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Huế (Vietnamese: [hwě] is a city in central Vietnam that was the seat of Nguyen Dynasty emperors and the national capital from 1802–1945. A major attraction is its vast, 19th-century Citadel, surrounded by a moat and thick stone walls. It encompasses the Imperial City, with palaces and shrines; the Forbidden Purple City, once the emperor's home; and a replica of the Royal Theater.
HISTORY
Huế originally rose to prominence as the capital of the Nguyễn lords, a feudal dynasty that dominated much of southern Vietnam from the 17th to the 19th century. In 1775 when Trịnh lord Trịnh Sâm captured it, it was known as Phú Xuân.
In 1802, Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (later Emperor Gia Long) succeeded in establishing his control over the whole of Vietnam, thereby making Huế the national capital.[1]
Minh Mạng (r. 1820-40) was the second emperor of the Nguyễn Dynasty, reigning from 14 February 1820 (his 29th birthday) until his death, on 20 January 1841. He was a younger son of Emperor Gia Long, whose eldest son, Crown Prince Cảnh, had died in 1801. Minh was well known for his opposition to French involvement in Vietnam, and for his rigid Confucian orthodoxy.
During the French colonial period, Huế was located in the protectorate of Annam. It remained the seat of the Imperial Palace until 1945, when Emperor Bảo Đại abdicated and a communist DRV government was established with its capital at Hà Nội (Hanoi), in the north.
While Bảo Đại was proclaimed "Head of the State of Vietnam" with the help of the returning French colonialists in 1949 (although not with recognition from the communists or the full acceptance of the Vietnamese people), his new capital was Sài Gòn (Saigon), in the south.
During the Republic of Vietnam, Huế's central location very near the border between the North and South put it in a vulnerable position in the Vietnam War. In the Tết Offensive of 1968, during the Battle of Huế, the city suffered considerable damage not only to its physical features, but its reputation as well, due to a combination of the American military bombing of historic buildings held by the North Vietnamese, and the massacre at Huế committed by the communist forces.
After the war's conclusion, many of the historic features of Huế were neglected because they were seen by the victorious communist regime and some other Vietnamese as "relics from the feudal regime"; the Vietnamese Communist Party doctrine officially described the Nguyễn Dynasty as "feudal" and "reactionary." There has since been a change of policy, however, and many historical areas of the city are currently being restored.
GEOGRAPHY
The city is located in central Vietnam on the banks of the Perfume River, just a few miles inland from the East Sea. It is about 700 km south of Hanoi and about 1,100 km north of Hồ Chí Minh City.
CLIMATE
Huế features a Tropical monsoon climate under the Köppen climate classification. The dry season is from March to August, with high temperatures of 35 to 40 °C. The rainy season is from August to January, with a flood season from October, onwards. The average rainy season temperature is 20 °C, sometimes as low as 9 °C. Spring lasts from January to late February.
CULTURE
Located in the center of Vietnam, Huế was the capital city of Vietnam for approximately 150 years during feudal time (1802–1945), and the royal lifestyle and customs have had a significant impact on the characteristics of the people of Huế. That impact can still be felt today.
NAME GIVING
Historically, the qualities valued by the royal family were reflected in its name-giving customs, which came to be adopted by society at large.[citation needed] As a rule, royal family members were named after a poem written by Minh Mạng, the second king of Nguyễn Dynasty. The poem, Đế hệ thi", has been set as a standard frame to name every generation of the royal family, through which people can know the family order as well as the relationship between royal members. More importantly, the names reflect the essential personality traits that the royal regime would like their offspring to uphold. This name-giving tradition is proudly kept alive and nowadays people from Huế royal family branches (normally considered 'pure' Huế) still have their names taken from the words in the poem.
CLOTHING
The design of the modern-day áo dài, a Vietnamese national costume, evolved from an outfit worn at the court of the Nguyễn Lords at Huế in the 18th century. A court historian of the time described the rules of dress as follows:
Thường phục thì đàn ông, đàn bà dùng áo cổ đứng ngắn tay, cửa ống tay rộng hoặc hẹp tùy tiện. Áo thì hai bên nách trở xuống phải khâu kín liền, không được xẻ mở. Duy đàn ông không muốn mặc áo cổ tròn ống tay hẹp cho tiện khi làm việc thì được phép.
