently owned by Glades Media Company LLC. WAFZ's programming is also heard on WAFZ AM 1490 in Immokalee.
WTVY or WTVY News 4 is a CBS-affiliated television station broadcasting on channel 4 in Dothan, Alabama, owned by Gray Television. The station's signal, originating from a transmitter in Holmes County, Florida, reaches large portions of Alabama, Georgia and Florida. WTVY is also the designated CBS affiliate for the Panama City, Florida market, where Gray also owns that city's NBC affiliate, WJHG-TV. In exchange, WJHG is available in Dothan on cable since Dothan does not have its own NBC affiliate. In fact, WTVY's transmitter is located within the Panama City market. WTVY-DT uses digital subchannels to operate MyNetworkTV affiliate My 4 and CW affiliate Dothan's CW.
WJED (91.1 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a Christian radio format. Licensed to Dogwood Lakes Estate, Florida, USA. The station is currently owned by Bethany Bible College.
WTVJ, channel 6, is the NBC owned-and-operated television station for South Florida, licensed to Miami. Its analog transmitter is located in Redland. The station's digital transmitter is located near Dolphin Stadium in north Miami-Dade County. Owned by NBC Universal, the station is sister to South Florida's Telemundo owned-and-operated station, WSCV. The two share studios at Peacock Plaza in Miramar.
WOIR (1430 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Spanish News/Talk format. Licensed to Homestead, Florida, USA, the station serves the Miami area. The station is currently owned by Amanecer Christian Network, Inc..
WTLH is a Fox television affiliate licensed to Bainbridge, Georgia and serves the Tallahassee, Florida television market. It broadcasts its analog signal on UHF channel 49 and its digital signal on UHF channel 50. The station began operations on November 25, 1989. Its transmitter is located in Metcalf, Georgia. The Station is owned by CP Media, LLC. The station runs a duopoly with WFXU, The CW station in Tallahassee. WTLH programming is also seen on a low-powered, Class-A repeater, WBVJ-LP channel 35 in Valdosta.
WTXL-TV is the ABC affiliate station for Tallahassee, Florida, Thomasville, Georgia, and Valdosta, Georgia, broadcasting on channel 27. The station is owned by Calkins Media, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based mass media company that owns several small newspapers in Pennsylvania and two other television stations: WWSB in Sarasota and WAAY-TV in Huntsville, Alabama. It was previously owned by Media Ventures Management, and operated by the Sinclair Broadcast Group pursuant to an outsourcing agreement (See: [1]), the first of its kind in the United States. This agreement merged virtually all of WTXL-TV's operations with that of Sinclair's NBC affiliate WTWC. Denis LeClair, General Manager of WTXL-TV and WBXT-TV at the time, was made General Manager for WTXL, WBXT and WTWC under this agreement. He would be followed by Chris Butterick and then Bob Franklin. Eventually, Kim Urbuteit (who was fired in May, 2007) would be named General Manager of WTXL only as Bob Franklin (now in Mobile, AL) oversaw WTWC. Gary Wordlaw is the current General Manager of WTXL-TV.
WFSU is the callsign (or variations thereon) for public radio stations operated by Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. WFSU also operates 3 radio stations that serve northern Florida: * WFSU-FM 88.9 FM: Tallahassee-based news/talk/public affairs station carrying several NPR programs and overnight BBC World Service programming. Also heard on these low-powered repeaters: * 97.1 - Carrabelle * 106.1 - Marianna * 96.7 - Apalachicola * 93.7 - Downtown Tallahassee (necessary because the main WFSU transmitter must conform its signal to protect WTSU in Troy, Alabama) * WFSQ-FM 91.5 FM: Tallahassee-based classical music station. Also heard on WFSL-FM 90.7 in Thomasville, Georgia, and on low-powered 92.7 FM in the northeast portion of the city of Tallahassee. * WFSW-FM 89.1 FM: Panama City-based news/talk/public affairs station. Offers many of the same programs as WFSU. Also heard on low-powered 91.1 FM in the Port St. Joe area along the Gulf of Mexico, as well as 94.5 FM in Fort Walton Beach.
