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Icicles formed on a ladder lying on a van's roof following a whole night of freezing rain (sleet).
xxxx
People in the tropics probably don't know that an ice storm is not caused by a deep freeze at all. On the contrary, freezing rain (sleet) happens when precipitation happens when the temperature is between -1C to 1C. If it's any colder, it would come down as ordinary snow. If it's any warmer, it'd just be rain. Conditions have to be quite exact for water droplets to freeze as ice as they're coming down.
The result, however, gives the impression that it's a deep freeze of -20C, as everything appears frozen solid.
An parking lot carnival was quite popular when Oklahoma started opening up when the summer of 2021 started.
Merideth Boganz (alias Merideth Rachel), Bethesda Terrace Arcade, Central Park, New York.
©2013 Patrick J Bayens
Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM
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.
Materials we used at the cooking lesson, the first of the Art & Crafts in English seminars, that took place in the Penthouse.
“No permanence is ours; we are a wave
That flows to fit whatever form it finds:
Through night or day, cathedral or the cave
We pass forever, craving form that binds.”
― Hermann Hesse, The Glass Bead Game
The Tatra Mountains, Tatras or Tatra (Tatry either in Polish and in Slovak - plurale tantum, Tátra in Hungarian), are a mountain range which forms a natural border between Slovakia and Poland, and are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains. Tatras occupy an area of 750 km² (290 mi²), of which the greater part (600 km²/232 mi²) lies in Slovakia, with the highest peak Gerlach at 2,655 m (8710 ft), located north of Poprad. In turn, summit Rysy (2,499 m/8200 ft), located in the north-western part of Tatras, is the highest mountain in Poland.
The Tatras are a mountain range of a corrugated nature, originating from the Alpine orogeny, and therefore characterized by a relatively young-look lay of the land, quite similar to the landscape of the Alps, although significantly smaller. It is the highest mountain range within Carpathians.
The overall nature of the Tatras, together with their easy accessibility, makes them a favorite with tourists and researchers. Therefore, these mountains are a popular winter sports area, with resorts such as Zakopane, called also "winter capital of Poland", Poprad and the town Vysoké Tatry (The Town of High Tatras) in Slovakia created in 1999, including former separate resorts: Štrbské Pleso, Starý Smokovec, and Tatranská Lomnica. The High Tatras, with their 24 (or 25) peaks exceeding 2,500 m above sea level, together with the Southern Carpathians, represent the only form of alpine landscape in the entire 1200 km length of arc of the Carpathians.
(Wikipedia)
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Have returned to High Tatra mountains after 14 years since my last visit - only to realize that this place deserves much more that just 2-day hike in the central area of the mountain range.
Here the Velické pleso lake is depicted - quite a lovely spot with a hotel located nearby where we spent a night.
I found these "things" in a box of Potpourri that was labeled seaside or beach side potpourri. They smelled a bit like Coppertone suntan lotion, but just screamed to be shot! So, I obliged - this is the beginning of a whole slew of really cool object shots from my discovery under the bathroom sink!
Like I said, the urban jungle is filled with interesting forms—especially through the reflective surfaces of skyscrapers whose windows were never perfectly flat.
# SML Data
+ Date: 2013-02-11 15:25:01 GMT+0800
+ Dimensions: 3354 x 5032
+ Exposure: 1/250 sec at f/5.6
+ Focal Length: 98 mm
+ ISO: 100
+ Flash: Did not fire
+ Camera: Canon EOS 7D
+ Lens: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM Canon EF 1.4x Extender III
+ GPS: 22°16'49" N 114°10'31" E
+ Altitude: 61.5 m
+ Location: 中國香港灣仔告士打道132號樂高大廈 中国香港湾仔告士打道132号乐高大厦 Lok Go Building, 132 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong,
+ Serial: SML.20130211.7D.22763.P1.L1
+ Workflow: Photoshop CS6, Lightroom 4
+ Series: 形 Forms, 抽象 Abstracts
“紅白藍 Red, White and Blue” / 城市建築抽象之形 Urban Architecture Abstract Forms / SML.20130211.7D.22763.P1.L1
/ #形 #Forms #SMLForms #抽象 #Abstracts #SMLAbstracts #CCBY #SMLPhotography #SMLUniverse #SMLProjects
/ #中國 #中国 #China #香港 #HongKong #灣仔 #WanChai #建築 #建筑 #城市 #Urban #攝影 #摄影 #photography
Alcalá de los Gazules es una ciudad de la provincia de Cádiz, Andalucía, España.
En las estribaciones finales de la sierra de Cádiz, formando parte de lo que se denomina la Ruta del Toro. Los municipios más próximos son Jerez de la Frontera, Los Barrios, Jimena de la Frontera, Castellar de la Frontera, San José del Valle, Benalup-Casas Viejas, Medina-Sidonia, Paterna de Rivera y Cortes de la Frontera(este último ya en la provincia de Málaga). Es conjunto histórico-artístico desde el año 1984.
Se encuentra dentro del Parque Natural de Los Alcornocales (comprendiendo parte de la Sierra del Aljibe) y su historia se remonta a lo más antiguo. La primera población estable es del año 189 a. C. y su nombre lo obtuvo de la conquista musulmana, cuando la población pasó a llamarse Qalat at Yazula, o 'Castillo de los Gazules'.
Sus principales fuentes de ingresos son el turismo y la agricultura.
Se trata de uno de los municipios más importantes en la época de los turdetanos. Los romanos la denominaron Regina Turditana y los árabes Al-Kalat, cuya traducción es 'el Castillo'. El Rey de Granada confirió esta ciudad a la estirpe de caballeros Gazules, de la cual tomó su definitiva denominación. En 1248 la conquistó Fernando III, pero pasó de nuevo a poder de los musulmanes, hasta que en 1264 el rey Alfonso X el Sabio la reconquistó. Sufrió continuos ataques por parte de Abu-Melik, en uno de los cuales se libró la batalla del llano de la Pelea en la que perdió la vida el Infante Fernán González de Aguilar, protector de la ciudad. En 1444 la ciudad es incluida en los territorios del señorío de los Ribera, señores que posteriormente fueron proclamados Duques de Alcalá de los Gazules, título que con el tiempo se incorporó a la Casa de Medinaceli.
En 1809 en la ciudad se formó la Milicia Montada para combatir a las tropas francesas durante la Guerra de la Independencia. Cosecharon heroicas victorias frente a aquellas, a pesar de estar en inferioridad numérica. Un año más tarde las tropas del general Manbourg degollaron, como represalia, a todos sus habitantes y volaron el castillo árabe. Uno de los personajes históricos más prestigiosos nacidos en esta ciudad fue Fernando Casas, autor del primer tratado conocido sobre el cólera. Actualmente Alcalá vive, fundamentalmente, de la ganadería, agricultura y producción de corcho.
Pueden ver mas fotos en micamara.es/egipto/ de Egipto.
Conoce lugares de otros paises en micamara.es/.
El Templo de Kom Ombo es un inusual templo doble construido durante el reinado de la Dinastía ptolemaica, entre los años 180 a. C. y 47 a. C., En el período de dominación romana se realizaron algunas ampliaciones.
La construcción es única debido a su diseño doble, lo que significa que había accesos, patios, salas, capillas y santuarios duplicados para dos dioses: Sobek y Haroeris. La mitad sur del templo estaba dedicada a Sobek, dios de la fertilidad y creador del mundo, que aparece junto a Hathor y Jonsu.[1] Además, la mitad norte del templo estaba dedicada a Haroeris «Horus el viejo», que figura junto a Tasenetnofret, la «Buena Hermana» (una forma especial de Hathor)[2] y Panebtauy «Señor de las Dos Tierras».[1] El templo es atípico por ser doble y simétrico respecto del eje principal.
Djoser's funerary complex forms the heart of the Saqqara necropolis and included extensive enclosure walls and chambers around a large outer court surrounding the pyramid, accessed via a beautiful pillared hall at the south east corner. Djoser's image still communicated with the outside world through a statue (original now in Cairo Museum) placed in a small chamber called a serdab on the north side, which could be glimpsed in its eerie darkness through eye-holes in the chamber wall.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_of_Djoser
Saqqara, the necropolis of Memphis, is one of the most fascinating sites in Egypt, as well as one of its earliest. The major monument here is Djoser's step pyramid, the earliest stone-built architectural monument which dominates the site.
Other pharaohs built pyramids here though most have not survived in such good conditions and some were never even finished. Two of the pyramids (those of Unas and Teti) contain chambers decorated with hieroglyph texts (the so called 'Pyramid Texts') that are amongst the earliest manifestations of ancient Egyptian writing.
The most significant survival from an artistic point of view however are the many early mastaba tombs (built from mud-brick and adorned with fine limestone reliefs within). Most visitors will not have time to do them justice and may have to just choose a couple to focus on if making a first visit. The art is of a very high quality and quite remote stylistically from the more esoteric scenes within the much later tombs of Thebes.
Saqqara can be a bewildering site to explore at first, but a little prior research will reveal the locations and best places to visit.
Henry Moore sculpture in bronze (1966-1969) or the two large forms? (To be fair only one of the people could be considered a large form!)
Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
October 2011
This image shows a work in progress. It's the beginnings of one of the beads I made for the featured necklace in our book about silhouette dieforming, Relief Beyond Belief.
If you know anything about dieforming, in polymer clay or metal, you know that you don't get the form without the flange. Here you see both, after baking: the decorative form rising up in a round dome in the centre, and the flange surrounding the circle silhouette, ready to be trimmed away.
The 'cross-hatch' texture on the flange shows where the clay was burnished with a ball stylus to secure it to the glass tile prior to baking (you can see another example of that here). The intersecting arc pattern featured in the form was made using my Inserts technique, built into a metallic clay slab and then revealed in a single slice with my Cutting Edge Peeler. The dome was pushed through a #5 Circle Die, the middle size in the set of nine concentric circles ranging from .5" to 1.5". The dome here (and the finished bead) is 1" in diameter.
This image doesn't appear in our book, but the finished form does, as one of twelve beads in the RBB MasterClass Necklace.
The Bruneau is formed from the Jarbidge River, which flows north from the mountains of northern Nevada through the beautiful basalt and rhyolite canyons of the Owyhee Uplands. There, it joins the West Fork of the Bruneau, then the East and West Forks join to form the mainstem. 40 miles of the Bruneau River are designated wild, and a 0.6-mile stretch at the Indian Hot Springs access point is designated recreational. The combination of sparkling water, steep multi-colored cliffs and an interesting association of plants and animals make this desert canyon one of superior natural beauty and recreational appeal. The Bruneau River also provides challenging whitewater as it flows through a deep, wild and remote desert canyon.
The Bruneau and Jarbidge Rivers have a national reputation among paddlers for their outstandingly remarkable float boating and associated experiences along the designated river sections, notably multi-day river trip options that feature remote, challenging whitewater (Class III, IV and V). Only very experienced boaters should float the 69 miles of the Bruneau and Jarbidge rivers due to challenging rapids, log jams and other hazards.
Landscape forms on the Bruneau and throughout the Owyhee Canyonlands vary from broad, open sagebrush steppes to narrow canyons, some exceeding 800 feet in depth.The canyons are dominated by a mixture of high, vertical lines and forms of coarse-textured, red, brown, or blackish eroded cliffs, often glazed with yellow to light green micro-flora. Steep diagonal lines frame triangular forms associated with talus slopes which feature yellow and subdued green sagebrush-bunchgrasses, dark green juniper, medium-textured, reddish rhyolite rubble fields and coarse-textured, blackish basalt rubble fields. Large boulders and whitewater rapids are interspersed between the calm reaches.
Squat, extremely exposed-shore form with short spire height (1) c. 24% of shell height. Large aperture 76% of height. Fourteen well developed, flattened, spiral ridges on body-whorl. Shell height 25 mm, breadth 17.4 mm. West coast of Hoy, Orkney (Atlantic fetch over 3000km). July 1973.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION PART A BELOW
Key id. features: flic.kr/p/oErLAb
SPECIES DESCRIPTION PART B at flic.kr/p/oGiBxM
Sets of OTHER SPECIES:
www.flickr.com/photos/56388191@N08/collections/
Illustrated pdf of account available at
www.researchgate.net/profile/Ian_Smith19/contributions
Nucella lapillus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms: Purpura lapillus (Linnaeus, 1758); Thais lapillus (Linnaeus, 1758); Polytropa lapillus (Linnaeus, 1758);
Vernacular: Dog whelk; Dog winkle; Purple; Rock whelk; Horse winkle (English); Gwichiad/Chwalcen y cŵn; Cragen foch felen (Welsh); Purpursnegl (Danish & Norwegian); purperslak (Dutch); Pourpre petit pierre; pourpre (French); Nordische Steinchenschneke/Purpurschneke (German); Purpur snäcke (Swedish);
GLOSSARY BELOW
Shell Description
Adults usually 17 to 30mm high, up to 45mm littorally 1Nl flic.kr/p/oErLAb and over 60mm sublittorally. Shape varies from long and slender (spire c. 55%, of shell height) 5Nl flic.kr/p/oCvYLG to short and squat (spire c. 24%, of shell-height) 2Nl flic.kr/p/oEkeZW . Apex slightly twisted, sharp if uneroded. Whorls moderately convex. Sutures usually slight, may be deeper near apex 3Nl flic.kr/p/oGiBxM , can be almost obliterated by erosion 4Nl flic.kr/p/oGiAZH . Aperture height varies greatly, about 45% 5Nl flic.kr/p/oCvYLG to 80% 2Nl flic.kr/p/oEkeZW of shell height. Juveniles and sub-adults (less than c17mm high) have thin shell- walls with sharp outer lip 6Nl flic.kr/p/oo3ZVh . Adults (when 17mm or more high) usually cease longitudinal growth and develop thick shell-walls and line of blunt bosses within outer lip of aperture 7Nl flic.kr/p/oCvWwm . Sometimes more than one row of bosses if growth arrested prematurely. Outer lip smooth, interior slightly shiny, not sharp, but tapers from bosses to edge. Aperture rapidly constricts into throat 8Nl flic.kr/p/oExH2t . Adapical angle acute when young 6Nl flic.kr/p/oo3ZVh , rounded as shell thickens 9Nl flic.kr/p/oEh5nn . Short, straight, open siphonal canal at base of aperture. Columellar and parietal lips are wide, smooth and slightly shiny 10Nl flic.kr/p/oCvTfw ; columellar lip overhangs siphonal canal slightly; parietal lip continuous with outer lip through the adapical angle. Siphonal fasciole pronounced on some 11Nl flic.kr/p/ooe2CW . Sculpture of flattened, spiral ridges (about 12 on body-whorl) 12Nl flic.kr/p/ooeM9v & 2Nl flic.kr/p/oEkeZW , often indistinct or absent 9Nl flic.kr/p/oEh5nn . Growth lines usually indistinct. Newly hatched young have globular, smooth, glossy shell (protoconch) of 2½ whorls about 1mm high. Early growth to c.3mm very often has prominent imbricate sculpture 13Nl flic.kr/p/ooeKHK which, with the protoconch, may persist on early whorls of uneroded adults 3Nl flic.kr/p/oGiBxM and occasionally continue on later whorls 14Nl flic.kr/p/oEHJRv & 15Nl flic.kr/p/oEvg6d . Ground colour white 7Nl flic.kr/p/oCvWwm , whitish-grey 4Nl flic.kr/p/oGiAZH , yellow 12Nl flic.kr/p/ooeM9v , orange 16Nl flic.kr/p/oCFXZ1 , brown to black 17Nl flic.kr/p/oGtyn8 , or mauve to pink 3Nl flic.kr/p/oGiBxM . Interior of aperture shows exterior colours on thin translucent young shells 6Nl flic.kr/p/oo3ZVh , and thickened adult shells are often coloured internally 9Nl flic.kr/p/oEh5nn , 10Nl flic.kr/p/oCvTfw & 12Nl flic.kr/p/ooeM9v . Sometimes exterior colours combined in spiral bands; narrow and confined to grooves between spiral ridges 18Nl flic.kr/p/ooe7M2 , or broad 6Nl flic.kr/p/oo3ZVh . Growths 7Nl flic.kr/p/oCvWwm , encrustations 19Nl flic.kr/p/oEFXeY and erosion 4Nl flic.kr/p/oGiAZH can affect colour. Light-horn coloured periostracum often on small juveniles 13Nl flic.kr/p/ooeKHK , absent or insignificant on adults. Broad, angular, mahogany, non-spiral operculum 20Nl flic.kr/p/ooeFck ; thin outer face extruded from transverse groove at anterior of opercular disc has many fine, gently-curving growth lines increasing in length away from nucleus on posterior (labial) edge; thick inner face made of stack of annual growth plates (adventitious layers extruded from circles of glands on opercular disc) with excentric nucleus and matt surface where opercular disc attached (termination of columellar muscle). Posterior (labial) margin beyond disc attachment (c.25% of total operculum surface) covered by shiny varnish from transverse groove across posterior of opercular disc. Operculum nearly opaque on old adults, but younger ones have translucent operculum through which adventitious plates show as strong concentric rings that obscure fine exterior growth lines 21Nl flic.kr/p/oojcrR .
Body Description
Flesh, apart from mantle, entirely pure-white or yellowish-white, variably translucent 22Nl flic.kr/p/oGy5Jx , sometimes opaque white freckles visible on surface of more translucent parts 23Nl flic.kr/p/oENedn . Head consists of transverse ridge at juncture of cephalic tentacles. No snout visible, except, when feeding, a short, thin proboscis 39bNl flic.kr/p/DAshoD is everted like a sock turned inside-out from opening at base of head’s anterior 24Nl flic.kr/p/oENe6Z . Pink buccal mass 22Nl flic.kr/p/oGy5Jx with narrow, short radula, about 30% of shell length; only three teeth per row 25Nl flic.kr/p/ooiMib . Long, tapering, rounded cephalic tentacles; translucent white, sometimes with opaque white flecks 23Nl flic.kr/p/oENedn . Basal two thirds of cephalic tentacle thickened by fusion with eye peduncle; black eye on summit of outer face of thickened section 26Nl flic.kr/p/ooiQC7 ; divided ventrally on one examined specimen 27Nl flic.kr/p/oojdTP . Mantle edge thickened, usually yellowish even on pure white animals 28Nl flic.kr/p/oGy3si , occasionally with a little brown. Mantle folded into white inhalent siphon on left of body, continues as channel to osphradium and substantial buff ctenidium within mantle cavity; siphon extends only slightly beyond end of siphonal canal of shell 29Nl flic.kr/p/oEwBUT . Faint pink of myoglobin-rich buccal mass, white salivary glands and other internal organs sometimes visible behind head of well-extended animal 22Nl flic.kr/p/oGy5Jx . Flat, strap-like (when live) penis attached sub-dorsally behind right tentacle; recurved up to 360° 24Nl flic.kr/p/oENe6Z , may be pulled straighter during emergence of body from shell 30Nl flic.kr/p/oEwA7p . Foot can change between oblong 31Nl flic.kr/p/ooMS7c and bluntly oval 32Nl flic.kr/p/ooMja8 , often constricted behind propodium. Anterior edge bilaminate 33Nl flic.kr/p/ooMRLT , sole and dorsum coloured as body. Small opercular disc does not extend beyond or overlap edge of operculum 24Nl flic.kr/p/oENe6Z , apart from anterior edge of operculum being exuded from opercular groove 27Nl flic.kr/p/oojdTP . Strong white columellar muscle attaches opercular disc to columella of shell 34Nl flic.kr/p/oFgVyD . Sole of foot divided along midline; most obvious when foot folds along it 23Nl flic.kr/p/oENedn . Sucker-like accessory boring organ (ABO) in sac within foot on midline near anterior; when everted swells into a large proboscis-like projection. Female has ventral pedal gland for moulding egg capsules, anterior to centre of sole.
Internal anatomy
When extracted from shell, organs in place but indistinctly seen through translucent mantle on anterior half of body. When mantle cut along pallial inhalent channel and opened out to the right of the animal like a page of a book, organs attached to its inner face are displaced but more clearly visible.
KEY to items on images 35aNl flic.kr/p/oF4opC & 35bNl flic.kr/p/oF4o3W (extracted male), 36Nl flic.kr/p/ooMch1 (opened male) 37Nl flic.kr/p/oF1kCZ (extracted female) 38Nl flic.kr/p/oFfdey (opened female). If key is read in order, the functions and inter-relationship of the organs may be understood.