Outside court, men and women wear gowns with straight collars and short sleeves. The sleeves are large or small depending on the weather. There are seams on both sides running down from the sleeve, so the gown is not open anywhere. Men may wear a round collar and a short sleeve for more convenience.
— Đại Nam thực lục
This outfit evolved into the áo ngũ thân, a five-paneled aristocratic gown worn in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Inspired by Paris fashions, Nguyễn Cát Tường and other artists associated with Hanoi University redesigned the ngũ thân as a modern dress in the 1920s and 1930s.[12] While the áo dài and nón lá are generally seen as a symbol of Vietnam as a whole, the combination is seen by Vietnamese as being particularly evocative of Huế. Violet-coloured áo dài are especially common in Huế, the color having a special connection to the city's heritage as a former capital.
CUISINE
The cuisine of Huế forms the heart of Central Vietnamese cuisine, but one of the most striking differences is the prominence of vegetarianism in the city. Several all-vegetarian restaurants are scattered in various corners of the city to serve the locals who have a strong tradition of eating vegetarian twice a month, as part of their Buddhist beliefs. Another feature of Huế dishes that sets them apart from other regional cuisines in Vietnam is the relatively small serving size with refined presentation, a vestige of its royal cuisine. Finally, another feature of Huế cuisine is that it is often very spicy.
In Hue cuisine, it has both luxurious and rustic popular dishes. All are cooked with talent skills of the Hue people, creating special flavor of Hue food. With such a rich history, Hue's royal cuisine (foods served for the King) is the combination between taste and aesthetic. It consists of several distinctive dishes from small and delicated creations which originally created to please the appetites of Nguyen feudal lords, emperors and their hundreds of concubines and wives. Furthermore, there is another thing making "amazing cuisine" of Hue is traditional foods. Hue's traditional cuisine is so distinctive from other regions in the country, which is considered as the best in Vietnam.
RELIGION
The imperial court practiced various religions such as Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. The most important altar was the Esplanade of Sacrifice to the Heaven and Earth, where the monarch would offer each year prayers to the Heaven and Earth.
In Huế, Buddhism enjoyed stronger support than elsewhere in Vietnam, with more monasteries than anywhere else and the nation's most famous monks.
Famously in 1963, Thích Quảng Đức drove to Saigon to protest anti-Buddhist policies of the South Vietnamese government and set himself on fire on a Saigon street.
Thich Nhat Hanh, world-famous Zen master now living in France, originates from Huế.
TOURISM
Huế is well known for its historic monuments, which have earned it a place in UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. The seat of the Nguyễn emperors was the Imperial City, which occupies a large, walled area on the north side of the Perfume River. Inside the citadel was a forbidden city where only the emperors, concubines, and those close enough to them were granted access; the punishment for trespassing was death. Today, little of the forbidden city remains, though reconstruction efforts are in progress to maintain it as a historic tourist attraction.
Roughly along the Perfume River from Huế lie myriad other monuments, including the tombs of several emperors, including Minh Mạng, Khải Định, and Tự Đức. Also notable is the Thiên Mụ Pagoda, the largest pagoda in Huế and the official symbol of the city.
A number of French-style buildings lie along the south bank of the Perfume River. Among them are Quốc Học High School, the oldest high school in Vietnam, and Hai Ba Trung High School.
The Huế Museum of Royal Fine Arts on 3 Le Truc Street also maintains a collection of various artifacts from the city.
In addition to the various touristic attractions in Hué itself, the city also offers day-trips to the Demilitarized Zone lying approximately 70 km north, showing various war settings like The Rockpile, Khe Sanh Combat Base or the Vinh Moc tunnels.
The first 11 months of 2012, Huế received 2.4 million visitors, an increase of 24.6% from the same period of 2011. 803,000 of those 2.4 million visitors were foreign guests, an increase of 25.7%.
Although tourism plays a key role in the city's socioeconomic development, it also has negative impacts on the environment and natural resource base. For example, services associated with tourism, such as travel, the development of infrastructure and its operation, and the production and consumption of goods, are all energy-intensive.
Research by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network has identified traditional ‘garden houses’ as having the potential to increase tourist traffic and revenue. Apart from the environmental, economic and cultural benefits provided by garden houses, their promotion could pave the way for other low carbon development initiatives.
IN POPULAR CULTURE
The second half of Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket takes place primarily in and around the bombed-out ruins of the city of Huế. The scenes were filmed in the disused Beckton Gas Works a few miles from central London.