WESH is the NBC affiliate in Orlando, Florida. It is licensed to Daytona Beach, with studio facilities in Winter Park. It transmits its analog signal on VHF channel 2 and its digital signal on VHF channel 11, when viewed over the air PSIP will display 2.1 for WESH DT and 2.2 for WESH Weather Plus. It is currently owned by Hearst-Argyle Television along with the area's CW affiliate, WKCF. WESH's transmitter is located in Orange City, Florida. The tower is the tallest man-made structure in Florida, at 1,740 feet (530 m). The station also serves as the default NBC affiliate for the Gainesville market, and can be seen on the fringes of the Tampa Bay and Jacksonville markets. WESH was the first station in Orlando to carry an on-site RADAR facility, SuperDoppler 2 as opposed to relying on National Weather Service RADARs. It is installed on top of the tower located at the Winter Park broadcast studio. Today it also promotes a VIPIR 3D RADAR system, taking advantage of the fact that the RADARs at Melbourne, Tampa, Jacksonville and Miami can all reach Orlando, in addition to SuperDoppler 2. The primary news anchors at WESH are Martha Sugalski and Jim Payne....
WOMX is a radio station located in the Orlando, Florida area and broadcasts at 105.1. WOMX 105.1 plays the "Best MIX of the 80s, 90s and Today," though the station programming focuses mostly on rock and modern rock music from the 90's and 2000's. Every Friday from 5:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m., Mix 105.1 presents Friday Night 80's. The "Saturday Night Party MIX" airs every Saturday night from 7 p.m. to midnight. The "Saturday Night Party MIX" replaced the Orlando heritage show "Seventies Saturday Night" in 2005.
WOTF-TV Channel 43 is the TeleFutura station serving the Orlando/Daytona Beach/Melbourne, Florida television market. It is owned by Univision and managed by Entravision which owns Univision affiliate WVEN-TV 26 and radio station WNUE 98.1 FM and offers a Spanish language entertainment format featuring movies, dramas, comedy shows, and kids shows. The studios are located in Altamonte Springs which is also shared by WVEN.
WOFL, "Fox 35", is the Fox owned-and-operated television station serving the Orlando, Florida metropolitan area. It is licensed to Orlando, with studios located in Lake Mary. It broadcasts its analog signal on UHF channel 35, and its digital signal on UHF channel 22. Its transmitter is located in Bithlo, Florida. Its Digital TV transmitter has a power of 1,000 kW. Its Analog TV transmitter has a power of 2,570 kW. WOFL and sister station WTVT of the bordering Tampa market commonly share reporters and footage, as other station groups do.
WFTV channel 9 is a television station based in Orlando, Florida, affiliated with the ABC network. It transmits its analog signal on VHF channel 9 from a transmitter located in Bithlo, Florida, and its digital signal on UHF channel 39 from a transmitter located in Christmas, Florida. It is owned by Cox Enterprises along with independent station WRDQ TV 27. The primary news anchors at WFTV are Bob Opsahl and Martie Salt. They anchored the main afternoon newscasts from 1984 through 1994, when Ms. Salt transferred to WFTS, a TV station in Tampa (where she was known as "Martie Tucker"). She returned to anchor WFTV's news again with Opsahl in 2003. Opsahl is one of the longest-serving (at one station) local news anchors in Florida. Barbara West, a 20 year veteran at WFTV and the station's medical reporter is paired with Opsahl at 5:30. Marla Weech, a former anchor for WFTV, was paired up with Bob Opsahl during most of Salt's absence. Weech currently works for WKMG. Tom Terry is the "Chief Meteorologist". WFTV's Severe Weather Center 9 includes WFTV's own doppler weather radar station located at Joint Venture TV Tower Bithlo. Its radar has features that are...
WRBW-TV is the MyNetworkTV owned and operated station serving the Orlando/Daytona Beach/Melbourne, Florida television market. It is owned by the Fox Television Stations Group, along with Fox station WOFL Channel 35. Known on-air as "My65", the station offers sitcoms, cartoons, court shows, and talk/reality shows. Its transmitter is located in Christmas, Florida.
WNTF (1580 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format. Licensed to Bithlo, Florida, USA, it serves the Orlando area. The station is currently owned by Rama Communications, Inc.
WBCC is an educational television station serving the Orlando television market. It broadcasts on UHF channel 68, with a digital signal on channel 30. It is one of the Orlando market's PBS member stations. WBCC's digital signal, on channel 30, offers programming from the University of Central Florida (channel 68.2) and BPS-TV from Brevard Public Schools (channel 68.3), in addition to WBCC's standard programming.