Mantle
1: mantle edge - substantial, opaque, yellowish, slightly flounced, anterior border of mantle skirt. Only part that produces exterior layers of shell. Sometimes flounces exaggerated and make protruding shell-growth that forms imbricate sculpture. (Images 35a&b, 36, 37)
2: mantle skirt - forms roof of mantle cavity and, when uncut, partially obscures organs within. (Images 35a&b, 37)
Respiratory features
3: siphon – white, folded extension of mantle that rests in shell’s siphonal canal and draws in inhalent current of water when animal extended. (Images 35a, 36, 37)
4: pallial inhalent channel – distinct, white fold in mantle forming a channel from siphon to osphradium. (Images 35a, 36, 37)
5: osphradium - dark, bipectinate chemo-receptor at inner end of inhalent channel that tests water approaching ctenidium for quality and scents of food, prey, predators and/or mates. So highly developed on Nucella that Jeffreys (1867) thought it was second ctenidium. (Images 35a, 36, 37, 38)
6: ctenidium - substantial, buff-white gill with many fine leaflets that receive oxygen from inhalent water, and oxygenate blood passing through them. (Images 35a&b, 36, 37, 38)
7: hypobranchial gland – puckered gland that produces mucous to trap particles from inhalent water before reaches ctenidium, and to transport particles out of mantle cavity. Other functions might be attraction of mates by scent, and acrid smell/taste to discourage predators. Initially cream-white, changing to yellow, green, purple etc when exposed to light and air. (Images 35a&b, 36,37)
Vascular features
8: kidney – de-oxygenated blood has urea etc. removed and excreted by kidney before passing to efferent renal vein [9]. (Images 35a&b)
9: efferent renal vein – carries blood away from kidney. (Image 35b)
10: Hypobrachial vessels – carry blood from efferent renal vein through hypobranchial gland to afferent vessel of ctenidium [11]. (Image 35b)
11: afferent vessel of ctenidium – receives blood from hypobranchial vessels and passes it into leaflets of adjacent ctenidium for oxygenation. (Image 35b)
12: rectal gland - long, linear gland; dark brown to purple-black in adults. Function uncertain, perhaps produces substances that supplement the excretory activity of the kidney. (Images 35a&b, 37, 38)
Alimentary features
13: buccal mass – pink as rich in myoglobin; contains odontophore and anterior of radula used in rasping prey. (Image 36)
14: acinous salivary gland - compound gland of many small rounded sacs that secrete enzymes for external pre-digestion/ liquefaction of prey. (Image 36)
15: gland of Leiblein - secretes enzymes for internal digestion of ingested liquefied prey. (Image 36)
16: digestive gland – mass of branching tubules and ducts occupying majority of visceral mass (spiral ‘tail’ of body); most visible feature, except in breeding season when much may be covered by ovary or testis. Receives solution of digested food from stomach into tubules where taken up by absorbing digestive cells and passed into blood bathing the tubules. (Images 35a&b, 36, 37, 38)
Reproductive features
17: ovary- gland that produces eggs. (Image 37)
18: albumen gland - translucent whitish gland that secretes albumen for nutrition of developing eggs. (Images 37, 38)
19: sperm ingesting gland - dark brown blind tubules in female where sperm excess to requirements is engulfed and digested by cells; gland is used to establish sex of specimens as penis can occur on females affected by imposex. (Image 37, 38)
20: capsule gland - secretes fibrous wall of capsule containing ova, but does not give it its final shape. (Images 37, 38)
21: testis - gland that produces spermatozoa. (Images 35a&b, 36)
22: prostate – pink gland that secretes fluid which, with spermatozoa and seminal vesicle fluid, forms the semen. (Images 35b, 36)
23: penis - on males, and on females affected by imposex caused by tributyltin pollution. (Image 36)
SPECIES DESCRIPTION PART B at flic.kr/p/oGiBxM
Glossary
abapertural = away from aperture.
acinous salivary gland = compound gland of many small rounded sacs that secrete enzymes for external predigestion/ liquefaction of prey.
adapertural = towards aperture.
adapical = towards the apex of the shell.
afferent = carrying towards. (e.g. of vessel carrying blood, see efferent.)
aperture = mouth of gastropod shell; outlet for head and foot.
Ballantine scale = biologically-defined wave exposure scale (see references).
bipectinate = feather-like, with narrow filaments either side of central stalk.
capsule gland = secretes fibrous wall of capsule containing ova.
cephalic = (adj.) of or on the head.
chelae = (singular chela) pincers of crabs and other crustacea.
cilia = (pl.) vibrating linear extensions of membrane used in feeding or locomotion. (“cilium” singular).
ciliated = (adj.) coated with cilia.
columella = solid or hollow axial “little column” around which gastropod shell spirals; hidden inside shell, except on final whorl next to lower part of inner lip of aperture where hollow ones may end in an umbilicus or siphonal canal.
columellar = (adj.) of or near central axis of spiral gastropod.
columellar lip = lower (abapical) part of inner lip of aperture.
columellar muscle = attaches body, including opercular disc, to columella of shell; contraction of muscle withdraws body within shell, and pulls operculum to seal aperture.
commensal = (adj.) obtaining nutrients, shelter, support, or locomotion from a host species, without causing it significant detriment.
conchiolin = horny flexible protein that forms the matrix for the deposition of calcium carbonate to create a mollusc’s shell.
ctenidium = comb-like molluscan gill; usually an axis with a row of filaments either side.
ditaxic = (of locomotion waves on foot) double series of waves, out of phase with each other, one series on each side of central furrow on sole.
direct = (of locomotion waves on foot) waves travel from posterior to anterior.
efferent = carrying away from. (e.g. of vessel carrying blood from ctenidium).
fasciole = (see siphonal fasciole)
gland of Leiblein = secretes enzymes for internal digestion.
height = (of gastropod shells) distance from apex of spire to base of aperture.
hypobranchial gland = thickened, sometimes puckered, tissue on roof of mantle cavity of many gastropods. Emits mucous to trap particles from
inhalent water before it reaches ctenidium. Often other biologically active compounds produced. Gland occurs also in some bivalves and cephalopods (ink sac).
imbricate = shell sculpture of growth-line ornament overlapping like roof tiles.
MHWN = mean high water neap tide level (mean level reached by weakest high tides for a few days every fortnight).
MHWS = mean high water spring tide level (mean level reached by highest tides for a few days every fortnight; Pelvetia zone on rocky coasts).
MLWN = mean low water neap tide level (mean level reached by weakest low tides for a few days every fortnight. i.e. those that fall the least).
mantle = sheet of tissue that secretes the shell and forms a cavity for the gill in most marine molluscs.
mesopodium = middle section of gastropod foot. (see propodium & metapodium).
metapodium = rear section of gastropod foot. (see mesopodium & propodium).
myoglobin – red oxygen-binding protein in muscle tissue; often in buccal-mass muscles of gastropods. Similar to red haemoglobin in vertebrate blood, but green haemocyanin is usual oxygen-carrier in mollusc blood. See www.researchgate.net/publication/251227038_Radular_myoglo...
N = (See Newton).
Newton = (abbreviation N) force exerted by Earth’s gravity on approx. 100g.
odontophore = cartilaginous “tongue” that supports and protracts /retracts the radula.
opercular = (adj.) of the operculum.
opercular disc = part of foot attached to inner face of operculum.
opercular lobe = extension of opercular disc round edge of part of operculum.
operculum = plate of horny conchiolin, rarely calcareous, used to close shell aperture.
osphradium = chemo-receptor organ in molluscs that tests inhalent water flow approaching ctenidium (gill) for “smell” of food, prey, predators, mates and/or water quality.
penes = (plural of penis) male copulatory organs.
periostracum = thin horny layer of chitinous material often coating shells.
plankton = animals and plants that drift in pelagic zone (main body of water).
propodium = front section of gastropod foot. (Cf. mesopodium & metapodium).
prosobranchia = 20th Century term for subclass of Gastropoda that included most marine snails with ctenidia. Now distributed between several subclasses. See note at www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=102
rectal gland = (a.k.a. anal gland) Function uncertain, perhaps produces substances that supplement the excretory activity of the kidney.
retrograde = (of locomotion waves on foot) waves travel from anterior to posterior.
sessile = (of organism) fixed in one place, e.g. barnacles.
siphon = extension of mantle to form a channel for inhalent respiratory water current.
siphonal canal = grooved or tubular extension of outer lip of the shell aperture on some snails to support the siphon.
siphonal fasciole = raised rib, ridge or band along abapertural side of siphonal canal, formed by successive edges of canal.
sperm ingesting gland = (in female Nucella lapillus) group of dark brown blind-ended tubules at posterior of capsule gland where excess sperm unrequired by female are trapped, engulfed by cells and digested.
suture = groove or line where whorls of gastropod shell adjoin.
vas deferens = tube carrying sperm to male’s penis.
veliger = shelled larva of marine gastropod or bivalve mollusc which swims by beating cilia of a velum (bilobed flap).
Chitra, also spelled as Citra, is an Indian genre of art that includes painting, sketch and any art form of delineation. The earliest mention of the term Chitra in the context of painting or picture is found in some of the ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism and Pali texts of Buddhism
NOMENCLATURE
Chitra (IAST: Citra, चित्र) is a Sanskrit word that appears in the Vedic texts such as hymns 1.71.1 and 6.65.2 of the Rigveda. There, and other texts such as Vajasaneyi Samhita, Taittiriya Samhita, Satapatha Brahmana and Tandya Brahmana, Chitra means "excellent, clear, bright, colored, anything brightly colored that strikes the eye, brilliantly ornamented, extraordinary that evokes wonder". In the Mahabharata and the Harivamsa, it means "picture, sktech, dilineation", and is presented as a genre of kala (arts). Many texts generally dated to the post-4th-century BCE period, use the term Chitra in the sense of painting, and Chitrakara as a painter. For example, the Sanskrit grammarian Panini in verse 3.2.21 of his Astadhyayi highlights the word chitrakara in this sense. Halls and public spaces to display paintings are called chitrasalas, and the earliest known mention of these are found in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
A few Indian regional texts such as Kasyapa silpa refer to painting by others words. For example, abhasa – which literally means "semblance, shining forth", is used in Kasyapa-shilpa to mean as a broader category of painting, of which chitra is one of three types. The verses in section 4.4 of the Kasyapa-silpa state that there are three types of images – those which are immovable (walls, floor, terracota, stucco), movable, and those which are both movable-immovable (stone, wood, gems).[5] In each of these three, states Kasyapa-shipa, are three classes of expression – ardhacitra, citra, and citra-abhasa. Ardhacitra is an art form where a high relief is combined with painting and parts of the body is not seen (it appears to be emerging out of the canvas). The Citra is the form of picture artwork where the whole is represented with or without integrating a relief. Citrabhasha is the form where an image is represented on a canvas or wall with colors (painting). However, states Commaraswamy, the word Abhasa has other meanings depending on the context. For example, in Hindu texts on philosophy, it implies the "field of objective experience" in the sense of the intellectual image internalized by a person during a reading of a subject (such as an epic, tale or fiction), or one during a meditative spiritual experience.
In some Buddhist and Hindu texts on methods to prepare a manuscript (palm leaf) or a composition on a cloth, the terms lekhya and alekhya are also used in the context of a chitra. More specifically, alekhya is the space left while writing a manuscript leaf or cloth, where the artist aims to add a picture or painting to illustrate the text.
HISTORY
The earliest explicit reference to painting in an Indian text is found in verse 4.2 of the Maitri Upanishad where it uses the phrase citrabhittir or "like a painted wall". The Indian art of painting is also mention in a number of Buddhist Pali suttas, but with the modified spelling of Citta. This term is found in the context of either a painting, or painter, or painted-hall (citta-gara) in Majjhima Nikaya 1.127, Samyutta Nikaya 2.101 and 3.152, Vinaya 4.289 and others. Among the Jain texts, it is mentioned in Book 2 of the Acaranga Sutra as it explains that Jaina monk should not indulge in the pleasures of watching a painting.
The Kamasutra, broadly accepted to have been complete by about the 4th-century CE, recommends that the young man should surprise the girl he courts with gifts of color boxes and painted scrolls. The Viddhasalabhanjika – another Hindu kama- and kavya–text uses chitra-simile in verse 1.16, as "pictures painted by the god of love, with the brush of the mind and the canvas of the heart".
The nature of a chitra (painting), how the viewer's mind projects a two dimensional artwork into a three dimensional representation, is used by Asanga in Mahayana Sutralamkara – a 3rd to 5th-century Sanskrit text of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition, to explain "non-existent imagination" as follows:
Just as in a picture painted according to rules, there are neither projections nor depressions and yet we see it in three dimensions, so in the non-existent imagination there is no phenomenal differentiation, and yet we behold it.
— Mahayana Sutralamkara 13.7, Translated in French by Sylvain Levi
According to Yoko Taniguchi and Michiyo Mori, the art of painting the caves at the c. 6th-century Buddhas of Bamiyan site in Afghanistan, destroyed by the Taliban Muslims in the late 1990s, were likely introduced to this region from India along with the literature on early Buddhism.
TEXTS
There are many important dedicated Indian treatises on chitra. Some of these are chapters within a larger encyclopedia-like text. These include:
Chitrasutras, chapters 35–43 within the Hindu text Vishnudharmottara Purana (the standard, and oft referred to text in the Indian tradition)
Chitralaksana of Nagnajit (a classic on classical painting, 5th-century CE or earlier making it the oldest known text on Indian painting; but the Sanskrit version has been lost, only version available is in Tibet and it states that it is a translation of a Sanskrit text)
Samarangana Sutradhara (mostly architecture treatise, contains a large section on paintings)
Aparajitaprccha (mostly architecture treatise, contains a large section on paintings)
Manasollasa (an encyclopedia, contains chapters on paintings)
Abhilashitartha chinatamani
Sivatatva ratnakara
Chitra Kaladruma
Silpa ratna
Narada silpa
Sarasvati silpa
Prajapati silpa
Kasyapa silpa
These and other texts on chitra not only discuss the theory and practice of painting, some of them include discussions on how to become a painter, the diversity and the impact of a chitra on viewers, of aesthetics, how the art of painting relates to other arts (kala), methods of preparing the canvas or wall, methods and recipes to make color pigments. For example, the 10th-century Chitra Kaladruma presents recipe for making red color paint from the resin of lac insects. Other colors for the historic frescoes found in India, such as those in the Ajanta Caves, were obtained from nature. They mention earthy and mineral (inorganic) colorants such as yellow and red ochre, orpigment, green celadonite and ultramarine blue (lapis lazuli). The use of organic colorants prepared per a recipe in these texts have been confirmed through residue analysis and modern chromatographic techniques.
THEORY
The Indian concepts of painting are described in a range of texts called the shilpa shastras. These typically begin by attributing this art to divine sources such as Vishvakarma and ancient rishis (sages) such as Narayana and Nagnajit, weaving some mythology, highlighting chitra as a means to express ideas and beauty along with other universal aspects, then proceed to discuss the theory and practice of painting, sketching and other related arts. Manuscripts of many these texts are found in India, while some are known to be lost but are found outside India such as in Tibet and Nepal. Among these are the Citrasutras in the 6th-century Visnudharmottara Purana manuscripts discovered in India, and the Citralaksana manuscript discovered in Tibet (lost in India). This theory include early Indian ideas on how to prepare a canvas or substrate, measurement, proportion, stance, color, shade, projection, the painting's interaction with light, the viewer, how to captivate the mind, and other ideas.
According to the historic Indian tradition, a successful and impactful painting and painter requires a knowledge of the subject – either mythology or real life, as well as a keen sense of observation and knowledge of nature, human behavior, dance, music, song and other arts. For example, section 3.2 of Visnudharmottara Purana discusses these requirements and the contextual knowledge needed in chitra and the artist who produces it. The Chitrasutras in the Vishnudharmottara Purana state that the sculpture and painting arts are related, with the phrase "as in Natya, so in Citra". This relationship links them in rasa (aesthetics) and as forms of expression.
THE PAINTING
A chitra is a form of expression and communication. According to Aparajitaprccha – a 12th-century text on arts and architecture, just like the water reflects the moon, a chitra reflects the world. It is a rupa (form) of how the painter sees or what the painter wants the viewer to observe or feel or experience.
A good painting is one that is alive, breathing, draws in and affects the viewer. It captivates the minds of viewers, despite their diversity. Installed in a sala (hall or room), it enlivens the space.
The ornaments of a painting are its lines, shading, decoration and colors, states the 6th-century Visnudharmottara Purana. It states that there are eight gunas (merits, features) of a chitra that the artist must focus on: posture; proportion; the use of the plumb line; charm; detail (how much and where); verisimilitude; kshaya (loss, foreshortening) and; vrddhi (gain). Among the dosas (demerits, faults) of a painting and related arts, states Chitrasutra, are lines that are weak or thick, absence of variety, errors in scale (oversized eyes, lips, cheeks), inconsistency across the canvas, deviations from the rules of proportion, improper posture or sentiment, and non-merging of colors.
LIMBS OF THE PAINTING
Two historical sets called "chitra anga", or "limbs of painting" are found in Indian texts. According to the Samarangana Sutradhara – an 11th-century Sanskrit text on Hindu architecture and arts, a painting has eight limbs:
Vartika – manufacture of brushes
Bhumibandhana – preparation of base, plaster, canvas
Rekhakarma – sketching
Varnakarma – coloring
Vartanakarma – shading
lekhakarana – outlining
Dvikakarma – second and final lining
Lepyakarma – final coating
According to Yashodhara's Jayamangala, a Sanskrit commentary on Kamasutra, there are sadanga (six limbs)[note 5] in the art of alekhyam and chitra (drawing and painting):
Rupa-bhedah, or form distinction; this requires a knowledge of characteristic marks, diversity, manifested forms that distinguish states of something in the same genus/class
Pramanani, or measure; requires knowledge of measurement and proportion rules (talamana)
Bhava yojanam, or emotion and its joining with other parts of the painting; requires understanding and representing the mood of the subject
Lavanya yojanam, or rasa, charm; requires understanding and representing the inner qualities of the subject
Sadrsyam, or resemblance; requires knowledge of visual correspondence across the canvas
Varnika-bhanga or color-pigment-analysis; requires knowledge how colors distribute on the canvas and how they visually impact the viewer.
These six limbs are arranged stylistically in two ways. First as a set of compound (Rupa-bhedah and Varnika-bhanda), a set of joining (middle two yojnam), and a set of single words (Pramanani and Sadrsyam). Second, states Victor Mair, the six limbs in this Hindu text are paired in a set of differentiation skills (first two), then a pair of aesthetic skills, and finally a pair of technical skills. These limbs parallel the 12th-century Six principles of Chinese painting of Xie He. {refn|group=note|The Hua Chi of Teng Ch'un, a 12th-century Chinese text, mentions the Buddhist temple of Nalanda with frescoes about the Buddha painted inside. It states that the Indian Buddhas look different from those painted by Chinese, as the Indian paintings have Buddha with larger eyes, their ears are curiously stretched and the Buddhas have their right shoulder bare. It then states that the artists first make a drawing of the picture, then paint a vermilion or gold colored base. It also mentions the use of ox-glue and a gum produced from peach trees and willow juice, with the artists preferring the latter. According to Coomaraswamy, the ox-glue in the Indian context mentioned in the Chinese text is probably the same as the recipe found in the Sanskrit text Silparatna, one where the base medium is produced from boiling buffalo skin in milk, followed by drying and blending process.
The six limbs in Jayamangala likely reflect the earliest and more established Hindu tradition for chitra. This is supported by the Chitrasutras found in the Vishnudharmottara Purana. They explicitly mention pramanani and lavanya as key elements of a painting, as well as discuss the other four of the six limbs in other sutras. The Chitrasutra chapters are likely from about the 4th or 5th-century. Numerous other Indian texts touch upon the elements or aspects of a chitra. For example, the Aparajitaprccha states that the essential elements of a painting are: citrabhumi (background), the rekha (lines, sketch), the varna (color), the vartana (shading), the bhusana (decoration) and the rasa (aesthetic experience).