The 6th Campaign mission in Call of Duty: Black Ops, takes place in Hue City.
vietcong 2 from 2005 is set in hue. The player assumes the role of an American MACV soldier and young Vietcong recruit fighting before and during the Tet Offensive.
INFRASTRUCTURE
HEALTH
The Huế Central Hospital, established in 1894, was the first Western hospital in Vietnam. The hospital, providing 2078 beds and occupying 120,000 square meters, is one of three largest in the country along with Bạch Mai Hospital in Hanoi and Chợ Rẫy Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, and is managed by the Ministry of Health.
TRANSPORTATION
Huế has a railway station with connections to all major Vietnamese cities. Phu Bai International Airport is located just south of the city centre.
WIKIPEDIA
I've been wanting to try photographing smoke for a while. I finally bought some incense sticks and proceeded to smoke-up and stink-up my home office. Graham Jeffery has an excellent blog entry on how to photograph smoke. If you're interested, I'd head over there to see his photos and read about his technique. I'll post some comments on my blog when I get a chance. I colorized some of these images in Photoshop. Those that are more subtlety colored (about half of them) show the natural colors of the smoke itself (with some saturation added in a few cases).
Strobist Info: 1/250 at f/10. Canon 580 EX II on full power camera right with two "gobos" to the sides of my flash to block light from hitting the lens and background. See the setup shot for more information.
Ganga Aarti
Gange aarti is performed daily in the evening by a group of priests at the Dashashwamedh ghat. Through the aarti, Agni Pooja is performed in which a commitment is made to the Lord Shiva, Mata Gange, Surya, Agni (Fire) as well as the whole universe made by the Lord Shiva.
It is performed by the brass lamps which accompanied with the mantra chant in the presence of the huge crowd.
All the priests wear same cloth, the dhoti and kurta which is tightly bind with a long towel. First they make preparation of the Gange aarti by making collection of the five elevated planks, a multi tiered oil lamp, an idol of the Goddess Ganga, flowers, incense sticks, a conch shell, a big and heavy brass lamp having a snake hood at the edge of the River Gange. A group of boats filled with devotees come around the place of aarti at the bank of River.
Varanasi.org.in
Ganga Aarti
Gange aarti is performed daily in the evening by a group of priests at the Dashashwamedh ghat. Through the aarti, Agni Pooja is performed in which a commitment is made to the Lord Shiva, Mata Gange, Surya, Agni (Fire) as well as the whole universe made by the Lord Shiva.
It is performed by the brass lamps which accompanied with the mantra chant in the presence of the huge crowd.
All the priests wear same cloth, the dhoti and kurta which is tightly bind with a long towel. First they make preparation of the Gange aarti by making collection of the five elevated planks, a multi tiered oil lamp, an idol of the Goddess Ganga, flowers, incense sticks, a conch shell, a big and heavy brass lamp having a snake hood at the edge of the River Gange. A group of boats filled with devotees come around the place of aarti at the bank of River.
Varanasi.org.in
Ganga Aarti
Gange aarti is performed daily in the evening by a group of priests at the Dashashwamedh ghat. Through the aarti, Agni Pooja is performed in which a commitment is made to the Lord Shiva, Mata Gange, Surya, Agni (Fire) as well as the whole universe made by the Lord Shiva.
It is performed by the brass lamps which accompanied with the mantra chant in the presence of the huge crowd.
All the priests wear same cloth, the dhoti and kurta which is tightly bind with a long towel. First they make preparation of the Gange aarti by making collection of the five elevated planks, a multi tiered oil lamp, an idol of the Goddess Ganga, flowers, incense sticks, a conch shell, a big and heavy brass lamp having a snake hood at the edge of the River Gange. A group of boats filled with devotees come around the place of aarti at the bank of River.
Varanasi.org.in
At the Hemis monastery Summer festival in Ladakh
The Hemis festival is dedicated to Lord Padmasambhava (Guru Rimpoche) venerated as the Dance Performance at Hemis Monastery representative reincarnate of Buddha. He is believed to have been born on the 10th day of the fifth month of the Monkey year as predicted by the Buddha Shakyamuni. It is also believed that his life mission was, and remains, to improve the spiritual condition of all living beings. And so on this day, which comes once in a cycle of 12 years, Hemis observes a major extravaganza in his memory. The observance of these sacred rituals is believed to give spiritual strength and good health. The Hemis festival takes place in the rectangular courtyard in front of the main door of the monastery. The space is wide and open save two raised square platforms, three feet high with a sacred pole in the center. A raised dias with a richly cushioned seat with a finely painted small Tibetan table is placed with the ceremonial items - cups full of holy water, uncooked rice, tormas made of dough and butter and incense sticks. A number of musicians play the traditional music with four pairs of cymbals, large-pan drums, small trumpets and large size wind instruments. Next to them, a small space is assigned for the lamas to sit. (Wikipedia)
I tried to shoot a few interesting pictures of smoke trails with a stick of incense. I'm not entirely happy with the results, I'll reshoot later.
Lessons learned:
- Using a snoot or flagging the flash is important to reduce a noisy background to pure black.
- Use a reflector to balance the light.
- Experiment more with colour gels.
- Use a flexible flash/lightstand instead of manual holding and pointing.
- Open a few windows.
- Incense burns up relatively fast, time is critical.
Loy Krathong is a Thai festival held on the full moon each November. Many people assemble near a river or lake and float ("loy") a small biodegradable raft ("krathong") on which there are elaborately folded banana leaves, flowers, candles, and incense sticks. Thai people believe that this honours and pays respect to the Goddess of Water. Here, the queen of the festival holds the krathong and will float it in the water.
Best viewed large on black. This photo was taken with a non-digital F601 camera.
Strobist info: ISO 100, F/8.0 at 1/200th sec. 2 580 EX's - one below incense sticks @1/4 power with green gel shooting straight up, one camera right positioned higher @1/4 power shooting across. Both speedlights were gobo'ed to keep light off black seamless background.
When smoke rises high enough, the bare speedlight dominates while the gelled strobe below adds subtle hints.
It has been yet another wet and cold Sunday afternoon here in England, so I had an hour to have a play with my camera.... This shot is pretty much SOOC using an 85mm f/1.8 lens with off camera flash and of course the obligatory incense stick.....
Thanks for looking and I hope you like it.
Looks great on Black ~ L View on black
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The final uploads from the temple, an amazing pace, blended in with the massive new buildings all around, and yet here was peace.
Wednesday.
I awoke at eight the next morning with a wooly head, I had just woken from 13 hours sleep! I was supposed to have met Anni for breakfast some half an hour before, so I quickly dressed and went downstairs to find she had tried to call me on my mobile and on the internal phone in my room, neither of which had stirred me.
So, after breakfast we decided to head out into the city and see what we could see. I had read little of Tianjin before travelling, so it came as a surprise to learn that the centre of the city was a half hour taxi ride away.
And so we hurtled off back down the motorway dodging from lane to lane, passing trucks on either side. Once again we lived to tell the tale. Once in the city, we went down wide and busy streets, until the driver pulled off a 180 degree turn scattering scooter riders and pedestrians in all directions before dumping us at the kerb.
Before us was a Chinese arch, and beyond the historic street, which we hoped would be at least photogenic. In the end it turned out to be hundreds of tourist tat shops, but the people and the stuff they sold were interesting. We wandered around, trying to avoid eye contact as the owners tried to sell us something gaudy. On reflection, buying some gaudy tat would have been good I think. Instead we walked on.
We had also decided to try to find and ride the Tianjin Eye, a huge Ferris Wheel, we had seen it as we rode across a bridge, so we walked along the river hoping to find it. As we walked under a bridge festooned with lions, there about a mile away was the Eye.
So, we walked in the bright sunshine, with the sun beating down, past pleasure boats, but mostly locals fishing and smoking. They seemed to catch stuff, which shows that the river was clean.
The wheel is built in the central reservation of a main highway in the middle of the bridge that carries the road over the river. And an impressive piece of engineering it looks to. It was seven quid to ride, which seemed fine to us, despite there being many empty pods, we were encouraged to enter one already occupied by a young couple. Oh well.
From the top we spied a temple complex near the bottom of the eye, so once off the wheel we walked across a not very busy road, through a small indoor market and to the gates of the tmple. Hmmm, tickets would be needed, lets see if I could go to the kiosk and buy a couple.
Using the old tactic of holding two fingers up and handing over loads of cash, I managed to buy two cheap tickets and get change back too. So we went in.
I guess its surprising to find that the Chinese are so religious, after decades of communist rule, and yet there were hundreds there, praying, lighting incense sticks and doing lots of bowing to statues. We wandered around, taking shots, just enjoying being there.