WRDQ, channel 27, is an independent television station in Orlando, Florida. Its analog transmitter is located in northeastern Osceola County. The station's digital transmitter is located in Christmas. Onwed by Cox Enterprises, WRDQ is sister to ABC affiliate WFTV. The two stations share studios on East South Street in downtown Orlando. WRDQ offers the Retro Television Network on its second digital subchannel. It can also be seen on Bright House digital channel 1028. Syndicated programming on WRDQ includes: South Park, Scrubs, Merv Griffin's Crosswords, Oprah, According to Jim, and George Lopez. The station can be considered an alternate ABC affiliate. As such, it may take on the responsibility of airing ABC programs whenever WFTV may not be able to do so as in a news-related emergency.
WXPX is a television station licensed to Bradenton, Florida. Operating on channel 66, it is an ION Television affiliate, owned and operated by ION Media Networks (formerly Paxson Communications), which has owned the station since its founding in 1994. Current programming on WXPX is virtually the same as other ION affiliates -- infomercials throughout the day and during the overnights, plus ION programming in the evenings. WXPX also shows Tampa Bay Lightning hockey, Orlando Magic basketball, some college football and Tampa Bay Rays baseball, though most of these games are in the evenings only, as WXPX tend to reserve non-prime-time hours for infomercials. Rays games air in high definition on WXPX in the 720p format, the same format as FSN Florida, the producers of the games (See: [1]). The only local programming on WXPX is i on Tampa (public affairs) and the aforementioned Rays and Magic games. The station once aired Miccosukee Magazine along with WPXM Miami and WPXP West Palm Beach, but no longer airs the program. (the latter two stations still do, along with WOPX Orlando) WXPX started in 1994 as WFCT, which featured infomercials at all hours under...
Wesh News Cast Bay News 9 Cast Weather Channel
Kristina
Abernathy
Stephanie
Abrams
Natalie
Allen
Tetiana
Anderson
Adam
Berg
Mike
Bettes
Vivian
Brown
Jim
Cantore
Jennifer
Carfagno
Kelly
Cass
Betty
Davis
Kristin
Dodd
Jorma
Duran
Dr Marcus
Eriksen
Paul
Goodloe
Ryan
Goswick
Rich
Johnson
Bill
Keneely
Danny
Lipford
Warren
Madden
Mark
Mancuso
Dr Anna
Marie
Julie
Martin
Jeff
Mielcarz
Jarod
Miller
Nicole
Mitchell
Samantha
Mohr
Jeff
Morrow
Carl
Parker
Kim
Perez
Sharon
Resultan
Kevin
Robinson
Marshall
Seese
Mike
Seidel
Alexandra
Steele
Heather
Tesch
Nick
Walker
Alex
Wallace
Dr Steve Lyons
Dr Greg Forbes
Dr Heidi Cullen
Stu Ostro
Aixa Diaz (NEWS ANCHORS
Jen Holloway
Al Ruechel
Leigh Moody
Erica Riggins
Rick Elmhorst
(METEOROLOGISTS)
Mike Clay
Juli Marquez
Josh Linker
Diane Kacmarik
Brian McClure
Alan Winfield
(NEWS REPORTERS
Jennifer Anderson
Dalia Dangerfield
Laurie Davison
Melissa Eichman
Samantha Hayes
Chuck Johnson
Troy Kinsey
Jason Lanning
Emily Maza
Carol Minn Vacca
Jonathan Petramala
Josh Rojas
Summer Smith
Kathryn Simmons
Melanie Snow
Melissa Sogegian
Anna Tataris
Ferdinand
Zogbaum
(EN ESPANOL
Lydia Guzmán
Roy De Jesús
Sandra Pinto
Jim Payne
Syan Rhodes
Martha Sugalski
Scott Walker
Eryka Washington
Weather:
Jason Brewer
Tony Mainolfi
Malachi Rodgers
Amy Sweezey
WESH.com Web Staff:
Jeff Cousins
Managing Editor
Jessica Seeley
Washington Reporters:
Sally Kidd
Nikole Killion
Laurie Kinney
Orlando Sentinel:
Roger Moore
Movie Critic
Sports:
Pat Clarke
Guy Rawlings
Reporters:
Danielle Bellini
Dan Billow
Greg Fox
Bob Kealing
Jeff Lennox
Craig Lucie
Dave McDaniel
Michelle Meredith
Claire Metz
Amanda Ober
Kendra Oestreich
Gail Paschall-Brown
Tim Trudell
Todd Wilson
Other Talent:
Jason Chepenik
Financial Analyst
Dr. Todd Husty
Dan McCarthy
Chopper 2 Pilot
Kimberly Williams
Traffic Reporter
We can regularly expect to see two of our four US Sapsuckers up here. The other one that is regular (if not common) is the Williamson's. The Red-breasted is primarily a West Coast bird, and the Yellow-bellied is mainly an Eastern bird... although Sapsucker vagrants may show up anywhere in North America. Our constructed bird oasis draws in nearly all of the avian population to be found in this area. This gal has stopped at our fountain for a drink and has conveniently parked next to the outflow. The white under her chin indicates her sex. (I have other shots of this bird to confirm this feature.)
IMG_2525; Red-naped Sapsucker
expectant mother
Photographe pour femmes enceintes, bébé et famille sur toulouse et le sud ouest de la France.
Cette photo est la propriété de Jenny'S, toute reproduction, copie, modification ou autre autre est interdite sans mon autorisation. Merci
The history of Fort Hayes as a military post spans from its establishment in 1863 to the expected departure of the remaining military presence by the end of 2009.
Fort Hayes is a military post in Columbus, Ohio, United States. Created by an act of the United States Congress on July 11, 1862, the site was also known as the Columbus Arsenal until 1922, when the site was renamed after former Ohio Governor and later 19th U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes. As of 2007, the property is primarily used for the Columbus School District's Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center and bus depot. Currently, the 391st Military Police Battalion and the 375th Criminal Investigations Division of the U.S. Army Reserve use the facility, but the last military presence on the property was in 2009. The military is building a new army reserve center in Whitehall, which will end a century and a half of military presence at Fort Hayes.
Columbus Arsenal
Ordnance Corps General C.P. Buckingham selected a site nearly two years after the congressional authorization of July 1862. It was a tract of about 70 acres northeast of the city, an oak grove owned by Robert and Jannette Neil of Neil House fame. The need for an army arsenal in Central Ohio was acute soon after war broke out. The state arsenal was jammed with arms and equipment for the states' first regiments, but that building was deemed unsafe and a fire hazard. The army needed a modern arsenal for the receipt and issuance of arms and equipment and the manufacture and storage of ammunition.
Captain J. W. Todd, of the U .S. Army Ordnance Corps, was the first commander of the Columbus Arsenal, as the post was first known. High command was nothing more than a field of oak stumps and some temporary shacks on land that Captain Todd also prepared the first arsenal master plan:
1 two-story brick workshop, 180′ X 60′: $27,758
4 storehouses, 200′ x 50′: $98,884
Barracks and EM quarters: $7,500
1 blacksmith shop: $2,000
1 stable and laboratory: $5,000
1 office building, brick, one-story: $2,400
1 officer's quarters, brick, two-story: $11,250
1 guardhouse and brick wall, 10′ high: $44,283
Railroad switch: $5,000
Landscaping: $10,000
Inflation: $10,000
Total Budget: $224,075
The Todd plan was $10,000 in excess of what Congress was to be asked to appropriate. Captain Todd did not remain at this assignment long enough to see his plan accepted for implementation. He was replaced by the "Father" of Fort Hayes, Captain T. C. Bradford, on January 16, 1864. Bradford arrived to build the new post from scratch, where he served until 1867, being promoted to Major, then Colonel before 1866. He resumed command again for six months in 1869, then departed for San Antonio.
Bradford's first task was to secure the completion of the rail spur and procure carts, horses, tools, hoisting machines and materials with which to build the main building and other buildings. By April 1864, the excavation was dug, the tracks' grading completed, and temporary carpenter's shop built, and two wells dug and equipped with pumps to supply water for the needs of men, animals, and construction.
Bradford called his magnum opus the "Store House", the first of many names which would be applied to the post's principal facility. Plans for the building had been drawn in Washington by the Ordnance Corps. Bradford, however, made many on-site changes to the plans as construction proceeded. Building materials in that time were difficult and expensive to obtain. For foundation material, Bradford went to Newark, Ohio, for sandstone, the first cargo brought in on the new rail spur during the summer of 1864. Brick was fired in Columbus by brickmakers who Bradford continually had to watch because of inferior workmanship. Flooring and other timber he obtained from southern Ohio (There are 50,000 board feet of ash flooring in the arsenal which cost $20.00 to $25.00 per thousand feet). Copper and cast iron cornices he had manufactured in Cincinnati.