THE PAINTER
The painter (chitrakara, rupakara) must master the fundamentals of measurement and proportions, state the historic chitra texts of India. According to these historic texts, the expert painter masters the skills in measurement, characteristics of subjects, attributes, form, relative proportion, ornament and beauty, states Isabella Nardi – a scholar known for her studies on chitra text and traditions of India. According to the Chitrasutras, a skilled painter needs practice, and is one who is able to paint neck, hands, feet, ears of living beings without ornamentation, as well as paint water waves, flames, smoke, and garments as they get affected by the speed of wind. He paints all types of scenes, ranging from dharma, artha and kama. A painter observes, then remembers, repeating this process till his memory has all the details he needs to paint, states Silparatna. According to Sivatattva Ratnakara, he is well versed in sketching, astute with measurements, skilled in outlining (hastalekha), competent with colors, and ready to diligently mix and combine colors to create his chitra. The painter is a creative person, with an inner sense of rasa (aesthetics).
THE VIEWER
The painter should consider the diversity of viewers, states the Indian tradition of chitra. The experts and critics with much experience with paintings study the lines, shading and aesthetics, the uninitiated visitors and children enjoy the vibrancy of colors, while women tend to be attracted to the ornamentation of form and the emotions. A successful painter tends to captivate a variety of minds. A painter should remember that the visual and aesthetic impact of a painting triggers different responses in different audiences.
The Silparatna – a Sanskrit text on the arts, states that the painting should reflect its intended place and purpose. A theme suitable for a palace or gateway is different from that in a temple or the walls of a home. Scenes of wars, misery, death and suffering are not suitable paintings within homes, but these can be important in a chitrasala (museum with paintings). Auspicious paintings with beautiful colors such as those that cheer and enliven a room are better for homes, states Silparatna.
PRACITICE
According to the art historian Percy Brown, the painting tradition in India is ancient and the persuasive evidence are the oldest known murals at the Jogimara caves. The mention of chitra and related terms in the pre-Buddhist Vedic era texts, the chitra tradition is much older. It is very likely, states Brown, the pre-Buddhist structures had paintings in them. However, the primary building material in ancient India was wood, the colors were organic materials and natural pigments, which when combined with the tropical weather in India would naturally cause the painting to fade, damage and degrade over the centuries. It is not surprising, therefore, that sample paintings and historic evidence for chitra practice are unusual. The few notable surviving examples of chitra are found hidden in caves, where they would be naturally preserved a bit better, longer and would be somewhat protected from the destructive effects of wind, dust, water and biological processes.
Some notable, major surviving examples of historic paintings include:
Murals at Jogimara cave (eight panels of murals, with a Brahmi inscription, 2nd or 1st century BCE, Hindu), oldest known ceiling paintings in India in remote Ramgarh hills of northern Chhattisgarh, below on wall of this cave is a Brahmi inscription in Magadhi language about a girl named Devadasi and a boy named Devadina (either they were lovers and wrote a love-graffiti per one translation, or they were partners who together converted natural caves here into a theatre with painted walls per another translation)
Mural at Sitabhinji Group of Rock Shelters (c. 400 CE Ravanachhaya mural with an inscription, near a Shiva temple in remote Odisha, a non-religious painting), the oldest surviving example of a tempera painting in eastern states of India
Murals at Ajanta caves (Jataka tales, Buddhist), 5th-century CE, Maharashtra
Murals at Badami Cave Temples (Hindu), 6th-century CE, Karnataka (secular paintings along with one of the earliest known painting of a Hindu legend about Shiva and Parvati inside a Vaishnava cave)
Murals at Bagh caves (Hallisalasya dance, Buddhist or Hindu), Madhya Pradesh
Murals at Ellora caves (Flying vidyadharas, Jain), Maharashtra
Frescoes at Sittanavasal cave (Nature scenes likely representing places of Tirthankara sermons, Jain), Tamil Nadu
Frescoes at Thirunadhikkara cave temple (Flowers and a woman, likely a scene of puja offering to Ganesha, another of Vishnu, Hindu), Travancore region, Kerala-Tamil Nadu
Paintings at the Brihadisvara temple (Dancer, Hindu), Tamil Nadu
Manuscript paintings (numerous states such as Gujarat, Kashmir, Kerala, Odisha, Assam; also Nepal, Tibet; Buddhist, Jain, Hindu
Vijayanagara temples (Hindu), Karnataka
Chidambaram temple (Hindu), Tamil Nadu
Chitrachavadi (Hindu, a choultry–mandapa near Madurai with Ramayana frescoes)
Pahari paintings (Hindu), Himachal Pradesh and nearby regions
Rajput paintings (Hindu), Rajasthan
Deccan paintings (Hindu, Jain)
Kerala paintings (Hindu)
Telangana paintings (Hindu)
Mughal paintings (Indo-Islamic)
CONTEMPORARY CULTURE
Kalamkari (Hindu)
Pattas (Jain, Hindu)
WIKIPEDIA
. . . the natural make-up of the women is called Thanaka. It is a cream made out of the bark of specific trees. Thanaka cream has been used by Burmese women for over 2000 years. It has a fragrant scent somewhat similar to sandalwood. The creamy paste is applied to the face in attractive designs, the most common form being a circular patch on each cheek, nose, sometimes made stripey with the fingers known as thanaka bè gya, or patterned in the shape of a leaf, often also highlighting the bridge of the nose with it at the same time. It may be applied from head to toe (thanaka chi zoun gaung zoun). Apart from cosmetic beauty, thanaka also gives a cooling sensation and provides protection from sunburn. It is believed to help remove acne and promote smooth skin. It is also an anti-fungal. The active ingredients of thanaka are coumarin and marmesin.
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Yangon (Burmese: ရန်ကုန်, MLCTS rankun mrui, pronounced: [jàɴɡòʊɴ mjo̰]; formerly known as Rangoon, literally: "End of Strife") is the capital of the Yangon Region of Myanmar, also known as Burma. Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government relocated the capital to the purpose-built city of Naypyidaw in central Myanmar. With over 7 million people, Yangon is Myanmar's largest city and is its most important commercial centre.
Yangon boasts the largest number of colonial-era buildings in the region, and has a unique colonial-era urban core that is remarkably intact. The colonial-era commercial core is centred around the Sule Pagoda, which reputed to be over 2,000 years old. The city is also home to the gilded Shwedagon Pagoda — Myanmar's most sacred Buddhist pagoda. The mausoleum of the last Mughal Emperor is located in Yangon, where he had been exiled following the Indian Mutiny of 1857.
Yangon suffers from deeply inadequate infrastructure, especially compared to other major cities in Southeast Asia. Though many historic residential and commercial buildings have been renovated throughout central Yangon, most satellite towns that ring the city continue to be profoundly impoverished and lack basic infrastructure.
ETYMOLOGY
Yangon (ရန်ကုန်) is a combination of the two words yan (ရန်) and koun (ကုန်), which mean "enemies" and "run out of", respectively. It is also translated as "End of Strife". "Rangoon" most likely comes from the British imitation of the pronunciation of "Yangon" in the Arakanese language, which is [rɔ̀ɴɡʊ́ɴ].
HISTORY
EARLY HISTORY
Yangon was founded as Dagon in the early 11th century (c. 1028–1043) by the Mon, who dominated Lower Burma at that time. Dagon was a small fishing village centred about the Shwedagon Pagoda. In 1755, King Alaungpaya conquered Dagon, renamed it "Yangon", and added settlements around Dagon. The British captured Yangon during the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–26), but returned it to Burmese administration after the war. The city was destroyed by a fire in 1841.
COLONIAL RANGOON
The British seized Yangon and all of Lower Burma in the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852, and subsequently transformed Yangon into the commercial and political hub of British Burma. Yangon is also the place where the British sent Bahadur Shah II, the last Mughal emperor, to live after the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Based on the design by army engineer Lt. Alexander Fraser, the British constructed a new city on a grid plan on delta land, bounded to the east by the Pazundaung Creek and to the south and west by the Yangon River. Yangon became the capital of all British-ruled Burma after the British had captured Upper Burma in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of 1885. By the 1890s Yangon's increasing population and commerce gave birth to prosperous residential suburbs to the north of Royal Lake (Kandawgyi) and Inya Lake. The British also established hospitals including Rangoon General Hospital and colleges including Rangoon University.
Colonial Yangon, with its spacious parks and lakes and mix of modern buildings and traditional wooden architecture, was known as "the garden city of the East." By the early 20th century, Yangon had public services and infrastructure on par with London.
Before World War II, about 55% of Yangon's population of 500,000 was Indian or South Asian, and only about a third was Bamar (Burman). Karens, the Chinese, the Anglo-Burmese and others made up the rest.
After World War I, Yangon became the epicentre of Burmese independence movement, with leftist Rangoon University students leading the way. Three nationwide strikes against the British Empire in 1920, 1936 and 1938 all began in Yangon. Yangon was under Japanese occupation (1942–45), and incurred heavy damage during World War II. The city was retaken by the Allies in May 1945.
Yangon became the capital of Union of Burma on 4 January 1948 when the country regained independence from the British Empire.
CONTEMPORARY YANGON
Soon after Burma's independence in 1948, many colonial names of streets and parks were changed to more nationalistic Burmese names. In 1989, the current military junta changed the city's English name to "Yangon", along with many other changes in English transliteration of Burmese names. (The changes have not been accepted by many Burmese who consider the junta unfit to make such changes, nor by many publications, news bureaus including, most notably, the BBC and foreign nations including the United Kingdom and United States.)
Since independence, Yangon has expanded outwards. Successive governments have built satellite towns such as Thaketa, North Okkalapa and South Okkalapa in the 1950s to Hlaingthaya,
Shwepyitha and South Dagon in the 1980s. Today, Greater Yangon encompasses an area covering nearly 600 square kilometres.
During Ne Win's isolationist rule (1962–88), Yangon's infrastructure deteriorated through poor maintenance and did not keep up with its increasing population. In the 1990s, the current military government's more open market policies attracted domestic and foreign investment, bringing a modicum of modernity to the city's infrastructure. Some inner city residents were forcibly relocated to new satellite towns. Many colonial-period buildings were demolished to make way for high-rise hotels, office buildings, and shopping malls, leading the city government to place about 200 notable colonial-period buildings under the Yangon City Heritage List in 1996. Major building programs have resulted in six new bridges and five new highways linking the city to its industrial back country. Still, much of Yangon remains without basic municipal services such as 24-hour electricity and regular garbage collection.
Yangon has become much more indigenous Burmese in its ethnic make-up since independence. After independence, many South Asians and Anglo-Burmese left. Many more South Asians were forced to leave during the 1960s by Ne Win's xenophobic government. Nevertheless, sizable South Asian and Chinese communities still exist in Yangon. The Anglo-Burmese have effectively disappeared, having left the country or intermarried with other Burmese groups.
Yangon was the centre of major anti-government protests in 1974, 1988 and 2007. The 1988 People Power Uprising resulted in the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands of Burmese civilians, many in Yangoon where hundreds of thousands of people flooded into the streets of the then capital city. The Saffron Revolution saw mass shootings and the use of crematoria in Yangoon by the Burmese government to erase evidence of their crimes against monks, unarmed protesters, journalists and students.
The city's streets saw bloodshed each time as protesters were gunned down by the government.
In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit Yangon. While the city had few human casualties, three quarters of Yangon's industrial infrastructure was destroyed or damaged, with losses estimated at US$800 million.
In November 2005, the military government designated Naypyidaw, 320 kilometres north of Yangon, as the new administrative capital, and subsequently moved much of the government to the newly developed city. At any rate, Yangon remains the largest city, and the most important commercial centre of Myanmar.
GEOGRAPHY
Yangon is located in Lower Burma (Myanmar) at the convergence of the Yangon and Bago Rivers about 30 km away from the Gulf of Martaban at 16°48' North, 96°09' East (16.8, 96.15). Its standard time zone is UTC/GMT +6:30 hours.
CLIMATE
Yangon has a tropical monsoon climate under the Köppen climate classification system. The city features a lengthy wet season from May through October where a substantial amount of rainfall is received; and a dry season from November through April, where little rainfall is seen. It is primarily due to the heavy rainfall received during the rainy season that Yangon falls under the tropical monsoon climate category. During the course of the year 1961 to 1990s, average temperatures show little variance, with average highs ranging from 29 to 36 °C and average lows ranging from 18 to 25 °C.
CITYSCAPE
Until the mid-1990s, Yangon remained largely constrained to its traditional peninsula setting between the Bago, Yangon and Hlaing rivers. People moved in, but little of the city moved out. Maps from 1944 show little development north of Inya Lake and areas that are now layered in cement and stacked with houses were then virtual backwaters. Since the late 1980s, however, the city began a rapid spread north to where Yangon International airport now stands. But the result is a stretching tail on the city, with the downtown area well removed from its geographic centre. The city's area has steadily increased from 72.52 square kilometres in 1901 to 86.2 square kilometres in 1940 to 208.51 square kilometres in 1974, to 346.13 square kilometres in 1985, and to 598.75 square kilometres in 2008.
ARCHITECTURE
Downtown Yangon is known for its leafy avenues and fin-de-siècle architecture. The former British colonial capital has the highest number of colonial period buildings in south-east Asia. Downtown Yangon is still mainly made up of decaying colonial buildings. The former High Court, the former Secretariat buildings, the former St. Paul's English High School and the Strand Hotel are excellent examples of the bygone era. Most downtown buildings from this era are four-story mix-use (residential and commercial) buildings with 4.3 m ceilings, allowing for the construction of mezzanines. Despite their less-than-perfect conditions, the buildings remain highly sought after and most expensive in the city's property market.
In 1996, the Yangon City Development Committee created a Yangon City Heritage List of old buildings and structures in the city that cannot be modified or torn down without approval. In 2012, the city of Yangon imposed a 50-year moratorium on demolition of buildings older than 50 years. The Yangon Heritage Trust, an NGO started by Thant Myint-U, aims to create heritage areas in Downtown, and attract investors to renovate buildings for commercial use.
A latter day hallmark of Yangon is the eight-story apartment building. (In Yangon parlance, a building with no elevators (lifts) is called an apartment building and one with elevators is called a condominium. Condos which have to invest in a local power generator to ensure 24-hour electricity for the elevators are beyond the reach of most Yangonites.) Found throughout the city in various forms, eight-story apartment buildings provide relatively inexpensive housing for many Yangonites. The apartments are usually eight stories high (including the ground floor) mainly because city regulations, until February 2008, required that all buildings higher than 23 m or eight stories to install lifts. The current code calls for elevators in buildings higher than 19 m or six stories, likely ushering in the era of the six-story apartment building. Although most apartment buildings were built only within the last 20 years, they look much older and rundown due to shoddy construction and lack of proper maintenance.
Unlike other major Asian cities, Yangon does not have any skyscrapers. Aside from a few high-rise hotels and office towers, most high-rise buildings (usually 10 stories and up) are "condos" scattered across prosperous neighbourhoods north of downtown such as Bahan, Dagon, Kamayut and Mayangon. The tallest building in Yangon, Pyay Gardens, is a 25-story condo in the city's north.
Older satellite towns such as Thaketa, North Okkalapa and South Okkalapa are lined mostly with one to two story detached houses with access to the city's electricity grid. Newer satellite towns such as North Dagon and South Dagon are still essentially slums in a grid layout. The satellite towns - old or new - receive little or no municipal services.
ROAD LAYOUT
Downtown Yangon's road layout follows a grid pattern, based on four types of roads:
Broad 49-m wide roads running west to east
Broad 30-m wide roads running south to north
Two narrow 9.1-m wide streets running south to north
Mid-size 15-m wide streets running south to north
The east-west grid of central was laid out by British military engineers Fraser and Montgomerie after the Second Anglo-Burmese War. The city was later developed by the Public Works Department and Bengal Corps of Engineers. The pattern of south to north roads is as follows: one broad 30 m wide broad road, two narrow streets, one mid-size street, two more narrow streets, and then another 30 m wide broad road. This order is repeated from west to east. The narrow streets are numbered; the medium and broad roads are named.
For example, the 30 m Lanmadaw Road is followed by 9.1 m-wide 17th and 18th streets then the medium 15 m Sint-Oh-Dan Road, the 30-foot 19th and 20th streets, followed by another 30 m wide Latha Road, followed again by the two numbered small roads 21st and 22nd streets, and so on.
The roads running parallel west to east were the Strand Road, Merchant Road, Maha Bandula (née Dalhousie) Road, Anawrahta (Fraser) Road, and Bogyoke Aung San (Montgomerie) Road.
PARKS AND GARDENS
The largest and best maintained parks in Yangon are located around Shwedagon Pagoda. To the south-east of the gilded stupa is the most popular recreational area in the city – Kandawgyi Lake. The 61-ha lake is surrounded by the 45-ha Kandawgyi Nature Park, and the 28-ha Yangon Zoological Gardens, which consists of a zoo, an aquarium and an amusement park. West of the pagoda towards the former Hluttaw (Parliament) complex is the 53-ha People's Square and Park, (the former parading ground on important national days when Yangon was the capital.) A few miles north of the pagoda lies the 15-ha Inya Lake Park – a favorite hangout place of Yangon University students, and a well-known place of romance in Burmese popular culture.
Hlawga National Park and Allied War Memorial at the outskirts of the city are popular day-trip destinations with the well-to-do and tourists.
Yangon Book Plaza, the first and biggest book shop in Myanmar was opened on February 26, 2017 on the fifth floor of Than Zay Market in Lanmadaw Township, Yangon.
ADMINISTRATION
Yangon is administered by the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC). YCDC also coordinates urban planning. The city is divided into four districts. The districts combined have a total of 33 townships. The current mayor of Yangon is Maung Maung Soe. Each township is administered by a committee of township leaders, who make decisions regarding city beautification and infrastructure. Myo-thit (lit. "New Towns", or satellite towns) are not within such jurisdictions.
TRANSPORT
Yangon is Burma's main domestic and international hub for air, rail, and ground transportation.
AIR
Yangon International Airport, located 19 km from the centre, is the country's main gateway for domestic and international air travel. The airport has three terminals, known as T1, T2 and T3 which is also known as Domestic. It has direct flights to regional cities in Asia – mainly, Doha, Dubai, Dhaka, Kolkata, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing, Seoul, Guangzhou, Taipei, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Kunming and Singapore. Although domestic airlines offer service to about twenty domestic locations, most flights are to tourist destinations such as Bagan, Mandalay, Heho and Ngapali, and to the capital Naypyidaw.
RAILWAYS
Yangon Central Railway Station is the main terminus of Myanmar Railways' 5,403-kilometre rail network whose reach covers Upper Myanmar (Naypyidaw, Mandalay, Shwebo), upcountry (Myitkyina), Shan hills (Taunggyi, Lashio) and the Taninthayi coast (Mawlamyaing, Dawei).
Yangon Circular Railway operates a 45.9-kilometre 39-station commuter rail network that connects Yangon's satellite towns. The system is heavily utilized by the local populace, selling about 150,000 tickets daily. The popularity of the commuter line has jumped since the government reduced petrol subsidies in August 2007.
BUSES AND CARS
Yangon has a 4,456-kilometre road network of all types (tar, concrete and dirt) in March 2011. Many of the roads are in poor condition and not wide enough to accommodate an increasing number of cars. The vast majority of Yangon residents cannot afford a car and rely on an extensive network of buses to get around. Over 300 public and private bus lines operate about 6,300 crowded buses around the city, carrying over 4.4 million passengers a day. All buses and 80% of the taxis in Yangon run on compressed natural gas (CNG), following the 2005 government decree to save money on imported petroleum. Highway buses to other cities depart from Dagon Ayeyar Highway Bus Terminal for Irrawaddy delta region and Aung Mingala Highway Bus Terminal for other parts of the country.
Motor transportation in Yangon is highly expensive for most of its citizens. As the government allows only a few thousand cars to be imported each year in a country with over 50 million people, car prices in Yangon (and in Burma) are among the highest in the world. In July 2008, the two most popular cars in Yangon, 1986/87 Nissan Sunny Super Saloon and 1988 Toyota Corolla SE Limited, cost the equivalent of about US$20,000 and US$29,000 respectively. A sports utility vehicle, imported for the equivalent of around US$50,000, goes for US$250,000. Illegally imported unregistered cars are cheaper – typically about half the price of registered cars. Nonetheless, car usage in Yangon is on the rise, a sign of rising incomes for some, and already causes much traffic congestion in highway-less Yangon's streets. In 2011, Yangon had about 300,000 registered motor vehicles in addition to an unknown number of unregistered ones.
Since 1970, cars have been driven on the right side of the road in Burma, as part of a military decree. However, as the government has not required left hand drive (LHD) cars to accompany the right side road rules, many cars on the road are still right hand drive (RHD) made for driving on the left side. Japanese used cars, which make up most of the country's imports, still arrive with RHD and are never converted to LHD. As a result, Burmese drivers have to rely on their passengers when passing other cars.
Within Yangon city limits, it is illegal to drive trishaws, bicycles, and motorcycles. Since February 2010, pickup truck bus lines have been forbidden to run in 6 townships of central Yangon, namely Latha, Lanmadaw, Pabedan, Kyauktada, Botahtaung and Pazundaung Townships. In May 2003, a ban on using car horns was implemented in six townships of Downtown Yangon to reduce noise pollution. In April 2004, the car horn ban was expanded to cover the entire city.
RIVER
Yangon's four main passenger jetties, all located on or near downtown waterfront, mainly serve local ferries across the river to Dala and Thanlyin, and regional ferries to the Irrawaddy delta. The 35-km Twante Canal was the quickest route from Yangon to the Irrawaddy delta until the 1990s when roads between Yangon and the Irrawaddy Division became usable year-round. While passenger ferries to the delta are still used, those to Upper Burma via the Irrawaddy river are now limited mostly to tourist river cruises.
DEMOGRAPHICS
Yangon is the most populous city by far in Burma although estimates of the size of its population vary widely. All population figures are estimates since no official census has been conducted in Burma since 1983. A UN estimate puts the population as 4.35 million in 2010 but a 2009 U.S. State Department estimate puts it at 5.5 million. The U.S. State Department's estimate is probably closer to the real number since the UN number is a straight-line projection, and does not appear to take the expansion of city limits in the past two decades into account. The city's population grew sharply after 1948 as many people (mainly, the indigenous Burmese) from other parts of the country moved into the newly built satellite towns of North Okkalapa, South Okkalapa, and Thaketa in the 1950s and East Dagon, North Dagon and South Dagon in the 1990s. Immigrants have founded their regional associations (such as Mandalay Association, Mawlamyaing Association, etc.) in Yangon for networking purposes. The government's decision to move the nation's administrative capital to Naypyidaw has drained an unknown number of civil servants away from Yangon.
Yangon is the most ethnically diverse city in the country. While Indians formed the slight majority prior to World War II, today, the majority of the population is of indigenous Bamar (Burman) descent. Large communities of Indians/South Asian Burmese and the Chinese Burmese exist especially in the traditional downtown neighborhoods. A large number of Rakhine and Karen also live in the city.
Burmese is the principal language of the city. English is by far the preferred second language of the educated class. In recent years, however, the prospect of overseas job opportunities has enticed
some to study other languages: Mandarin Chinese is most popular, followed by Japanese, and French.
RELIGIONS
The primary religions practiced in Yangon are Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam. Shwedagon Pagoda is a famous religious landmark in the city.
MEDIA
Yangon is the country's hub for the movie, music, advertising, newspaper and book publishing industries. All media is heavily regulated by the military government. Television broadcasting is off limits to the private sector. All media content must first be approved by the government's media censor board, Press Scrutiny and Registration Division.
Most television channels in the country are broadcast from Yangon. TV Myanmar and Myawaddy TV are the two main channels, providing Burmese-language programming in news and entertainment. Other special interest channels are MWD-1 and MWD-2, MRTV-3, the English-language channel that targets overseas audiences via satellite and via Internet, MRTV-4 and Channel 7 are with a focus on non-formal education programs and movies, and Movie 5, a pay-TV channel specializing in broadcasting foreign movies.
Yangon has three radio stations. Myanmar Radio National Service is the national radio service and broadcasts mostly in Burmese (and in English during specific times.) Pop culture oriented Yangon City FM and Mandalay City FM radio stations specialize in Burmese and English pop music, entertainment programs, live celebrity interviews, etc. New radio channels such as Shwe FM and Pyinsawaddy FM can also be tuned with the city area.
Nearly all print media and industries are based out of Yangon. All three national newspapers – two Burmese language dailies Myanma Alin (မြန်မာ့အလင်း) and Kyemon (ကြေးမုံ), and the English language The New Light of Myanmar — are published by the government. Semi-governmental The Myanmar Times weekly, published in Burmese and in English, is mainly geared for Yangon's expatriate community. Over twenty special interest journals and magazines covering sports, fashion, finance, crime, literature (but never politics) vie for the readership of the general populace.
Access to foreign media is extremely difficult. Satellite television in Yangon, and in Burma, is very expensive as the government imposes an annual registration fee of one million kyats. Certain foreign newspapers and periodicals such as the International Herald Tribune and the Straits Times can be found only in a few (mostly downtown) bookstores. Internet access in Yangon, which has the best telecommunication infrastructure in the country, is slow and erratic at best, and the Burmese government implements one of the world's most restrictive regimes of Internet control. International text messaging and voice messaging was permitted only in August 2008.
COMMUNICATION
Common facilities taken for granted elsewhere are luxury prized items in Yangon and Burma. The price of a GSM mobile phone was about K1.1 million in August 2008. In 2007, the country of 55 million had only 775,000 phone lines (including 275,000 mobile phones), and 400,000 computers. Even in Yangon, which has the best infrastructure, the estimated telephone penetration rate was only 6% at the end of 2004, and the official waiting time for a telephone line was 3.6 years. Most people cannot afford a computer and have to use the city's numerous Internet cafes to access a heavily restricted Internet, and a heavily censored local intranet. According to official statistics, in July 2010, the country had over 400,000 Internet users, with the vast majority hailing from just two cities, Yangon and Mandalay. Although Internet access was available in 42 cities across the country, the number of users outside the two main cities was just over 10,000.
LIFESTYLE
Yangon's property market is the most expensive in the country and beyond the reach of most Yangonites. Most rent outside the centre and few can afford to rent such apartments. (In 2008, rents for a typical 60 to 70 m2 apartments in the centre and vicinity range between K70,000 and K150,000 and those for high end condos between K200,000 and K500,000.)
Most men of all ages (and some women) spend their time at ubiquitous tea-shops, found in any corner or street of the city. Watching European football (mostly English Premier League with occasional La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga) matches while sipping tea is a popular pastime among many Yangonites. The average person stays close to his or her residential neighbourhood. The well-to-do tend to visit shopping malls and parks on weekends. Some leave the city on weekends for Chaungtha and Ngwesaung beach resorts in Ayeyarwady Division.
Yangon is also home to many pagoda festivals (paya pwe), held during dry-season months (November – March). The most famous of all, the Shwedagon Pagoda Festival in March, attracts thousands of pilgrims from around the country.
Yangon's museums are the domain of tourists and rarely visited by the locals.
Most of Yangon's larger hotels offer some kind of nightlife entertainment, geared towards tourists and the well-to-do Burmese. Some hotels offer traditional Burmese performing arts shows complete with a traditional Burmese orchestra. The pub scene in larger hotels is more or less the same as elsewhere in Asia. Other options include karaoke bars and pub restaurants in Yangon Chinatown.
Due to the problems of high inflation, the lack of high denomination notes, and the fact that many of the population do not have access to checks, or credit or debit cards, it is common to see citizens carrying a considerable amount of cash. (The highest denomination of Burmese currency kyat is 10 000 (~US$10.)) Credit cards are only rarely used in the city, chiefly in the more lavish hotels. Credit cards are also accepted in the major supermarket and convenience store chains.
SPORTS
As the city has the best sporting facilities in the country, most national-level annual sporting tournaments such as track and field, football, volleyball, tennis and swimming are held in Yangon. The 40,000-seat Aung San Stadium and the 32,000-seat Thuwunna Stadium are the main venues for the highly popular annual State and Division football tournament. Until April 2009, the now defunct Myanmar Premier League, consisted of 16 Yangon-based clubs, played all its matches in Yangon stadiums, and attracted little interest from the general public or commercial success despite the enormous popularity of football in Burma. Most Yangonites prefer watching European football on satellite TV. Teams such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City are among the favorite European teams among the Yangonites. It remains to be seen whether the Myanmar National League, the country's first professional football league, and its Yangon-based club Yangon United FC will attract a sufficient following in the country's most important media market.
Yangon is also home to annual the Myanmar Open golf tournament, and the Myanmar Open tennis tournament. The city hosted the 1961 and 1969 South East Asian Games. During colonial times, cricket was played mostly by British officials in the city. First-class cricket was played in the city in January 1927 when the touring Marylebone Cricket Club played Burma and the Rangoon Gymkhana. Two grounds were used to host these matches, the BAA Ground and the Gymkhana Ground. These matches mark the only time Burma and Rangoon Gymkhana have appeared in first-class cricket, and the only time first-class cricket has been played in Burma. After independence cricket all but died out in the country.
Yangon has a growing population of skateboarders, as documented in the films Altered Focus: Burma and Youth of Yangon. German non-profit organization Make Life Skate Life has received permission from the Yangon City Development Committee to construct a concrete skatepark at Thakin Mya park in downtown, and plans to complete the park in November 2015.
ECONOMY
Yangon is the country's main centre for trade, industry, real estate, media, entertainment and tourism. The city represents about one fifth of the national economy. According to official statistics for FY 2010–2011, the size of the economy of Yangon Region was 8.93 trillion kyats, or 23% of the national GDP.
The city is Lower Burma's main trading hub for all kinds of merchandise – from basic food stuffs to used cars although commerce continues to be hampered by the city's severely underdeveloped banking industry and communication infrastructure. Bayinnaung Market is the largest wholesale centre in the country for rice, beans and pulses, and other agricultural commodities. Much of the country's legal imports and exports go through Thilawa Port, the largest and busiest port in Burma. There is also a great deal of informal trade, especially in street markets that exist alongside street platforms of Downtown Yangon's townships. However, on 17 June 2011, the YCDC announced that street vendors, who had previously been allowed to legally open shop at 3 pm, would be prohibited from selling on the streets, and permitted to sell only in their townships of residence, presumably to clean up the city's image. Since 1 December 2009, high-density polyethylene plastic bags have been banned by city authorities.
Manufacturing accounts for a sizable share of employment. At least 14 light industrial zones ring Yangon, directly employing over 150,000 workers in 4,300 factories in early 2010. The city is the centre of country's garment industry which exported US$292 million in 2008/9 fiscal year. More than 80 percent of factory workers in Yangon work on a day-to-day basis. Most are young women between 15 and 27 years of age who come from the countryside in search of a better life. The manufacturing sector suffers from both structural problems (e.g. chronic power shortages) and political.
problems (e.g. economic sanctions). In 2008, Yangon's 2500 factories alone needed about 120 MW of power; yet, the entire city received only about 250 MW of the 530 MW needed. Chronic power shortages limit the factories' operating hours between 8 am and 6 pm.
Construction is a major source of employment. The construction industry has been negatively affected by the move of state apparatus and civil servants to Naypyidaw, new regulations introduced in August 2009 requiring builders to provide at least 12 parking spaces in every new high-rise building, and the general poor business climate. As of January 2010, the number of new high-rise building starts approved in 2009–2010 was only 334, compared to 582 in 2008–2009.
Tourism represents a major source of foreign currency for the city although by south-east Asian standards the number of foreign visitors to Yangon has always been quite low - about 250,000 before the Saffron Revolution in September 2007. The number of visitors dipped even further following the Saffron Revolution and Cyclone Nargis. The recent improvement in the country's political climate has attracted an increasing number of businessmen and tourists. Between 300,000 and 400,000 visitors that went through Yangon International in 2011. However, after years of underinvestment, Yangon's modest hotel infrastructure - only 3000 of the total 8000 hotel rooms in Yangon are "suitable for tourists" - is already bursting at seams, and will need to be expanded to handle additional visitors. As part of an urban development strategy, a hotel zone has been planned in Yangon's outskirts, encompassing government- and military-owned land in Mingaladon, Hlegu and Htaukkyant Townships.
EDUCATION
Yangon educational facilities has a very high number of qualified teachers but the state spending on education is among the lowest of the world. Around 2007 estimate by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies puts the spending for education at 0.5% of the national budget. The disparity in educational opportunities and achievement between rich and poor schools is quite stark even within the city. With little or no state support forthcoming, schools have to rely on forced "donations" and various fees from parents for nearly everything – school maintenance to teachers' salaries, forcing many poor students to drop out.
While many students in poor districts fail to reach high school, a handful of Yangon high schools in wealthier districts such as Dagon 1, Sanchaung 2, Kamayut 2, Bahan 2, Latha 2, and TTC provide the majority of students admitted to the most selective universities in the country, highlighting the extreme shallowness of talent pool in the country. The wealthy bypass the state education system altogether, sending their children to private English language instruction schools such as YIEC or more widely known as ISM, or abroad (typically Singapore or Australia) for university education. In 2014, international schools in Yangon cost at least US$8,000 a year.
There are over 20 universities and colleges in the city. While Yangon University remains the best known (its main campus is a part of popular Burmese culture e.g. literature, music, film, etc.), the nation's oldest university is now mostly a graduate school, deprived of undergraduate studies. Following the 1988 nationwide uprising, the military government has repeatedly closed universities, and has dispersed most of undergraduate student population to new universities in the suburbs such as Dagon University, the University of East Yangon and the University of West Yangon. Nonetheless many of the country's most selective universities are still in Yangon. Students from around the country still have to come to study in Yangon as some subjects are offered only at its universities. The University of Medicine 1, University of Medicine 2, Yangon Technological University, University of Computer Studies and Myanmar Maritime University are the most selective in the country.
HEALTH CARE
The general state of health care in Yangon is poor. According to a 2007 estimate, the military government spends 0.4% of the national budget on health care, and 40% to 60% on defense. By the government's own figures, it spends 849 kyats (US$0.85) per person. Although health care is nominally free, in reality, patients have to pay for medicine and treatment, even in public clinics and hospitals. Public hospitals including the flagship Yangon General Hospital lack many of the basic facilities and equipment.
Wealthier Yangonites still have access to country's best medical facilities and internationally qualified doctors. Only Yangon and Mandalay have any sizable number of doctors left as many Burmese doctors have emigrated. The well-to-do go to private clinics or hospitals like Pun Hlaing International Hospital and Bahosi Medical Clinic. Medical malpractice is widespread, even in private clinics and hospitals that serve the well-to-do. In 2009 and 2010, a spate of high-profile deaths brought out the severity of the problem, even for the relatively well off Yangonites. The wealthy do not rely on domestic hospitals and travel abroad, usually Bangkok or Singapore, for treatment.
WIKIPEDIA
1979
January 5, 1979
It was reported that the 1st Annual Bill McNeill Memorial Hockey Tournament was a big success. Over 600 players took part in the event. Kanata Standard, January 5, 1979:1.
January 5, 1979
Marianne Wilkinson, in her Commentary, announced that Kanata City Council had passed a resolution officially designating the names of the five existing communities in the City of Kanata. They were Bridlewood, Glen Cairn, Katimavik/Hazeldean, Beaverbrook, and March. Kanata Standard, January 5, 1979:1.
January 5, 1979
It was reported that the Kinette Club had donated a cart to a Glen Cairn family who had a young boy in a body cast. Robbie Boileau was due to be in the body cast another three weeks. Kanata Standard, January 5, 1979:2.
January 5, 1979
The newly formed Kanata Ski Club membership exceeded 100 families and a number of singles. Kanata Standard, January 5, 1979:3.
January 10, 1979
The first meeting of the Kanata Beaverbrook Community Association in 1979 was held. Approximately 30 residents attended. Newton Steacy stated: “The caliber of the executive and the new cluster directors is impressive.” The business of the meeting included a strongly supported motion to deliver the Standard to Glen Cairn for a four-month period. It was seen that this would allow time for the editorial board to urge Glen Cairn residents to submit articles and participate in the publication of a “community-owned” newspaper. Kanata Standard, January 16, 1979:2,6.
January 13, 1979
The Kanata Theatre presented “Everything in the Garden” to a large audience. Kanata Standard, January 19, 1979:15.
January 16, 1979
Kanata City Council decided to hold the first meeting of each month in different communities with the City of Kanata. Kanata Standard, January 19, 1979:1.
January 16, 1979
A debate continued in Kanata City Council over the appointment of an alderman to serve as Acting Mayor in the possible absence of Mayor Wilkinson. Alderman Rogers and Kingham were both nominated. The issue was resolved when Alderman Kingham withdrew from the contest, leaving Charles Rogers as Acting Mayor. Kanata Standard, January 19, 1979:1.
January 16, 1979
Kanata City Council discussed the Commissioners’ Report and decided to establish a Transportation Advisory Committee composed of a representative from each ward. Council agreed to the appointments of those representatives where only one name had been put forward. The balance was to be dealt with at the next meeting. Kanata Standard, January 19, 1979:1.
January 16, 1979
Kanata City Council agreed to hire a consultant to carry out a management study of the City of Kanata. Its purpose was to assist the municipality in detailing the numbers of employees required for 1979. Kanata Standard, January 19, 1979:6.
January 19, 1979
In a Standard feature article, Alan Seward reported that planning for a library branch in Glen Cairn was well under way. A temporary library was put in place for the time being. Kanata Standard, January 19, 1979:1.
January 19, 1979
Marianne Wilkinson, in her Commentary, announced that the Logo for the City of Kanata Contest would end on January 31. Kanata Standard, January 5, 1979:1.
January 19, 1979
The municipalities and hydro commissions in the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton agreed to carry out a Restructuring Study on their hydro service. Kanata Standard, January 19, 1979:6.
January 19, 1979
Dogbone Park family skating rink opened for its first season. Kanata Standard, January 19, 1979:6.
January 19, 1979
The March Sailing Club held a successful Annual General Meeting. New Directors were Harry Holdsworth, Gerry Holt, John Perry, Gary Caple, Harry Adderly, Keith Hooey, and Robert Wilkinson. Kanata Standard, January 19, 1979:11.
January 20, 1979
The Kanata Singles held a very successful dance, with more than 100 members and guests attending. Kanata Standard, February 2, 1979:5.
January 28, 1979
Tow truck drivers at Gallagher’s Garage were awakened by two nearby wolves. One of the wolves was shot and the other disappeared. Kanata Standard, February 2, 1979:1.
January 29, 1979
At a joint meeting of the March and Glen Cairn Soccer Clubs was held. Both clubs were both dissolved to form a new Kanata City Soccer Club. The Board of Directors and Executive for the newly formed club were Allan Wilson, Sid Johnson, Jim Burrows, Bart Jones, John Brunette, John Dowell, Barry Felstead, Norbett Hendrycks, Lloyd Mason, John Rahim, Keith Richardson, Norbett Riester, Phil Shea, and Alan Waltho. Kanata Standard, January 19, 1979:8; Kanata Standard, February 2, 1979:16.
January 31, 1979
Kanata City Council decided that a consulting engineering firm would be used to investigate structural problems in the Glen Cairn Community Centre. There had been crumbling walls in the building. Alderman Lund was upset that this could happen, and expressed the need to find the cause of the damage. Kanata Standard, February 2, 1979:2.
February 2, 1979
Stephanie Paul reported that progress on the Town Centre may be slowed due to a lack of a major retail tenant for the first portion of the development. Many recognized the importance of the construction of the centre, due the unique history of Kanata and the fact that it had grown “from the outside in,” and as a result had no real centre. Kanata Standard, February 2, 1979:1
February 2, 1979
The editors of the Kanata Standard announced that a new system of sub-editors was created to make the paper better and to “spread the activities of the paper to more helpers.” Kanata Standard, February 2, 1979:2.
February 2, 1979
Al Craig wrote an article for the Standard on SS No. 1, March Public School. Kanata Standard, February 2, 1979:2.
February 2, 1979
The results of two months of polling by the Glen Cairn Community Association executive indicated that a majority of the residents of Glen Cairn rejected the Kanata Standard. At the time, the Standard was a publication of the Kanata Beaverbrook Community Association. Kanata Standard, February 2, 1979:10.
February 2, 1979
Events and activities for the City of Kanata Winter Carnival 1979 were published in the Standard. Kanata Standard, February 2, 1979:20.
February 2, 1979
Doug Foster reported that the Winter Carnival ‘79 Duchess would be Marilyn Foster. Kanata Standard, February 16, 1979:3.
February 5, 1979
The first meeting of the City of Kanata Transportation Committee was held. It was primarily an advisory committee. A number of concerns that needed to be taken up with OC Transpo staff were discussed. Kanata Standard, February 2, 1979:1.
February 6, 1979
An open Kanata City Council meeting was held in Glen Cairn. A number of concerns were brought to Council’s attention, including snow removal and garbage collection. Stephanie Paul reported that the Council meeting was well attended and “the exchange between council members and the audience was lively.” Kanata Standard, February 16, 1979:2,5,6.
February 7, 1979
James Gillies, noted economist and MP for Don Valley, spoke at a public meeting at the John Mlacak Centre. Kanata Standard, February 2, 1979:9.
February 16, 1979
Newton Steacy, in his KBCA President Report, stated the association’s intent to expand the distribution of the Standard. Each community association had expressed an interest in this except for the Glen Cairn executive. Their sentiment was based on the results of a recent survey done in that community. Steacy claimed that “the Glen Cairn executive was quick to support the negative vote” when the results indicated otherwise. Kanata Standard, February 16, 1979:3.
February 16, 1979
Garry Thom reported on housing in Glen Cairn. Thom pointed out that building by the two major developers in the area, Costain and Sandbury, was leveling off. Kanata Standard, February 16, 1979:5.
February 16, 1979
It was announced by the Canadian Housing Design Council that a Community Design Award go to the early stages of Kanata, as the area was known prior the formation of the City of Kanata. It was awarded jointly to the City of Kanata and Campeau Corporation. While giving out the award, Jean Ouellet stated: “The early development of Kanata resulted from the vision and enterprise of William Teron. The continued growth of the town in more recent years is a great credit to the planning and design concepts which he introduced, as well as to the municipality (the Township of March) and to the Campeau Corporation, the present owner and developer.” Kanata Standard, February 16, 1979:11.
February 16, 1979
Kanata’s Mitel Corporation announced the appointment of Burns Fry Limited as its fiscal agents to underwrite the first issue of Mitel stock to the pubic. Kanata Standard, February 16, 1979:14.
February 16, 1979
The National Capital Equestrian Park held its Annual General Meeting. Over 70 people attended. A new Executive and Board of Directors was elected and an auditor’s statement presented. Kanata Standard, March 2, 1979:6.
February 17, 1979
The newly completed People Place recreation project officially opened. The John G. Mlacak Centre combined completion of the existing arena and the provision of new space for a variety of recreational pursuits. The project began in the spring of 1978. Kanata Standard, February 16, 1979:9.
February 20, 1979
Kanata City Council called for the provincial Minister of Revenue to reassess the value of all properties within the City of Kanata. Kanata Standard, March 2, 1979:1,4.
February 22, 1979
Earl of March boys’ and girls’ teams were overall winners in cross-country skiing in the Provincial Championships after two days of competition. Among those placing were Bernie Saneer, Dave Bennett, Carolyn Champion Venessa Daniel, Peter Eiselle, Jenny Labenek, Nancy Labenek, Scott Laughton, Anne McTaggart, Bill Mlacak, Rob Parsons, and Bernie Sander. Kanata Standard, March 2, 1979:12.
February 26, 1979
The Kanata Transportation Committee met with OC Transpo staff to exchange information and views related to some outstanding actions and key concerns of the Committee and local residents. Kanata Standard, March 2, 1979:2.
March 1, 1979
The Kanata Book Fair was opened by Mayor Marianne Wilkinson, Trustee J. D. Lyon, and Robin Skuce from the office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. As of February 20th, 18,498 used books had been collected. A larger than expected crowd turned up for the opening of the event. Kanata Standard, March 2, 1979:1; Kanata Standard, March 16, 1979:14.
March 2, 1979
A feature article appeared in the Standard discussing the need for a new school for Katimavik-Hazeldean. Kanata Standard, March 2, 1979:1,5.
March 2, 1979
The winners of the Kanata City Logo Contest were published in the Standard. First prize went to a joint submission by Wendy, Ian, Shaun and Mary Lou Kingham from Beaverbrook. Moderate changes in color were made to the logo, to then be used on all City vehicles, letterhead, etc. Kanata Standard, March 2, 1979:2.
March 2, 1979
Maurice Dubras began a series of articles appearing in the Standard on city matters discussed in City Council meetings. It was titled “Council in Action: Inside From the Outside”. Dubras reported this first Council meeting as a “quick and quiet affair.” Kanata Standard, March 2, 1979:1.
March 2, 1979
The results of the Kanata Winter Carnival 1979 were published in the Standard. Kanata Standard, March 2, 1979:13-15.
March 6, 1979
Kanata City Council held one of their “mobile meetings” in rural Kanata. Kanata Standard, March 2, 1979:1.
March 7, 1979
The Katimavik Beaverbrook Community Association held its Annual General meeting, combined with the regular monthly meeting. Twenty-seven cluster directors and 6 guests attended. The meeting focused on the management of 1978's money and budgeting for 1979. Kanata Standard, March 16, 1979:2,5.
March 13, 1979
Kanata City Council recommended that a fire station be built on the March Central School site to serve the rural areas of the City. The project, still needing ratification, was budgeted at $201,000. Kanata Fire Chief Jim Snider appeared at the meeting, to help make the case for the new station. Standard, March 30, 1979:2,5.
March 16, 1979
Marilyn Foster wrote a feature on a new Katimavik Co-operative Nursery School in Kanata. Kanata Standard, March 16, 1979:1.
March 16, 1979
It was announced that Kanata Scouts, Joe Nyenhuis and Alex Guruprasad, hoped to attend a mini-jamboree in Sweden. Fundraising events were planned. Kanata Standard, March 16, 1979:7.
March 16, 1979
Garry Thom reported in the Standard that Iber Homes intended to erect 31 single dwelling and 3 doubles at the corner of Highway 7 and Seabrooke Drive in Glen Cairn. Thom stated that this was “contrary to the Report on Housing Construction” that appeared in the previous issue of the Standard. Kanata Standard, March 16, 1979:16.
March 16, 1979
Al Craig wrote an historical piece in the Standard on the Hazeldean Rural Telephone Company. Kanata Standard, March 16, 1979:19.
March 25, 1979
Dunrobin resident Robert Conye’s car was vandalized after he left it on along the side of Highway 17 due to mechanical difficulties. All the windows were smashed, the body dented, and the contents looted, to the point were it was expected that the car would be a write-off. Kanata Standard, March 30, 1979:1.
March 25, 1979
Kim Woolford saved 5-year-old Trevor MacLean from near-drowning in Bluegrass Park. Trevor had slipped into the water when some ice gave way. Standard, March 30, 1979:1.
March 29, 1979
The Regional Planning Committee held a final series of hearings on the Conservation Lands Proposal, as revised by the Planning Committee. Kanata Standard, March 16, 1979:4.
March 30, 1979
Alderman Bob Kingham wrote, in his As I See It column, that Cadillac-Fairview was “exploiting the real issue” when they petitioned the Cabinet of Ontario to reverse an OMB decision that rejected their “energy conserving” community development proposal. A Standard editorial added: “This project is in the wrong place and at the wrong time. When Kanata has 93,000 population, a risk of this sort could perhaps be considered, certainly not now.” Subsequently, Kanata City Council gave its support for the project and the petition to the provincial government, though by a narrow vote of 4-3. Standard, March 30, 1979:1,2,4.
April 9, 1979
Kanata City Council approved the construction of a fire station in the rural part of the municipality, to be funded by money authorized by the former Township of March. Kanata Standard, April 12, 1979:14.
April 9, 1979
The Kanata Public Library opened a temporary facility in Glen Cairn, next to the Glen Cairn Arena. Kanata Standard, June 22, 1979:1.
April 10, 1979
The 1979 budget of $33,666,852 for the Carleton Separate School Board was approved. As William Broadfoot reported, this amount allowed for an expenditure up to the ceiling set by the Ministry of Education of $1409 per pupil. Difficult decisions were made during the budgetary process, however the Board managed to budget to maintain the current pupil-teacher ratio and the same quality of programs. Kanata Standard, April 27:9.
April 12, 1979
It was reported that Wayne Hutt, Manager of Thermocell Insulation, and Dan Ciona, Administrator for the City of Kanata, had met to discuss some of the difficulties with paper collection. The amount of paper collection had greatly exceeded the previous year, to the point where Thermocell’s collection ability was overloaded. Kanata Standard, April 12, 1979:1
April 12, 1979
Federal Conservative MP Paul Dick announced his candidacy for Lanark-Renfrew-Carleton. Dick was first elected in 1972. Kanata Standard, April 12, 1979:14.
April 12, 1979
The new Executive for Kanata Ladies Bowling was announced. It included Erm Boyd, Mich Gardner, Wafa Abov, Carol Redmond, Alana Schyburt, and Mina Blovin. Kanata Standard, April 12, 1979:15.
April 12, 1979
It was reported that Newton Steacy spoke to KBCA about the incorporation of the Kanata Standard, and expressed that it would be postponed because it was a very complicated task to be attempted at the time. Kanata Standard, April 12, 1979:1 Kanata Standard, April 12, 1979:6.
April 18, 1979
The March Sailing Club held its General Meeting. Members voted to make amendments to the constitution and change their name to the Kanata Sailing Club. Kanata Standard, April 27:16.
April 19, 1979
Students and staff at Earl of March School opened their production of “Swinging High.” Ron Andoff stated that they did a “bang up job” on the musical. Kanata Standard, April 12, 1979:1; Kanata Standard, April 27:1.
April 19, 1979
It was reported that after a successful campaign the Standard would be delivered in Glen Cairn to subscribers only. This marked a departure from the Standard’s concept of delivery to every household, which was the result of the Glen Cairn Community Association’s decision not to support a citywide distribution of the Standard. Kanata Standard, April 27:1.
April 26, 1979
A presentation by the Canadian Design Council honoured both the developers and residents of the community. Kanata had previously impressed a jury traveling across Canada visiting towns, city neighborhoods and prestigious areas of suburbia. Sharon Clayton stated that Kanata “impressed the judges with its landscaping, especially the rock outcroppings that have been used to dramatic advantages.” Three plaques were presented, one to Mayor Wilkinson, another to Ratan Rege of Campeau Corporation, and the third to William Teron, who was the driving force behind the creation of Kanata. Marianne Wilkinson later stated in her Commentary: “The award was not based solely on physical design of the community, but also on the evident interest of the residents and the active involvement between the residents and the municipal government in creating and maintaining the community design concepts.” Kanata Standard, May 11, 1979:1,2.
April 26, 1979
The Nepean Arts Association held its inaugural meeting. Its objectives included fostering public awareness of the visual and performing arts, encouraging co-operation among artistic groups, promoting future developments, facilities, and programs for artistic activities, and serving as a liaison with regional, provincial and national arts bodies. Kanata Standard, October 12, 1979:18.
April 27, 1979
Through an editorial in the Standard, the need for a pedestrian overpass to bridge the Queensway was questioned. Kanata City Council had previously promoted the construction of the bridge. In a letter to the Editor, Ihor Nakonecznyj also questioned the logic supporting the overpass, and concluded that more questions needed to be dealt with before spending over half a million dollars and “satisfying a need which may turn out to be a political illusion.” Kanata Standard, April 27:2.
April 27, 1979
Tony Jarvis introduced his new column for the Standard, The Kanata Industrial Scene. His goal was to increase the media coverage of the industrial sector. Kanata Standard, April 27:6.
April 27, 1979
It was reported that Operation Identification was underway in Glen Cairn. Engravers were making their rounds of homes to put identifying marks on valuable items. Kanata Standard, April 27:11,14.
April 27, 1979
A candidate profile for Paul Dick, PC MP for Lanark-Renfrew-Carleton, appeared in the Kanata Standard. Dick stated: “We must get Canada going again.” Kanata Standard, April 27:13.
April 27, 1979
The new executive for the South March Women’s Institute, the result of an Annual General Meeting, was published in the Standard. It included Brenda Turner, Donna Cummings, June Denys, Nicole Butler, Mary Noble, Nancy Medynski, Shirley Yakabuski, Myrt Nugent, Katie Vance, Angela Tucker, Ann Ward, and Joyce Arrowsmith. Kanata Standard, April 27:14.
April 27, 1979
Walter Baker, PC candidate in the riding of Nepean-Carleton, had an article published in the Standard. Baker stated that “Pierre Trudeau’s monuments clutter the landscape; low morale in the Public Service; a language policy intended to unite but which has in fact divided; young people worried about their futures; a tax system that burdens small business and drains incentive; a country that thinks more in terms of its parts than the sum of its parts — all of this created by a ‘leadership’ which is more style than substance.” Kanata Standard, April 27:18.
April 27, 1979
An article appeared in the Standard featuring Pat Carroll, former March Township Councillor and principal of AY Jackson Secondary School in Kanata, as the Liberal candidate for the riding of Lanark-Renfrew-Carleton. Carroll had been living and involved in Kanata since 1972. Carroll stated that Canada is not on the “brink of disaster,” and that the country had done well in the past decade in comparison with other OECD countries. Kanata Standard, April 27:21.
May 1, 1979
It was the official opening of the Katimavik Hazeldean Community Centre, concurrent with the first Kanata City Council meeting in that community. Murray Duke, Chairman of the Katimavik Hazeldean School Task Force, reviewed the findings and recommendations of the report to Council. Maurice Dubras stated in his Council In Action column: “The level of support Council gives to the Task Force findings will be critical when it comes to persuading the School Board to revise its construction schedule. There appeared to be very little doubt in the minds of those residents present or represented that a community school is very high on their priority list.” Kanata Standard, May 11, 1979:1,22.
May 11, 1979
It was reported that there were over 325 paid subscribers of the Kanata Standard in Glen Cairn. Gaining subscriptions in the area became a necessary move due to the lack of support for the Standard from the Glen Cairn Community Association. Kanata Standard, May 11, 1979:2.
May 11, 1979
A Standard editorial stated that not much was learned at a recent All Candidates Meeting and stated: “Paul Dick, the PC man attacked the Prime Minister, the Liberal hopeful, Pat Carroll attacked the Leader of the Opposition and Colin Gilhuly from the NDP spoke of the rosy future that we could have under that party, if by some miracle , they could form a Government.” Kanata Standard, May 11, 1979:2.
May 11, 1979
Carol Dougherty wrote an article on John Cabotto, a Kanata restaurant operated by Dominique and Angleo. She raved that they “set about to determine the gastronomical needs of the community and in my opinion have succeeded in meeting those needs.” Kanata Standard, May 11, 1979:9.
May 11, 1979
In his regular column, The Kanata Industrial Scene, Tony Jarvis featured Digital Equipment of Canada Ltd. Company president, Denny Doyle, commented on the decision to locate in Kanata that the protection of jobs for employees living in the area was a primary concern. Doyle stressed the high community involvement of the firm. Kanata Standard, May 11, 1979:10.
May 15, 1979
The Annual Meeting of the March Hockey Association was held at the Bill McNeill Memorial Hall. Kanata Standard, May 11, 1979:15.
May 20, 1979
The interior of the home of Joan Geeck on Jackson Court was damaged by a fire. The house was owned by Cathy Boyden. There was in excess of $10,000 damage to the house; the household pets, a Highland Terrier and several gerbils, were lost in the fire. Kanata Standard, May 25, 1979:1.
May 21, 1979
Mayfair 1979 and its various events began. The Rural area of Kanata won the annual Mayfair Lob-Ball Tournament. It was also the 14th Annual Dance and Casino. Over 400 people attended the dance May 26. Kanata Standard, May 11, 1979:12-13; Kanata Standard, June 8, 1979:6,7
May 22, 1979
In the federal election, Paul Dick was re-elected as MP in Lanark-Renfrew-Carleton and Walter Baker was re-elected MP in Nepean-Carleton.
May 25, 1979
Glen Cairn resident Jennifer Anne Waugh won the Jean Phillips, Campership to Camp Bitobi award. The camp, in Gracefield Quebec, was for explorers and other young girls looking for summer fun in a religious atmosphere. Kanata Standard, May 25, 1979:3.
May 28, 1979
Stephen Leacock School grade six students said their good-byes to Quebec exchange students on their return to Kanata. The exchange was part of an immersion program initially proposed by Principal Robert Bullock. Kanata Standard, June 8, 1979:1.
May 29, 1979
A public forum on Declining Enrolment and The Community was held to discuss reduced education funding by the Ontario government and enrolment issues. Kanata Standard, May 25, 1979:14.
May 29, 1979
The Annual General Meeting of the Local Association of Kanata Guides and Brownies was held. The new executive included H. Bennett, Sandra Plumley, P. Williams, J. Arrowsmith, J. Higgins, S. Lewis, V. Guy, O. Froud, R. Hooey, P. Gale, D. Lougheed, N. Mackay, J. Williams, V. Westmore, Y. Ludlow, B. Thamer, and P. Conacher. Kanata Standard, June 8, 1979:4.
June 4, 1979
Changes occurred to the No.73 bus schedule. The changes, approved by the Kanata Transportation Committee, also eliminated the No. 70, and extended the No. 46 route to Bridlewood. Kanata Standard, May 25, 1979:1,3.
June 5, 1979
Kanata City Council approved its 1979 budget. Expenditures were estimated at $3,208,074. The mill rate remained the same as it had been for March Township the previous year. Bridlewood mill rates decreased 40 percent. Glen Cairn Community experienced roughly a 12 percent decrease. Marianne Wilkinson later commented that the 1979 budget “should keep the City in a healthy financial state.” Kanata Standard, June 8, 1979:1,12.
June 8, 1979
In his column The Kanata Industrial Scene, Tony Jarvis featured Lumonics Research Ltd. Jarvis reported that since the inception of the laser firm in 1970, Lumonics had grown at a rate better than 50 percent annually, “developing a wide range of laser products for both scientific and industrial applications.” Kanata Standard, June 8, 1979:2.
June 8, 1979
The results of the Mayfair pet show were published in the Standard. Winners of the four main categories were Kirk Brant's tarantula, Alison Bill's cat Tiger, Rob Holt's spoodle Muffin, and Brenda Bedford's keeshound Dusty. Kanata Standard, June 8, 1979:5.
June 9, 1979
The Kanata Ballet School presented their bi-annual recital. Sharon Clayton, in a review of performance, stated that she was “impressed with the professional atmosphere on the stage, and behind the scenes.” Kanata Standard, June 22, 1979:9.
June 11, 1979
A new executive was selected at a Glen Cairn Community Association meeting. It included Colin Gillieson, Leon Asselstine, Barry Martin, Graham Ball, Joe Ryan, and Cathy Ireland. Kanata Standard, June 22, 1979:3.
June 13, 1979
A book-publishing celebration at a Katimavik home was held. Louise Reynolds, with the assistance of her husband Ralph, researched and wrote Agnes, the Biography of Lady Macdonald. Kanata Standard, June 22, 1979:9.
June 16, 1979
There was an official opening of the Glen Cairn Flood Control Works. Mayor Marianne Wilkinson and Councilors Charlie Rogers, and Bob Kingham attended. The Carp River, which had flooded the Glen Cairn area since the 1970's, was to be detained in a reservoir and released at a slow rate. Kanata Standard, June 22, 1979:1.
June 19, 1979
Final approval was given by Kanata City Council for the pedestrian overpass to bridge the Queensway. Kanata Standard, June 22, 1979:1.
June 19, 1979
Kanata City Council gave preliminary approval for the Hazeldean Centre, a shopping mall located on the northwest side of the intersection of Hwy. 7 and Young Road in Katimavik/Hazeldean. Kanata Standard, June 22, 1979:1.
June 19, 1979
Kanata City Council decided to adopt pay-as-you-go rates for the three Kanata pools. Kanata Standard, June 22, 1979:1.
June 19, 1979
The Town Centre Secondary Plan and the Rural Plan were both approved by Regional Council. There were only minor word changes to the Town Centre Plan, and development was expected to proceed on a limited basis later in the year. Kanata Standard, June 22, 1979:1,12.
June 25, 1979
Mayor Marianne Wilkinson was on hand to officially inaugurate the new Katimavik Pool. Kanata Standard, July 6, 1979:12.
July 3, 1979
Kanata Scouts Alex Guruprasad, Stephen Heard, Michael Nyenhuis, and Joe Nyenhuis began their travel to Denmark and Sweden, to attend an international camp in Sweden. Kanata Standard, July 20, 1979:20.
July 6, 1979
It was reported that the Ontario Municipal Board had approved Kanata’s request to debenture $200,000 towards the construction of the pedestrian bridge over the Queensway. The total cost was estimated at $438,000. Kanata Standard, July 6, 1979:1.
July 6, 1979
It was reported that the federal government had awarded a $30,000 contract to Mitel Corporation of Kanata to study silicon chip production for Telidon. Kanata Standard, July 6, 1979:11.
July 20, 1979
The Kanata Public Library Board announced that plans were underway for a new branch library in Kanata South. A sub-committee was struck for further investigation. Kanata Standard, July 20, 1979:2.
July 22, 1979
Two cars, driven by Bruce McLean and Steve Kominski, collided at the intersection of Teron and Beaverbrook Roads. There was extensive damage to both cars and only minor injury to a pedestrian. Kanata Standard, August 3, 1979:10.
July 28, 1979
Bridlewood held a birthday party to celebrate its second year of growth. Kanata Standard, July 20, 1979:7; Kanata Standard, August 3, 1979:1.
August 3, 1979
A proposed expansion for the March Montessori School was finalized. This was driven by a growing demand for Montessori education in the community. Kanata Standard, August 3, 1979:9.
August 8, 1979
As part of Project 4000, the first Vietnamese family arrived in Kanata. The Voong’s were set up in a house donated by Campeau Corporation for one year, including heat and hydro. Project 4000 had been previously launched by Ottawa Mayor Marion Dewer, who had also recommended that Kanata set up a committee to coordinate local efforts. Subsequently, a Co-ordinating Committee was struck. Kanata Standard, July 20, 1979:1,2; Kanata Standard, August 17, 1979:1.
August 14, 1979
Kanata City Council recommended that the Mayor’s annual salary would rise from $11,000 to $20,000 and the Aldermen’s from $4,500 to $6,500. It would come under final approval in September, 1979. Kanata Standard, August 17, 1979:1.
August 17, 1979
In a letter to the editor, Maurice Dubras and his family said their good-byes to Kanata. They stated: “We are about to embark on a very different life style in the knowledge that no other urban community could compare with Kanata. Kanata Standard, August 17, 1979:2.
August 28, 1979
Two Kanata youths, 17-year-old Douglas Conner and 16-year-old Chris Quinsey, were killed in an automobile accident. The incident took place on the Huntley Town Line Road, where the vehicle overturned into the Carp River. Kanata Standard, August 31, 1979:1.
August 31, 1979
It was reported that 17-year-old Kanata resident Lindsay Eltis had won an all-expense-paid trip to the Alberta oil sands. He had participated in the Canada-wide Science Fair in London Ontario, and was recognized as having the best environment-related project in the fair’s senior division. Kanata Standard, August 31, 1979:1.
August 31, 1979
Meetings between officials from the City of Kanata ad the Provincial Ministry of Culture and Recreation were held to discuss a proposed $12,000 recreation study for the City. It was to be completed by August, 1980. Kanata Standard, August 31, 1979:1.
September 8, 1979
A successful Glen Cairn Fun Fair was held. Kanata Standard, September 14, 1979:1.
September 12, 1979
Kanata City Council met in the Katimavik Community Centre, and asked residents for input on alterations to ward boundaries. Kanata Standard, September 14, 1979:1.
September 12, 1979
An extreme-noise by-law was proposed by Kanata City Council, which would prohibit many normal activities if they produced an audible sound. Only Alderman Bob Kingham objected. Activities prohibited at various hours or days would include racing the engine of a car, operating a lawn mower, operating a radio or hi-fi set, yelling, barking by a dog, ringing of Church bells, etc. Kanata Standard, September 14, 1979:1.
September 14, 1979
A Standard editorial emphasized that the newspaper, as a rather large community-owned operation, relied heavily on volunteers. The editors stated that recent editions had been lacking in “hard” news and investigative articles, due to their “cadre of volunteers” becoming “alarmingly small.” Kanata Standard, September 14, 1979:2.
September 14, 1979
The Interlangues School of Languages announced the opening of its West End School in Kanata. Kanata Standard, September 14, 1979:7.
September 14, 1979
It was reported that a group of residents, led by Alderman Jean Gubby, were pushing for a Committee to support the Ottawa Civic Hospital’s five year Development Plan. Kanata Standard, September 14, 1979:16.
September 16, 1979
A ceremonial sod-turning occurred at St. Paul’s Anglican Church to mark the beginning of construction of a new church hall. Kanata Standard, September 28, 1979:1.
September 16, 1979
A Kanata concert debut to begin the fall season was held at the Earl of March Auditorium. Kanata Standard, September 28, 1979:9.
September 22, 1979
The Kanata Singles began their fall season of dances. Kanata Standard, September 14, 1979:14.
September 28, 1979
In a Standard editorial, Isa Clayton criticized Council for spending valuable time on things like the recently proposed anti-noise by-law. Clayton stated: “As it stands Kanata has far too MANY restrictions” and that if Council “have nothing more constructive to do with OUR time, we employ them on a part-time basis.” Kanata Standard, September 28, 1979:2.
September 28, 1979
Bob Kingham stated in a Standard article that the noise by-law recently introduced by Kanata City Council had “evoked more public interest in our new city than any other single issue since the election.” He had received around 50 calls on the issue. Kanata Standard, September 28, 1979:1.
September 28, 1979
The City of Kanata and the Recreation Department opened a room in the John Mlacak Centre to be used as a Teen Centre. Kanata Standard, September 28, 1979:11.
September 29, 1979
The 7th Annual City of Kanata Oktoberfest was held. Kanata Standard, September 14, 1979:10-11.
October 3, 1979
The Kanata Beaverbrook Community Association held a General Meeting. It was reported as being a very “contentious” meeting, which eventually led to the adoption of a new constitution and set of by-laws. A motion was also passed to extend the term of the current Board of Directors and Executive to June 15, 1980. Kanata Standard, October 12, 1979:1.
October 9, 1979
In a Kanata City Council meeting, Mayor Wilkinson indicated that there may be potentially large increases in taxes. Kanata Standard, October 12, 1979:1.
October 12, 1979
The City of Kanata Auditor’s Report for 1979 was published in the Standard. Kanata Standard, September 28, 1979:12-13.
October 13, 1979
There was a musical performance by David Gailbraith and Friends. Fred Boyd reported that the presentation made for a “very enjoyable evening.” Kanata Standard, October 26, 1979:20.
October 15, 1979
A meeting was held to discuss the future of the Kanata Standard newspaper. Plans were put in place to ensure meeting growing needs and opportunities of the “enlarged” paper. Kanata Standard, October 26, 1979:1.
October 17, 1979
The Kanata Beaverbrook Community Association held its New Residents’ Night. Over 50 people attended. Kanata Standard, October 26, 1979:1.
October 17, 1979
Steinberg’s 9th and largest store was opened for business at Hazeldean Mall. Kanata Standard, October 26, 1979:5.
October 17, 1979
Towers Department Store opened in Hazeldean Mall. Kanata Standard, October 26, 1979:6.
October 18, 1979
The Stittsville and District Snowmobile Association held its Annual General Meeting. Kanata Standard, October 12, 1979:8.
October 20, 1979
The Kinsmen Club of West Carleton held their 1st Annual Lobster & Beef Night. Over 300 people attended the event.
October 24, 1979
The Kanata Theatre opened its season with Forty Carets. It was directed by Laurence Thornton and the cast included Marg Awthority, Murray Hayes, Rosie Keneford, Mary Mauger, Jennifer Jermyn, Paula Wilke, Liane Freedman, Bob Knight, Jim Ritchie, and Barrie Kirk. Kanata Standard, October 12, 1979:18.
October 26, 1979
A feature article in the Standard outlined events rendering a hydro utility possible in Kanata. Art Bowker was reported as stating that he was recommending that a hydro utility be established for the City, and that the final report would go to the Minister of Energy. Kanata Standard, October 26, 1979:1.
October 26, 1979
The Air Cadet League of Canada, in cooperation with the Kiwanis Club, announced their intent to form an Air Cadet Squadron in Kanata. Kanata Standard, October 26, 1979:11.
October 26, 1979
The New Amended Kanata Beaverbrook Community Association Constitution of October 3 was published in the Standard. Kanata Standard, October 26, 1979:14-15.
October 26, 1979
Regional Council held a Special Regional Council meeting to deal with the report on Environmental Lands, formerly called Conservation Lands for the Region. A provision was made to allow some use of plans of subdivision to permit both landowners and local municipalities to have a greater degree of flexibility in dealing with the use of environmental lands. Kanata Standard, October 26, 1979:18-19; Kanata Standard November 9, 1979:1,12; Kanata Standard, November 9, 1979:1,12.
October 26, 1979
Information on the new Kinsmen Participark was published in the Standard. Kanata Standard, October 26, 1979:21-3.
October 30, 1979
An official reception was held to celebrate the opening of Hazeldean Mall. Kanata Standard, November 9, 1979:10
November 6, 1979
The Carleton School Board Committee held a Whole Committee meeting to consider the five-year capital plan and the priorities for future school construction. Kanata Standard, November 9, 1979:2.
November 9, 1979
A feature in the Standard updated Project 4000 and the status of the first Vietnamese family sponsored in Kanata as part of the program. Kanata Standard, November 9, 1979:1,12.
November 20, 1979
There was a sod-turning ceremony to mark a major expansion of the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Commercial Products, located in the Kanata North Industrial Park. Kanata Standard, November 23, 1979:1.
November 22, 1979
Kanata youth Bill Casley was presented with a personal bravery award by the Kanata-Carleton Rotary Club. The previous August, Casley had pulled David Malloy from a burning car just before it exploded. November 23, 1979:11.
November 23, 1979
The President of the National Capital Equestrian Park announced that a Wintario grant approval was given to cover 50 percent, or $416,612, of an all-weather indoor riding arena. Kanata Standard, November 23, 1979:13.
November 26, 1979
A meeting was held in Rural March to discuss whether or not to remain part of Kanata or to become part of West Carleton.
November 27, 1979
Kanata City Council passed a by-law authorizing the acquisition of land, the design and construction of a library in Glen Cairn. It was estimated to cost $502,000. Kanata Standard, December 7, 1979:13.
November 27, 1979
Kanata City Council approved the acquisition of land and the architectural design fees for a new rural fire hall, estimated at $155,000.
November 30, 1979
Mitel officially opened its Kanata headquarters. The company was already planning further expansion to its Kanata, Ogdensburg and Puerto Rico plants. Kanata Standard, December 7, 1979:21.
December 1, 1979
The City of Kanata celebrated its 1st birthday. Approximately 400 people attended a the festivities at Glen Cairn Community Centre. Campeau Corporation provided several birthday gifts, including a Campeau University Scholarship, a giant outdoor skating rink, and a giant toboggan run. Kanata Standard, December 7, 1979:1.
December 1, 1979
Mayor Wilkinson presented the Kingham family with a mounted picture of their winning logo design for the City of Kanata at the City’s 1st birthday. Kanata Standard, December 7, 1979:31.
December 4, 1979
Kanata City Council opened their meeting with a tribute to Alderman Lund for his work on the Hydro Committees leading up to an agreement to set up a city Hydro Utility. Kanata Standard, December 7, 1979:1.
December 4, 1979
Kanata City Council approved a motion in principle to change the name of Highway 17 to March Road. Kanata Standard, December 7, 1979:4.
December 7, 1979
An article by Carol Dougherty, based on interview with Mayor Marianne Wilkinson with regard to the first year of the City of Kanata, was published in the Standard. Dougherty wrote: “Not unlike the parents of a first newborn, the mayor and council have frequently relied upon trial and error and upon their own judgment to make decisions. In fact the lack of precedent, policy or procedure has forced council to learn through experience and to grow with the city.” Kanata Standard, December 7, 1979:6.
December 7, 1979
Bob Kingham commented in an article in the Standard on the first year of the City of Kanata. Kingham stated: “...you cannot make a community by Law. First and foremost it takes people — not a faceless legion, but neighbours and friends whose membership in Kanata derives from a conscious sense of belonging.” Kanata Standard, December 7, 1979:7.
December 7, 1979
Doug Nash wrote A Year of Reflection, to commemorate Kanata’s birthday. He stated: “I count this first year as a beneficial learning experience. I now realize that the provincial government has a great deal of jurisdiction over how a municipality operates, and it has been a very revealing experience to study the fine points of the Ontario Municipal Act.” Kanata Standard, December 7, 1979:8.
December 7, 1979
Charlie Rogers’ article, A Year in Review, outlined his participation in the first year of the City of Kanata. Rogers stated: “We are suffering from growing pains (possibly some headaches still around from motherhood), but I feel that we are progressing at a reasonable rate considering the circumstances and I look forward to a better progress rate in the next twelve months.” Kanata Standard, December 7, 1979:9.
December 7, 1979
Marianne Wilkinson, in her Commentary, reflected on the past year as Mayor of the new City of Kanata. She stated that the year had been full of “challenges, of accomplishments, of frustrations, of pleasure, of hard work, of long hours, and of tremendous encouragement and assistance given to me by the residents of Kanata, the members of Council and particularly by the Kanata City Staff.” Kanata Standard, December 7, 1979:14.
December 7, 1979
It was reported that three new refugee families had arrived in the Kanata area, as part of the ongoing Project 4000 program. Kanata Standard, December 7, 1979:30.
December 11, 1979
The speed limit on Eagleson Road from Highway 7 to Timm Drive was lowered from 80 km/h to 60 km/h. Kanata Standard, Jan. 11, 1980:4.
December 21, 1979
In a letter to the Editor, E. C. Prince criticized Kanata City Council for allowing the construction of the Participark, calling it “another pillaging of the natural landscape and thus the loss of the pastoral scene.” Kanata Standard, December 21, 1979:2.
The Himalayas or Himalaya (/ˌhɪməˈleɪ.ə/ or /hɪˈmɑːləjə/) is a mountain range in the Indian subcontinent, which separates the Indo-Gangetic Plain from the Tibetan Plateau. Geopolitically, it covers the Himalayan states and regions. This range is home to nine of the ten highest peaks on Earth, including the highest above sea level, Mount Everest. The Himalayas have profoundly shaped the cultures of South Asia. Many Himalayan peaks are sacred in Dharmic religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism.
The Himalayas are bordered on the north by the Tibetan Plateau, on the south by the Indo-Gangetic Plain, on the northwest by the Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges and on the east by the Indian states of Sikkim, the Darjeeling district of West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. The Hindu Kush, Karakoram and Himalayas together form the "Hindu Kush Himalayan Region" (HKH). The western anchor of the Himalayas, Nanga Parbat, lies just south of the northernmost bend of the Indus River; the eastern anchor, Namcha Barwa, is just west of the great bend of the Yarlung Tsangpo River. The Himalayas span five countries: Nepal, India, Bhutan, China (Tibet), and Pakistan, the first three countries having sovereignty over most of the range.
Lifted by the collision of the Indian tectonic plate with the Eurasian Plate, the Himalayan range runs northwest to southeast in a 2,400-kilometre-long arc. The range varies in width from 400 kilometres in the west to 150 kilometres in the east. Besides the Greater Himalayas, there are several parallel lower ranges. The southernmost, along the northern edge of the Indian plains and reaching 1000 m in altitude, is the Sivalik Hills. Further north is a higher range, reaching 2000–3000 m, known as the Lower Himalayan Range.
Three of the world's major rivers (the Indus, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra) arise in the Himalayas. While the Indus and the Brahmaputra rise near Mount Kailash in Tibet, the Ganges rises in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Their combined drainage basin is home to some 600 million people.
ETYMOLOGY
The name Himālaya is from Sanskrit: hima (snow) + ālaya (dwelling), and literally means "abode of snow"
ECOLOGY
The flora and fauna of the Himalayas vary with climate, rainfall, altitude, and soils. The climate ranges from tropical at the base of the mountains to permanent ice and snow at the highest elevations. The amount of yearly rainfall increases from west to east along the southern front of the range. This diversity of altitude, rainfall and soil conditions combined with the very high snow line supports a variety of distinct plant and animal communities. The extremes of high altitude (low atmospheric pressure) combined with extreme cold favor extremophile organisms.
The unique floral and faunal wealth of the Himalayas is undergoing structural and compositional changes due to climate change. The increase in temperature is shifting various species to higher elevations. The oak forest is being invaded by pine forests in the Garhwal Himalayan region. There are reports of early flowering and fruiting in some tree species, especially rhododendron, apple and box myrtle. The highest known tree species in the Himalayas is Juniperus tibetica located at 4,900 metres in Southeastern Tibet.
GEOLOGY
The Himalayan range is one of the youngest mountain ranges on the planet and consists mostly of uplifted sedimentary and metamorphic rock. According to the modern theory of plate tectonics, its formation is a result of a continental collision or orogeny along the convergent boundary between the Indo-Australian Plate and the Eurasian Plate. The Arakan Yoma highlands in Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal were also formed as a result of this collision.
During the Upper Cretaceous, about 70 million years ago, the north-moving Indo-Australian plate (which has subsequently broken into the Indian Plate and the Australian plate) was moving at about 15 cm per year. About 50 million years ago this fast moving Indo-Australian plate had completely closed the Tethys Ocean, the existence of which has been determined by sedimentary rocks settled on the ocean floor, and the volcanoes that fringed its edges. Since both plates were composed of low density continental crust, they were thrust faulted and folded into mountain ranges rather than subducting into the mantle along an oceanic trench. An often-cited fact used to illustrate this process is that the summit of Mount Everest is made of marine limestone from this ancient ocean.
Today, the Indian plate continues to be driven horizontally below the Tibetan Plateau, which forces the plateau to continue to move upwards. The Indian plate is still moving at 67 mm per year, and over the next 10 million years it will travel about 1,500 km into Asia. About 20 mm per year of the India-Asia convergence is absorbed by thrusting along the Himalaya southern front. This leads to the Himalayas rising by about 5 mm per year, making them geologically active. The movement of the Indian plate into the Asian plate also makes this region seismically active, leading to earthquakes from time to time.
During the last ice age, there was a connected ice stream of glaciers between Kangchenjunga in the east and Nanga Parbat in the west. In the west, the glaciers joined with the ice stream network in the Karakoram, and in the north, joined with the former Tibetan inland ice. To the south, outflow glaciers came to an end below an elevation of 1,000–2,000 metres. While the current valley glaciers of the Himalaya reach at most 20 to 32 kilometres in length, several of the main valley glaciers were 60 to 112 kilometres long during the ice age. The glacier snowline (the altitude where accumulation and ablation of a glacier are balanced) was about 1,400–1,660 metres lower than it is today. Thus, the climate was at least 7.0 to 8.3 °C colder than it is today.
HYDROLOGY
The Himalayas contain the third-largest deposit of ice and snow in the world, after Antarctica and the Arctic. The Himalayan range encompasses about 15,000 glaciers, which store about 12,000 km3 of fresh water. Its glaciers include the Gangotri and Yamunotri (Uttarakhand) and Khumbu glaciers (Mount Everest region), Langtang glacier (Langtang region) and Zemu (Sikkim).
Owing to the mountains' latitude near the Tropic of Cancer, the permanent snow line is among the highest in the world at typically around 5,500 metres. In contrast, equatorial mountains in New Guinea, the Rwenzoris and Colombia have a snow line some 900 metres lower. The higher regions of the Himalayas are snowbound throughout the year, in spite of their proximity to the tropics, and they form the sources of several large perennial rivers, most of which combine into two large river systems:
- The western rivers, of which the Indus is the largest, combine into the Indus Basin. The Indus begins in Tibet at the confluence of Sengge and Gar rivers and flows southwest through India and then through Pakistan to the Arabian Sea. It is fed by the Jhelum, the Chenab, the Ravi, the Beas, and the Sutlej rivers, among others.
- Most of the other Himalayan rivers drain the Ganges-Brahmaputra Basin. Its main rivers are the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Yamuna, as well as other tributaries. The Brahmaputra originates as the Yarlung Tsangpo River in western Tibet, and flows east through Tibet and west through the plains of Assam. The Ganges and the Brahmaputra meet in Bangladesh, and drain into the Bay of Bengal through the world's largest river delta, the Sunderbans.
The easternmost Himalayan rivers feed the Irrawaddy River, which originates in eastern Tibet and flows south through Myanmar to drain into the Andaman Sea.