It was mid-afternoon, and we were hot, could we find a place to rest and get a drink? Well, it took a while, in the end we found our way back to the old town, we bought a couple of bottles of water, but were still thirsty. We found a fast food place and managed to order two Cokes, despite the waitress claiming not to have heard of it, there was even a soda fountain behind here. So with pointing and talking slower and louder, she got it, and brought us two cups of Coke, and we were happy.
Next we had to find our way back to the hotel, so we tried to get a taxi to take us back. The first couple refused, but the third seemed to know they way, yet took us a different route, but got us back in roughly the same amount of time.
Time then for a cold beer before dinner.
Cheers
A temple employee hands out Incense sticks at the busy Xingtian temple in Taipei. The temple boasts of an inner courtyard where nuns read prayers and visitors make offering of fruits.
It is a new temple (built in the 1960s) but very beautiful.
In a "slum" community in Bangalore, India. Many of the families here rely on income from making incense sticks for their survival.
I've been wanting to try photographing smoke for a while. I finally bought some incense sticks and proceeded to smoke-up and stink-up my home office. Graham Jeffery has an excellent blog entry on how to photograph smoke. If you're interested, I'd head over there to see his photos and read about his technique. I'll post some comments on my blog when I get a chance. I colorized some of these images in Photoshop. Those that are more subtlety colored (about half of them) show the natural colors of the smoke itself (with some saturation added in a few cases).
All of my smoke images were created with two light sources. The first was natural light coming through an window on the left. I doubt the natural light contributed much (if anything), because my shutter speed was 1/250 and the f-stop was f/10. To the right of the smoke I placed a Canon Speedlite set to full power. Those setting pretty much nuked any ambient light. To prevent any light from spilling onto the background, and flaring into the lens, I attached a couple of 4" X 8" cardboard "gobos" to the sides of my flash (using Velcro). I wish now that I had taken a setup shot. Oh well, next time.
fisheye photo print painted with b & w acrylic using incense sticks & an old pencil.
35mm lomo fisheye.
Reel # 8
The final uploads from the temple, an amazing pace, blended in with the massive new buildings all around, and yet here was peace.
Wednesday.
I awoke at eight the next morning with a wooly head, I had just woken from 13 hours sleep! I was supposed to have met Anni for breakfast some half an hour before, so I quickly dressed and went downstairs to find she had tried to call me on my mobile and on the internal phone in my room, neither of which had stirred me.
So, after breakfast we decided to head out into the city and see what we could see. I had read little of Tianjin before travelling, so it came as a surprise to learn that the centre of the city was a half hour taxi ride away.
And so we hurtled off back down the motorway dodging from lane to lane, passing trucks on either side. Once again we lived to tell the tale. Once in the city, we went down wide and busy streets, until the driver pulled off a 180 degree turn scattering scooter riders and pedestrians in all directions before dumping us at the kerb.
Before us was a Chinese arch, and beyond the historic street, which we hoped would be at least photogenic. In the end it turned out to be hundreds of tourist tat shops, but the people and the stuff they sold were interesting. We wandered around, trying to avoid eye contact as the owners tried to sell us something gaudy. On reflection, buying some gaudy tat would have been good I think. Instead we walked on.
We had also decided to try to find and ride the Tianjin Eye, a huge Ferris Wheel, we had seen it as we rode across a bridge, so we walked along the river hoping to find it. As we walked under a bridge festooned with lions, there about a mile away was the Eye.
So, we walked in the bright sunshine, with the sun beating down, past pleasure boats, but mostly locals fishing and smoking. They seemed to catch stuff, which shows that the river was clean.
The wheel is built in the central reservation of a main highway in the middle of the bridge that carries the road over the river. And an impressive piece of engineering it looks to. It was seven quid to ride, which seemed fine to us, despite there being many empty pods, we were encouraged to enter one already occupied by a young couple. Oh well.
From the top we spied a temple complex near the bottom of the eye, so once off the wheel we walked across a not very busy road, through a small indoor market and to the gates of the tmple. Hmmm, tickets would be needed, lets see if I could go to the kiosk and buy a couple.
Using the old tactic of holding two fingers up and handing over loads of cash, I managed to buy two cheap tickets and get change back too. So we went in.
I guess its surprising to find that the Chinese are so religious, after decades of communist rule, and yet there were hundreds there, praying, lighting incense sticks and doing lots of bowing to statues. We wandered around, taking shots, just enjoying being there.
It was mid-afternoon, and we were hot, could we find a place to rest and get a drink? Well, it took a while, in the end we found our way back to the old town, we bought a couple of bottles of water, but were still thirsty. We found a fast food place and managed to order two Cokes, despite the waitress claiming not to have heard of it, there was even a soda fountain behind here. So with pointing and talking slower and louder, she got it, and brought us two cups of Coke, and we were happy.
Next we had to find our way back to the hotel, so we tried to get a taxi to take us back. The first couple refused, but the third seemed to know they way, yet took us a different route, but got us back in roughly the same amount of time.
Time then for a cold beer before dinner.
Cheers
Joss paper folded into 'gold bars', with incense sticks and a beverage as an offerings.
Kuan Tai is the Anglicized spelling of Guan Yu, an important general during the Three Kingdoms period in China, being now worshipped both in Taoism and Buddhism.
Learn more about at my travelog.
the chicken village also had a bunch of monks who maufactured incense sticks. this was a monky putting the wet incense goo on sticks. after that, they put the sticks out in the sun to dry.
Ganga Aarti
Gange aarti is performed daily in the evening by a group of priests at the Dashashwamedh ghat. Through the aarti, Agni Pooja is performed in which a commitment is made to the Lord Shiva, Mata Gange, Surya, Agni (Fire) as well as the whole universe made by the Lord Shiva.
It is performed by the brass lamps which accompanied with the mantra chant in the presence of the huge crowd.
All the priests wear same cloth, the dhoti and kurta which is tightly bind with a long towel. First they make preparation of the Gange aarti by making collection of the five elevated planks, a multi tiered oil lamp, an idol of the Goddess Ganga, flowers, incense sticks, a conch shell, a big and heavy brass lamp having a snake hood at the edge of the River Gange. A group of boats filled with devotees come around the place of aarti at the bank of River.
Varanasi.org.in
I've been wanting to try photographing smoke for a while. I finally bought some incense sticks and proceeded to smoke-up and stink-up my home office. Graham Jeffery has an excellent blog entry on how to photograph smoke. If you're interested, I'd head over there to see his photos and read about his technique. I'll post some comments on my blog when I get a chance. I colorized some of these images in Photoshop. Those that are more subtlety colored (about half of them) show the natural colors of the smoke itself (with some saturation added in a few cases).
All of my smoke images were created with two light sources. The first was natural light coming through an window on the left. I doubt the natural light contributed much (if anything), because my shutter speed was 1/250 and the f-stop was f/10. To the right of the smoke I placed a Canon Speedlite set to full power. Those setting pretty much nuked any ambient light. To prevent any light from spilling onto the background, and flaring into the lens, I attached a couple of 4" X 8" cardboard "gobos" to the sides of my flash (using Velcro). I wish now that I had taken a setup shot. Oh well, next time.
I tried to shoot a few interesting pictures of smoke trails with a stick of incense. I'm not entirely happy with the results, I'll reshoot later.
Lessons learned:
- Using a snoot or flagging the flash is important to reduce a noisy background to pure black.
- Use a reflector to balance the light.
- Experiment more with colour gels.
- Use a flexible flash/lightstand instead of manual holding and pointing.
- Open a few windows.
- Incense burns up relatively fast, time is critical.
Joss paper to be folded into boxes, with incense sticks and other offerings.
Kuan Tai is the Anglicized spelling of Guan Yu, an important general during the Three Kingdoms period in China, being now worshipped both in Taoism and Buddhism.
Learn more about at my travelog.
Die Gestaltung des Balinesischen Gartens folgt den auf Bali vorhandenen Vorbildern und soll den Besuchern Geist und symbolischen Inhalt balinesischer Kultur vermitteln. Im Gegensatz zur überwiegend muslimisch geprägten Bevölkerung Indonesiens haben die Balinesen ihre ganz eigene Kultur. Der auf Bali vorherrschende Hinduismus mischt sich mit alten Bräuchen und Sitten, dem Respekt vor der Natur und dem Streben der Balinesen nach Harmonie in allen Lebensbereichen zu einer einzigartigen Glaubens- und Kulturform. Ein Mensch sollte stets im Einklang mit sich selbst, mit seiner Umgebung - das heißt mit der Natur und den anderen Menschen - und mit dem gesamten Universum leben. Dieses dreigeteilte Harmonieprinzip findet sich im Balinesischen Garten immer wieder und ist auch Grundlage für den Namen des Gartens: "Garten der drei Harmonien - TRI HITA KARANA". Der Balinesische Garten ist ein Beispiel für die Anordnung einer Wohnanlage im südlichen Bali. (Quelle: Senatsverwaltung für Umwelt, Verkehr und Klimaschutz, gekürzt)
The Balinese Garden, which opened in 2003 as the Garden of the Three Harmonies or Tri Hita Karana, grew out of town twinning links forged between Berlin and Jakarta. Most of the structural elements in the garden, designed by Indonesian architects I Putu Edy Semara, were pre-fabricated in Bali and assembled in Berlin by Balinese craftsmen.
For the IGA Berlin 2017, this exotic garden was both revamped and rehoused in the new, 14m-high, energy-efficient Tropical Hall which has provided an additional 2000 square metres of tropical planting around the Balinese Garden.
The Balinese Garden reflects man’s struggle for harmony: harmony among people, with the environment and with the universe. A garden planted according to design criteria alone is unknown in traditional Bali, where tropical forest flora merges with the species cultivated by villagers: plants that are used for eating, as remedies or as religious offerings.
In the heart of the garden stands a compound typical of those to be found in southern Bali, surrounded by a wall of whitewashed brick. Visitors enter this private area through a gate called the angkul angkul. It is here that they see the first evidence of the ubiquitous trinity of the Balinese Garden of the Three Harmonies, for the gate comprises a base with steps (representing the foot), a teak door (the body) and a mighty capped roof (the head).
The family temple, or sanggah, inside the compound is enclosed within another wall. In Bali, offerings of flowers, fruit and incense sticks are placed on these high-plinthed shrines every day. The largest building in the compound is the all-purpose bale dangin, a roofed pavilion that serves a number of different functions. It is where offerings are prepared, where the family sleeps, weaves, sews and plays. The paved area in front of the bale dangin marks the centre of the compound and is a place of encounter and exchange.
Just behind the compound starts the ancient tropical forest which contains many species commonly found in Europe as houseplants or in botanical gardens. (Souce: Grün Berlin Group, abbreviated)
Ganga Aarti is a spectacular evening ceremony that takes place everyday at the Dashashwamedh Ghat in Varanasi (India) at the bank of the holy river Ganga. This ceremony is attended by thousands of visitors everyday and considered as one of the most colourful event of India.
A group of young priests dressed up with silky robes conduct this ceremony. The Aarti (puja offerings) starts with the chanting of hymns and prayers in the praise of the Holy River. After that, the priests perform different offerings in choreographed manner from their respective platforms which include - blowing of conch shells, burning of incense sticks and waving them in an elaborate synchronized manner in all the directions with their right hand, while ringing the ceremonial prayer bell with the left hand, circular waving of large multi-tiered oil lamps and a big brass camphor lamp, with a dramatic snake hood in clockwise directions, to and fro in a synchronized manner, and waving of the Peacock’s feather and Yak-tail fan in similar choreographed manner. The priests end the ceremony by pouring a bowl of water into the river. Upon which, the devotees let go of thousands of small oil lamps with flowers on a leaf to float on the river that would look like numerous stars on the water.
The whole ceremony is a spectacle of sound and colour and takes around 45 minutes. The devotional chanting, the pulsating sound of ceremonial bells, gongs and drums, the circular waving of large lamps, the heavy air from the burning incense, the floating floral lamps, all create a magical, enchanted atmosphere that makes for a dramatic sensory experience well worth experiencing.
Images of India
17th Century Lama Temple or Yonghe Temple/ -Lamasery is a temple and monastery of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. NE of city centre. The complex is about 400x100 meters. Metro station: Yonghegong Lama Temple (line 2 and 5).
I went there late afternoon to avoid big crowds. I went in 15:45 hour. No line at the ticket counter. Good. Entrance is only 25 yuan (€3). Entrance fee to these attractions cost so little compared to European cities. You gotta love Beijing. From the ticket office to the temple complex is a 150m walk. Included in the price is a packet of incense sticks which is handed out at the entrance of the temple complex.
I was first observing everyone for a couple of minutes to understand how it is done…
You've got to burn the sticks then walk towards the temple and kneel on the leather cushion while holding the sticks above your head with two hands. Than pray for a while (I think). Then bow three times. Stand up, rotate to the right 90 degrees and bow, while standing, three times still holding the sticks above your head. