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predator
An alternative view offered by Richard Dawkins is of predation as a form of competition.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pr%C3%A4dator
Latin praedātor plunderer, equivalent to praedā (rī) to plunder
(derivative of praeda prey ) + -tor -tor
an animal that naturally preys on others
A predator is an organism that feeds on another organism
lateinisch praedator = Beutemacher
Beutegreifer
terrestrial carnivore
Raubtier
Predator (anglisierte Version von lat. praedator ‚Räuber, Plünderer‘, ‚Raubtier‘,
Bei Prädatoren lebt das Beutetier zum Zeitpunkt des ersten Angriffs noch
Räuber
exzellenter Jäger
Felis (fachsprachlich), Katze
Unsere Katze - our Cat:
Täglich möchte sie mehrmals
Mausen bzw. Spiele, die einen
Fang Charakter (Beute-Simulation) haben.
Versteck und Fangen spielt sie auch sehr gerne mit Menschen.
Das dauert eine gute halbe Stunde an.
ps
Die Katze kann sich gegen vermeintlich grössere Raubtiere (auch Menschen) mit ihren scharfe Zähnen und scharfen Krallen wehren.
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Every day she wants
- more than once -
mice catching or similar games that
have prey character ( prey simulation ) .
Hiding and playing catch with human makes she very happy.
This takes have an hour.
ps
Masters should not forget:
A predator small enough to be prey for others, the domestic cat uses its formidable teeth and claws as weapons against animals that might confuse a cat with easier prey.
Domestic cats, animals similar in size to such prey species as rabbits, make a hissing sound reminiscent of a snake, advertising that they can put up formidable defenses for their size.
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Zusammen mit der Norwegischen Waldkatze und der Sibirischen Katze zählt sie zur Gruppe der sogenannten Waldkatzen, welche wiederum zu den Naturrassen zählen.
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working cat
Die Maine Coon ist als ursprüngliche working cat ein begabter Jäger, auch sind sie im Allgemeinen intelligente und verspielte Tiere. Sie benutzen mit Vorliebe ihre Pfoten, was dazu führt, dass sie problemlos Türen und Wasserhähne öffnen und kleine Objekte aufnehmen können. Maine Coons sind auch begabte „Apportierer“.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine-Coon-Katze
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"Nutzkatze" - "Handwerker-Katze" „Bauernhofkatze“ „Rassekatze“
Familien-Katze Schmusekatze
Soziale Katze
Empathische Hauskatze
●
The Maine Coon is among the largest domesticated breeds of cat. It has a distinctive physical appearance and valuable hunting skills. It is one of the oldest natural breeds in North America, specifically native to the state of Maine,
where it is the official state cat.
Alternative names
Coon Cat
Maine Cat
Maine Shag
Snowshoe Cat
American Longhair
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
PHOTOPEDIA
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_Coon
Le maine coon est une race de chat à poil mi-long originaire de l'État du Maine aux États-Unis. Ce chat au physique rustique est caractérisé par sa grande taille, son museau carré, ses oreilles avec plumets et son poil mi-long. Il est à ce jour l'une des plus grandes races de chat domestique, avec le savannah, une race originaire des États-Unis issue du croisement avec un serval, un félin sauvage africain. Le maine coon est également la plus ancienne race naturelle nord-américaine.
Les femelles ont des chaleurs plutôt discrètes
Weiblich Tiere haben eher eine diskrete Hitze.
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_coon
Charakter Umfrage
und Kastrationen (etwa 60%)
942 Gesamt
414 Katzen (davon 233 kastriert)
501 Kater (davon 356 kastriert)
baseportal.de/cgi-bin/baseportal.pl?htx=/mcats/Umfrageaus...
passt:
Sie ist eine Königin und Empfangs-chefin!
Die beste Katze der Welt !!!
Eine Seele wohnt dieser Katze inne, welche einem Engel gleich ist!
Zart und einfach nur lieb!!!
Sie liebt "ihre" Menschen abgöttisch und hat ein riesiges Vertrauen.
Sie liegt neben dem Menschen.
Auch manchmal mit einem Körperteil auf dem Schoss oder Oberschenkel.
Oder zwischen den Beinen
oder angekuschelt.
Auch Kopf an Kopf mag sie.
Selten liegt auf dem Oberkörper des Menschen.
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Exif data
Camera
Canon PowerShot SX60 HS
Aperture
f/5.0
Focal Length
11.9 mm aka 65 mm
Exposure
0.001 sec (1/1000)
Scene Capture Mode SPORTS
Flash
Off, Did not fire
Exposure Bias
-1/3 EV
ISO Speed
800
#
Discussion:
However, it can be debated whether or not harvesting livestock fits strictly in the definition of predation.
... the feeding of and caring for animals, followed by their being slaughtered with an appropriate tool, cutting up, and cooking.
In many cultures, animals are hunted or farmed by specialists (such as ranchers or fishermen), brought to a marketplace, and sold in pieces to the people who actually consume the meat.
55009 sounds in fine form as it passes New Zealand Bridge, Sandy, working Pathfinder Tour's "Capital Deltic Reprise" which visited Kings Cross and (briefly) Cleethorpes.
This is the northbound leg running as 1Z22 16.08 Kings Cross - Cleethorpes.
Although this was an RMT strike day and the rail service was reduced, this train was never going to get the "down fast" past here as the last East Coast train of the day, 1S25 16.30 Kings Cross - Edinburgh was booked to pass this charter somewhere along here and is just visible in the photo.
flickriver.com/photos/javier1949/popular-interesting/
Nuevo Museo de la Acrópolis
C/ Dionysiou Areopagitou 15, área histórica de Makrygianni, Atenas. Grecia
Bernard Tschumi, Arquitectos: Bernard Tschumi y Michael Photiadis 1999-2009
La Acrópolis, que data del siglo V antes de nuestra era, es el símbolo de la civilización griega antigua y uno de los lugares más visitados del mundo. El Nuevo Museo se encuentra en la ladera sureste de la colina de la Acrópolis, en el antiguo camino que conducía a la "roca sagrada" en la época clásica. Se ubica a 280 metros en línea recta colina abajo del Partenón, a la entrada de una red de caminos peatonales que enlazan los sitios arqueológicos y monumentos de la Acrópolis. Este lugar fue seleccionado cuidadosamente para permitir un diálogo entre los espacios de exposición del museo y los edificios de la Acrópolis.
El museo primitivo se situaba dentro de la Acrópolis, y tuvo su origen en 1833, después de la retirada de los turcos, cuando se almacenaron los primeros descubrimientos arqueológicos en una cisterna, sita al oeste del Partenón. Entre los años 1865 y 1874, el arquitecto Panages Kalkos construyó un primer museo que es ampliado tras las excavaciones de 1866-1889. Tras la Segunda Guerra Mundial parte del edificio fue derribado. En la década de 1950 se procede a su restauración y modernización a cargo del arquitecto Patroklos Karantinos. En 1978 el gobierno heleno decidió trasladar el museo fuera de la Acrópolis debido a la falta de espacios de exposición. Hubo para ello cuatro concursos, los dos primeros, con participación de arquitectos griegos únicamente. Estos no produjeron ningún resultado ya que las parcelas seleccionadas para las construcciones propuestas se consideraron inadecuadas. En 1989, un tercer concurso, internacional esta vez, con tres posibles ubicaciones, es ganado por los arquitectos italianos Nicoletti y Passarelli. Los trabajos de construcción del nuevo museo comenzaron sobre la base de este tercer diseño, pero se detuvieron en la fase de las excavaciones para los cimientos debido al descubrimiento de los restos de una antigua ciudad de Atenas, excavando más de 43.000 m2. Se levantó entonces una polémica sobre la conveniencia de encontrar otra ubicación al edificio, que desembocó en la anulación de la competición en 1999. El cuarto concurso se realizó con la premisa inicial de la preservación de los restos arqueológicos, por lo que el edificio debería levantarse sobre pilotes. El nuevo concurso fue por invitación, siendo ganado por el estudio del arquitecto suizo asentado en New York Bernard Tschumi, en colaboración con el arquitecto griego Michael Photiadis. En su proyecto, los restos arqueológicos descubiertos fueron conservados e integrados en el diseño del Museo, siendo una parte importante de la experiencia del visitante.
El Nuevo Museo de la Acrópolis, inaugurado el 20 de junio de 2009, contiene esculturas de piedra y bronce, procedentes de excavaciones próximas a la Acrópolis. Las colecciones expuestas en él se dividen en dos grandes épocas, la Época Arcaica y la Época Clásica. Con el museo en funcionamiento las autoridades helenas esperan ganar la larga batalla para recuperar los restos que fueron trasladados a Londres en el siglo XIX y que Grecia reclama insistentemente.
El proyecto se basa en tres conceptos que transformaron las limitaciones del sitio en potencialidades: luz, movimiento, y concepto tectónico y programático.
La Luz: Más que en cualquier otro tipo de museo, la luz se tomó como concepto primordial en el diseño. Al tratarse de exposiciones de esculturas, las condiciones necesarias difieren de las que se encuentran en una exposición de pinturas. Es, en primer lugar, un museo de la luz natural, relacionada con la presentación de objetos escultóricos dentro de él.
Movimiento: El recorrido ofrecido a los visitantes se basó una rica secuencia de movimiento, tanto a través del tiempo como en la espacialidad.
El concepto tectónico y programático La manifestación de la estructura del edificio se refleja en el exterior y en el interior del mismo. Se articula de tal manera que está diseñado en torno a las necesidades específicas de cada parte del programa.
El volumen del edificio se articula mediante tres cuerpos superpuestos y con perímetro diferenciado: base, cuerpo central y nivel superior, diseñados en torno a las necesidades específicas de cada parte del programa.
En la base, realizada sobre pilotes que flotan sobre el sitio arqueológico, se ubica el hall de acceso con vistas a las excavaciones Makrygianni, los espacios de exposiciones temporales y todos los servicios de apoyo, incluyendo la tienda de regalos. Al estar implantado sobre pilotes en un sitio arqueológico, se usó en algunos sectores pavimento a base de vidrio transparente a través del cual el visitante puede ver las excavaciones.
El central es una gran plaza de forma trapezoidal de doble altura donde se ubican las galerías de la época arcaica del Imperio Romano, con total flexibilidad. Se accede aquí a través de una rampa de cristal transparente. En una sala central, iluminada cenitalmente, se sitúan las Cariátides procedentes del Erecteion. Una entreplanta acoge un auditorio multimedia para 200 plazas, un bar con vistas a la excavación arqueológica y un restaurante con una terraza y espectaculares vistas a la Acrópolis.
La parte superior, “la galería del Partenón”, es rectangular con más de 7 metros de altura y una superficie superior a 2.050 m2. Su eje gira 23 grados respecto del resto del edificio al objeto de situarse en paralelo a la Acrópolis y orientar los mármoles del friso exactamente como estaban dispuestos en el Partenón. La cubierta transparente proporciona una luz ideal para las esculturas y una visión directa hacia y desde la Acrópolis. Uno de los objetivos de la galería principal es reunir a los frisos del Partenón, actualmente dispersos en varios museos del mundo. Aquí núcleo de hormigón del edificio, que penetra hacia arriba a través de todos los niveles, se convierte en la superficie sobre la que se montan las esculturas de mármol del friso del Partenón. Este núcleo permite que la luz natural llegue a las Cariátides en el nivel inferior. La Parthenon Gallery ofrece una vista panorámica de 360 grados de la Acrópolis y la Atenas moderna.
La circulación dentro del museo está planteada de forma cronológica, de tal manera que el visitante recorre un paseo arquitectónico e histórico.
El edificio se construye sobre una red de columnas, dispuestas de forma que se conservan cuidadosamente los restos arqueológicos del sitio. Los pilotes atraviesan el suelo hasta la roca firme y flotan en los rodamientos de rodillos capaces de soportar un terremoto de máxima magnitud.
La construcción fue pensada en relación a la durabilidad y la resistencia al paso del tiempo, para que el edificio envejezca con gracia, a pesar del pesado volumen de tráfico de un destino turístico internacional. Los materiales fueron seleccionados por su sencillez y sobriedad: vidrio, hormigón y mármol. La transparencia del vidrio filtra suavemente la luz a través de un proceso de serigrafía. La estructura es de hormigón armado. El suelo de mármol se diferencia de acuerdo a las zonas del edificio: negro para la circulación, color beige claro para las galerías.
es.wikiarquitectura.com/index.php/Nuevo_Museo_de_la_Acr%C...
www.archdaily.com/office/bernard-tschumi-architects
www.archdaily.com/61898/new-acropolis-museum-bernard-tsch...
www.nuevarevista.net/articulos/el-nuevo-museo-de-la-acrop...
This is my favorite oak tree here in the San Geronimo valley. I saw a cool cloud forming in the northern sky as we were driving home this afternoon and visualized this shot in my mind. I turned off the road, drove around behind the school, and there it was... just as I pictured it.
Krishna is considered the supreme deity, worshipped across many traditions of Hinduism in a variety of different perspectives. Krishna is recognized as the eighth incarnation (avatar) of Lord Vishnu, and one and the same as Lord Vishnu one of the trimurti and as the supreme god in his own right. Krishna is the principal protagonist with Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita also known as the Song of God, which depicts the conversation between the Royal Prince Arjuna and Krishna during the great battle of Kureksetra 5000 years ago where Arjuna discovers that Krishna is God and then comprehends his nature and will for him and for mankind. In present age Krishna is one of the most widely revered and most popular of all Indian divinities.
Krishna is often described and portrayed as an infant eating butter, a young boy playing a flute as in the Bhagavata Purana, or as an elder giving direction and guidance as in the Bhagavad Gita. The stories of Krishna appear across a broad spectrum of Hindu philosophical and theological traditions. They portray him in various perspectives: a god-child, a prankster, a model lover, a divine hero, and the Supreme Being. The principal scriptures discussing Krishna's story are the Mahabharata, the Harivamsa, the Bhagavata Purana, and the Vishnu Purana.
Krishna's disappearance marks the end of Dvapara Yuga and the start of Kali Yuga (present age), which is dated to February 17/18, 3102 BCE. Worship of the deity Krishna, either in the form of deity Krishna or in the form of Vasudeva, Bala Krishna or Gopala can be traced to as early as 4th century BC. Worship of Krishna as Svayam Bhagavan, or the supreme being, known as Krishnaism, arose in the Middle Ages in the context of the Bhakti movement. From the 10th century AD, Krishna became a favourite subject in performing arts and regional traditions of devotion developed for forms of Krishna such as Jagannatha in Odisha, Vithoba in Maharashtra and Shrinathji in Rajasthan. Since the 1960s the worship of Krishna has also spread in the Western world, largely due to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
NAMES AND EPITHETS
The name originates from the Sanskrit word Kṛṣṇa, which is primarily an adjective meaning "black", "dark" or "dark blue". The waning moon is called Krishna Paksha in the Vedic tradition, relating to the adjective meaning "darkening". Sometimes it is also translated as "all-attractive", according to members of the Hare Krishna movement.
As a name of Vishnu, Krishna listed as the 57th name in the Vishnu Sahasranama. Based on his name, Krishna is often depicted in murtis as black or blue-skinned. Krishna is also known by various other names, epithets and titles, which reflect his many associations and attributes. Among the most common names are Mohan "enchanter", Govinda, "Finder of the cows" or Gopala, "Protector of the cows", which refer to Krishna's childhood in Braj (in present day Uttar Pradesh). Some of the distinct names may be regionally important; for instance, Jagannatha, a popular incarnation of Puri, Odisha in eastern India.
ICONOGRAPHY
Krishna is easily recognized by his representations. Though his skin color may be depicted as black or dark in some representations, particularly in murtis, in other images such as modern pictorial representations, Krishna is usually shown with a blue skin. He is often shown wearing a silk dhoti and a peacock feather crown. Common depictions show him as a little boy, or as a young man in a characteristically relaxed pose, playing the flute. In this form, he usually stands with one leg bent in front of the other with a flute raised to his lips, in the Tribhanga posture, accompanied by cows, emphasizing his position as the divine herdsman, Govinda, or with the gopis (milkmaids) i.e. Gopikrishna, stealing butter from neighbouring houses i.e. Navneet Chora or Gokulakrishna, defeating the vicious serpent i.e. Kaliya Damana Krishna, lifting the hill i.e. Giridhara Krishna ..so on and so forth from his childhood / youth events.
A steatite (soapstone) tablet unearthed from Mohenjo-daro, Larkana district, Sindh depicting a young boy uprooting two trees from which are emerging two human figures is an interesting archaeological find for fixing dates associated with Krishna. This image recalls the Yamalarjuna episode of Bhagavata and Harivamsa Purana. In this image, the young boy is Krishna, and the two human beings emerging from the trees are the two cursed gandharvas, identified as Nalakubara and Manigriva. Dr. E.J.H. Mackay, who did the excavation at Mohanjodaro, compares this image with the Yamalarjuna episode. Prof. V.S. Agrawal has also accepted this identification. Thus, it seems that the Indus valley people knew stories related to Krishna. This lone find may not establish Krishna as contemporary with Pre-Indus or Indus times, but, likewise, it cannot be ignored.
The scene on the battlefield of the epic Mahabharata, notably where he addresses Pandava prince Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, is another common subject for representation. In these depictions, he is shown as a man, often with supreme God characteristics of Hindu religious art, such as multiple arms or heads, denoting power, and with attributes of Vishnu, such as the chakra or in his two-armed form as a charioteer. Cave paintings dated to 800 BCE in Mirzapur, Mirzapur district, Uttar Pradesh, show raiding horse-charioteers, one of whom is about to hurl a wheel, and who could potentially be identified as Krishna.
Representations in temples often show Krishna as a man standing in an upright, formal pose. He may be alone, or with associated figures: his brother Balarama and sister Subhadra, or his main queens Rukmini and Satyabhama.
Often, Krishna is pictured with his gopi-consort Radha. Manipuri Vaishnavas do not worship Krishna alone, but as Radha Krishna, a combined image of Krishna and Radha. This is also a characteristic of the schools Rudra and Nimbarka sampradaya, as well as that of Swaminarayan sect. The traditions celebrate Radha Ramana murti, who is viewed by Gaudiyas as a form of Radha Krishna.
Krishna is also depicted and worshipped as a small child (Bala Krishna, Bāla Kṛṣṇa the child Krishna), crawling on his hands and knees or dancing, often with butter or Laddu in his hand being Laddu Gopal. Regional variations in the iconography of Krishna are seen in his different forms, such as Jaganatha of Odisha, Vithoba of Maharashtra, Venkateswara (also Srinivasa or Balaji) in Andhra Pradesh, and Shrinathji in Rajasthan.
LITERARY SOURCES
The earliest text to explicitly provide detailed descriptions of Krishna as a personality is the epic Mahabharata which depicts Krishna as an incarnation of Vishnu. Krishna is central to many of the main stories of the epic. The eighteen chapters of the sixth book (Bhishma Parva) of the epic that constitute the Bhagavad Gita contain the advice of Krishna to the warrior-hero Arjuna, on the battlefield. Krishna is already an adult in the epic, although there are allusions to his earlier exploits. The Harivamsa, a later appendix to this epic, contains the earliest detailed version of Krishna's childhood and youth.
The Rig Veda 1.22.164 sukta 31 mentions a herdsman "who never stumbles". Some Vaishnavite scholars, such as Bhaktivinoda Thakura, claim that this herdsman refers to Krishna. Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar also attempted to show that "the very same Krishna" made an appearance, e.g. as the drapsa ... krishna "black drop" of RV 8.96.13. Some authors have also likened prehistoric depictions of deities to Krishna.
Chandogya Upanishad (3.17.6) composed around 900 BCE mentions Vasudeva Krishna as the son of Devaki and the disciple of Ghora Angirasa, the seer who preached his disciple the philosophy of ‘Chhandogya.’ Having been influenced by the philosophy of ‘Chhandogya’ Krishna in the Bhagavadgita while delivering the discourse to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra discussed about sacrifice, which can be compared to purusha or the individual.
Yāska's Nirukta, an etymological dictionary around 6th century BC, contains a reference to the Shyamantaka jewel in the possession of Akrura, a motif from well known Puranic story about Krishna. Shatapatha Brahmana and Aitareya-Aranyaka, associate Krishna with his Vrishni origins.
Pāṇini, the ancient grammarian and author of Asthadhyayi (probably belonged to 5th century or 6th century BC) mentions a character called Vāsudeva, son of Vasudeva, and also mentions Kaurava and Arjuna which testifies to Vasudeva Krishna, Arjuna and Kauravas being contemporaries.
Megasthenes (350 – 290 BC) a Greek ethnographer and an ambassador of Seleucus I to the court of Chandragupta Maurya made reference to Herakles in his famous work Indica. Many scholars have suggested that the deity identified as Herakles was Krishna. According to Arrian, Diodorus, and Strabo, Megasthenes described an Indian tribe called Sourasenoi, who especially worshipped Herakles in their land, and this land had two cities, Methora and Kleisobora, and a navigable river, the Jobares. As was common in the ancient period, the Greeks sometimes described foreign gods in terms of their own divinities, and there is a little doubt that the Sourasenoi refers to the Shurasenas, a branch of the Yadu dynasty to which Krishna belonged; Herakles to Krishna, or Hari-Krishna: Methora to Mathura, where Krishna was born; Kleisobora to Krishnapura, meaning "the city of Krishna"; and the Jobares to the Yamuna, the famous river in the Krishna story. Quintus Curtius also mentions that when Alexander the Great confronted Porus, Porus's soldiers were carrying an image of Herakles in their vanguard.
The name Krishna occurs in Buddhist writings in the form Kānha, phonetically equivalent to Krishna.
The Ghata-Jâtaka (No. 454) gives an account of Krishna's childhood and subsequent exploits which in many points corresponds with the Brahmanic legends of his life and contains several familiar incidents and names, such as Vâsudeva, Baladeva, Kaṃsa. Yet it presents many peculiarities and is either an independent version or a misrepresentation of a popular story that had wandered far from its home. Jain tradition also shows that these tales were popular and were worked up into different forms, for the Jains have an elaborate system of ancient patriarchs which includes Vâsudevas and Baladevas. Krishna is the ninth of the Black Vâsudevas and is connected with Dvâravatî or Dvârakâ. He will become the twelfth tîrthankara of the next world-period and a similar position will be attained by Devakî, Rohinî, Baladeva and Javakumâra, all members of his family. This is a striking proof of the popularity of the Krishna legend outside the Brahmanic religion.
According to Arthasastra of Kautilya (4th century BCE) Vāsudeva was worshiped as supreme Deity in a strongly monotheistic format.
Around 150 BC, Patanjali in his Mahabhashya quotes a verse: "May the might of Krishna accompanied by Samkarshana increase!" Other verses are mentioned. One verse speaks of "Janardhana with himself as fourth" (Krishna with three companions, the three possibly being Samkarshana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha). Another verse mentions musical instruments being played at meetings in the temples of Rama (Balarama) and Kesava (Krishna). Patanjali also describes dramatic and mimetic performances (Krishna-Kamsopacharam) representing the killing of Kamsa by Vasudeva.
In the 1st century BC, there seems to be evidence for a worship of five Vrishni heroes (Balarama, Krishna, Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Samba) for an inscription has been found at Mora near Mathura, which apparently mentions a son of the great satrap Rajuvula, probably the satrap Sodasa, and an image of Vrishni, "probably Vasudeva, and of the "Five Warriors". Brahmi inscription on the Mora stone slab, now in the Mathura Museum.
Many Puranas tell Krishna's life-story or some highlights from it. Two Puranas, the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana, that contain the most elaborate telling of Krishna’s story and teachings are the most theologically venerated by the Vaishnava schools. Roughly one quarter of the Bhagavata Purana is spent extolling his life and philosophy.
LIFE
This summary is based on details from the Mahābhārata, the Harivamsa, the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana. The scenes from the narrative are set in north India mostly in the present states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Delhi and Gujarat.
BIRTH
Based on scriptural details and astrological calculations, the date of Krishna's birth, known as Janmashtami, is 18 July 3228 BCE. He was born to Devaki and her husband, Vasudeva, When Mother Earth became upset by the sin being committed on Earth, she thought of seeking help from Lord Vishnu. She went in the form of a cow to visit Lord Vishnu and ask for help. Lord Vishnu agreed to help her and promised her that he would be born on Earth. On Earth in the Yadava clan, he was yadav according to his birth, a prince named Kamsa sent his father Ugrasena (King of Mathura) to prison and became the King himself. One day a loud voice from the sky (Akash Vani in Hindi) prophesied that the 8th son of Kamsa's sister (Devaki) would kill Kamsa. Out of affection for Devaki, Kamsa did not kill her outright. He did, however, send his sister and her husband (Vasudeva) to prison. Lord Vishnu himself later appeared to Devaki and Vasudeva and told them that he himself would be their eighth son and kill Kamsa and destroy sin in the world. In the story of Krishna the deity is the agent of conception and also the offspring. Because of his sympathy for the earth, the divine Vishnu himself descended into the womb of Devaki and was born as her son, Vaasudeva (i.e., Krishna).[citation needed] This is occasionally cited as evidence that "virgin birth" tales are fairly common in non-Christian religions around the world. However, there is nothing in Hindu scriptures to suggest that it was a "virgin" birth. By the time of conception and birth of Krishna, Devaki was married to Vasudeva and had already borne 7 children. Virgin birth in this case should be more accurately understood as divine conception. Kunti the mother of the Pandavas referenced contemporaneously with the story of Krishna in the Mahabharata also has divine conception and virgin birth of Prince Karna.
The Hindu Vishnu Purana relates: "Devaki bore in her womb the lotus-eyed deity...before the birth of Krishna, no one could bear to gaze upon Devaki, from the light that invested her, and those who contemplated her radiance felt their minds disturbed.” This reference to light is reminiscent of the Vedic hymn "To an Unknown Divine," which refers to a Golden Child. According to F. M. Müller, this term means "the golden gem of child" and is an attempt at naming the sun. According to the Vishnu Purana, Krishna is the total incarnation of Lord Vishnu. It clearly describes in the Vishnu Purana that Krishna was born on earth to destroy sin, especially Kamsa.
Krishna belonged to the Vrishni clan of Yadavas from Mathura, and was the eighth son born to the princess Devaki, and her husband Vasudeva.
Mathura (in present day Mathura district, Uttar Pradesh) was the capital of the Yadavas, to which Krishna's parents Vasudeva and Devaki belonged. King Kamsa, Devaki's brother, had ascended the throne by imprisoning his father, King Ugrasena. Afraid of a prophecy from a divine voice from the heavens that predicted his death at the hands of Devaki's eighth "garbha", Kamsa had the couple locked in a prison cell. After Kamsa killed the first six children, Devaki apparently had a miscarriage of the seventh. However, in reality, the womb was actually transferred to Rohini secretly. This was how Balarama, Krishna's elder brother, was born. Once again Devaki became pregnant. Now due to the miscarriage, Kamsa was in a puzzle regarding 'The Eighth One', but his ministers advised that the divine voice from the heavens emphasised "the eight garbha" and so this is the one. That night Krishna was born in the Rohini nakshatra and simultaneously the goddess Durga was born as Yogamaya in Gokulam to Nanda and Yashoda.
Since Vasudeva knew Krishna's life was in danger, Krishna was secretly taken out of the prison cell to be raised by his foster parents, Yasoda and Nanda, in Gokula (in present day Mathura district). Two of his other siblings also survived, Balarama (Devaki's seventh child, transferred to the womb of Rohini, Vasudeva's first wife) and Subhadra (daughter of Vasudeva and Rohini, born much later than Balarama and Krishna).
CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH
Nanda was the head of a community of cow-herders, and he settled in Vrindavana. The stories of Krishna's childhood and youth tell how he became a cow herder, his mischievous pranks as Makhan Chor (butter thief) his foiling of attempts to take his life, and his role as a protector of the people of Vrindavana.
Krishna killed the demoness Putana, disguised as a wet nurse, and the tornado demon Trinavarta both sent by Kamsa for Krishna's life. He tamed the serpent Kāliyā, who previously poisoned the waters of Yamuna river, thus leading to the death of the cowherds. In Hindu art, Krishna is often depicted dancing on the multi-hooded Kāliyā.
Krishna lifted the Govardhana hill and taught Indra, the king of the devas, a lesson to protect native people of Brindavana from persecution by Indra and prevent the devastation of the pasture land of Govardhan. Indra had too much pride and was angry when Krishna advised the people of Brindavana to take care of their animals and their environment that provide them with all their necessities, instead of worshipping Indra annually by spending their resources. In the view of some, the spiritual movement started by Krishna had something in it which went against the orthodox forms of worship of the Vedic gods such as Indra. In Bhagavat Purana, Krishna says that the rain came from the nearby hill Govardhana, and advised that the people worshiped the hill instead of Indra. This made Indra furious, so he punished them by sending out a great storm. Krishna then lifted Govardhan and held it over the people like an umbrella.
The stories of his play with the gopis (milkmaids) of Brindavana, especially Radha (daughter of Vrishbhanu, one of the original residents of Brindavan) became known as the Rasa lila and were romanticised in the poetry of Jayadeva, author of the Gita Govinda. These became important as part of the development of the Krishna bhakti traditions worshiping Radha Krishna.
Krishna’s childhood reinforces the Hindu concept of lila, playing for fun and enjoyment and not for sport or gain. His interaction with the gopis at the rasa dance or Rasa-lila is a great example of this. Krishna played his flute and the gopis came immediately from whatever they were doing, to the banks of the Yamuna River, and joined him in singing and dancing. Even those who could not physically be there joined him through meditation. The story of Krishna’s battle with Kāliyā also supports this idea in the sense of him dancing on Kāliyā’s many hoods. Even though he is doing battle with the serpent, he is in no real danger and treats it like a game. He is a protector, but he only appears to be a young boy having fun. This idea of having a playful god is very important in Hinduism. The playfulness of Krishna has inspired many celebrations like the Rasa-lila and the Janmashtami : where they make human pyramids to break open handis (clay pots) hung high in the air that spill buttermilk all over the group after being broken by the person at the top. This is meant to be a fun celebration and it gives the participants a sense of unity. Many believe that lila being connected with Krishna gives Hindus a deeper connection to him and thus a deeper connection to Vishnu also; seeing as Krishna is an incarnation of Vishnu. Theologists, like Kristin Johnston Largen, believe that Krishna’s childhood can even inspire other religions to look for lila in deities so that they have a chance to experience a part of their faith that they may not have previously seen.
THE PRINCE
On his return to Mathura as a young man, Krishna overthrew and killed his maternal uncle, Kamsa, after quelling several assassination attempts from Kamsa's followers. He reinstated Kamsa's father, Ugrasena, as the king of the Yadavas and became a leading prince at the court. During this period, he became a friend of Arjuna and the other Pandava princes of the Kuru kingdom, who were his cousins. Later, he took his Yadava subjects to the city of Dwaraka (in modern Gujarat) and established his own kingdom there.
Krishna married Rukmini, the Vidarbha princess, by abducting her, at her request, from her proposed wedding with Shishupala. He married eight queens - collectively called the Ashtabharya - including Rukmini, Satyabhama, Jambavati, Kalindi, Mitravinda, Nagnajiti, Bhadra and Lakshmana. Krishna subsequently married 16,000 or 16,100 maidens who were held captive by the demon Narakasura, to save their honour. Krishna killed the demon and released them all. According to social custom of the time, all of the captive women were degraded, and would be unable to marry, as they had been under the Narakasura's control. However Krishna married them to reinstate their status in the society. This symbolic wedding with 16,100 abandoned daughters was more of a mass rehabilitation. In Vaishnava traditions, Krishna's wives are forms of the goddess Lakshmi - consort of Vishnu, or special souls who attained this qualification after many lifetimes of austerity, while his two queens, Rukmani and Satyabhama, are expansions of Lakshmi.
When Yudhisthira was assuming the title of emperor, he had invited all the great kings to the ceremony and while paying his respects to them, he started with Krishna because he considered Krishna to be the greatest of them all. While it was a unanimous feeling amongst most present at the ceremony that Krishna should get the first honours, his cousin Shishupala felt otherwise and started berating Krishna. Due to a vow given to Shishupal's mother, Krishna forgave a hundred verbal abuses by Shishupal, and upon the one hundred and first, he assumed his Virat (universal) form and killed Shishupal with his Chakra. The blind king Dhritarashtra also obtained divine vision to be able to see this form of Krishna during the time when Duryodana tried to capture Krishna when he came as a peace bearer before the great Mahabharat War. Essentially, Shishupala and Dantavakra were both re-incarnations of Vishnu's gate-keepers Jaya and Vijaya, who were cursed to be born on Earth, to be delivered by the Vishnu back to Vaikuntha.
KURUKSHETRA WAR AND BHAGAVAD GITA
Once battle seemed inevitable, Krishna offered both sides the opportunity to choose between having either his army called narayani sena or himself alone, but on the condition that he personally would not raise any weapon. Arjuna, on behalf of the Pandavas, chose to have Krishna on their side, and Duryodhana, Kaurava prince, chose Krishna's army. At the time of the great battle, Krishna acted as Arjuna's charioteer, since this position did not require the wielding of weapons.
Upon arrival at the battlefield, and seeing that the enemies are his family, his grandfather, his cousins and loved ones, Arjuna is moved and says his heart does not allow him to fight and he would rather prefer to renounce the kingdom and put down his Gandiv (Arjuna's bow). Krishna then advises him about the battle, with the conversation soon extending into a discourse which was later compiled as the Bhagavad Gita.
Krishna asked Arjuna, "Have you within no time, forgotten the Kauravas' evil deeds such as not accepting the eldest brother Yudhishtira as King, usurping the entire Kingdom without yielding any portion to the Pandavas, meting out insults and difficulties to Pandavas, attempt to murder the Pandavas in the Barnava lac guest house, publicly attempting to disrobe and disgracing Draupadi. Krishna further exhorted in his famous Bhagavad Gita, "Arjuna, do not engage in philosophical analyses at this point of time like a Pundit. You are aware that Duryodhana and Karna particularly have long harboured jealousy and hatred for you Pandavas and badly want to prove their hegemony. You are aware that Bhishmacharya and your Teachers are tied down to their dharma of protecting the unitarian power of the Kuru throne. Moreover, you Arjuna, are only a mortal appointee to carry out my divine will, since the Kauravas are destined to die either way, due to their heap of sins. Open your eyes O Bhaarata and know that I encompass the Karta, Karma and Kriya, all in myself. There is no scope for contemplation now or remorse later, it is indeed time for war and the world will remember your might and immense powers for time to come. So rise O Arjuna!, tighten up your Gandiva and let all directions shiver till their farthest horizons, by the reverberation of its string."
Krishna had a profound effect on the Mahabharata war and its consequences. He had considered the Kurukshetra war to be a last resort after voluntarily acting as a messenger in order to establish peace between the Pandavas and Kauravas. But, once these peace negotiations failed and was embarked into the war, then he became a clever strategist. During the war, upon becoming angry with Arjuna for not fighting in true spirit against his ancestors, Krishna once picked up a carriage wheel in order to use it as a weapon to challenge Bhishma. Upon seeing this, Bhishma dropped his weapons and asked Krishna to kill him. However, Arjuna apologized to Krishna, promising that he would fight with full dedication here/after, and the battle continued. Krishna had directed Yudhisthira and Arjuna to return to Bhishma the boon of "victory" which he had given to Yudhisthira before the war commenced, since he himself was standing in their way to victory. Bhishma understood the message and told them the means through which he would drop his weapons - which was if a woman entered the battlefield. Next day, upon Krishna's directions, Shikhandi (Amba reborn) accompanied Arjuna to the battlefield and thus, Bhishma laid down his arms. This was a decisive moment in the war because Bhishma was the chief commander of the Kaurava army and the most formidable warrior on the battlefield. Krishna aided Arjuna in killing Jayadratha, who had held the other four Pandava brothers at bay while Arjuna's son Abhimanyu entered Drona's Chakravyuha formation - an effort in which he was killed by the simultaneous attack of eight Kaurava warriors. Krishna also caused the downfall of Drona, when he signalled Bhima to kill an elephant called Ashwatthama, the namesake of Drona's son. Pandavas started shouting that Ashwatthama was dead but Drona refused to believe them saying he would believe it only if he heard it from Yudhisthira. Krishna knew that Yudhisthira would never tell a lie, so he devised a clever ploy so that Yudhisthira wouldn't lie and at the same time Drona would be convinced of his son's death. On asked by Drona, Yudhisthira proclaimed
Ashwathama Hatahath, naro va Kunjaro va
i.e. Ashwathama had died but he was nor sure whether it was a Drona's son or an elephant. But as soon as Yudhisthira had uttered the first line, Pandava army on Krishna's direction broke into celebration with drums and conchs, in the din of which Drona could not hear the second part of the Yudhisthira's declaration and assumed that his son indeed was dead. Overcome with grief he laid down his arms, and on Krishna's instruction Dhrishtadyumna beheaded Drona.
When Arjuna was fighting Karna, the latter's chariot's wheels sank into the ground. While Karna was trying to take out the chariot from the grip of the Earth, Krishna reminded Arjuna how Karna and the other Kauravas had broken all rules of battle while simultaneously attacking and killing Abhimanyu, and he convinced Arjuna to do the same in revenge in order to kill Karna. During the final stage of the war, when Duryodhana was going to meet his mother Gandhari for taking her blessings which would convert all parts of his body on which her sight falls to diamond, Krishna tricks him to wearing banana leaves to hide his groin. When Duryodhana meets Gandhari, her vision and blessings fall on his entire body except his groin and thighs, and she becomes unhappy about it because she was not able to convert his entire body to diamond. When Duryodhana was in a mace-fight with Bhima, Bhima's blows had no effect on Duryodhana. Upon this, Krishna reminded Bhima of his vow to kill Duryodhana by hitting him on the thigh, and Bhima did the same to win the war despite it being against the rules of mace-fight (since Duryodhana had himself broken Dharma in all his past acts). Thus, Krishna's unparalleled strategy helped the Pandavas win the Mahabharata war by bringing the downfall of all the chief Kaurava warriors, without lifting any weapon. He also brought back to life Arjuna's grandson Parikshit, who had been attacked by a Brahmastra weapon from Ashwatthama while he was in his mother's womb. Parikshit became the Pandavas' successor.
FAMILY
Krishna had eight princely wives, also known as Ashtabharya: Rukmini, Satyabhama, Jambavati, Nagnajiti, Kalindi, Mitravinda, Bhadra, Lakshmana) and the other 16,100 or 16,000 (number varies in scriptures), who were rescued from Narakasura. They had been forcibly kept in his palace and after Krishna had killed Narakasura, he rescued these women and freed them. Krishna married them all to save them from destruction and infamity. He gave them shelter in his new palace and a respectful place in society. The chief amongst them is Rohini.
The Bhagavata Purana, Vishnu Purana, Harivamsa list the children of Krishna from the Ashtabharya with some variation; while Rohini's sons are interpreted to represent the unnumbered children of his junior wives. Most well-known among his sons are Pradyumna, the eldest son of Krishna (and Rukmini) and Samba, the son of Jambavati, whose actions led to the destruction of Krishna's clan.
LATER LIFE
According to Mahabharata, the Kurukshetra war resulted in the death of all the hundred sons of Gandhari. On the night before Duryodhana's death, Lord Krishna visited Gandhari to offer his condolences. Gandhari felt that Krishna knowingly did not put an end to the war, and in a fit of rage and sorrow, Gandhari cursed that Krishna, along with everyone else from the Yadu dynasty, would perish after 36 years. Krishna himself knew and wanted this to happen as he felt that the Yadavas had become very haughty and arrogant (adharmi), so he ended Gandhari's speech by saying "tathastu" (so be it).
After 36 years passed, a fight broke out between the Yadavas, at a festival, who killed each other. His elder brother, Balarama, then gave up his body using Yoga. Krishna retired into the forest and started meditating under a tree. The Mahabharata also narrates the story of a hunter who becomes an instrument for Krishna's departure from the world. The hunter Jara, mistook Krishna's partly visible left foot for that of a deer, and shot an arrow, wounding him mortally. After he realised the mistake, While still bleeding, Krishna told Jara, "O Jara, you were Bali in your previous birth, killed by myself as Rama in Tretayuga. Here you had a chance to even it and since all acts in this world are done as desired by me, you need not worry for this". Then Krishna, with his physical body ascended back to his eternal abode, Goloka vrindavan and this event marks departure of Krishna from the earth. The news was conveyed to Hastinapur and Dwaraka by eyewitnesses to this event. The place of this incident is believed to be Bhalka, near Somnath temple.
According to Puranic sources, Krishna's disappearance marks the end of Dvapara Yuga and the start of Kali Yuga, which is dated to February 17/18, 3102 BCE. Vaishnava teachers such as Ramanujacharya and Gaudiya Vaishnavas held the view that the body of Krishna is completely spiritual and never decays (Achyuta) as this appears to be the perspective of the Bhagavata Purana. Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (an incarnation of Lord Sri Krishna according to the Bhavishya Purana) exhorted, "Krishna Naama Sankirtan" i.e. the constant chanting of the Krishna's name is the supreme healer in Kali Yuga. It destroys sins and purifies the hearts through Bhakti ensures universal peace.
Krishna never appears to grow old or age at all in the historical depictions of the Puranas despite passing of several decades, but there are grounds for a debate whether this indicates that he has no material body, since battles and other descriptions of the Mahabhārata epic show clear indications that he seems to be subject to the limitations of nature. While battles apparently seem to indicate limitations, Mahabharata also shows in many places where Krishna is not subject to any limitations as through episodes Duryodhana trying to arrest Krishna where his body burst into fire showing all creation within him. Krishna is also explicitly described as without deterioration elsewhere.
WORSHIP
VAISHNAVISM
The worship of Krishna is part of Vaishnavism, which regards Vishnu as the Supreme God and venerates His associated avatars, their consorts, and related saints and teachers. Krishna is especially looked upon as a full manifestation of Vishnu, and as one with Vishnu himself. However the exact relationship between Krishna and Vishnu is complex and diverse, where Krishna is sometimes considered an independent deity, supreme in his own right. Out of many deities, Krishna is particularly important, and traditions of Vaishnava lines are generally centered either on Vishnu or on Krishna, as supreme. The term Krishnaism has been used to describe the sects of Krishna, reserving the term "Vaishnavism" for sects focusing on Vishnu in which Krishna is an avatar, rather than as a transcendent Supreme Being.
All Vaishnava traditions recognise Krishna as an avatar of Vishnu; others identify Krishna with Vishnu; while traditions, such as Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Vallabha Sampradaya and the Nimbarka Sampradaya, regard Krishna as the Svayam Bhagavan, original form of God. Swaminarayan, the founder of the Swaminarayan Sampraday also worshipped Krishna as God himself. "Greater Krishnaism" corresponds to the second and dominant phase of Vaishnavism, revolving around the cults of the Vasudeva, Krishna, and Gopala of late Vedic period. Today the faith has a significant following outside of India as well.
EARLY TRADITIONS
The deity Krishna-Vasudeva (kṛṣṇa vāsudeva "Krishna, the son of Vasudeva") is historically one of the earliest forms of worship in Krishnaism and Vaishnavism. It is believed to be a significant tradition of the early history of the worship of Krishna in antiquity. This tradition is considered as earliest to other traditions that led to amalgamation at a later stage of the historical development. Other traditions are Bhagavatism and the cult of Gopala, that along with the cult of Bala Krishna form the basis of current tradition of monotheistic religion of Krishna. Some early scholars would equate it with Bhagavatism, and the founder of this religious tradition is believed to be Krishna, who is the son of Vasudeva, thus his name is Vāsudeva; he is said to be historically part of the Satvata tribe, and according to them his followers called themselves Bhagavatas and this religion had formed by the 2nd century BC (the time of Patanjali), or as early as the 4th century BC according to evidence in Megasthenes and in the Arthasastra of Kautilya, when Vāsudeva was worshiped as supreme deity in a strongly monotheistic format, where the supreme being was perfect, eternal and full of grace. In many sources outside of the cult, the devotee or bhakta is defined as Vāsudevaka. The Harivamsa describes intricate relationships between Krishna Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha that would later form a Vaishnava concept of primary quadrupled expansion, or avatar.
BHAKTI TRADITION
Bhakti, meaning devotion, is not confined to any one deity. However Krishna is an important and popular focus of the devotional and ecstatic aspects of Hindu religion, particularly among the Vaishnava sects. Devotees of Krishna subscribe to the concept of lila, meaning 'divine play', as the central principle of the Universe. The lilas of Krishna, with their expressions of personal love that transcend the boundaries of formal reverence, serve as a counterpoint to the actions of another avatar of Vishnu: Rama, "He of the straight and narrow path of maryada, or rules and regulations."
The bhakti movements devoted to Krishna became prominent in southern India in the 7th to 9th centuries AD. The earliest works included those of the Alvar saints of the Tamil country. A major collection of their works is the Divya Prabandham. The Alvar Andal's popular collection of songs Tiruppavai, in which she conceives of herself as a gopi, is the most famous of the oldest works in this genre. Kulasekaraazhvaar's Mukundamala was another notable work of this early stage.
SPREAD OF THE KRISHNA-BHAKTI MOVEMENT
The movement, which started in the 6th-7th century A.D. in the Tamil-speaking region of South India, with twelve Alvar (one immersed in God) saint-poets, who wrote devotional songs. The religion of Alvar poets, which included a woman poet, Andal, was devotion to God through love (bhakti), and in the ecstasy of such devotions they sang hundreds of songs which embodied both depth of feeling and felicity of expressions. The movement originated in South India during the seventh-century CE, spreading northwards from Tamil Nadu through Karnataka and Maharashtra; by the fifteenth century, it was established in Bengal and northern India.
While the learned sections of the society well versed in Sanskrit could enjoy works like Gita Govinda or Bilvamangala's Krishna-Karnamritam, the masses sang the songs of the devotee-poets, who composed in the regional languages of India. These songs expressing intense personal devotion were written by devotees from all walks of life. The songs of Meera and Surdas became epitomes of Krishna-devotion in north India.
These devotee-poets, like the Alvars before them, were aligned to specific theological schools only loosely, if at all. But by the 11th century AD, Vaishnava Bhakti schools with elaborate theological frameworks around the worship of Krishna were established in north India. Nimbarka (11th century AD), Vallabhacharya (15th century AD) and (Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu an incarnation of Lord Sri Krishna according to the Bhavishya Purana) (16th century AD) all inspired by the teachings of Madhvacharya (11th century AD) were the founders of the most influential schools. These schools, namely Nimbarka Sampradaya, Vallabha Sampradaya and Gaudiya Vaishnavism respectively, see Krishna as the supreme God, rather than an avatar, as generally seen.
In the Deccan, particularly in Maharashtra, saint poets of the Varkari sect such as Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Janabai, Eknath and Tukaram promoted the worship of Vithoba, a local form of Krishna, from the beginning of the 13th century until the late 18th century. In southern India, Purandara Dasa and Kanakadasa of Karnataka composed songs devoted to the Krishna image of Udupi. Rupa Goswami of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, has compiled a comprehensive summary of bhakti named Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu.
IN THE WEST
In 1965, the Krishna-bhakti movement had spread outside India when its founder, Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, (who was instructed by his guru, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura) traveled from his homeland in West Bengal to New York City. A year later in 1966, after gaining many followers, he was able to form the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), popularly known as the Hare Krishna movement. The purpose of this movement was to write about Krishna in English and to share the Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy with people in the Western world by spreading the teachings of the saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. In an effort to gain attention, followers chanted the names of God in public locations. This chanting was known as hari-nama sankirtana and helped spread the teaching. Additionally, the practice of distributing prasad or “sanctified food” worked as a catalyst in the dissemination of his works. In the Hare Krishna movement, Prasad was a vegetarian dish that would be first offered to Krishna. The food’s proximity to Krishna added a “spiritual effect,” and was seen to “counteract material contamination affecting the soul.” Sharing this sanctified food with the public, in turn, enabled the movement to gain new recruits and further spread these teachings.
WIKIPEDIA
Castilleja nana, "C. lapidicola" form, Site 3, vicinity of White Mountains Rd., in dolomite barrens NE of Sheep Mountain, White Mountains, Mono Co., CA, 21 Jul 2019. The elevation at this site is about 11,800'.
Another Castilleja question I was exploring in the White Mts. is the relationship between this little known but fairly widespread form of C. nana, originally described as a separate species, C. lapidicola, but reduced to synonymy under the earlier C. nana in the Intermountain Flora (1984). However, the plants of this form rarely if ever are found in the same population, and the lapidicola form usually occurs at even higher elevations, and, at least in the Whites, and on different substrates. The pale or "true" C. nana and the nana-pilosa intergrades occur at around 10,500-11,000' (from what I saw), while the pictured plants are from a population at nearly 12,000'. I saw no evidence of mixing of these forms in either population, though surely our sample size was small, in just one day.
This very harsh, high albido site with medium and fine-grained dolomite gravel, supported only a handful of low alpine species, and Castilleja nana lapidicola was by far the most common species, giving a reddish-purple hue to the mostly uniform, white landscape. The scarcity of other plants made determination of the likely host plants much easier than usual, and, as with most Castillejas, a variety of species appear to be utilized as hosts.
HULL, or Kingston upon Hull, a town in Hullshire. Hull, with the parishes of Hessle, Kirk Ella and North Ferriby forms the distinct county called Hullshire (or the town and county of Kingston upon Hull). The town of Hull contains two parishes:
Holy Trinity and
St. Mary's.
The town itself is: 8 miles from Hedon, 9 from Beverley, 12 from South-Cave, 16 from Hornsea, 18 from Patrington, 25 from Howden, 39 from York; from London, by Lincoln, 174; by York. 236. --Markets, Tuesday and Friday. --Fair, Oct. 10, for horned cattle, horses, woollen-cloths, toys, &c. --Bankers, Old-Bank, Messrs. Pease and Liddell, draw on Messrs. Sir Peter Pole, Thornton, and Co. 1, Bartholomew Lane; Messrs. Pease, Harrison, and Co. draw on Messrs. Marryatt, Kay, and Co. 1, Mansion-House-Street; Messrs. R. Raikes, and Co. draw on Messrs. Curries, Raikes, and Co. 29, Cornhill; Messrs. Smiths and Thompson draw on Messrs. Smith, Payne, and Smiths, Mansion-House Place. --Pop. 28,624.
The town is of no great antiquity, for King Edward I. was founder of it; he having observed the advantageous situation of the place, (then called Wik) obtained it by way of exchange of the Abbot of Meaux, and built the town called from him Kingston, i.e. the King's town. Here he made a good harbour, and the inhabitants Free-Burgesses, and granted them many privileges. They were at first governed by a Warden, and then by Bailiffs; and after that by a Mayor and Bailiffs, and at last obtained of King Henry VI. to be governed by a Mayor and a Sheriff, and that the town should be a county corporate of itself. Sir Michael de la Pole prevailed on King Richard II. to enlarge their charter, and grant them other privileges. It is now inferior to few places in England for trade, being well furnished with shipping. It is governed by a Mayor, a Recorder, 12 Aldermen, &c. --Camden. --Magna Brit.
Charles I. was received here with great pomp and ceremony. During the rupture between the King and parliament, Sir John Hotham was made governor of the place, and previous to the King entering the town, he sent a message to Sir John, to inform him, that he intended to do himself the pleasure to dine with him; but his majesty was immediately informed by the governor, that he could not open the gates to him, without betraying the trust that was reposed in him by Parliament. Charles, irritated by the refusal, determined to besiege the town; but after repeated repulses, and finding all his attempts ineffectual, raised the siege, and proceeded to York. It seems, however, that though Hotham at first refused to open the gates to the King, yet he afterwards, in 1643, sent his son privately to treat with him. These designs being made known to Parliament, both the father and son were executed.
Another attempt to besiege the town was made soon afterwards by the Marquis of Newcastle, but attended with no better success.
The Armory in the citadel, which has lately undergone considerable repairs, is capable of containing arms and accoutrements for 15,000 Cavalry, and 20,000 Infantry.
The Trinity-house, a spacious building, begun at first by subscription, for the relief of distressed seamen and their wives; but afterwards a patent was obtained from the Crown, with many privileges, by the advantage of which they maintain many distressed seamen with their widows, both at Hull and other places.
Michael de la Pole, founded here, in 1378, a Monastery for a Prior, and 12 Carthusian Monks. This house was founded in honour of God, the Virgin Mary, and St. Michael the Archangel. --Dugdale. The "White Freres College," says Leland, "stode by Beverlegate. The Percys were taken for founders of it. The Augustine Freres stode at the est ende of Trinite Chirch."
The Maison-Dieu, for the relief of the poor, was built by Michael de la Pole, in 1384, for 13 poor men and as many women, to which he gave 20 acres of land and 20L. per ann. out of his land, in this place and Myton. Over the door, cut in stone, is this inscription:--
Deo et Pauperibus posuit D. Michael de la Pole, A.D. 1384.
Magna. Brit.
There are, besides, several hospitals in this place, erected by private benefactors. That benevolent institution, the Female Penitentiary was opened here in 1811. The great object of it is to employ, and ultimately to restore to society, such women as have, by evil courses, rendered themselves obnoxious to society. Every applicant is considered as on probation, and not fully admitted till she has conducted herself for two months in a satisfactory manner.
This town gave birth to Thos. Johnson, M.D. the first botanist of his time in England. He died in 1644. Doctor Fuller, who knew him well, wrote the following epitaph to his memory :--
Hic, Johnsone, jaces, se si Mors cederet Herbis,
Arte fugata tua cederet illa tuis.
Captain Edward Thompson was a native of this place, born in about 1738. He was the author of a variety of pieces; but the merits by which Capt. Thompson will be best known, are his sea songs, especially those beautiful compositions beginning " Loose every sail to the breeze," "The topsails shiver in the wind," and "Behold upon the gallant wave." He was appointed commander of the Grampus, and sent to the coast of Africa, where he died in 1786.
In the market-place stands a fine equestrian statue of King William III. On the pedestal is this inscription:- "This statue was erected in 1734, to the memory of King William, our great deliverer."
The whale fishery constitutes a principal branch in the commercial concerns of Hull, which sends out to Greenland and Davis Straits, a greater number of ships than any port in Britain.
Hull sends two members to Parliament. -It first returned 33rd Edward I. but ceased sending till 12th Edward II. The right of election is in the Burgesses, of which there are about 1,400. The Sheriff is the returning Officer. --Oldfield on Boroughs.
Ahora en Biodiversidad virtual y hace poco en El País -en pdf- gracias a Elisabet Sans. También en la web de la Fundación Biodiversidad
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Si ayer Netrium interruptum era el alga cebra , hoy el alga estrella Micrasterias , se asoma por la ventana de esta galería. Es posible, eso sí, que Micrasterias truncata sea una de las menos estrelladas junto con M. oscitans dentro de este grupo de pequeñas joyas que son los désmidos, pero eso apenas importa, pues todas ellas conservan su hermosura, desde que comienzan a formarse hasta que su alma verde se desvanece.
La mayoría de las especies hermanas del género Micrasterias viven en lagunas de aguas ácidas o en turberas y son extremadamente sensibles a la contaminación. La lluvia ácida y la presencia de diferentes compuestos químicos en el agua ha hecho que muchas de ellas hayan desaparecido en el norte y centro de Europa. Por fortuna, las lagunas de montaña, alejadas de fuentes de contaminación, atesoran todavía una gran variedad de estos organismos que se recortan como pequeños soles verdes entre las gotas de agua de las lagunas de montaña.
Micrasterias truncata es una de las especies de menor tamaño dentro del grupo y sus extremos casi planos y sin apenas dientes son características particulares a las que se debe el nombre específico de esta alga.
Hoy Micrasterias está a punto de completar su desarrollo después de haberse dividido. Son dos estrellas gemelas que flotan unidas hombro con hombro, no se independizarán hasta haber finalizado completamente su crecimiento. De momento seguirán así, juntas, ayudándose mutuamente para poder flotar, equilibradamente, este equilibrio de la simetría es una constante en su vida, sin él, posiblemente no habría estrellas.
Micrasterias truncata parece que no quiere despegarse de su alma gemela, necesitará todavía un tiempo madurar, cuando sus dos mitades pequeñas igualen a las grandes se harán independientes y brillarán en el firmamento de agua de las lagunas.
Micrasterias truncataha venido junto con otras estrellas desde la Laguna de Cebollera, en la vertiente soriana de dicha sierra, cerca de Molinos de Razón, para mostrarse aquí fotografiada a 400 aumentos con la técnica de campo oscuro.
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☁ la nube negra de una justicia pervertida en nuestro país, movida por la envidia y la venganza, permanecerá aquí, hasta que soplen los vientos limpios que todos necesitamos. La Justicia es uno de los cimientos necesarios para la Paz. Desde aquí todo nuestro apoyo al Juez Baltasar Garzón -el buen Juez de Saramago- y a las personas de buena voluntad como él que trabajan por la Justicia.
Ipê-Roxo Bola (Tabebuia impetiginosa) -
Pau D'Arco Bark.
Recebe este nome em razão da forma de seus cachos de flores. Chega a atingir cerca de 8 a 12 metros de altura, dotada de copa alongada, tronco ereto de 60-90 cm de diâmetro com folhas compostas 5-folioladas e quando florido perde suas folhas. É encontrado desde o Piauí até Minas Gerais, Goiás e São Paulo, em geral nas regiões de cerrado e caatinga. Floresce nos meses de maio a agosto. Existem, ainda, outras espécies de ipê roxo, como o T. heptaphylla.Sua Madeira é muito pesada (densidade 0,96g/cm3) muito dura ao corte, resistente ao ataque de organismos xilófagos.
Nomes populares:
Ipê-roxo, Pau-d’arco-roxo, Ipê-roxo-de-bola.
Ipê roxo (Tabebuia avellanedae)
Nomes populares: ipê-roxo, pau-d’arco-roxo, ipê-roxo-da-mata, ipê-preto, ipê-rosa, ipê-comum, ipê-cavatã, lapacho, peúva, piúva.
Sabe-se que o ipê-roxo é a Tabebuia avellanedae, porém é muito comum haver confusão com a Tabebuia pentaphylla (ipê-rosa), inclusive alguns autores consideram a Tabebuia avellanedae e a Tabebuia impetiginosa da mesma espécie.
É o primeiro dos Ipês a florir no ano, inicia a floração em Junho, e pode durar até Agosto, conforme a árvore. Esta espécie se confunde bastante com outras também de flor roxa, como a Tabebuia impetiginosa e a Tabebuia heptaphylla, sendo considerado por alguns autores que a T. avellanedae e a T. impetiginosa seriam a mesma espécie. São muito utilizadas no paisagismo urbano, por sua beleza e desenvolvimento rápido.
É também utilizado contra as estomatites, úlceras de garganta e anemia. Anti-inflamatório, anti-cancerígeno, eczema.
O ipê (Ipê, em tupi-guarani, significa "árvore de casca grossa" e tabebuia é "pau" ou "madeira que flutua") - muitas vezes chamado de pau-d’arco - possui propriedades medicinais,sendo a casca em estudo para tratamentos. É apreciado pela qualidade de sua madeira, além de servir para fins ornamentais e decorativos. A árvore do ipê é alta, podendo chegar até 30 m (na cidade , em locais abertos chega a cerca de 10-15 m), bem copada e na época de floração perde totalmente as folhas para dar lugar às flores das mais variadas cores (brancas, amarelas roxas ou rosa) com belas manchas coloridas. É uma arvore originária do cerrado, não precisando de muita água, apenas no começo. É uma das árvores homologadas para plantio pelo fato de possuir raiz pivotante( para baixo), sem quebrar a calçada. Recomenda-se o plantio aonde haja bastante espaço para cima. Floresce no período de julho a setembro e frutifica de setembro a outubro. Destas sementes, que secam e abrem as vagens só nascem se estiverem secas. Os diversos tipos de ipê recebem os nomes conforme as cores de suas flores ou madeira. Os que mais se destacam são os seguintes: ipê-amarelo ou ipê comum, ipê-tabaco, ipê-branco, ipê-roxo ou ipê-rosa. Por muito tempo, o ipê foi considerado a árvore nacional brasileira. Contudo, no dia 7 de dezembro de 1978, a lei nº 6507 declara o pau-brasil a Árvore Nacional e, a flor do ipê, a flor do símbolo nacional.
Identifique seu Ipê:
* Amarelo : Folhas felpudas, pequenas em geral em formação de folhas por ramo.
* Roxo : Folhas lisas, as vezes serrilhadas na ponta, crescimento rápido.
* Branco : Folhas arredondadas.
* Rosa : Folhas grandes e suculentas ,talos verdes. crescimento rápido.A seguir, Texto, em português, do site "Catalão Notícias", que pode ser acessado no endereço portalcatalao.com.br/catalaonoticias/category_news.asp?ID...
Nesta época do ano, em que já se instala a “estação da seca” em Brasília, percebe-se em toda a parte o aumento de cores na vegetação. O sol pleno, entremeado pelo sibilar do vento frio, colabora com a natureza, fazendo desabrochar flores por toda parte, como se quisessem compensar-nos pela chegada da aridez desértica do inverno. De fato, tanta beleza nos distrai e nos alimenta com coragem para resistir bravamente à adversidade do clima, nos próximos cinco meses.
Uma das mais belas espécies que enfeitam a região é o ipê, adjetivado de acordo com a cor das suas flores. Há ipê amarelo, branco, rosa... Mas o mais famoso deles é o ipê roxo, cujo nome científico é Tabebuia avellanedae, com características muito interessantes. Por causa da sua coloração rosa e lilás intensos, é muito bem vindo em praças, jardins públicos e na arborização de ruas, avenidas, estradas e alamedas e também na recomposição da mata ciliar. Apesar de ser indicada para arborização urbana, não se recomenda plantar essa árvore em calçadas estreitas, com menos de dois metros e meio de largura, em locais com fiação aérea e ausência de recuo predial, porque a espécie atinge, na fase adulta, de cinco a oito metros de altura, com o raio da copa variando em torno de quatro a cinco metros.
Pouco antes da floração, suas folhas caem e surgem, no ápice dos ramos, magníficas panículas com numerosas flores tubulosas, perfumadas e atrativas para abelhas e pássaros. Por causa dessa formação tão parecida com bolas de flores nos galhos, os botânicos, que a descreveram pela primeira vez, deram-lhe o nome de 'árvore buquê'.
Vaidoso, o ipê roxo sai na frente dos de outras cores, mostrando sua beleza do início de junho até o final de setembro e, ainda, frutifica de julho a novembro. Versátil, adapta-se bem ao clima tropical úmido e subúmido, com inverno seco, mas sobrevive também no clima subtropical, com verão quente. Tem preferências por temperaturas entre 18 a 26 graus centígrados.
Mas, não é só de aparência que vive essa espécie. Praticamente toda a árvore produz e fornece matéria prima de excelente qualidade, que tem surpreendentes aplicações.
O tronco do ipê roxo tem sido utilizado em larga escala na construção civil, para confeccionar dormentes, tacos, portais, postes, eixos de roda, vigas; na construção naval como quilhas de navio; no mobiliário em geral, em batentes e degraus de escadas; em instrumentos musicais, bolas de boliche, entre outros.
Da casca, são extraídos ácidos, sais alcalinos e corante, que é usado para tingir algodão e seda, sem contar que está entre os produtos amazônicos mais procurados, com reconhecido poder medicinal.
Da entrecasca faz-se um chá que é usado no tratamento de gripes e depurativo do sangue.
As folhas são utilizadas contra úlceras sifilíticas e blenorrágicas. A espécie também tem propriedades anti-reumáticas e anti-anêmicas.
É tido como um poderoso auxiliar no combate a determinados tipos de tumores cancerígenos. É usado também como analgésico e como auxiliar no tratamento de doenças estomacais e da pele.
A extração predatória, realizada durante anos, quase levou a espécie à extinção. Devido à atuação governamental, reclamada pela comunidade científica, a produção, em princípio, é protegida, explorada e comercializada com a observância de critérios adequados. Um dos produtos mais importantes extraído do ipê roxo é o Lapachol, marca do princípio ativo naftoquinona, com reconhecida ação antiinflamatória, analgésica, antibiótica e antineoplásica [ataca qualquer tumor, benigno ou maligno].
O Laboratório Estatal de Pernambuco [Lafepe] é o proprietário da marca Lapachol desde 1978. Mas em 1969, já produzia e comercializava o produto como auxiliar no tratamento do câncer. Atualmente, a estatal pernambucana tem acordo com o Hospital Sírio Libanês, de São Paulo, na pesquisa de ensaios clínicos em seres humanos em tratamento de câncer, primordialmente o câncer de próstata.
Tão admirado pelos visitantes e transeuntes, cantado em versos e lido nas costumeiras crônicas da cidade, o Ipê Roxo já faz parte da tradicional paisagem brasiliense. Emociono-me diante dessa maravilha, carregada de flores cada vez mais belas, nas Quadras e Entrequadras, ao longo do Eixão, nos Parques e Chácaras que rodeiam a cidade, especialmente agora, quando contrasta com o brilho azulado e intenso do céu e o heróico e persistente verde dos gramados. É bom saber que ele só sairá de cena para dar lugar às bem aventuradas chuvas tardias da primavera, lá pelo mês de outubro.
Philadephus lewisii 'Goose Creek' (double-flowered form). An unusual sport of the typically four-petaled species. The form holds true when propagated from cuttings. Compare with the four-petaled flowers in this Flckr photo: flic.kr/p/tNBocS . Photographed at Regional Parks Botanic Garden located in Tilden Regional Park near Berkeley, CA
light and shadow of the Chinese character 愛 meaning love in both Chinese and Japanese....
Sorry that the projection to the walls is reversed...
I like the Effect of Yin - Yang created by the two different walls of the corner...
Thanks for the comments guys...
This is taken form Panorama Point in the Paradise area of Mt. Rainier National Park and down below is the Nisqually River valley. As our hike progressed we could watch the clouds progressing from the Pacific Ocean way off in the distance down the valley to the right of the photograph to this point. In the bottom left you can see lights of cars heading down the mountain. The "Road to Paradise" was laid out and built by hand in the 19teens and is a great engineering and artistic masterpiece! Tis was truly a sublime experience! Hiking several miles down to Paradise Lodge in the dark was another matter! :-)
English:
Micro versus Macro
What to see when doing a comparison of the alignment picture with large images of the related paintings:
Drunkness Of Noah
All the information to start the search for the pearl is stated on this painting. Actually this painting is very schematic on displaying the visual elements that you need to know to understand the whole Sistine Ceiling. The letter "M" formed by the blue cloth, the shapes and positionings of the hands, and the way Noah is sleeping is very revealing of the meanings and intentions that the spectator has to start connecting. The subjects and its acts are all involved in the secret to be revealed.
The guy digging and the jug are in different planes but the scene is pretty much obvious: a search for something rounded starts right here. And the shovel handle is bended, suggesting that the spectator has to do some kind of alignment to reach the rounded thing. Translating: an alignment is needed for the finding of the pearl.
Everything on the painting suggests that some kind of alignment crossing different planes and subjects areas need to be done indeed.
The Flood
The first precise point where the alignment begins: the white dove on top of Noah's Ark. Notice how the dove looks pretty much like a sphere. Following the dove, there are many details to be observe as indicative of being another mark and part of the alignment. The hand and the leg touching the boat edge on the same point is one of them. But the blond guy looking upwards and holding a pan is the most revealing one.
Sacrifice Of Noah
These are the most easiest details to verify as part of the alignment. The bald head of Noah is very visible as a rounded object, his finger pointing upwards is a very clear hint, while he is also looking to the Aum symbol drew by the fire flames: everything tells the spectator that a very important message through visual information is coming from above: the alignment.
The pearl in the scene is hidden in the open wound of the goat neck. The touching of the seated guy's leg with the hidden pearl was previously described on the surrounding paintings as the main thing to be observed for the alignment.
Temptation and Expulsion
On this painting, the strategy of making the character pointing and looking directly to something in front of him while the real intention and objective are backwards can be appreciated very clearly. The guy/angel in red pointing the sword to the back of Adam's neck is stating that the alignment must cross some mark behind his own neck. Looking carefully the painting you notice that the neck of his dress is the most rounded form and that there's something like a ball of flesh sketched on the side of his neck. This is exact point where the alignment must pass.
Creation Of Eve
The two nudes next to God are key. Everyone can see how the elbow of one is touching God's shoulder, at the same time that he looks backwards, clearly showing surprise for something coming from the back. It's obvious that the line of the alignment is what surprises him. The line crosses his scapula, a crucial element in the code to find the pearl. The details to observe on the other nude are even more clear. His hands are placed in a way that the alignment crosses their wrists, while the hands' shapes are in tune with the code to find the pearl. On top of that, one of his legs is positioned in the alignment's direction, while he is looking like wondering "where is the alignment's end?"
Creation Of Adam
On this painting we can notice the alignment of the Virgin's hand with God's hand while it rests over the Child shoulder. A so powerful composition of visual elements must have a very important purpose: to state the passing of the core message of the Sistine Ceiling.
Nude over Daniel
This nude's positioning is the first clear reference to the painting at the end of the alignment: Moses And The Serpent Of Brass (The Hymn Of The Pearl). The arm bended to his back and the flexed leg are easy to be related with a guy on the cited painting at the end of the alignment. The foot touching the ground express the idea of an effort to touch something more solid, or with more meaning: the passing of the alignment.
Creation Of Sun and Moon
This painting has the most easy to understand visual trick. The strategy of making the character pointing and looking directly to something in front of him while the important subject is placed backwards is being used to unveal a very precise mark for the alignment. God is showing the exact location where the alignment crosses the white circle, or the moon.
Libyan Sibyl
This sibyl is directly connected to the Drunkenness Of Noah, where the alignment begins (verify the related scheme to understand the whole set of writings and symbolic details). The big opened book highlights the positioning of the Libyan Sibyl's arms: perfectly orientated by the alignment.
But the micro detail to be observed here, and the most interesting and symbolic thing of all, is the seam of the cloth on the sibyl's head. The seam's direction matches perfectly with the alignment. When we recall what the Libyan Sibyl represents in the Tree Of Life that organizes the Sistine Ceiling, it's very symbolic a lot that the alignment touches the top of her head just before reaching the pearl.
Moses And The Serpent Of Brass
Here we come to the end of the alignment and finally we can see the pearl. The pearl is shaped by one man's elbow outlined by a serpent. The serpent is clearly forming the famous symbol of the Ouroboros, and the occult message from the Sistine Ceiling is stated by the serpent on the mast, where it forms the Aum/Ohm symbol.
The serpent on the mast (Aum/Ohm symbol) is connected to serpent around the pearl (Ouroboros) by the hand. The hermetic/occult message is very clear: to escape from the life and death circle (Ouroboros) you have to have the strenght and determination to reach a true spiritual iniciation (Aum/Ohm symbol). We have to stop acting like serpents and become like doves. The dove is associated with Jonas.
Português:
Micro versus Macro
O que ver ao fazer uma comparação da imagem de alinhamento com imagens grandes das pinturas relacionadas:
Embriaguez de Noé
Toda a informação para começar a busca da pérola está indicada nesta pintura. Na verdade, esta pintura é bem esquemática ao exibir os elementos visuais que você precisa saber para entender todo o Teto da Sistina. A letra "M" formada pelo pano azul, as formas e posicionamentos das mãos e o modo como Noé está dormindo revelam significados e intenções que o espectador tem de começar a conectar. Os personagens e seus atos estão todos envolvidos no segredo a ser revelado.
O cara cavando e o jarro estão em planos diferentes, mas a cena é muito óbvia: uma busca por algo arredondado começa aqui. E a alça da pá está dobrada, sugerindo que o espectador tem que fazer algum tipo de alinhamento para alcançar a coisa arredondada. Traduzindo: um alinhamento é necessário para a descoberta da pérola.
Tudo na pintura sugere que algum tipo de alinhamento cruzando diferentes planos e áreas de assuntos precisa ser feito de fato.
O Dilúvio
O primeiro preciso ponto onde o alinhamento começa: a pomba branca no topo da Arca de Noé. Observe como a pomba se parece muito com uma esfera. Após a pomba, há muitos outros detalhes a serem observados como indicativos de fazer parte do alinhamento. A mão e a perna tocando a borda do barco no mesmo ponto é uma delas. Mas o rapaz loiro olhando para cima e segurando uma panela é o mais revelador.
Sacrifício de Noé
Estes são os detalhes mais fáceis de verificar como parte do alinhamento. A cabeça calva de Noé é muito visível como um objeto arredondado, seu dedo apontando para cima é uma sugestão muito clara, enquanto ele também olha para o símbolo Aum desenhado pelas chamas de fogo: tudo isso diz ao espectador que uma mensagem muito importante através de informações visuais está vindo de cima: o alinhamento.
A pérola na cena está escondida na ferida aberta do pescoço de cabra. O toque da perna do indivíduo sentado com a pérola escondida está sugerido nas pinturas circunvizinhas como a principal coisa a ser observada para o alinhamento.
Expulsão do Paraíso
Nesta pintura, a estratégia de fazer o personagem apontar e olhar diretamente para algo à sua frente, enquanto a intenção real e objetivo estão para trás pode ser apreciado muito claramente. O cara / anjo em vermelho apontando a espada para a parte de trás do pescoço de Adão está afirmando que o alinhamento deve atravessar uma marca atrás de seu próprio pescoço. Olhando cuidadosamente a pintura você percebe que o colarinho de seu vestido é a forma mais arredondada e que há algo como uma bola de carne esboçada no lado de seu pescoço. Este é o ponto exato onde o alinhamento deve passar.
Criação de Eva
Os dois nus ao lado de Deus são a chave. Todo mundo pode ver como o cotovelo de um deles está tocando o ombro de Deus, ao mesmo tempo que ele olha para trás, expressando clara surpresa por algo vindo das suas costas. É óbvio que a linha do alinhamento é o que o surpreende. A linha atravessa sua escápula, um elemento crucial no código para encontrar a pérola.
Os detalhes a observar no outro nu são ainda mais claros. Suas mãos estão colocadas de uma forma que o alinhamento cruza os seus pulsos, enquanto as formas das mãos seguem o código para encontrar a pérola. Além disso, uma das pernas deste outro nu está posicionada na direção do alinhamento, enquanto ele está olhando como se perguntando "onde será o final do alinhamento?"
Criação de Adão
Nesta pintura podemos notar o alinhamento da mão da Virgem com a mão de Deus, enquanto esta repousa sobre o ombro da Criança. Uma composição tão poderosa de elementos visuais tem que ter um propósito muito importante: afirmar a passagem da mensagem central do Teto da Capela Sistina.
Nu acima de Daniel
A posição deste nu é a primeira referência clara à pintura no final do alinhamento: Moisés E A Serpente De Bronze (O Hino Da Pérola). O braço dobrado nas costas e a perna flexionada são fáceis de relacionar com um cara na pintura citada ao final do alinhamento. O pé que toca o chão expressa a idéia de um esforço para tocar em algo mais sólido, ou com mais significado: a passagem do alinhamento.
Criação do Sol e da Lua
Esta pintura exibe um truque visual bem fácil de entender. A estratégia, de fazer o personagem apontar e olhar diretamente para algo em frente a ele enquanto a mensagem central está colocada atrás dele, neste caso está sendo usada para revelar uma marca muito precisa para o alinhamento. Deus está mostrando o local exato onde o alinhamento cruza o círculo branco, ou a lua.
Síbila Líbica
Esta síbila está diretamente ligada à Embriaguez de Noé, onde começa o alinhamento (verifique o esquema relacionado para entender todo o conjunto de escritos e detalhes simbólicos). O grande livro aberto destaca o posicionamento dos braços da Síbila: perfeitamente orientado pelo alinhamento.
Mas o micro detalhe a ser observado aqui, e o mais interessante e simbólico de tudo, é a costura do pano na cabeça da Síbila. A direção da costura combina perfeitamente com o alinhamento. Quando recordamos o que a Síbila Líbica representa na Árvore da Vida que organiza o Teto da Sistina, é muito simbólico que o alinhamento toque o topo de sua cabeça antes de alcançar a pérola.
Moisés e a Serpente de Bronze
Aqui chegamos ao final do alinhamento e finalmente podemos ver a pérola. A pérola é formada pelo cotovelo de um homem e delineada por uma serpente. Esta serpente possui claramente a forma do famoso símbolo dos Ouroboros, e a mensagem oculta do Teto da Sistina é declarada pela serpente enroscada no mastro, onde forma o símbolo Aum / Ohm.
A serpente no mastro (símbolo de Aum / Ohm) é conectada à serpente em torno da pérola (Ouroboros) pela mão. A mensagem hermética / oculta é muito clara: para sair do círculo da vida e da morte (Ouroboros) você tem que ter a força e a determinação de alcançar uma verdadeira iniciação espiritual (símbolo Aum / Ohm). Temos de parar de agir como serpentes e nos tornar como pombas. A pomba está associada a Jonas.
Al Tawila. Mesquitas, forma e localização.
Fotógrafo: Fernando Varanda (1941-)
Fotografia: 1973 - 1990.
[CFT167.360]
The eBay Express checkout form uses a thin rule to separate meaningful content sections. Just the minimum amount is needed to make a clear distinction.
Wroblewski, Luke. 2008. Web Form Design: Filling In the Blanks. New York: Rosenfeld Media.
compassion is the purest and honest form of love, to show compassion is not to pity, but respectfully show understanding, acceptance and caring, compassion is never scheming, it's never wrong, it's always the right time, you can never give or receive too much ...and it should be a part of every human life
Fitted to this Porsche Panamera is our Rotary Formed RF2s shown in Matte Black. The 22x9, 22x10.5 is an optimized diameter and width for the Panamera, perfectly fitted with a staggered concave appearance.
This is supposed to be me in LEGO form. It is based on my appearance in LEGO Universe. As you can see, I have a lot of work to do like getting the proper hair piece, a torso print, etc. Compare flic.kr/p/aWigeg
Legong is a form of Balinese dance. It is a refined dance form characterized by intricate finger movements, complicated footwork, and expressive gestures and facial expressions.
An extremely basic definition of legong is a dance traditionally performed by pre-pubescent girls in the palaces of feudal Bali.
One translation is that the word is made up of two words. Lega meaning happy and Ing wong meaning person – put them together and you get: “something that makes people happy”. Another one is oleg meaning dance and gong meaning gamelan, the music that accompanies the dance.
Legong probably originated in the 19th century as royal entertainment. Today the most common legong dance is Legong Keraton, so named by the Sultanate of Keraton Surakarta when the music and dance composer and genius I Wayan Lotring from Kuta was invited to perform in the 1920s with his Gamelan Pelegongan group in the keraton (palace) in Surakarta.
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Bali is an island and province of Indonesia. The province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nusa Ceningan. It is located at the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. Its capital of Denpasar is located at the southern part of the island.
With a population of 3,890,757 in the 2010 census, and 4,225,000 as of January 2014, the island is home to most of Indonesia's Hindu minority. According to the 2010 Census, 83.5% of Bali's population adhered to Balinese Hinduism, followed by 13.4% Muslim, Christianity at 2.5%, and Buddhism 0.5%.
Bali is a popular tourist destination, which has seen a significant rise in numbers since the 1980s. It is renowned for its highly developed arts, including traditional and modern dance, sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking, and music. The Indonesian International Film Festival is held every year in Bali.
Bali is part of the Coral Triangle, the area with the highest biodiversity of marine species. In this area alone over 500 reef building coral species can be found. For comparison, this is about 7 times as many as in the entire Caribbean. There is a wide range of dive sites with high quality reefs, all with their own specific attractions. Many sites can have strong currents and swell, so diving without a knowledgeable guide is inadvisable. Most recently, Bali was the host of the 2011 ASEAN Summit, 2013 APEC and Miss World 2013.
HISTORY
ANCIENT
Bali was inhabited around 2000 BC by Austronesian people who migrated originally from Southeast Asia and Oceania through Maritime Southeast Asia. Culturally and linguistically, the Balinese are closely related to the people of the Indonesian archipelago, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Oceania. Stone tools dating from this time have been found near the village of Cekik in the island's west.
In ancient Bali, nine Hindu sects existed, namely Pasupata, Bhairawa, Siwa Shidanta, Waisnawa, Bodha, Brahma, Resi, Sora and Ganapatya. Each sect revered a specific deity as its personal Godhead.
Inscriptions from 896 and 911 don't mention a king, until 914, when Sri Kesarivarma is mentioned. They also reveal an independent Bali, with a distinct dialect, where Buddhism and Sivaism were practiced simultaneously. Mpu Sindok's great granddaughter, Mahendradatta (Gunapriyadharmapatni), married the Bali king Udayana Warmadewa (Dharmodayanavarmadeva) around 989, giving birth to Airlangga around 1001. This marriage also brought more Hinduism and Javanese culture to Bali. Princess Sakalendukirana appeared in 1098. Suradhipa reigned from 1115 to 1119, and Jayasakti from 1146 until 1150. Jayapangus appears on inscriptions between 1178 and 1181, while Adikuntiketana and his son Paramesvara in 1204.
Balinese culture was strongly influenced by Indian, Chinese, and particularly Hindu culture, beginning around the 1st century AD. The name Bali dwipa ("Bali island") has been discovered from various inscriptions, including the Blanjong pillar inscription written by Sri Kesari Warmadewa in 914 AD and mentioning "Walidwipa". It was during this time that the people developed their complex irrigation system subak to grow rice in wet-field cultivation. Some religious and cultural traditions still practised today can be traced to this period.
The Hindu Majapahit Empire (1293–1520 AD) on eastern Java founded a Balinese colony in 1343. The uncle of Hayam Wuruk is mentioned in the charters of 1384-86. A mass Javanese emigration occurred in the next century.
PORTUGUESE CONTACTS
The first known European contact with Bali is thought to have been made in 1512, when a Portuguese expedition led by Antonio Abreu and Francisco Serrão sighted its northern shores. It was the first expedition of a series of bi-annual fleets to the Moluccas, that throughout the 16th century usually traveled along the coasts of the Sunda Islands. Bali was also mapped in 1512, in the chart of Francisco Rodrigues, aboard the expedition. In 1585, a ship foundered off the Bukit Peninsula and left a few Portuguese in the service of Dewa Agung.
DUTCH EAST INDIA
In 1597 the Dutch explorer Cornelis de Houtman arrived at Bali, and the Dutch East India Company was established in 1602. The Dutch government expanded its control across the Indonesian archipelago during the second half of the 19th century (see Dutch East Indies). Dutch political and economic control over Bali began in the 1840s on the island's north coast, when the Dutch pitted various competing Balinese realms against each other. In the late 1890s, struggles between Balinese kingdoms in the island's south were exploited by the Dutch to increase their control.
In June 1860 the famous Welsh naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, travelled to Bali from Singapore, landing at Buleleng on the northcoast of the island. Wallace's trip to Bali was instrumental in helping him devise his Wallace Line theory. The Wallace Line is a faunal boundary that runs through the strait between Bali and Lombok. It has been found to be a boundary between species of Asiatic origin in the east and a mixture of Australian and Asian species to the west. In his travel memoir The Malay Archipelago, Wallace wrote of his experience in Bali:
I was both astonished and delighted; for as my visit to Java was some years later, I had never beheld so beautiful and well-cultivated a district out of Europe. A slightly undulating plain extends from the seacoast about ten or twelve miles inland, where it is bounded by a fine range of wooded and cultivated hills. Houses and villages, marked out by dense clumps of coconut palms, tamarind and other fruit trees, are dotted about in every direction; while between them extend luxurious rice-grounds, watered by an elaborate system of irrigation that would be the pride of the best cultivated parts of Europe.
The Dutch mounted large naval and ground assaults at the Sanur region in 1906 and were met by the thousands of members of the royal family and their followers who fought against the superior Dutch force in a suicidal puputan defensive assault rather than face the humiliation of surrender. Despite Dutch demands for surrender, an estimated 200 Balinese marched to their death against the invaders. In the Dutch intervention in Bali, a similar massacre occurred in the face of a Dutch assault in Klungkung.
AFTERWARD THE DUTCH GOVERNORS
exercised administrative control over the island, but local control over religion and culture generally remained intact. Dutch rule over Bali came later and was never as well established as in other parts of Indonesia such as Java and Maluku.
n the 1930s, anthropologists Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, artists Miguel Covarrubias and Walter Spies, and musicologist Colin McPhee all spent time here. Their accounts of the island and its peoples created a western image of Bali as "an enchanted land of aesthetes at peace with themselves and nature." Western tourists began to visit the island.
Imperial Japan occupied Bali during World War II. It was not originally a target in their Netherlands East Indies Campaign, but as the airfields on Borneo were inoperative due to heavy rains, the Imperial Japanese Army decided to occupy Bali, which did not suffer from comparable weather. The island had no regular Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) troops. There was only a Native Auxiliary Corps Prajoda (Korps Prajoda) consisting of about 600 native soldiers and several Dutch KNIL officers under command of KNIL Lieutenant Colonel W.P. Roodenburg. On 19 February 1942 the Japanese forces landed near the town of Senoer [Senur]. The island was quickly captured.
During the Japanese occupation, a Balinese military officer, Gusti Ngurah Rai, formed a Balinese 'freedom army'. The harshness of war requisitions made Japanese rule more resented than Dutch rule. Following Japan's Pacific surrender in August 1945, the Dutch returned to Indonesia, including Bali, to reinstate their pre-war colonial administration. This was resisted by the Balinese rebels, who now used recovered Japanese weapons. On 20 November 1946, the Battle of Marga was fought in Tabanan in central Bali. Colonel I Gusti Ngurah Rai, by then 29 years old, finally rallied his forces in east Bali at Marga Rana, where they made a suicide attack on the heavily armed Dutch. The Balinese battalion was entirely wiped out, breaking the last thread of Balinese military resistance.
INDIPENDENCE FROM THE DUTCH
In 1946, the Dutch constituted Bali as one of the 13 administrative districts of the newly proclaimed State of East Indonesia, a rival state to the Republic of Indonesia, which was proclaimed and headed by Sukarno and Hatta. Bali was included in the "Republic of the United States of Indonesia" when the Netherlands recognised Indonesian independence on 29 December 1949.
CONTEMPORARY
The 1963 eruption of Mount Agung killed thousands, created economic havoc and forced many displaced Balinese to be transmigrated to other parts of Indonesia. Mirroring the widening of social divisions across Indonesia in the 1950s and early 1960s, Bali saw conflict between supporters of the traditional caste system, and those rejecting this system. Politically, the opposition was represented by supporters of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and the Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI), with tensions and ill-feeling further increased by the PKI's land reform programs. An attempted coup in Jakarta was put down by forces led by General Suharto.
The army became the dominant power as it instigated a violent anti-communist purge, in which the army blamed the PKI for the coup. Most estimates suggest that at least 500,000 people were killed across Indonesia, with an estimated 80,000 killed in Bali, equivalent to 5% of the island's population. With no Islamic forces involved as in Java and Sumatra, upper-caste PNI landlords led the extermination of PKI members.
As a result of the 1965/66 upheavals, Suharto was able to manoeuvre Sukarno out of the presidency. His "New Order" government reestablished relations with western countries. The pre-War Bali as "paradise" was revived in a modern form. The resulting large growth in tourism has led to a dramatic increase in Balinese standards of living and significant foreign exchange earned for the country. A bombing in 2002 by militant Islamists in the tourist area of Kuta killed 202 people, mostly foreigners. This attack, and another in 2005, severely reduced tourism, producing much economic hardship to the island.
GEOGRAPHY
The island of Bali lies 3.2 km east of Java, and is approximately 8 degrees south of the equator. Bali and Java are separated by the Bali Strait. East to west, the island is approximately 153 km wide and spans approximately 112 km north to south; administratively it covers 5,780 km2, or 5,577 km2 without Nusa Penida District, its population density is roughly 750 people/km2.
Bali's central mountains include several peaks over 3,000 metres in elevation. The highest is Mount Agung (3,031 m), known as the "mother mountain" which is an active volcano rated as one of the world's most likely sites for a massive eruption within the next 100 years. Mountains range from centre to the eastern side, with Mount Agung the easternmost peak. Bali's volcanic nature has contributed to its exceptional fertility and its tall mountain ranges provide the high rainfall that supports the highly productive agriculture sector. South of the mountains is a broad, steadily descending area where most of Bali's large rice crop is grown. The northern side of the mountains slopes more steeply to the sea and is the main coffee producing area of the island, along with rice, vegetables and cattle. The longest river, Ayung River, flows approximately 75 km.
The island is surrounded by coral reefs. Beaches in the south tend to have white sand while those in the north and west have black sand. Bali has no major waterways, although the Ho River is navigable by small sampan boats. Black sand beaches between Pasut and Klatingdukuh are being developed for tourism, but apart from the seaside temple of Tanah Lot, they are not yet used for significant tourism.
The largest city is the provincial capital, Denpasar, near the southern coast. Its population is around 491,500 (2002). Bali's second-largest city is the old colonial capital, Singaraja, which is located on the north coast and is home to around 100,000 people. Other important cities include the beach resort, Kuta, which is practically part of Denpasar's urban area, and Ubud, situated at the north of Denpasar, is the island's cultural centre.
Three small islands lie to the immediate south east and all are administratively part of the Klungkung regency of Bali: Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan. These islands are separated from Bali by the Badung Strait.
To the east, the Lombok Strait separates Bali from Lombok and marks the biogeographical division between the fauna of the Indomalayan ecozone and the distinctly different fauna of Australasia. The transition is known as the Wallace Line, named after Alfred Russel Wallace, who first proposed a transition zone between these two major biomes. When sea levels dropped during the Pleistocene ice age, Bali was connected to Java and Sumatra and to the mainland of Asia and shared the Asian fauna, but the deep water of the Lombok Strait continued to keep Lombok Island and the Lesser Sunda archipelago isolated.
CLIMATE
Being just 8 degrees south of the equator, Bali has a fairly even climate year round.
Day time temperatures at low elevations vary between 20-33⁰ C although it can be much cooler than that in the mountains. The west monsoon is in place from approximately October to April and this can bring significant rain, particularly from December to March. Outside of the monsoon period, humidity is relatively low and any rain unlikely in lowland areas.
ECOLOGY
Bali lies just to the west of the Wallace Line, and thus has a fauna that is Asian in character, with very little Australasian influence, and has more in common with Java than with Lombok. An exception is the yellow-crested cockatoo, a member of a primarily Australasian family. There are around 280 species of birds, including the critically endangered Bali myna, which is endemic. Others Include barn swallow, black-naped oriole, black racket-tailed treepie, crested serpent-eagle, crested treeswift, dollarbird, Java sparrow, lesser adjutant, long-tailed shrike, milky stork, Pacific swallow, red-rumped swallow, sacred kingfisher, sea eagle, woodswallow, savanna nightjar, stork-billed kingfisher, yellow-vented bulbul and great egret.
Until the early 20th century, Bali was home to several large mammals: the wild banteng, leopard and the endemic Bali tiger. The banteng still occurs in its domestic form, whereas leopards are found only in neighbouring Java, and the Bali tiger is extinct. The last definite record of a tiger on Bali dates from 1937, when one was shot, though the subspecies may have survived until the 1940s or 1950s. The relatively small size of the island, conflict with humans, poaching and habitat reduction drove the Bali tiger to extinction. This was the smallest and rarest of all tiger subspecies and was never caught on film or displayed in zoos, whereas few skins or bones remain in museums around the world. Today, the largest mammals are the Javan rusa deer and the wild boar. A second, smaller species of deer, the Indian muntjac, also occurs. Saltwater crocodiles were once present on the island, but became locally extinct sometime during the last century.
Squirrels are quite commonly encountered, less often is the Asian palm civet, which is also kept in coffee farms to produce Kopi Luwak. Bats are well represented, perhaps the most famous place to encounter them remaining the Goa Lawah (Temple of the Bats) where they are worshipped by the locals and also constitute a tourist attraction. They also occur in other cave temples, for instance at Gangga Beach. Two species of monkey occur. The crab-eating macaque, known locally as "kera", is quite common around human settlements and temples, where it becomes accustomed to being fed by humans, particularly in any of the three "monkey forest" temples, such as the popular one in the Ubud area. They are also quite often kept as pets by locals. The second monkey, endemic to Java and some surrounding islands such as Bali, is far rarer and more elusive is the Javan langur, locally known as "lutung". They occur in few places apart from the Bali Barat National Park. They are born an orange colour, though by their first year they would have already changed to a more blackish colouration. In Java however, there is more of a tendency for this species to retain its juvenile orange colour into adulthood, and so you can see a mixture of black and orange monkeys together as a family. Other rarer mammals include the leopard cat, Sunda pangolin and black giant squirrel.
Snakes include the king cobra and reticulated python. The water monitor can grow to at least 1.5 m in length and 50 kg and can move quickly.
The rich coral reefs around the coast, particularly around popular diving spots such as Tulamben, Amed, Menjangan or neighbouring Nusa Penida, host a wide range of marine life, for instance hawksbill turtle, giant sunfish, giant manta ray, giant moray eel, bumphead parrotfish, hammerhead shark, reef shark, barracuda, and sea snakes. Dolphins are commonly encountered on the north coast near Singaraja and Lovina.
A team of scientists conducted a survey from 29 April 2011 to 11 May 2011 at 33 sea sites around Bali. They discovered 952 species of reef fish of which 8 were new discoveries at Pemuteran, Gilimanuk, Nusa Dua, Tulamben and Candidasa, and 393 coral species, including two new ones at Padangbai and between Padangbai and Amed. The average coverage level of healthy coral was 36% (better than in Raja Ampat and Halmahera by 29% or in Fakfak and Kaimana by 25%) with the highest coverage found in Gili Selang and Gili Mimpang in Candidasa, Karangasem regency.
Many plants have been introduced by humans within the last centuries, particularly since the 20th century, making it sometimes hard to distinguish what plants are really native.[citation needed] Among the larger trees the most common are: banyan trees, jackfruit, coconuts, bamboo species, acacia trees and also endless rows of coconuts and banana species. Numerous flowers can be seen: hibiscus, frangipani, bougainvillea, poinsettia, oleander, jasmine, water lily, lotus, roses, begonias, orchids and hydrangeas exist. On higher grounds that receive more moisture, for instance around Kintamani, certain species of fern trees, mushrooms and even pine trees thrive well. Rice comes in many varieties. Other plants with agricultural value include: salak, mangosteen, corn, kintamani orange, coffee and water spinach.
ENVIRONMENT
Some of the worst erosion has occurred in Lebih Beach, where up to 7 metres of land is lost every year. Decades ago, this beach was used for holy pilgrimages with more than 10,000 people, but they have now moved to Masceti Beach.
From ranked third in previous review, in 2010 Bali got score 99.65 of Indonesia's environmental quality index and the highest of all the 33 provinces. The score measured 3 water quality parameters: the level of total suspended solids (TSS), dissolved oxygen (DO) and chemical oxygen demand (COD).
Because of over-exploitation by the tourist industry which covers a massive land area, 200 out of 400 rivers on the island have dried up and based on research, the southern part of Bali would face a water shortage up to 2,500 litres of clean water per second by 2015. To ease the shortage, the central government plans to build a water catchment and processing facility at Petanu River in Gianyar. The 300 litres capacity of water per second will be channelled to Denpasar, Badung and Gianyar in 2013.
ECONOMY
Three decades ago, the Balinese economy was largely agriculture-based in terms of both output and employment. Tourism is now the largest single industry in terms of income, and as a result, Bali is one of Indonesia's wealthiest regions. In 2003, around 80% of Bali's economy was tourism related. By end of June 2011, non-performing loan of all banks in Bali were 2.23%, lower than the average of Indonesian banking industry non-performing loan (about 5%). The economy, however, suffered significantly as a result of the terrorist bombings 2002 and 2005. The tourism industry has since recovered from these events.
AGRICULTURE
Although tourism produces the GDP's largest output, agriculture is still the island's biggest employer; most notably rice cultivation. Crops grown in smaller amounts include fruit, vegetables, Coffea arabica and other cash and subsistence crops. Fishing also provides a significant number of jobs. Bali is also famous for its artisans who produce a vast array of handicrafts, including batik and ikat cloth and clothing, wooden carvings, stone carvings, painted art and silverware. Notably, individual villages typically adopt a single product, such as wind chimes or wooden furniture.
The Arabica coffee production region is the highland region of Kintamani near Mount Batur. Generally, Balinese coffee is processed using the wet method. This results in a sweet, soft coffee with good consistency. Typical flavours include lemon and other citrus notes. Many coffee farmers in Kintamani are members of a traditional farming system called Subak Abian, which is based on the Hindu philosophy of "Tri Hita Karana". According to this philosophy, the three causes of happiness are good relations with God, other people and the environment. The Subak Abian system is ideally suited to the production of fair trade and organic coffee production. Arabica coffee from Kintamani is the first product in Indonesia to request a Geographical Indication.
TOURISM
The tourism industry is primarily focused in the south, while significant in the other parts of the island as well. The main tourist locations are the town of Kuta (with its beach), and its outer suburbs of Legian and Seminyak (which were once independent townships), the east coast town of Sanur (once the only tourist hub), in the center of the island Ubud, to the south of the Ngurah Rai International Airport, Jimbaran, and the newer development of Nusa Dua and Pecatu.
The American government lifted its travel warnings in 2008. The Australian government issued an advice on Friday, 4 May 2012. The overall level of the advice was lowered to 'Exercise a high degree of caution'. The Swedish government issued a new warning on Sunday, 10 June 2012 because of one more tourist who was killed by methanol poisoning. Australia last issued an advice on Monday, 5 January 2015 due to new terrorist threats.
An offshoot of tourism is the growing real estate industry. Bali real estate has been rapidly developing in the main tourist areas of Kuta, Legian, Seminyak and Oberoi. Most recently, high-end 5 star projects are under development on the Bukit peninsula, on the south side of the island. Million dollar villas are being developed along the cliff sides of south Bali, commanding panoramic ocean views. Foreign and domestic (many Jakarta individuals and companies are fairly active) investment into other areas of the island also continues to grow. Land prices, despite the worldwide economic crisis, have remained stable.
In the last half of 2008, Indonesia's currency had dropped approximately 30% against the US dollar, providing many overseas visitors value for their currencies. Visitor arrivals for 2009 were forecast to drop 8% (which would be higher than 2007 levels), due to the worldwide economic crisis which has also affected the global tourist industry, but not due to any travel warnings.
Bali's tourism economy survived the terrorist bombings of 2002 and 2005, and the tourism industry has in fact slowly recovered and surpassed its pre-terrorist bombing levels; the longterm trend has been a steady increase of visitor arrivals. In 2010, Bali received 2.57 million foreign tourists, which surpassed the target of 2.0–2.3 million tourists. The average occupancy of starred hotels achieved 65%, so the island is still able to accommodate tourists for some years without any addition of new rooms/hotels, although at the peak season some of them are fully booked.
Bali received the Best Island award from Travel and Leisure in 2010. The island of Bali won because of its attractive surroundings (both mountain and coastal areas), diverse tourist attractions, excellent international and local restaurants, and the friendliness of the local people. According to BBC Travel released in 2011, Bali is one of the World's Best Islands, ranking second after Santorini, Greece.
In August 2010, the film Eat Pray Love was released in theatres. The movie was based on Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling memoir Eat, Pray, Love. It took place at Ubud and Padang-Padang Beach at Bali. The 2006 book, which spent 57 weeks at the No. 1 spot on the New York Times paperback nonfiction best-seller list, had already fuelled a boom in Eat, Pray, Love-related tourism in Ubud, the hill town and cultural and tourist center that was the focus of Gilbert's quest for balance through traditional spirituality and healing that leads to love.
In January 2016, after music icon David Bowie died, it was revealed that in his will, Bowie asked for his ashes to be scattered in Bali, conforming to Buddhist rituals. He had visited and performed in a number of Southest Asian cities early in his career, including Bangkok and Singapore.
Since 2011, China has displaced Japan as the second-largest supplier of tourists to Bali, while Australia still tops the list. Chinese tourists increased by 17% from last year due to the impact of ACFTA and new direct flights to Bali. In January 2012, Chinese tourists year on year (yoy) increased by 222.18% compared to January 2011, while Japanese tourists declined by 23.54% yoy.
Bali reported that it has 2.88 million foreign tourists and 5 million domestic tourists in 2012, marginally surpassing the expectations of 2.8 million foreign tourists. Forecasts for 2013 are at 3.1 million.
Based on Bank Indonesia survey in May 2013, 34.39 percent of tourists are upper-middle class with spending between $1,286 to $5,592 and dominated by Australia, France, China, Germany and the US with some China tourists move from low spending before to higher spending currently. While 30.26 percent are middle class with spending between $662 to $1,285.
SEX TOURISM
In the twentieth century the incidence of tourism specifically for sex was regularly observed in the era of mass tourism in Indonesia In Bali, prostitution is conducted by both men and women. Bali in particular is notorious for its 'Kuta Cowboys', local gigolos targeting foreign female tourists.
Tens of thousands of single women throng the beaches of Bali in Indonesia every year. For decades, young Balinese men have taken advantage of the louche and laid-back atmosphere to find love and lucre from female tourists—Japanese, European and Australian for the most part—who by all accounts seem perfectly happy with the arrangement.
By 2013, Indonesia was reportedly the number one destination for Australian child sex tourists, mostly starting in Bali but also travelling to other parts of the country. The problem in Bali was highlighted by Luh Ketut Suryani, head of Psychiatry at Udayana University, as early as 2003. Surayani warned that a low level of awareness of paedophilia in Bali had made it the target of international paedophile organisations. On 19 February 2013, government officials announced measures to combat paedophilia in Bali.
TRANSPORTATION
The Ngurah Rai International Airport is located near Jimbaran, on the isthmus at the southernmost part of the island. Lt.Col. Wisnu Airfield is found in north-west Bali.
A coastal road circles the island, and three major two-lane arteries cross the central mountains at passes reaching to 1,750m in height (at Penelokan). The Ngurah Rai Bypass is a four-lane expressway that partly encircles Denpasar. Bali has no railway lines.
In December 2010 the Government of Indonesia invited investors to build a new Tanah Ampo Cruise Terminal at Karangasem, Bali with a projected worth of $30 million. On 17 July 2011 the first cruise ship (Sun Princess) anchored about 400 meters away from the wharf of Tanah Ampo harbour. The current pier is only 154 meters but will eventually be extended to 300–350 meters to accommodate international cruise ships. The harbour here is safer than the existing facility at Benoa and has a scenic backdrop of east Bali mountains and green rice fields. The tender for improvement was subject to delays, and as of July 2013 the situation remained unclear with cruise line operators complaining and even refusing to use the existing facility at Tanah Ampo.
A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by two ministers, Bali's Governor and Indonesian Train Company to build 565 kilometres of railway along the coast around the island. As of July 2015, no details of this proposed railways have been released.
On 16 March 2011 (Tanjung) Benoa port received the "Best Port Welcome 2010" award from London's "Dream World Cruise Destination" magazine. Government plans to expand the role of Benoa port as export-import port to boost Bali's trade and industry sector. The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry has confirmed that 306 cruise liners are heading for Indonesia in 2013 – an increase of 43 percent compared to the previous year.
In May 2011, an integrated Areal Traffic Control System (ATCS) was implemented to reduce traffic jams at four crossing points: Ngurah Rai statue, Dewa Ruci Kuta crossing, Jimbaran crossing and Sanur crossing. ATCS is an integrated system connecting all traffic lights, CCTVs and other traffic signals with a monitoring office at the police headquarters. It has successfully been implemented in other ASEAN countries and will be implemented at other crossings in Bali.
On 21 December 2011 construction started on the Nusa Dua-Benoa-Ngurah Rai International Airport toll road which will also provide a special lane for motorcycles. This has been done by seven state-owned enterprises led by PT Jasa Marga with 60% of shares. PT Jasa Marga Bali Tol will construct the 9.91 kilometres toll road (totally 12.7 kilometres with access road). The construction is estimated to cost Rp.2.49 trillion ($273.9 million). The project goes through 2 kilometres of mangrove forest and through 2.3 kilometres of beach, both within 5.4 hectares area. The elevated toll road is built over the mangrove forest on 18,000 concrete pillars which occupied 2 hectares of mangroves forest. It compensated by new planting of 300,000 mangrove trees along the road. On 21 December 2011 the Dewa Ruci 450 meters underpass has also started on the busy Dewa Ruci junction near Bali Kuta Galeria with an estimated cost of Rp136 billion ($14.9 million) from the state budget. On 23 September 2013, the Bali Mandara Toll Road is opened and the Dewa Ruci Junction (Simpang Siur) underpass is opened before. Both are ease the heavy traffic congestion.
To solve chronic traffic problems, the province will also build a toll road connecting Serangan with Tohpati, a toll road connecting Kuta, Denpasar and Tohpati and a flyover connecting Kuta and Ngurah Rai Airport.
DEMOGRAPHICS
The population of Bali was 3,890,757 as of the 2010 Census; the latest estimate (for January 2014) is 4,225,384. There are an estimated 30,000 expatriates living in Bali.
ETHNIC ORIGINS
A DNA study in 2005 by Karafet et al. found that 12% of Balinese Y-chromosomes are of likely Indian origin, while 84% are of likely Austronesian origin, and 2% of likely Melanesian origin. The study does not correlate the DNA samples to the Balinese caste system.
CASTE SYSTEM
Bali has a caste system based on the Indian Hindu model, with four castes:
- Sudra (Shudra) – peasants constituting close to 93% of Bali's population.
- Wesia (Vaishyas) – the caste of merchants and administrative officials
- Ksatrias (Kshatriyas) – the kingly and warrior caste
- Brahmana (Bramhin) – holy men and priests
RELIGION
Unlike most of Muslim-majority Indonesia, about 83.5% of Bali's population adheres to Balinese Hinduism, formed as a combination of existing local beliefs and Hindu influences from mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. Minority religions include Islam (13.3%), Christianity (1.7%), and Buddhism (0.5%). These figures do not include immigrants from other parts of Indonesia.
Balinese Hinduism is an amalgam in which gods and demigods are worshipped together with Buddhist heroes, the spirits of ancestors, indigenous agricultural deities and sacred places. Religion as it is practised in Bali is a composite belief system that embraces not only theology, philosophy, and mythology, but ancestor worship, animism and magic. It pervades nearly every aspect of traditional life. Caste is observed, though less strictly than in India. With an estimated 20,000 puras (temples) and shrines, Bali is known as the "Island of a Thousand Puras", or "Island of the Gods". This is refer to Mahabarata story that behind Bali became island of god or "pulau dewata" in Indonesian language.
Balinese Hinduism has roots in Indian Hinduism and Buddhism, and adopted the animistic traditions of the indigenous people. This influence strengthened the belief that the gods and goddesses are present in all things. Every element of nature, therefore, possesses its own power, which reflects the power of the gods. A rock, tree, dagger, or woven cloth is a potential home for spirits whose energy can be directed for good or evil. Balinese Hinduism is deeply interwoven with art and ritual. Ritualizing states of self-control are a notable feature of religious expression among the people, who for this reason have become famous for their graceful and decorous behaviour.
Apart from the majority of Balinese Hindus, there also exist Chinese immigrants whose traditions have melded with that of the locals. As a result, these Sino-Balinese not only embrace their original religion, which is a mixture of Buddhism, Christianity, Taoism and Confucianism, but also find a way to harmonise it with the local traditions. Hence, it is not uncommon to find local Sino-Balinese during the local temple's odalan. Moreover, Balinese Hindu priests are invited to perform rites alongside a Chinese priest in the event of the death of a Sino-Balinese. Nevertheless, the Sino-Balinese claim to embrace Buddhism for administrative purposes, such as their Identity Cards.
LANGUAGE
Balinese and Indonesian are the most widely spoken languages in Bali, and the vast majority of Balinese people are bilingual or trilingual. The most common spoken language around the tourist areas is Indonesian, as many people in the tourist sector are not solely Balinese, but migrants from Java, Lombok, Sumatra, and other parts of Indonesia. There are several indigenous Balinese languages, but most Balinese can also use the most widely spoken option: modern common Balinese. The usage of different Balinese languages was traditionally determined by the Balinese caste system and by clan membership, but this tradition is diminishing. Kawi and Sanskrit are also commonly used by some Hindu priests in Bali, for Hinduism literature was mostly written in Sanskrit.
English and Chinese are the next most common languages (and the primary foreign languages) of many Balinese, owing to the requirements of the tourism industry, as well as the English-speaking community and huge Chinese-Indonesian population. Other foreign languages, such as Japanese, Korean, French, Russian or German are often used in multilingual signs for foreign tourists.
CULTURE
Bali is renowned for its diverse and sophisticated art forms, such as painting, sculpture, woodcarving, handcrafts, and performing arts. Balinese cuisine is also distinctive. Balinese percussion orchestra music, known as gamelan, is highly developed and varied. Balinese performing arts often portray stories from Hindu epics such as the Ramayana but with heavy Balinese influence. Famous Balinese dances include pendet, legong, baris, topeng, barong, gong keybar, and kecak (the monkey dance). Bali boasts one of the most diverse and innovative performing arts cultures in the world, with paid performances at thousands of temple festivals, private ceremonies, or public shows.
The Hindu New Year, Nyepi, is celebrated in the spring by a day of silence. On this day everyone stays at home and tourists are encouraged to remain in their hotels. On the day before New Year, large and colourful sculptures of ogoh-ogoh monsters are paraded and finally burned in the evening to drive away evil spirits. Other festivals throughout the year are specified by the Balinese pawukon calendrical system.
Celebrations are held for many occasions such as a tooth-filing (coming-of-age ritual), cremation or odalan (temple festival). One of the most important concepts that Balinese ceremonies have in common is that of désa kala patra, which refers to how ritual performances must be appropriate in both the specific and general social context. Many of the ceremonial art forms such as wayang kulit and topeng are highly improvisatory, providing flexibility for the performer to adapt the performance to the current situation. Many celebrations call for a loud, boisterous atmosphere with lots of activity and the resulting aesthetic, ramé, is distinctively Balinese. Often two or more gamelan ensembles will be performing well within earshot, and sometimes compete with each other to be heard. Likewise, the audience members talk amongst themselves, get up and walk around, or even cheer on the performance, which adds to the many layers of activity and the liveliness typical of ramé.
Kaja and kelod are the Balinese equivalents of North and South, which refer to ones orientation between the island's largest mountain Gunung Agung (kaja), and the sea (kelod). In addition to spatial orientation, kaja and kelod have the connotation of good and evil; gods and ancestors are believed to live on the mountain whereas demons live in the sea. Buildings such as temples and residential homes are spatially oriented by having the most sacred spaces closest to the mountain and the unclean places nearest to the sea.
Most temples have an inner courtyard and an outer courtyard which are arranged with the inner courtyard furthest kaja. These spaces serve as performance venues since most Balinese rituals are accompanied by any combination of music, dance and drama. The performances that take place in the inner courtyard are classified as wali, the most sacred rituals which are offerings exclusively for the gods, while the outer courtyard is where bebali ceremonies are held, which are intended for gods and people. Lastly, performances meant solely for the entertainment of humans take place outside the walls of the temple and are called bali-balihan. This three-tiered system of classification was standardised in 1971 by a committee of Balinese officials and artists to better protect the sanctity of the oldest and most sacred Balinese rituals from being performed for a paying audience.
Tourism, Bali's chief industry, has provided the island with a foreign audience that is eager to pay for entertainment, thus creating new performance opportunities and more demand for performers. The impact of tourism is controversial since before it became integrated into the economy, the Balinese performing arts did not exist as a capitalist venture, and were not performed for entertainment outside of their respective ritual context. Since the 1930s sacred rituals such as the barong dance have been performed both in their original contexts, as well as exclusively for paying tourists. This has led to new versions of many of these performances which have developed according to the preferences of foreign audiences; some villages have a barong mask specifically for non-ritual performances as well as an older mask which is only used for sacred performances.
Balinese society continues to revolve around each family's ancestral village, to which the cycle of life and religion is closely tied. Coercive aspects of traditional society, such as customary law sanctions imposed by traditional authorities such as village councils (including "kasepekang", or shunning) have risen in importance as a consequence of the democratisation and decentralisation of Indonesia since 1998.
WIKIPEDIA
Students in my 9th grade art class looked at the work of sculptor Isamu Noguchi and created a subtractive abstract sculpture that represents an emotion. Focus was on creating a sense of movement by manipulating form, and expressing an emotion through the use of color.
Legong is a form of Balinese dance. It is a refined dance form characterized by intricate finger movements, complicated footwork, and expressive gestures and facial expressions.
An extremely basic definition of legong is a dance traditionally performed by pre-pubescent girls in the palaces of feudal Bali.
One translation is that the word is made up of two words. Lega meaning happy and Ing wong meaning person – put them together and you get: “something that makes people happy”. Another one is oleg meaning dance and gong meaning gamelan, the music that accompanies the dance.
Legong probably originated in the 19th century as royal entertainment. Today the most common legong dance is Legong Keraton, so named by the Sultanate of Keraton Surakarta when the music and dance composer and genius I Wayan Lotring from Kuta was invited to perform in the 1920s with his Gamelan Pelegongan group in the keraton (palace) in Surakarta.
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Bali is an island and province of Indonesia. The province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nusa Ceningan. It is located at the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. Its capital of Denpasar is located at the southern part of the island.
With a population of 3,890,757 in the 2010 census, and 4,225,000 as of January 2014, the island is home to most of Indonesia's Hindu minority. According to the 2010 Census, 83.5% of Bali's population adhered to Balinese Hinduism, followed by 13.4% Muslim, Christianity at 2.5%, and Buddhism 0.5%.
Bali is a popular tourist destination, which has seen a significant rise in numbers since the 1980s. It is renowned for its highly developed arts, including traditional and modern dance, sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking, and music. The Indonesian International Film Festival is held every year in Bali.
Bali is part of the Coral Triangle, the area with the highest biodiversity of marine species. In this area alone over 500 reef building coral species can be found. For comparison, this is about 7 times as many as in the entire Caribbean. There is a wide range of dive sites with high quality reefs, all with their own specific attractions. Many sites can have strong currents and swell, so diving without a knowledgeable guide is inadvisable. Most recently, Bali was the host of the 2011 ASEAN Summit, 2013 APEC and Miss World 2013.
HISTORY
ANCIENT
Bali was inhabited around 2000 BC by Austronesian people who migrated originally from Southeast Asia and Oceania through Maritime Southeast Asia. Culturally and linguistically, the Balinese are closely related to the people of the Indonesian archipelago, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Oceania. Stone tools dating from this time have been found near the village of Cekik in the island's west.
In ancient Bali, nine Hindu sects existed, namely Pasupata, Bhairawa, Siwa Shidanta, Waisnawa, Bodha, Brahma, Resi, Sora and Ganapatya. Each sect revered a specific deity as its personal Godhead.
Inscriptions from 896 and 911 don't mention a king, until 914, when Sri Kesarivarma is mentioned. They also reveal an independent Bali, with a distinct dialect, where Buddhism and Sivaism were practiced simultaneously. Mpu Sindok's great granddaughter, Mahendradatta (Gunapriyadharmapatni), married the Bali king Udayana Warmadewa (Dharmodayanavarmadeva) around 989, giving birth to Airlangga around 1001. This marriage also brought more Hinduism and Javanese culture to Bali. Princess Sakalendukirana appeared in 1098. Suradhipa reigned from 1115 to 1119, and Jayasakti from 1146 until 1150. Jayapangus appears on inscriptions between 1178 and 1181, while Adikuntiketana and his son Paramesvara in 1204.
Balinese culture was strongly influenced by Indian, Chinese, and particularly Hindu culture, beginning around the 1st century AD. The name Bali dwipa ("Bali island") has been discovered from various inscriptions, including the Blanjong pillar inscription written by Sri Kesari Warmadewa in 914 AD and mentioning "Walidwipa". It was during this time that the people developed their complex irrigation system subak to grow rice in wet-field cultivation. Some religious and cultural traditions still practised today can be traced to this period.
The Hindu Majapahit Empire (1293–1520 AD) on eastern Java founded a Balinese colony in 1343. The uncle of Hayam Wuruk is mentioned in the charters of 1384-86. A mass Javanese emigration occurred in the next century.
PORTUGUESE CONTACTS
The first known European contact with Bali is thought to have been made in 1512, when a Portuguese expedition led by Antonio Abreu and Francisco Serrão sighted its northern shores. It was the first expedition of a series of bi-annual fleets to the Moluccas, that throughout the 16th century usually traveled along the coasts of the Sunda Islands. Bali was also mapped in 1512, in the chart of Francisco Rodrigues, aboard the expedition. In 1585, a ship foundered off the Bukit Peninsula and left a few Portuguese in the service of Dewa Agung.
DUTCH EAST INDIA
In 1597 the Dutch explorer Cornelis de Houtman arrived at Bali, and the Dutch East India Company was established in 1602. The Dutch government expanded its control across the Indonesian archipelago during the second half of the 19th century (see Dutch East Indies). Dutch political and economic control over Bali began in the 1840s on the island's north coast, when the Dutch pitted various competing Balinese realms against each other. In the late 1890s, struggles between Balinese kingdoms in the island's south were exploited by the Dutch to increase their control.
In June 1860 the famous Welsh naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, travelled to Bali from Singapore, landing at Buleleng on the northcoast of the island. Wallace's trip to Bali was instrumental in helping him devise his Wallace Line theory. The Wallace Line is a faunal boundary that runs through the strait between Bali and Lombok. It has been found to be a boundary between species of Asiatic origin in the east and a mixture of Australian and Asian species to the west. In his travel memoir The Malay Archipelago, Wallace wrote of his experience in Bali:
I was both astonished and delighted; for as my visit to Java was some years later, I had never beheld so beautiful and well-cultivated a district out of Europe. A slightly undulating plain extends from the seacoast about ten or twelve miles inland, where it is bounded by a fine range of wooded and cultivated hills. Houses and villages, marked out by dense clumps of coconut palms, tamarind and other fruit trees, are dotted about in every direction; while between them extend luxurious rice-grounds, watered by an elaborate system of irrigation that would be the pride of the best cultivated parts of Europe.
The Dutch mounted large naval and ground assaults at the Sanur region in 1906 and were met by the thousands of members of the royal family and their followers who fought against the superior Dutch force in a suicidal puputan defensive assault rather than face the humiliation of surrender. Despite Dutch demands for surrender, an estimated 200 Balinese marched to their death against the invaders. In the Dutch intervention in Bali, a similar massacre occurred in the face of a Dutch assault in Klungkung.
AFTERWARD THE DUTCH GOVERNORS
exercised administrative control over the island, but local control over religion and culture generally remained intact. Dutch rule over Bali came later and was never as well established as in other parts of Indonesia such as Java and Maluku.
n the 1930s, anthropologists Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, artists Miguel Covarrubias and Walter Spies, and musicologist Colin McPhee all spent time here. Their accounts of the island and its peoples created a western image of Bali as "an enchanted land of aesthetes at peace with themselves and nature." Western tourists began to visit the island.
Imperial Japan occupied Bali during World War II. It was not originally a target in their Netherlands East Indies Campaign, but as the airfields on Borneo were inoperative due to heavy rains, the Imperial Japanese Army decided to occupy Bali, which did not suffer from comparable weather. The island had no regular Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) troops. There was only a Native Auxiliary Corps Prajoda (Korps Prajoda) consisting of about 600 native soldiers and several Dutch KNIL officers under command of KNIL Lieutenant Colonel W.P. Roodenburg. On 19 February 1942 the Japanese forces landed near the town of Senoer [Senur]. The island was quickly captured.
During the Japanese occupation, a Balinese military officer, Gusti Ngurah Rai, formed a Balinese 'freedom army'. The harshness of war requisitions made Japanese rule more resented than Dutch rule. Following Japan's Pacific surrender in August 1945, the Dutch returned to Indonesia, including Bali, to reinstate their pre-war colonial administration. This was resisted by the Balinese rebels, who now used recovered Japanese weapons. On 20 November 1946, the Battle of Marga was fought in Tabanan in central Bali. Colonel I Gusti Ngurah Rai, by then 29 years old, finally rallied his forces in east Bali at Marga Rana, where they made a suicide attack on the heavily armed Dutch. The Balinese battalion was entirely wiped out, breaking the last thread of Balinese military resistance.
INDIPENDENCE FROM THE DUTCH
In 1946, the Dutch constituted Bali as one of the 13 administrative districts of the newly proclaimed State of East Indonesia, a rival state to the Republic of Indonesia, which was proclaimed and headed by Sukarno and Hatta. Bali was included in the "Republic of the United States of Indonesia" when the Netherlands recognised Indonesian independence on 29 December 1949.
CONTEMPORARY
The 1963 eruption of Mount Agung killed thousands, created economic havoc and forced many displaced Balinese to be transmigrated to other parts of Indonesia. Mirroring the widening of social divisions across Indonesia in the 1950s and early 1960s, Bali saw conflict between supporters of the traditional caste system, and those rejecting this system. Politically, the opposition was represented by supporters of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and the Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI), with tensions and ill-feeling further increased by the PKI's land reform programs. An attempted coup in Jakarta was put down by forces led by General Suharto.
The army became the dominant power as it instigated a violent anti-communist purge, in which the army blamed the PKI for the coup. Most estimates suggest that at least 500,000 people were killed across Indonesia, with an estimated 80,000 killed in Bali, equivalent to 5% of the island's population. With no Islamic forces involved as in Java and Sumatra, upper-caste PNI landlords led the extermination of PKI members.
As a result of the 1965/66 upheavals, Suharto was able to manoeuvre Sukarno out of the presidency. His "New Order" government reestablished relations with western countries. The pre-War Bali as "paradise" was revived in a modern form. The resulting large growth in tourism has led to a dramatic increase in Balinese standards of living and significant foreign exchange earned for the country. A bombing in 2002 by militant Islamists in the tourist area of Kuta killed 202 people, mostly foreigners. This attack, and another in 2005, severely reduced tourism, producing much economic hardship to the island.
GEOGRAPHY
The island of Bali lies 3.2 km east of Java, and is approximately 8 degrees south of the equator. Bali and Java are separated by the Bali Strait. East to west, the island is approximately 153 km wide and spans approximately 112 km north to south; administratively it covers 5,780 km2, or 5,577 km2 without Nusa Penida District, its population density is roughly 750 people/km2.
Bali's central mountains include several peaks over 3,000 metres in elevation. The highest is Mount Agung (3,031 m), known as the "mother mountain" which is an active volcano rated as one of the world's most likely sites for a massive eruption within the next 100 years. Mountains range from centre to the eastern side, with Mount Agung the easternmost peak. Bali's volcanic nature has contributed to its exceptional fertility and its tall mountain ranges provide the high rainfall that supports the highly productive agriculture sector. South of the mountains is a broad, steadily descending area where most of Bali's large rice crop is grown. The northern side of the mountains slopes more steeply to the sea and is the main coffee producing area of the island, along with rice, vegetables and cattle. The longest river, Ayung River, flows approximately 75 km.
The island is surrounded by coral reefs. Beaches in the south tend to have white sand while those in the north and west have black sand. Bali has no major waterways, although the Ho River is navigable by small sampan boats. Black sand beaches between Pasut and Klatingdukuh are being developed for tourism, but apart from the seaside temple of Tanah Lot, they are not yet used for significant tourism.
The largest city is the provincial capital, Denpasar, near the southern coast. Its population is around 491,500 (2002). Bali's second-largest city is the old colonial capital, Singaraja, which is located on the north coast and is home to around 100,000 people. Other important cities include the beach resort, Kuta, which is practically part of Denpasar's urban area, and Ubud, situated at the north of Denpasar, is the island's cultural centre.
Three small islands lie to the immediate south east and all are administratively part of the Klungkung regency of Bali: Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan. These islands are separated from Bali by the Badung Strait.
To the east, the Lombok Strait separates Bali from Lombok and marks the biogeographical division between the fauna of the Indomalayan ecozone and the distinctly different fauna of Australasia. The transition is known as the Wallace Line, named after Alfred Russel Wallace, who first proposed a transition zone between these two major biomes. When sea levels dropped during the Pleistocene ice age, Bali was connected to Java and Sumatra and to the mainland of Asia and shared the Asian fauna, but the deep water of the Lombok Strait continued to keep Lombok Island and the Lesser Sunda archipelago isolated.
CLIMATE
Being just 8 degrees south of the equator, Bali has a fairly even climate year round.
Day time temperatures at low elevations vary between 20-33⁰ C although it can be much cooler than that in the mountains. The west monsoon is in place from approximately October to April and this can bring significant rain, particularly from December to March. Outside of the monsoon period, humidity is relatively low and any rain unlikely in lowland areas.
ECOLOGY
Bali lies just to the west of the Wallace Line, and thus has a fauna that is Asian in character, with very little Australasian influence, and has more in common with Java than with Lombok. An exception is the yellow-crested cockatoo, a member of a primarily Australasian family. There are around 280 species of birds, including the critically endangered Bali myna, which is endemic. Others Include barn swallow, black-naped oriole, black racket-tailed treepie, crested serpent-eagle, crested treeswift, dollarbird, Java sparrow, lesser adjutant, long-tailed shrike, milky stork, Pacific swallow, red-rumped swallow, sacred kingfisher, sea eagle, woodswallow, savanna nightjar, stork-billed kingfisher, yellow-vented bulbul and great egret.
Until the early 20th century, Bali was home to several large mammals: the wild banteng, leopard and the endemic Bali tiger. The banteng still occurs in its domestic form, whereas leopards are found only in neighbouring Java, and the Bali tiger is extinct. The last definite record of a tiger on Bali dates from 1937, when one was shot, though the subspecies may have survived until the 1940s or 1950s. The relatively small size of the island, conflict with humans, poaching and habitat reduction drove the Bali tiger to extinction. This was the smallest and rarest of all tiger subspecies and was never caught on film or displayed in zoos, whereas few skins or bones remain in museums around the world. Today, the largest mammals are the Javan rusa deer and the wild boar. A second, smaller species of deer, the Indian muntjac, also occurs. Saltwater crocodiles were once present on the island, but became locally extinct sometime during the last century.
Squirrels are quite commonly encountered, less often is the Asian palm civet, which is also kept in coffee farms to produce Kopi Luwak. Bats are well represented, perhaps the most famous place to encounter them remaining the Goa Lawah (Temple of the Bats) where they are worshipped by the locals and also constitute a tourist attraction. They also occur in other cave temples, for instance at Gangga Beach. Two species of monkey occur. The crab-eating macaque, known locally as "kera", is quite common around human settlements and temples, where it becomes accustomed to being fed by humans, particularly in any of the three "monkey forest" temples, such as the popular one in the Ubud area. They are also quite often kept as pets by locals. The second monkey, endemic to Java and some surrounding islands such as Bali, is far rarer and more elusive is the Javan langur, locally known as "lutung". They occur in few places apart from the Bali Barat National Park. They are born an orange colour, though by their first year they would have already changed to a more blackish colouration. In Java however, there is more of a tendency for this species to retain its juvenile orange colour into adulthood, and so you can see a mixture of black and orange monkeys together as a family. Other rarer mammals include the leopard cat, Sunda pangolin and black giant squirrel.
Snakes include the king cobra and reticulated python. The water monitor can grow to at least 1.5 m in length and 50 kg and can move quickly.
The rich coral reefs around the coast, particularly around popular diving spots such as Tulamben, Amed, Menjangan or neighbouring Nusa Penida, host a wide range of marine life, for instance hawksbill turtle, giant sunfish, giant manta ray, giant moray eel, bumphead parrotfish, hammerhead shark, reef shark, barracuda, and sea snakes. Dolphins are commonly encountered on the north coast near Singaraja and Lovina.
A team of scientists conducted a survey from 29 April 2011 to 11 May 2011 at 33 sea sites around Bali. They discovered 952 species of reef fish of which 8 were new discoveries at Pemuteran, Gilimanuk, Nusa Dua, Tulamben and Candidasa, and 393 coral species, including two new ones at Padangbai and between Padangbai and Amed. The average coverage level of healthy coral was 36% (better than in Raja Ampat and Halmahera by 29% or in Fakfak and Kaimana by 25%) with the highest coverage found in Gili Selang and Gili Mimpang in Candidasa, Karangasem regency.
Many plants have been introduced by humans within the last centuries, particularly since the 20th century, making it sometimes hard to distinguish what plants are really native.[citation needed] Among the larger trees the most common are: banyan trees, jackfruit, coconuts, bamboo species, acacia trees and also endless rows of coconuts and banana species. Numerous flowers can be seen: hibiscus, frangipani, bougainvillea, poinsettia, oleander, jasmine, water lily, lotus, roses, begonias, orchids and hydrangeas exist. On higher grounds that receive more moisture, for instance around Kintamani, certain species of fern trees, mushrooms and even pine trees thrive well. Rice comes in many varieties. Other plants with agricultural value include: salak, mangosteen, corn, kintamani orange, coffee and water spinach.
ENVIRONMENT
Some of the worst erosion has occurred in Lebih Beach, where up to 7 metres of land is lost every year. Decades ago, this beach was used for holy pilgrimages with more than 10,000 people, but they have now moved to Masceti Beach.
From ranked third in previous review, in 2010 Bali got score 99.65 of Indonesia's environmental quality index and the highest of all the 33 provinces. The score measured 3 water quality parameters: the level of total suspended solids (TSS), dissolved oxygen (DO) and chemical oxygen demand (COD).
Because of over-exploitation by the tourist industry which covers a massive land area, 200 out of 400 rivers on the island have dried up and based on research, the southern part of Bali would face a water shortage up to 2,500 litres of clean water per second by 2015. To ease the shortage, the central government plans to build a water catchment and processing facility at Petanu River in Gianyar. The 300 litres capacity of water per second will be channelled to Denpasar, Badung and Gianyar in 2013.
ECONOMY
Three decades ago, the Balinese economy was largely agriculture-based in terms of both output and employment. Tourism is now the largest single industry in terms of income, and as a result, Bali is one of Indonesia's wealthiest regions. In 2003, around 80% of Bali's economy was tourism related. By end of June 2011, non-performing loan of all banks in Bali were 2.23%, lower than the average of Indonesian banking industry non-performing loan (about 5%). The economy, however, suffered significantly as a result of the terrorist bombings 2002 and 2005. The tourism industry has since recovered from these events.
AGRICULTURE
Although tourism produces the GDP's largest output, agriculture is still the island's biggest employer; most notably rice cultivation. Crops grown in smaller amounts include fruit, vegetables, Coffea arabica and other cash and subsistence crops. Fishing also provides a significant number of jobs. Bali is also famous for its artisans who produce a vast array of handicrafts, including batik and ikat cloth and clothing, wooden carvings, stone carvings, painted art and silverware. Notably, individual villages typically adopt a single product, such as wind chimes or wooden furniture.
The Arabica coffee production region is the highland region of Kintamani near Mount Batur. Generally, Balinese coffee is processed using the wet method. This results in a sweet, soft coffee with good consistency. Typical flavours include lemon and other citrus notes. Many coffee farmers in Kintamani are members of a traditional farming system called Subak Abian, which is based on the Hindu philosophy of "Tri Hita Karana". According to this philosophy, the three causes of happiness are good relations with God, other people and the environment. The Subak Abian system is ideally suited to the production of fair trade and organic coffee production. Arabica coffee from Kintamani is the first product in Indonesia to request a Geographical Indication.
TOURISM
The tourism industry is primarily focused in the south, while significant in the other parts of the island as well. The main tourist locations are the town of Kuta (with its beach), and its outer suburbs of Legian and Seminyak (which were once independent townships), the east coast town of Sanur (once the only tourist hub), in the center of the island Ubud, to the south of the Ngurah Rai International Airport, Jimbaran, and the newer development of Nusa Dua and Pecatu.
The American government lifted its travel warnings in 2008. The Australian government issued an advice on Friday, 4 May 2012. The overall level of the advice was lowered to 'Exercise a high degree of caution'. The Swedish government issued a new warning on Sunday, 10 June 2012 because of one more tourist who was killed by methanol poisoning. Australia last issued an advice on Monday, 5 January 2015 due to new terrorist threats.
An offshoot of tourism is the growing real estate industry. Bali real estate has been rapidly developing in the main tourist areas of Kuta, Legian, Seminyak and Oberoi. Most recently, high-end 5 star projects are under development on the Bukit peninsula, on the south side of the island. Million dollar villas are being developed along the cliff sides of south Bali, commanding panoramic ocean views. Foreign and domestic (many Jakarta individuals and companies are fairly active) investment into other areas of the island also continues to grow. Land prices, despite the worldwide economic crisis, have remained stable.
In the last half of 2008, Indonesia's currency had dropped approximately 30% against the US dollar, providing many overseas visitors value for their currencies. Visitor arrivals for 2009 were forecast to drop 8% (which would be higher than 2007 levels), due to the worldwide economic crisis which has also affected the global tourist industry, but not due to any travel warnings.
Bali's tourism economy survived the terrorist bombings of 2002 and 2005, and the tourism industry has in fact slowly recovered and surpassed its pre-terrorist bombing levels; the longterm trend has been a steady increase of visitor arrivals. In 2010, Bali received 2.57 million foreign tourists, which surpassed the target of 2.0–2.3 million tourists. The average occupancy of starred hotels achieved 65%, so the island is still able to accommodate tourists for some years without any addition of new rooms/hotels, although at the peak season some of them are fully booked.
Bali received the Best Island award from Travel and Leisure in 2010. The island of Bali won because of its attractive surroundings (both mountain and coastal areas), diverse tourist attractions, excellent international and local restaurants, and the friendliness of the local people. According to BBC Travel released in 2011, Bali is one of the World's Best Islands, ranking second after Santorini, Greece.
In August 2010, the film Eat Pray Love was released in theatres. The movie was based on Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling memoir Eat, Pray, Love. It took place at Ubud and Padang-Padang Beach at Bali. The 2006 book, which spent 57 weeks at the No. 1 spot on the New York Times paperback nonfiction best-seller list, had already fuelled a boom in Eat, Pray, Love-related tourism in Ubud, the hill town and cultural and tourist center that was the focus of Gilbert's quest for balance through traditional spirituality and healing that leads to love.
In January 2016, after music icon David Bowie died, it was revealed that in his will, Bowie asked for his ashes to be scattered in Bali, conforming to Buddhist rituals. He had visited and performed in a number of Southest Asian cities early in his career, including Bangkok and Singapore.
Since 2011, China has displaced Japan as the second-largest supplier of tourists to Bali, while Australia still tops the list. Chinese tourists increased by 17% from last year due to the impact of ACFTA and new direct flights to Bali. In January 2012, Chinese tourists year on year (yoy) increased by 222.18% compared to January 2011, while Japanese tourists declined by 23.54% yoy.
Bali reported that it has 2.88 million foreign tourists and 5 million domestic tourists in 2012, marginally surpassing the expectations of 2.8 million foreign tourists. Forecasts for 2013 are at 3.1 million.
Based on Bank Indonesia survey in May 2013, 34.39 percent of tourists are upper-middle class with spending between $1,286 to $5,592 and dominated by Australia, France, China, Germany and the US with some China tourists move from low spending before to higher spending currently. While 30.26 percent are middle class with spending between $662 to $1,285.
SEX TOURISM
In the twentieth century the incidence of tourism specifically for sex was regularly observed in the era of mass tourism in Indonesia In Bali, prostitution is conducted by both men and women. Bali in particular is notorious for its 'Kuta Cowboys', local gigolos targeting foreign female tourists.
Tens of thousands of single women throng the beaches of Bali in Indonesia every year. For decades, young Balinese men have taken advantage of the louche and laid-back atmosphere to find love and lucre from female tourists—Japanese, European and Australian for the most part—who by all accounts seem perfectly happy with the arrangement.
By 2013, Indonesia was reportedly the number one destination for Australian child sex tourists, mostly starting in Bali but also travelling to other parts of the country. The problem in Bali was highlighted by Luh Ketut Suryani, head of Psychiatry at Udayana University, as early as 2003. Surayani warned that a low level of awareness of paedophilia in Bali had made it the target of international paedophile organisations. On 19 February 2013, government officials announced measures to combat paedophilia in Bali.
TRANSPORTATION
The Ngurah Rai International Airport is located near Jimbaran, on the isthmus at the southernmost part of the island. Lt.Col. Wisnu Airfield is found in north-west Bali.
A coastal road circles the island, and three major two-lane arteries cross the central mountains at passes reaching to 1,750m in height (at Penelokan). The Ngurah Rai Bypass is a four-lane expressway that partly encircles Denpasar. Bali has no railway lines.
In December 2010 the Government of Indonesia invited investors to build a new Tanah Ampo Cruise Terminal at Karangasem, Bali with a projected worth of $30 million. On 17 July 2011 the first cruise ship (Sun Princess) anchored about 400 meters away from the wharf of Tanah Ampo harbour. The current pier is only 154 meters but will eventually be extended to 300–350 meters to accommodate international cruise ships. The harbour here is safer than the existing facility at Benoa and has a scenic backdrop of east Bali mountains and green rice fields. The tender for improvement was subject to delays, and as of July 2013 the situation remained unclear with cruise line operators complaining and even refusing to use the existing facility at Tanah Ampo.
A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by two ministers, Bali's Governor and Indonesian Train Company to build 565 kilometres of railway along the coast around the island. As of July 2015, no details of this proposed railways have been released.
On 16 March 2011 (Tanjung) Benoa port received the "Best Port Welcome 2010" award from London's "Dream World Cruise Destination" magazine. Government plans to expand the role of Benoa port as export-import port to boost Bali's trade and industry sector. The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry has confirmed that 306 cruise liners are heading for Indonesia in 2013 – an increase of 43 percent compared to the previous year.
In May 2011, an integrated Areal Traffic Control System (ATCS) was implemented to reduce traffic jams at four crossing points: Ngurah Rai statue, Dewa Ruci Kuta crossing, Jimbaran crossing and Sanur crossing. ATCS is an integrated system connecting all traffic lights, CCTVs and other traffic signals with a monitoring office at the police headquarters. It has successfully been implemented in other ASEAN countries and will be implemented at other crossings in Bali.
On 21 December 2011 construction started on the Nusa Dua-Benoa-Ngurah Rai International Airport toll road which will also provide a special lane for motorcycles. This has been done by seven state-owned enterprises led by PT Jasa Marga with 60% of shares. PT Jasa Marga Bali Tol will construct the 9.91 kilometres toll road (totally 12.7 kilometres with access road). The construction is estimated to cost Rp.2.49 trillion ($273.9 million). The project goes through 2 kilometres of mangrove forest and through 2.3 kilometres of beach, both within 5.4 hectares area. The elevated toll road is built over the mangrove forest on 18,000 concrete pillars which occupied 2 hectares of mangroves forest. It compensated by new planting of 300,000 mangrove trees along the road. On 21 December 2011 the Dewa Ruci 450 meters underpass has also started on the busy Dewa Ruci junction near Bali Kuta Galeria with an estimated cost of Rp136 billion ($14.9 million) from the state budget. On 23 September 2013, the Bali Mandara Toll Road is opened and the Dewa Ruci Junction (Simpang Siur) underpass is opened before. Both are ease the heavy traffic congestion.
To solve chronic traffic problems, the province will also build a toll road connecting Serangan with Tohpati, a toll road connecting Kuta, Denpasar and Tohpati and a flyover connecting Kuta and Ngurah Rai Airport.
DEMOGRAPHICS
The population of Bali was 3,890,757 as of the 2010 Census; the latest estimate (for January 2014) is 4,225,384. There are an estimated 30,000 expatriates living in Bali.
ETHNIC ORIGINS
A DNA study in 2005 by Karafet et al. found that 12% of Balinese Y-chromosomes are of likely Indian origin, while 84% are of likely Austronesian origin, and 2% of likely Melanesian origin. The study does not correlate the DNA samples to the Balinese caste system.
CASTE SYSTEM
Bali has a caste system based on the Indian Hindu model, with four castes:
- Sudra (Shudra) – peasants constituting close to 93% of Bali's population.
- Wesia (Vaishyas) – the caste of merchants and administrative officials
- Ksatrias (Kshatriyas) – the kingly and warrior caste
- Brahmana (Bramhin) – holy men and priests
RELIGION
Unlike most of Muslim-majority Indonesia, about 83.5% of Bali's population adheres to Balinese Hinduism, formed as a combination of existing local beliefs and Hindu influences from mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. Minority religions include Islam (13.3%), Christianity (1.7%), and Buddhism (0.5%). These figures do not include immigrants from other parts of Indonesia.
Balinese Hinduism is an amalgam in which gods and demigods are worshipped together with Buddhist heroes, the spirits of ancestors, indigenous agricultural deities and sacred places. Religion as it is practised in Bali is a composite belief system that embraces not only theology, philosophy, and mythology, but ancestor worship, animism and magic. It pervades nearly every aspect of traditional life. Caste is observed, though less strictly than in India. With an estimated 20,000 puras (temples) and shrines, Bali is known as the "Island of a Thousand Puras", or "Island of the Gods". This is refer to Mahabarata story that behind Bali became island of god or "pulau dewata" in Indonesian language.
Balinese Hinduism has roots in Indian Hinduism and Buddhism, and adopted the animistic traditions of the indigenous people. This influence strengthened the belief that the gods and goddesses are present in all things. Every element of nature, therefore, possesses its own power, which reflects the power of the gods. A rock, tree, dagger, or woven cloth is a potential home for spirits whose energy can be directed for good or evil. Balinese Hinduism is deeply interwoven with art and ritual. Ritualizing states of self-control are a notable feature of religious expression among the people, who for this reason have become famous for their graceful and decorous behaviour.
Apart from the majority of Balinese Hindus, there also exist Chinese immigrants whose traditions have melded with that of the locals. As a result, these Sino-Balinese not only embrace their original religion, which is a mixture of Buddhism, Christianity, Taoism and Confucianism, but also find a way to harmonise it with the local traditions. Hence, it is not uncommon to find local Sino-Balinese during the local temple's odalan. Moreover, Balinese Hindu priests are invited to perform rites alongside a Chinese priest in the event of the death of a Sino-Balinese. Nevertheless, the Sino-Balinese claim to embrace Buddhism for administrative purposes, such as their Identity Cards.
LANGUAGE
Balinese and Indonesian are the most widely spoken languages in Bali, and the vast majority of Balinese people are bilingual or trilingual. The most common spoken language around the tourist areas is Indonesian, as many people in the tourist sector are not solely Balinese, but migrants from Java, Lombok, Sumatra, and other parts of Indonesia. There are several indigenous Balinese languages, but most Balinese can also use the most widely spoken option: modern common Balinese. The usage of different Balinese languages was traditionally determined by the Balinese caste system and by clan membership, but this tradition is diminishing. Kawi and Sanskrit are also commonly used by some Hindu priests in Bali, for Hinduism literature was mostly written in Sanskrit.
English and Chinese are the next most common languages (and the primary foreign languages) of many Balinese, owing to the requirements of the tourism industry, as well as the English-speaking community and huge Chinese-Indonesian population. Other foreign languages, such as Japanese, Korean, French, Russian or German are often used in multilingual signs for foreign tourists.
CULTURE
Bali is renowned for its diverse and sophisticated art forms, such as painting, sculpture, woodcarving, handcrafts, and performing arts. Balinese cuisine is also distinctive. Balinese percussion orchestra music, known as gamelan, is highly developed and varied. Balinese performing arts often portray stories from Hindu epics such as the Ramayana but with heavy Balinese influence. Famous Balinese dances include pendet, legong, baris, topeng, barong, gong keybar, and kecak (the monkey dance). Bali boasts one of the most diverse and innovative performing arts cultures in the world, with paid performances at thousands of temple festivals, private ceremonies, or public shows.
The Hindu New Year, Nyepi, is celebrated in the spring by a day of silence. On this day everyone stays at home and tourists are encouraged to remain in their hotels. On the day before New Year, large and colourful sculptures of ogoh-ogoh monsters are paraded and finally burned in the evening to drive away evil spirits. Other festivals throughout the year are specified by the Balinese pawukon calendrical system.
Celebrations are held for many occasions such as a tooth-filing (coming-of-age ritual), cremation or odalan (temple festival). One of the most important concepts that Balinese ceremonies have in common is that of désa kala patra, which refers to how ritual performances must be appropriate in both the specific and general social context. Many of the ceremonial art forms such as wayang kulit and topeng are highly improvisatory, providing flexibility for the performer to adapt the performance to the current situation. Many celebrations call for a loud, boisterous atmosphere with lots of activity and the resulting aesthetic, ramé, is distinctively Balinese. Often two or more gamelan ensembles will be performing well within earshot, and sometimes compete with each other to be heard. Likewise, the audience members talk amongst themselves, get up and walk around, or even cheer on the performance, which adds to the many layers of activity and the liveliness typical of ramé.
Kaja and kelod are the Balinese equivalents of North and South, which refer to ones orientation between the island's largest mountain Gunung Agung (kaja), and the sea (kelod). In addition to spatial orientation, kaja and kelod have the connotation of good and evil; gods and ancestors are believed to live on the mountain whereas demons live in the sea. Buildings such as temples and residential homes are spatially oriented by having the most sacred spaces closest to the mountain and the unclean places nearest to the sea.
Most temples have an inner courtyard and an outer courtyard which are arranged with the inner courtyard furthest kaja. These spaces serve as performance venues since most Balinese rituals are accompanied by any combination of music, dance and drama. The performances that take place in the inner courtyard are classified as wali, the most sacred rituals which are offerings exclusively for the gods, while the outer courtyard is where bebali ceremonies are held, which are intended for gods and people. Lastly, performances meant solely for the entertainment of humans take place outside the walls of the temple and are called bali-balihan. This three-tiered system of classification was standardised in 1971 by a committee of Balinese officials and artists to better protect the sanctity of the oldest and most sacred Balinese rituals from being performed for a paying audience.
Tourism, Bali's chief industry, has provided the island with a foreign audience that is eager to pay for entertainment, thus creating new performance opportunities and more demand for performers. The impact of tourism is controversial since before it became integrated into the economy, the Balinese performing arts did not exist as a capitalist venture, and were not performed for entertainment outside of their respective ritual context. Since the 1930s sacred rituals such as the barong dance have been performed both in their original contexts, as well as exclusively for paying tourists. This has led to new versions of many of these performances which have developed according to the preferences of foreign audiences; some villages have a barong mask specifically for non-ritual performances as well as an older mask which is only used for sacred performances.
Balinese society continues to revolve around each family's ancestral village, to which the cycle of life and religion is closely tied. Coercive aspects of traditional society, such as customary law sanctions imposed by traditional authorities such as village councils (including "kasepekang", or shunning) have risen in importance as a consequence of the democratisation and decentralisation of Indonesia since 1998.
WIKIPEDIA
This is a photograph of a sculpture of Alison Lapper, a British artist who was born in 1965 with no arms and shortened legs due to a condition called phocomelia, caused by the morning sickness drug Tholidomide.
Lapper is an inspring example of someone who has managed to overcome her childhood- spending the first 19 years in residential institutions, and her disability. She has (amongst other achievments that in the past would be thought inconcievable for a woman with disabilities) graduated with a first class honours degree in Fine Art from Brighton University, Learnt to drive, Become a successful artist, and a mother to a son named Paris (featured on the Robert Winston Documentary "child of out time").
I feel that the placing of this Statue in Trafalgar Square, London, a place always packed with people, and dominated by statues of Male war heroes, really shows the developement in acceptance, and the overcoming of prejudices in our society. Not so long ago, before the Women's liberation and the birth of feminism, people would have laughed at the thought of a statue of a woman in Trafalgar Square. Who would have thought that a Pregnant, Naked, Disabled Woman would ever take center stage as both a stunning work of art, a beautiful woman and an iconic public Statue?
DHAKA, BANGLADESH - OCTOBER 15 : The Editors' Council forms a human chain in front of Jatiya Press Club to press for proper amendments to nine sections of the Digital Security in Dhaka , Bangladesh on October 15, 2018.
Roll out the red carpet! The stars are here.
Star-forming region NGC 604 contains more than 200 of the hottest, most massive kinds of stars (B-type and O-type stars), all in the early stages of their lives. There is no region quite like this within our own Milky Way, making NGC 604 a perfect window for astronomers to study young, massive stars.
In Webb’s near-infrared image of the region, we can see tendrils and clumps of bright red emission, extending out from large bubbles. Stellar winds from those bright, hot young stars have carved out these cavities.
How stars are born and how they interact with their environments are two big questions in astronomy today. Webb’s ultra-sensitive infrared eye is revealing more intricacies of these processes than ever before. Learn more: go.nasa.gov/49OaYAy
Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
[Image Description: At the center of the image is a nebula on the black background of space. The nebula is comprised of clumpy, red, filamentary clouds. At the center-right of the red clouds is a large cavernous bubble, and at the center of the bubble there is a opaque blueish glow with speckles of stars. At the edges of the bubble, the dust is white. There are several other smaller cavernous bubbles at the top of the nebula. There are thousands of stars that fill the surrounding area outside of the nebula, most of them are yellow or white – at 11 o’clock and 6 o’clock there are extremely bright stars with 8 diffraction spikes. There are also some smaller, red stars and a few disc-shaped galaxies scattered about the image.]