The Salween, Mekong, Yangtze and Huang He (Yellow River) all originate from parts of the Tibetan Plateau that are geologically distinct from the Himalaya mountains, and are therefore not considered true Himalayan rivers. Some geologists refer to all the rivers collectively as the circum-Himalayan rivers. In recent years, scientists have monitored a notable increase in the rate of glacier retreat across the region as a result of global climate change. For example, glacial lakes have been forming rapidly on the surface of debris-covered glaciers in the Bhutan Himalaya during the last few decades. Although the effect of this will not be known for many years, it potentially could mean disaster for the hundreds of millions of people who rely on the glaciers to feed the rivers during the dry seasons.
LAKES
The Himalayan region is dotted with hundreds of lakes. Most lakes are found at altitudes of less than 5,000 m, with the size of the lakes diminishing with altitude. Tilicho Lake in Nepal in the Annapurna massif is one of the highest lakes in the world. Pangong Tso, which is spread across the border between India and China, and Yamdrok Tso, located in central Tibet, are amongst the largest with surface areas of 700 km², and 638 km², respectively. Other notable lakes include She-Phoksundo Lake in the Shey Phoksundo National Park of Nepal, Gurudongmar Lake, in North Sikkim, Gokyo Lakes in Solukhumbu district of Nepal and Lake Tsongmo, near the Indo-China border in Sikkim.
Some of the lakes present a danger of a glacial lake outburst flood. The Tsho Rolpa glacier lake in the Rowaling Valley, in the Dolakha District of Nepal, is rated as the most dangerous. The lake, which is located at an altitude of 4,580 metres has grown considerably over the last 50 years due to glacial melting.
The mountain lakes are known to geographers as tarns if they are caused by glacial activity. Tarns are found mostly in the upper reaches of the Himalaya, above 5,500 metres.
IMPACT ON CLIMATE
The Himalayas have a profound effect on the climate of the Indian subcontinent and the Tibetan Plateau. They prevent frigid, dry winds from blowing south into the subcontinent, which keeps South Asia much warmer than corresponding temperate regions in the other continents. It also forms a barrier for the monsoon winds, keeping them from traveling northwards, and causing heavy rainfall in the Terai region. The Himalayas are also believed to play an important part in the formation of Central Asian deserts, such as the Taklamakan and Gobi.
RELIGIOUS OF THE REGION
In Hinduism, the Himalayas have been personified as the god Himavat, father of Ganga and Parvati.
Several places in the Himalayas are of religious significance in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism. A notable example of a religious site is Paro Taktsang, where Padmasambhava is said to have founded Buddhism in Bhutan. Padmasambhava is also worshipped as the patron saint of Sikkim.
A number of Vajrayana Buddhist sites are situated in the Himalayas, in Tibet, Bhutan and in the Indian regions of Ladakh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Spiti and Darjeeling. There were over 6,000 monasteries in Tibet, including the residence of the Dalai Lama. Bhutan, Sikkim and Ladakh are also dotted with numerous monasteries. The Tibetan Muslims have their own mosques in Lhasa and Shigatse.
RESOURCES
The Himalayas are home to a diversity of medicinal resources. Plants from the forests have been used for millennia to treat conditions ranging from simple coughs to snake bites. Different parts of the plants - root, flower, stem, leaves, and bark - are used as remedies for different ailments. For example, a bark extract from an abies pindrow tree is used to treat coughs and bronchitis. Leaf and stem paste from an arachne cordifolia is used for wounds and as an antidote for snake bites. The bark of a callicarpa arborea is used for skin ailments. Nearly a fifth of the gymnosperms, angiosperms, and pteridophytes in the Himalayas are found to have medicinal properties, and more are likely to be discovered.
Most of the population in some Asian and African countries depend on medicinal plants rather than prescriptions and such (Gupta and Sharma, vii). Since so many people use medicinal plants as their only source of healing in the Himalayas, the plants are an important source of income. This contributes to economic and modern industrial development both inside and outside the region (Gupta and Sharma, 5). The only problem is that locals are rapidly clearing the forests on the Himalayas for wood, often illegally (Earth Island Journal, 2). This means that the number of medicinal plants is declining and that some of them might become rarer or, in some cases, go extinct.
Although locals are clearing out portions of the forests in the Himalayas, there is still a large amount of greenery ranging from the tropical forests to the Alpine forests. These forests provide wood for fuel and other raw materials for use by industries. There are also many pastures for animals to graze upon (Mohita, sec. Forest and Wealth). The many varieties of animals that live in these mountains do so based on the elevation. For example, elephants and rhinoceros live in the lower elevations of the Himalayas, also called the Terai region. Also, found in these mountains are the Kashmiri stag, black bears, musk deer, langur, and snow leopards. The Tibetan yak are also found on these mountains and are often used by the people for transportation. However, the populations of many of these animals and still others are declining and are on the verge of going extinct (Admin, sec. Flora and Fauna).
The Himalayas are also a source of many minerals and precious stones. Amongst the tertiary rocks, are vast potentials of mineral oil. There is coal located in Kashmir, and precious stones located in the Himalayas. There is also gold, silver, copper, zinc, and many other such minerals and metals located in at least 100 different places in these mountains (Mohita, sec. Minerals).
CULTURE
There are many cultural aspects of the Himalayas. For the Hindus, the Himalayas are personified as Himavath, the father of the goddess Parvati (Gupta and Sharma, 4). The Himalayas is also considered to be the father of the river Ganges. The Mountain Kailash is a sacred peak to the Hindus and is where the Lord Shiva is believed to live (Admin, sec. Centre of Religion). Two of the most sacred places of pilgrimage for the Hindus is the temple complex in Pashupatinath and Muktinath, also known as Saligrama because of the presence of the sacred black rocks called saligrams (Zurick, Julsun, Basanta, and Birendra, 153).
The Buddhists also lay a great deal of importance on the mountains of the Himalayas. Paro Taktsang is the holy place where Buddhism started in Bhutan (Admin, sec. Centre of Religion). The Muktinath is also a place of pilgrimage for the Tibetan Buddhists. They believe that the trees in the poplar grove came from the walking sticks of eighty-four ancient Indian Buddhist magicians or mahasiddhas. They consider the saligrams to be representatives of the Tibetan serpent deity known as Gawo Jagpa (Zurick, Julsun, Basanta, and Birendra, 153).
The Himalayan people’s diversity shows in many different ways. It shows through their architecture, their languages and dialects, their beliefs and rituals, as well as their clothing (Zurick, Julsun, Basanta, and Birendra, 78). The shapes and materials of the people’s homes reflect their practical needs and the beliefs. Another example of the diversity amongst the Himalayan peoples is that handwoven textiles display unique colors and patterns that coincide with their ethnic backgrounds. Finally, some people place a great importance on jewelry. The Rai and Limbu women wear big gold earrings and nose rings to show their wealth through their jewelry (Zurick, Julsun, Basanta, and Birendra, 79).
WIKIPEDIA
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Malaysian air forces trace their lineage to the Malayan Auxiliary Air Force formations of the Royal Air Force (RAF) formed in 1934. They later transformed into the Straits Settlements Volunteer Air Force (SSVAF) and the Malaya Volunteer Air Force (MVAF) formed in 1940 and dissolved in 1942 during the height of the Japanese advance over Malaya. The latter was re-established in 1950 in time for the Malayan Emergency and contributed very much to the war effort.
On 2 June 1958 the MVAF finally became the Royal Federation of Malaya Air Force (RFMAF), this date is celebrated as RMAF Day yearly. On 25 October 1962, after the end of the Malayan Emergency, the RAF handed over their first airfields in Malaya to the RFMAF, at Simpang Airport; it was opened on 1 June 1941, in Sungai Besi, Kuala Lumpur which was formerly part of Selangor and the national capital city. The first aircraft for the fledgling air force was a Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer named "Lang Rajawali" by the then Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman. Several Malayans serving with the Royal Air Force transferred to the Royal Federation of Malaya Air Force. The role played by RMAF was limited initially to communications and the support of ground operations against Communist insurgents during the Malayan Emergency. RMAF received its first combat aircraft with the delivery of 20 Canadair CL41G Tebuans (an armed version of the Canadair Tutor trainer). RMAF also received Aérospatiale Alouette III helicopters, to be used in the liaison role.
With the formation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963, the name of the air force was changed to "Tentera Udara Diraja Malaysia" or "Royal Malaysian Air Force". New types introduced into service included the Handley Page Herald transport and the De Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou. RMAF received Sikorsky S-61A-4 helicopters in the late 1960s and early 1970s which were used in the transport role. RMAF gained an air defence capability when the Australian Government donated 10 ex-Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) CAC Sabre fighters. These were based at the Butterworth Air Base. After the withdrawal of British military forces from Malaysia and Singapore at the end of 1971, a Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) agreement between Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom was concluded to ensure defence against external aggression. The RAAF maintained two Mirage IIIO squadrons at RAF/RAAF Station Butterworth, Butterworth Air Base as part of its commitment to the FPDA. These squadrons were withdrawn in 1986, although occasional deployments of RAAF aircraft continue.
With the withdrawal of British military forces, RMAF underwent gradual modernization from the 1970s to the 1990s. The Sabre were replaced by 16 Northrop F-5E Tiger-IIs. A reconnaissance capability was acquired with the purchase of two RF-5E Tigereye aircraft. RMAF also purchased 88 ex-US Navy Douglas A-4C Skyhawks, of which 40 of the airframes were converted/refurbished by Grumman Aircraft Engineering at Bethpage into the A-4PTM ('Peculiar To Malaysia'), configuration (A-4Bs updated to A-4M standard). RMAF has traditionally looked to the West for its purchases, primarily to the United States. However, limitations imposed by the US on "new technology" to the region, such as the AIM-120 AMRAAM fire-and-forget air-to-air missile, has made RMAF consider purchases from Russia and other non-traditional sources. The early 1990s saw the arrival of a number of IAI Kfir fighter bombers from Israel and the first BAE Hawk Mk108/208s which replaced the T/A-4PTMs and the ageing F-5Es. These were followed by the MiG-29N/NUB in 1995 in the air superiority role.
Malaysia’s order for the IAI Kfir had been placed in 1989 and a total of twenty-eight aircraft were procured. These machines were among the last newly built aircraft of this type, comparable with the IDF’s late C.7 standard with HOTAS and a partial “glass cockpit”. Deliveries included twenty-four single seaters, optimized for the fighter bomber/strike role, even though the machines could carry light AAMs like the AIM-9 Sidewinder, too, and operate as interceptors. Additionally, four new Kfir TC.7 two-seaters were bought, primarily for conversion training, but these machines had, except for a reduced internal fuel capacity in the fuselage due to the second seat, the same capabilities as the TUDM C.7 single seaters. By 1992 the RMAF Kfir fleet was ready for service and the machines were concentrated at No. 17 Squadron, based at Kuantan Air Base, located at the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Even though they were not officially re-christened, the RMAF Kfirs were frequently referred to as “Anak Singa” among the personnel, meaning “lion cub” in Malaysian language.
In 1996, three TUDM Kfir C.7s were, with the help from IAI and imported hardware, modified into armed photo reconnaissance aircraft, resulting in the CR.7 variant exclusively operated by Malaysia. These machines received an elongated nose section (more than 4’ longer) with space for a rotating long-range oblique camera, similar in shape to the former “Tsniut” conversion of C.2 fighter bombers for the IDF. The guns were replaced with avionics but the C.7s’ Elta EL/M-2021B pulse-Doppler radar was retained, so that these converted machines kept their limited all-weather strike and interception capability. But as dedicated reconnaissance aircraft they were almost exclusively operated unarmed, just carrying up to three drop tanks for extra range and loiter time.
The Kfirs did not serve with the Royal Malaysian Air Force for a long period, though: In 1997, Malaysia received a dozen F/A-18D Hornet two-seaters to provide an all-weather interdiction capability, which the rather simple Kfirs did not offer. They could also use the AGM-84 “Harpoon” ASM, making them better suited for naval strike missions, and initially the Hornets frequently served as pathfinders for the Kfirs on all-weather missions. Despite their limitations, what still made the Kfirs attractive for the RMAF was their relatively low operational cost level and the type’s high speed and rate of climb.
However, in 2003 a contract was signed for 18 Su-30MKMs from Russia for delivery in 2007 to fulfill a requirement for a new multi-role combat aircraft (MRCA). Boeing alternatively offered the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, but the type was declined. These capable machines, which were adapted to Western ordnance like GBU-12 laser-guided glide bombs, eventually replaced the RMAF Kfirs, which were gradually phased out until 2010, mothballed, and put up for sale. The last new Su-30MKM arrived in 2009 August, but the F/A-18Ds remained in service – even though only eight machines were still operational at that time. Apparently, the RMAF’s budget was tightened in the meantime since a new requirement for a further batch of new 18 MRCAs remained unfulfilled. Furthermore, the RMAF has also been looking for an AWACS aircraft, although no firm orders have been placed.
General characteristics
Crew: One
Length (incl. pitot): 16.92 m (55 ft 5¾ in)
Wingspan: 8.22 m (26 ft 11½ in)
Height: 4.61 m (14 ft 11 3/4 in)
Wing area: 34.8 m² (374.6 sq ft)
Empty weight: 7,285 kg (16,060 lb)
Loaded weight: 11,603 kg (25,580 lb) with two 500 L drop tanks, two AAMs
Max. take-off weight: 16,200 kg (35,715 lb)
Powerplant:
1× IAl Bedek-built General Electric J-79-J1E turbojet with a dry thrust of 52.9 kN (11,890 lb st)
and 79.62 kN (17,900 lb st) with afterburner
Performance
Maximum speed: 2,440 km/h (2 Mach, 1,317 knots, 1,516 mph) above 11,000 m (36,000 ft)
Combat radius: 768 km (415 nmi, 477 mi) in ground attack configuration, hi-lo-hi profile,
with seven 500 lb bombs, two AAMs, two 1,300 L drop tanks
Service ceiling: 17,680 m (58,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 233 m/s (45,950 ft/min)
Armament:
No internal guns
9× hardpoints under the wings and fuselage for up to 5,775 kg (12,730 lb) of payload
The kit and its assembly:
This was a spontaneous build for the “Recce & Surveillance” Group Build at whatifmodellers.com in September 2021. I had bought a resin conversion set from AML for a Kfir RC.2 a while ago, without a certain plan. I had originally planned not to use it on a Kfir, though, but when I considered the build of a Malaysian Kfir I remembered the conversion set and decided to use it for this project, giving it a weird twist.
The kit is the Italeri 1:72 Kfir C.2 in a recent Revell re-boxing. It is not a stellar model of this aircraft. While outlines are O.K. and the kit comes with fine recessed surface details, fit is so-so and there are some weak spots, like the fuselage/wing seams, the many intersections under the air intakes that run right through the gun ports, sinkholes on the wings upper surface and a cockpit tub/front landing gear well piece that won’t fit properly. The Hasegawa kit’s fit is better, but the Italeri Kfir is detail-wise not worse – and it’s cheaper.
The model was built OOB with the usual challenges (see above). When the fuselage was completed, the nose was chopped off in front of the windscreen, to be replaced with the parts from the “Tsniut” (however this is properly pronounced, meaning “modesty”) AML set – which is apparently different from those resin parts that come with the manufacturer’s Mirage IIICJ kit, which offers two versions of the long Tsniut nose plus a modified standard radome nose with a vertical Zeiss camera inside that was mounted on some converted IDF Mirages, too, called AFAIK the “Tarmil” nose.
The AML set is a very nice and clean offering – crisply molded, no bubbles, and with delicate parts and details like a new pitot or conduits that run from the former gun ports to the front of the nose – all molded in fine resin. There’s a good instruction sheet and even a decal set (plus painting instructions) for the two real IDF Kfir CR.2 conversions. However, there is also a piece of acetate film supposed to be included, to be used as a clear cover for the relatively large oblique camera fairing that is open to three sides and gives a good view to the rotating camera mount inside - it was missing from my set. But it was easily replaced with a piece of stiff clear film from a blister packaging. The camera opening’s 3D shape was copied with the help of masking tape into 2D, which was used to cut the replacement window out. This tailored piece of sheet was then bent into shape and attached with Humbrol Clearfix. A prothesis, but it does certainly not look worse than the OOB solution.
However, while the AML set itself went together fluidly, grafting it onto the Italeri Kfir was more complicated: the kit’s nose diameter is markedly larger than the camera extension, maybe 1mm. This does not sound much, but it leaves a recognizable step on an otherwise smooth surface – some body sculpting with a Dremel tool and PSR was necessary to even the intersection out.
The rest of the conversion was straightforward – I considered to leave the nose extension away, for a personal Kfir recce variant, but eventually stuck close to the original Tsniut configuration because of the aircraft’s weird look and added realism.
As a recce aircraft, I left the kit’s underwing pylons for the Python AAMs away and just used the ventral pylon and the large OOB drop tank.
Painting and markings:
The bane of modern aircraft type: dull livery options. I wanted a realistic paint scheme for this aircraft, suitable for a tactical mission and for the late Nineties tine frame – but the TUDM offers only very limited options. At first I considered the late A-4PTM scheme (either SEA style or a subdued two-tone green/brown scheme) with low-viz markings, but eventually settled for a simple all-grey scheme, inspired by the TUDM’s F-18Ds that arrived in the model’s time frame, too. These were dedicated all-weather strike aircraft and were initially painted overall FS 36118 (USAF Gunship Grey) with low-viz markings. This is very dull and simple, but I nevertheless adopted it for the recce Kfir because it does not distract from the odd nose, and it suits the tactical recce mission profile well.
The basic paint became Humbrol 125, which is a rather bluish interpretation of the tone, and the retrofitted new nose was set apart with FS 36118 from ModelMaster. The cockpit interior was painted in Medium Gull Grey (Humbrol 140) and landing gear as well as the air intakes were painted in bright white (Revell 301) – they really stand out on the dark and uniform airframe! To reduce the contrast a little I took the Gunship Grey over to the inner intake lips and the shock cones - some Kfirs have these intake areas painted all-white, making them stand out blatantly! The outside of the intake lips was painted black, as well as the small nose radome and the antenna bumps under the cockpit.
The interior color of the camera compartment is uncertain, but I painted it in anthracite (Revell 06), while the rotating camera mount became light grey, so that it would be more visible from the outside.
The model received an overall light ink washing to emphasize the engraved surface details as well as some post-shading and weathering through dry-brushing with various shades of medium grey. The markings/decals were puzzled together from a Begemot MiG-29 sheet (national and tactical markings) and the Kfir’s OOB stencils, which had to be – because they are in Hebrew in the Revell kit – partly replaced with low-viz alternatives from leftover Italeri Kfir sheets. The camera window received frames made with 1mm black decal strips. Finally, the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.
A relatively simple and quick build. The Italeri Kfir has some weaknesses, but I have built enough of them to know the major pitfalls. The AML Tsniut conversion set blended well onto the airframe, even though the missing camera window called for some scratch work. The result is an interesting Kfir variant, and the subtle paint scheme of the fictional Malaysian operator adds credibility – the dark grey upper color reminds a little of the late Ecuadorean Kfirs, but this TUMD whif is much less colorful, even with the many red markings and stencils, which blend into the grey with little contrast. This is not a spectacular model/whif, but I like the unusual dark livery on the Kfir. And it certainly is not the last whiffy Kfir I will build, there are already ideas for more…
PGB Photographer & Creative - © Philip Romeyn - Phillostar Gone Ballistic 2021 - Photo may not be edited from its original form. Commercial use is prohibited without contacting me.
Gerstner, K. The forms of colour: the interaction of visual elements, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1986.
Cormery (Indre-et-Loire)
Cormery (Indre-et-Loire)
La Tour Saint Paul.
Ce clocher-porche roman (fin XI° siècle) précédait la façade de l’église abbatiale.
La Tour se compose d’un rez-de-chaussée formant porche, d’une salle haute et d’un beffroi.
Sur sa face occidentale on remarque des ornements décoratifs surmontés de deux bas-reliefs.
Au 9° siècle seront achevés l'église et le cloître. L'église est aujourd'hui pratiquement détruite, la nef (allée centrale de l'édifice) a été transformée en rue. Elle possède un autel principal consacré à St Paul, une chapelle d'axe dédiée à la Trinité et deux absidioles sur les bras du Transept. Dans son dernier état, c'est un édifice gothique commencé probablement au début du 13° siècle et terminé vers 1310.
Pour pénétrer dans la rue de l'ancienne cella, il faut passer sous la Tour St Paul, qui précède la façade occidentale de l'église. C'est la partie conservée la plus ancienne. Elle comporte trois étages: le porche, la salle haute et la chambre des cloches, sa flèche est tombée en 1891.
Abbaye Saint Paul de Cormery.
Cette abbaye a été fondée en 791 par Ithier*, Abbé de Saint Martin de Tours, chancelier de Pépin le Bref puis de Charlemagne. A la base, Ithier choisit Cormery pour faire retraite et méditer loin de l'Abbaye de Tours, qui a perdu les racines de l'ordre bénédictin. Il s'y installe avec 5 frères et y établi une "cella"*. Il obtient de Charlemagne une charte octroyant titres et privilèges à l'Abbaye de Cormery.
En 796, Alcuin* (Alcuin d'York, illustre érudit anglo-saxon), un proche de Charlemagne, devient Abbé de Saint Martin de Tours et de Cormery. Il reçoit l'autorisation de Charlemagne d'y installer des moines en 800*. C’est ainsi qu’Alcuin, abbé de Saint-Martin de Tours, mais non moine, fit appel à son ami Benoît d’Aniane pour peupler le monastère de Cormery. En 821, des moines venant du monastère d'Aniane (Hérault) s'y établissent.
Alcuin choisit son successeur, Fridugise (Fridegise). En 804, Fridegise est nommé abbé de Saint-Paul de Cormery.
Louis Ier le Débonnaire (Louis le Pieux), fils et successeur de Charlemagne, soumit tous les monastères de l’Empire à la règle de Saint Benoît d'Aniane.
L'abbé Audacher (Oacre) obtient, en 844, de Charles II le Chauve l'autorisation de créer des foires et des marchés* (le marché du jeudi, qui existe toujours à Cormery, remonte à cette époque).
La vitalité des grands monastères s’affirme partout en Touraine au début du XIe siècle. Un bon exemple en est l’abbaye de Cormery qui vient d’obtenir des
comtes d’Anjou, en 1026, les domaines d’Azay-le-Rideau et de Villaines. Tandis que s’élève l’église abbatiale romane qui sera consacrée en 1054, le seigneur de Nouâtre lui concède le vaste domaine de Mons caninus (Montchenin au bord de l’Échandon). (Pouvoir féodal et pouvoir religieux en Touraine au XIe siècle - Jean-Marie Couderc)
L'abbaye a été très endommagée par les Normands au IXème siècle. A partir de 1054 les abbés Robert I et Robert II la font reconstruire en beaucoup plus grand.
L' église paroissiale Notre-Dame du Fougeray est créée, au début du XIIe siècle, en dehors de l'enceinte du monastère pour les habitants du bourg.
A la fin du XIIIème siècle la partie orientale de l'église s'effondre, l'abbé Thibault de Chalon fait reconstruire le choeur et le transept de 1296 à 1310. Ce travail de réhabilitation, par Thibault de Chalon, l'un des ancêtre de Foulques, n'empêchera pas les anglais de mettre à sac l'abbaye et de massacrer les habitants des villages environnants , en 1358.
En 1358, au début de la Guerre de Cent Ans une troupe à la solde des Anglais commandée par Basquin du Poncet, prend d'assaut la ville, la pille et la détruit presque entièrement après avoir massacré de nombreux habitants.
En 1412, la ville est mise à rançon par un capitaine Anglais, Jean Blount*. Mais Cormery a été préservée grâce à l'arrivée du Sire de Bueil. A la Fin du XVème et au début du XVIème siècle l'abbaye connaît une période faste avec les abbés Jean du Puy et Denis Briconnet.
En 1562, au début des Guerres de Religion*, l'église abbatiale et celle de la paroisse (Notre Dame du Fougeray) sont dévastées par les Protestants.
En février 1790 la Constituante supprime les vœux monastiques et ordonne la mise en vente des monastères et de leurs biens. Le 16 fructidor an 4 (le 16 aout 1796), l’église Abbatiale de Cormery est achetée par Louis Duvau, ancien greffier de la seigneurie qui possédait déjà le logis abbatial et toutes ses dépendances. Il la revend par morceau, mais les bâtiments, trop importants, ne trouvent d'acquéreur qu'en 1799 alors qu'ils sont déjà bien délabrés. Louis Duvau sera le premier maire de Cormery, du 30/1/1790 au 16/8/1790.
*Le précepte d'Ithier de 791 pour Saint-Paul de Cormery mentionne que cet abbé lègue aux moines de Cormery des biens lui ayant été donnés par Charlemagne et qui appartenaient auparavant à Saint-Martin : “delegamus etiam ibidem aliquas res de ratione sancti Martini quas, largiente domino nostro Carolo, excellentissimo rege, adquisivimus, in pago videlicet Pictavo Antoniacum villam cum appendiciis suis, Bragonno et aliis seu et loco nuncupato Arciaco.”
*La "cella" ou "celle" carolingienne est un petit monastère non autonome. Ithier fonda la “cella sancti Pauli” à Cormery en 791.
*Alcuin était un moine anglais originaire de Northumbrie où il est né vers 732. Ecolâtre de l'archevêque d'York, celui-ci l'envoie en mission à Rome en 780. A son retour, il croise, à Ravenne, le roi des Francs, le futur Charlemagne. Alcuin entre alors à l'école du palais dont il devient le chef. C'est Alcuin qui développera auprès de Charlemagne l'idéologie impériale, fondée sur le modèle de l'empire romain. Il suggère au roi de se faire couronner empereur d'Occident. Ce sera chose faite à Noël 800. Alcuin devenu abbé de Saint-Martin de Tours va y développer un atelier de copistes qui sera le plus important d'Occident. De cet atelier sortiront une cinquantaine de bibles commentées de sa main. C'est cette bible qui sera choisie par le concile de Trente au XVIe siècle. Grâce à Alcuin, les historiens parleront, plus tard, de "Renaissance carolingienne" (locution inventée par l'historien Jean-Jacques Ampère, qui était d'ailleurs le fils du physicien). (Voir article de André Larané dans Herodote)
A la mort d'Alcuin 804, Fridegise, un autre anglo-saxon, fut nommé abbé de Saint Martin de Tours et de Saint-Paul de Cormery.
*En 800, Alcuin obtint de saint Benoît d’Aniane une escouade de ses bénédictins pour transformer cette "cella" en une abbaye bénédictine qui prendra rapidement une importance considérable, elle sera à la tête de 33 prieurés. En 858, Cormery fonda une abbaye-fille à Villeloin. Les ermites qui se succédaient à Villeloin depuis 400 ans devinrent alors des bénédictins.
*Diplôme de Charles le Chauve pour l'abbaye Saint-Paul de Cormery (30 décembre 843 ou 844).
"Au nom de la sainte et indivisible Trinité, Charles par la grâce de Dieu, roi (...)
(...) que personne ne fasse opposition à la tenue du marché hebdomadaire ni à celle du marché annuel (...) Et pour que cette décision obtienne une application inviolable (...) nous l'avons confirmée de notre propre main ci-dessous et avons ordonné d'apposer le seing de notre anneau.
Seing de Charles roi très glorieux.
Jonas, diacre, a authentifié cet acte à la place de Louis.
Daté du 3 des kalendes de janvier, an 5, indiction 7, sous le règne de Charles, (...) . Fait à Tours, au monastère de Saint-Martin. Au nom de Dieu dans la joie. Amen. "
*"...en 1412, l'alerte fut donnée à Cormery. Les Anglais étaient revenus. Appelés en Touraine par suite de luttes déplorables entre les Bourguignons et les Armagnacs, toujours prêts à profiter de nos discordes intestines , ils venaient de prendre et de saccager l'abbaye de Beaulieu , près de Loches. Déjà des avant-coureurs, espèces de pillards à la suite de tous les corps d'armée irréguliers , étaient arrivés à Cormery. L'alarme fut bientôt générale. Comment détourner le péril? Les moines tinrent conseil, et offrirent de racheter l'abbaye, les villes et les campagnes environnantes. On débattit le prix de la rançon, qui resta fixé à 350 écus d'or par mois. L'écu d'or valait alors vingt-deux sous et pourrait être estimé à 15 francs environ de notre monnaie actuelle. C'était une somme considérable pour un établissement qui n'avait pas encore réussi à réparer ses pertes récentes. « Mais, dit naïvement le chroniqueur, de deux maux il faut savoir choisir le moindre. En présence d'un péril imminent, il fallait se décider à fuir, à combattre et peut-être à se faire tuer. N'était-il pas préférable de payer ? » Ce bon moine avait raison , la lutte était trop inégale, pour ne pas dire impossible. On se résigna donc à délier les cordons de la bourse. L'acte de rachat fut signé à Beaulieu le 30 octobre 1412. Les deux commissaires étaient Jacques de Villain, représentant de l'abbé de Cormery, et Jean Blount , chevalier, de la part des Anglais. En échange, Thomas, comte de Dorset, amiral d'Angleterre et d'Irlande, et maréchal de l'armée du duc de Clarence , donna un sauf-conduit, revêtu de sa signature et de son sceau , qui assurait paix et sécurité au monastère et à la ville de Cormery, ainsi qu'aux campagnes du voisinage." (Mémoires de la société archéologique de Touraine - Chapitre IX. Les Anglais à Cormery. D'après le cartulaire de Cormery.Par l'Abbé J.J. Bourassé - Tours 1861)
* En 1562 débute la première guerre de religion (il y en aura 8 en 36 ans), par le massacre, par le duc François de Guise, d'une centaine de protestants assistants au culte dans la grange de Wassy (dans la Haute-Marne. La grange a été reconstituée à côté d'un temple construit au 19e siècle et devenu musée protestant), le premier mars. A l’appel de Louis de Bourbon, prince de Condé, les protestants prennent les armes.
Mémoires de la société archéologique de Touraine - Tome IX - Tours 1857
Cormery (Indre-et-Loire).
"Cormaricus. — Cormery (Tours. — Montbazon.) — Ce lieu, situé près de la rivière de l'Indre, était appelé jadis Cormaricus, et distant de huit milles de la ville de Tours et de dix milles de celle de Loches, Itherius*, abbé de Saint-Martin, entreprit d'y fonder une basilique sous l'invocation de saint Paul , en y plaçant trois autels; et avant qu'elle fût terminée, il en fit la consécration le 7 des ides* de février, la vingt-troisième année du règne de Charlemagne. Pendant le temps qu'Itherius présida à Saint-Martin , quelques moines Martiniens construisirent des cellules à Cormery. Alcuin*, successeur d'Itherius, acheva son entreprise , avec l'approbation de Charlemagne et le secours de Benoit*, l'illustre chef de Saint-Aignan, qui du nord des Gaules envoya vingt frères d'une conduite exemplaire à la nouvelle communauté. Sous de tels auspices le monastère de Cormery devint bientôt florissant. Alcuin obtint encore de Charlemagne une autre ordonnance en faveur des moines de Cormery. Ce prince, en 800, les autorisa à posséder deux navires sur la Loire , la Maine , la Sarthe , le Loir et la Vienne sans être assujettis à aucun impôt. Alcuin ajouta à ses dons pour Cormery, Tauxigny et Aubigny qui dépendaient de Saint-Martin (807). Sept ans après, Friduginus, abbé de Saint-Martin, obtint de Louis le Pieux* , roi d'Aquitaine, la confirmation du droit ci-dessus. Jusqu'alors Cormery avait été strictement dans la dépendance des Martiniens ; Friduginus obtint, par lettres du même prince, qu'ils fussent dispensés de cette sujétion, et depuis lors ils eurent un abbé particulier. En 831 , le roi Pépin confirma l'immunité des deux navires et fit d'autres largesses. Au Xe siècle , les moines de Cormery éprouvèrent de grands désastres , pour ne pas dire une ruine complète. Ils passèrent à cette époque sous la domination des consuls d'Anjou. Leur basilique ayant été renversée de fond en comble, Robert d'Enfer et Robert d'Anjou , abbés de Cormery, en
construisirent une nouvelle qui fut consacrée par Barthélemy, archevêque de Tours. En 1096, Cormery, sorti de ses ruines , fut réclamé par les chanoines de Saint-Martin, et le pape Urbain II décida en faveur des Martiniens. En 1139, le pape Innocent II prit le monastère de Cormery sous sa protection, et Alexandre III et plusieurs papes y joignirent d'autres faveurs. De là vinrent des luttes fréquentes entre les deux maisons. Aussi au mois de février 1217 les moines de Cormery s'étant refusés à rendre l'hommage dû aux Martiniens, le doyen de Saint-Martin s'empara de l'abbaye et de toutes les églises qui en dépendaient, et Robert des Loges, sénéchal de Touraine, reconnut le droit du doyen. Il en résulta de grandes tribulations pour Cormery. D'autres plus grandes ne se firent pas attendre. En 1358 le XV des kal*. d'avril, un chevalier nommé Baguin ou Basquin de Poncet*, qui servait sous la bannière du roi d'Angleterre , accompagné d'un escadron entra dans Cormery, et les moines ayant pris la fuite il fit mettre les chevaux dans la nef de la basilique , après avoir pillé le sacré et le profane et ravagé tous les bâtiments. Cette occupation dura plus d'un an, en sorte que rien ne put échapper à la dévastation. Il s'ensuivit en 1358 et 1359 une correspondance entre le pape Innocent , l'archevêque de Tours et les moines. Enfin l'abbé Gérard racheta le monastère en payant rançon aux Anglais et aux Gascons. Pierre, qui succéda à Gérard, donna tous ses soins à la restauration du couvent. En 1412, les Anglais étant revenus menaçaient de nouveaux pillages et incendies; l'abbé Guillaume fit un pacte avec eux et les moines donnèrent de l'argent pour éviter l'éclat des épées , puis ils se retirèrent à Tours. Enfin, en 1564, les huguenots leurs causèrent d'effroyables désastres.
(Gall. Christ., t. XIV, col. 254, A.)
ABBATES CORMARICENSES. (Abbés de Cormery)
1. Jacobus I, 831 + v. 837.
2. Audacher. sive Otacher,837. 838. 840. 843. 844. 850. 856+ 868.
3. Ivo, 893.
4. Aimo, 900.
5. Fulco, 944.
6. Guido, 965.
7. Daniel, 977.
8. Theobaldus I, 997-1006.
9. Richardus, 1007, 1026.
10. Robertus I, + 1040.
11. Robertus II, Andegavensis, 1047-1060.
12. Bernardus I.
13. Guido II, 1070. 1079.1080. 1096. 1109. 1111.
14. Mainardus, 1123. 1130.
15. Theobaldus II, 1133.
16. Guilelmus I, 1139.
17. Joannes I Sabardus, 1146.
18. Rogerius, 1164. 1172.
19. Sulpicius, 1174. 1175.
20. GirardusI, 1180. 1182 +1184.
21. Philippus, 1188. 1194. 1198.
22. Turpinus.
23. Simon, 1205. 1211 + 1212.
23. Geoffridus I de Millay, 1212.
25. Matthaeus, 1214.
26. Joannes II, 1215. 1216. 1221.
27. Reginaldus, 1228.
28. Adamus, 1231.
29. Joannes III, 1238, 1241.
30. Geoffridus II, 1 241. 1244.
31. Bernardus II, 1256. 1259.
32. Beiwerius.
33. Joannes IV a Brostia.
34. Jacobus II, 1271. 1274. +1275.
35. Joannes V, 1276. 1280.
36. Petrus I, de Uciaco, 1283. 1290. + avant 1293.
37. Theobaldus III de Cabilone, 1296. 1299. 1300. 1314-1332.
38. Michael Rupinus, 1333. +1334.
39. Joannes VI Lechat, 1334. 1339. 1352.
40. Gerardus II Potier, 1352. 1358. 1372-1376.
41. Petrus II d'Azay, 1377. +1410.
42. Guilelmus II de Hotot, 1412. 1416. 1417.
43. Humbertus, 1418.
44. Id. Guilelmus II de Hotot, 1423. 1430. 1433. +1434 episcop.
45. Petrus III Berthelotus, 1452. 1453. 1456. 1458. +1476.
46. Joannes VI Bochard, 1476.
47. Joannes VII Conseil, 1483. 1487 + 1490.
48. Joannes VIII du Puys, 1490. 1492 (+ 1517.)
49. Renatus du Puys , 1508. 1514. 1515. 1520.
50. Dionysius Briçonnet, 1520. 1524. 1525 + 1535.
51. Joannes IX du Bellay, 1536-1545.
52. Jacobus III de Jaucourt, 1545.
53. Carolus I de Lorraine , 1547-1550.
54. Robertus III de Lenoncourt, 1550-1557+ 1561.
55. Joannes X de La Rochefoucault, 1557+ 1583.
56. Geoffridus III du Pin, 1583-1586.
57. Carolus II Miron, 1587. 1626.
58. Ludovicus Gouffier de Caravas, 1627
59. Alphonsus Ludovicus du Plessis de Richelieu, 1631. +1653.
60. Henricus de Béthune , 1653. 1662 + 1680.
61. Nicolaus Guilelmus Beautru de Vaubrun, 1680. +1746.
62. N. de la Clue, 1747-1790."
(Mémoires de la société archéologique de Touraine - Tome IX - Tours 1857)
*Itherius (Ithier de Saint-Martin) a été chancelier de Pépin le Bref et de Charlemagne, puis abbé de Saint-Martin de Tours. Sous les carolingiens, le chancelier recevait les requêtes adressées au roi et y répondait.
*Dans le calendrier romain, le mois est partagé en 3 périodes inégales: les calendes, les ides et les nones. Les ides tombaient le 13e jour d'un mois "court" et le 15e jour d'un mois long. On compte les jours avant; le 7 de février serait le 7e jour avant les ides.
*Alcuin était un moine anglais originaire de Northumbrie où il est né vers 732. Ecolâtre de l'archevêque d'York, celui-ci l'envoie en mission à Rome en 780. A son retour, il croise, à Ravenne, le roi des Francs, le futur Charlemagne. Alcuin entre alors à l'école du palais dont il devient le chef. C'est Alcuin qui développera auprès de Charlemagne l'idéologie impériale, fondée sur le modèle de l'empire romain. Il suggère au roi de se faire couronner empereur d'Occident. Ce sera chose faite à Noël 800. Alcuin devenu abbé de Saint-Martin de Tours va y développer un atelier de copistes qui sera le plus important d'Occident. De cet atelier sortiront une cinquantaine de bibles commentées de sa main. C'est cette bible qui sera choisie par le concile de Trente au XVIe siècle. Grâce à Alcuin, les historiens parleront, plus tard, de "Renaissance carolingienne" (locution inventée par l'historien Jean-Jacques Ampère, qui était d'ailleurs le fils du physicien). (Voir article de André Larané dans Herodote)
A la mort d'Alcuin 804, Fridegise, un autre anglo-saxon, fut nommé abbé de Saint Martin de Tours et de Saint-Paul de Cormery.
*Saint Benoît, abbé d'Aniane ou Saint-Aignan en Languedoc, diocèse de Maguelonne vers 780, puis d'Inde ou Saint Corneille près d'Aix-la-Chapelle. Mort en février 821.
*Cormery est mentionné dans un document de 837, le diplôme impérial comprenant la donation de Coussay à l'abbaye de Cormery par Louis le Pieux. L’original portant la date « Donné à Thionville le 16 des calendes de juin 837 –24e année du règne de Louis le Pieux » est conservé aux Archives Départementales d’Indre-et-Loire.
"Complacuit celsitudini nostrae quamdam villam juris ejusdem monasterii vocabulo Cusciacus, ad cellam sancti Pauli, quae rustico nomine Cormericus dicitur ; quam Itherius quamdam abbas ejusdem monasterii in propriis rebus novo, opere construxit atque memorato monasterii delegavit... per nostrae auctoritatis preceptum tradere."
(II a plu à notre grandeur de donner une certaine villa des biens fondés dudit monastère, nommée Coassay, à la maison de saint Paul, vulgairement appelée Cormery, qu’Ithier, feu abbé dudit monastère, construisit à neuf de son bien propre, par un édit de notre autorité.)
*le XV des kal*. d'avril. Le 15 des calendes d'avril.
*Basquin de Poncet était chef de Grande Compagnie anglaise pendant la Guerre de Cent ans. En réalité une bande de bretons commandée par le gascon Basquin de Poncet. En 1358, au début de la Guerre de Cent Ans une troupe à la
solde des Anglais commandée par Basquin du Poncet, prend d'assaut la ville, la pille et la détruit presque entièrement après avoir massacré de nombreux habitants.