The officers' quarters and magazine were ordered built on June 3, 1864, as designed by master building Joseph O. Sawyer. The foundation for the magazine, with a capacity of 2,500 barrels of powder, was built in September, ready for brickwork, and all lumber for this building was on the grounds.
As the main building rose, Bradford devoted much attention to the tower. The original purpose of this dominant feature was to accommodate stone steps to each floor. At Bradford's urging, the plans were altered to incorporate wooden steps and hoisting apparatus, and an elevator to move supplies more easily among the floors. As finally constructed, the tower was a duplicate of the one attached to the Indianapolis arsenal.
Long before the main arsenal building was completed in 1865, the post was receiving, storing, and issuing arms and accoutrements in large amounts. On May 6, 1864, 10,000 sets of equipage and five thousand Enfield rifles to arm "three-months" of enlistees were being issued, and the post had enough arms stored in the temporary warehouse to arm and equip 30,000 men. From its holding that month alone, the Columbus Arsenal shipped to other arsenals two million rounds of elongated ball cartridges, 400 percussion artillery shells, and 600 shells for 3-inch guns.
The first building at Fort Hayes was completed in 1864 and is known as Building #62. Arms and equipment of the "100-day" men being mustered out in Ohio were being received by the arsenal in August 1864, but not until late that year were the commodious facilities of the main building in use. Ironically, the first man killed on the post was a civilian, Nicholas Kaetzel, who, on April 5, 1865 was blown up while firing a salute to honor the capture of Richmond, VA.(Source: United States Senate Record, May 17, 1866)
The main business of the arsenal during the last months of the war was the trans-shipment of ammunition (paper and metal cartridges), the receipt and issuance of Springfield rifles, and sets of equipage for 10 regiments to be formed at Camp Chase in Columbus.
Civilians, under Colonel Bradford, conducted much of the business of the arsenal until October 25, 1865, when the first permanently assigned detachment of enlisted men were stationed here. Twenty-five men were authorized to be enlisted locally and were ordered to be one sergeant, four corporals, five privates first class, and twelve privates second class. These new recruits of the regular army were quickly trained by Bradford to receive the large amount of arms and equipment being turned in by Ohio regiments rapidly being deactivated. Civilian employees were retained to repair, in the main building, the Springfield and Enfield rifle muskets turned in by either cannibalizing or by adding new parts shipped in from the Springfield Armory. The rule was, if a piece could be made serviceable for fifty cents or less, to do so; if not, utilize only the unworn parts.
On November 10, 1865, with the magazine at the post filled to capacity, the main building's basement was authorized for storage of ammunition, and the first live rounds were placed in the building. Four million cartridges were placed in the basement that winter, and 10,000 new Spencer carbines were stored in upper floors. So crowded was the building late in November that the first public auction of military stores was authorized and held. By early 1866, artillery was stored in large numbers of pieces, transferred from the Newport, Kentucky arsenal under Colonel Bradford's personal supervision. The appearance of the Civil War era Columbus arsenal was ragged and cluttered until Spring of 1866, when the first shade and ornamental trees and shrubs were planted at a cost of $150. With the coming of peace, the post came to assume a more ordered, regulated posture.
The War Department transferred the Columbus arsenal on September 24, 1875 to the general Recruiting Service for depot purposes, where it came to be known as Columbus Barracks. At that time, the value of site and building was reckoned at nearly $500,000.
Columbus Barracks and Fort Hayes
In 1875, the War Department repurposed the facility for use as a recruiting intake and training facility. It became known as the Columbus Barracks and later the Columbus Arsenal.[2] In 1922, the property was renamed Fort Hayes, in honor of Rutherford B. Hayes.
Between 1875 and 1890, Columbus Barracks was used to instruct recruits, specifically music boys, select recruits, disposable recruits, unexamined recruits, and colored recruits. Four companies of cadre were organized in February 1881. Recruits were given specialized instruction of from one to four months' duration. In 1894, the command general of the Department of the East took charge of Columbus. Barracks and garrisoned it with the 17th Infantry Regiment. The post remained as a recruiting rendezvous manned by two skeleton companies for the next two years when it entered, during the Spanish–American War, a period of building and enlarged occupancy for recruitment and training. The arsenal building, now called the Main Building, was altered inside to accommodate 500 recruits. New barracks, officers' houses, and a host of other buildings were erected (among them the reception center, mess building, drill hall, new guardhouse and bandstand). A post newspaper, The Army Herald, was started in 1895 and continued until 1896. A file is in the library of the Ohio Historical Society.
In 1900, the post was enlarged by nearly 8 acres, and five years later became officially the Columbus Recruiting Depot of two infantry companies and six recruiting companies. A band was assigned the post in 1906 when concerns became a regular public attraction.
Electricity came to the depot in 1908, and with it a new building program of a hospital, PX, a gym, new officers' quarters, noncommissioned officers' quarters, a bakery, a laundry, a warehouse and several barracks.
The razing, in 1910, of the old headquarters building uncovered the site of one of Colonel Bradford's original wells. With the advent of World War I and the signing by President Wilson on May 18, 1917, of the Selective Military Conscription Act, old Columbus barracks became a beehive of activity. Barns and stables became garages and repair shops as the Army increased numbers of Regular Army recruits who passed through the post beginning in 1917. After the war, in 1922, the post became headquarters of the Fifth Corps comprising the areas of Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana and Kentucky. Major General George A. Reed was the commander when, in June, the corps came to Columbus. In 1922, the name of the post was changed to Fort Hayes in honor of Rutherford B. Hayes, an Ohio Governor and later President of the United States. In 1933, the present parade grounds were constructed and the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed seven new frame buildings
During the early years of World War II, Fort Hayes continued as it had in the past as a reception center when it had stationed on its grounds 2,000 officers and men. But on March 1, 1944, this function was discontinued. The Ohio National Guard was granted use of the post on December 17, 1946. Used by both the Army Reserve and the Guard of Engineers, it continued in use by the State and Federal governments for both military and civilian functions.
Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center
Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center (FHMEC), an urban public high school, located at the edge of downtown Columbus, has as its mission " …to create expectations of excellence within students through challenging and collaborative learning, blending the arts, academics and career programs."
The Fort Hayes Career Center was established in 1976 on the site of a part of the military base. Fort Hayes was used as a training and induction center during the Civil War through the Vietnam War, the Federal Government abandoned the fifty acres on which the Fort Hayes Career Center (now the Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center) is located. Through the leadership of Jack Gibbs and the efforts of two local congressmen, the Columbus Public Schools was able to purchase these fifty acres for one dollar ($1.00). The career center was composed of four buildings–the Business Building, the Health Building, the Visual Arts Center (Shot Tower—though shot was never made here[3]), and the Battelle Math/Science Building. In the fall of 1988, the Fort Hayes campus became the site for three unique educational programs: a career center program, The Battelle Youth Science Program, and an arts and academic high school. The Fort Hayes Career Center component offers vocational courses in health/medical services, data processing, commercial art and photography, and the fine and performing arts. The Battelle Youth Science Program provided advanced laboratory and academic courses in math and science. The Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School, the newest component, focuses on excellence in performance–performance in a rigorous college preparatory program and a rich immersion in the art areas of music, dance, theater, and visual arts. During the 1988–89 school year, the Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School was created, joining Columbus Public Schools' excellently rated arts, business, childcare, and health vocational programs. Ninth and tenth graders (about 223 of them) arrived to begin the work of starting a new high school, along with 23 new staff members. An additional grade level was added each year, and the first senior class graduated in June 1991. Twice in the past ten years, the school has been recognized by Redbook magazine as an outstanding school in the country, and in the Spring of 1995, by Ohio's Best Schools as an exemplary "Break the Mold School." In 1997, the school was recognized by Business Week magazine as one of ten schools in the nation for Instructional Innovation with an Arts-Driven Curriculum. The International Network for Performing and Visual Arts Schools selected Fort Hayes as the Outstanding School for the 1997–98 school year.
FHMEC reflects the cultural, economic, religious and ethnic diversity of the urban community it serves: 51 percent African-American; 47 percent Caucasian; nearly 4 percent Asian-American; and less than 1 percent Hispanic students. Sixty-three percent of the students are female. Students bring a variety of religious beliefs: Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, and Taoist. Approximately 30 percent of the students reside in low-income households. With some exceptions, the remaining 70 percent reside in middle-income households. Over 1100 students, 80-plus faculty, and five administrators are located on the total campus in the course of a school day.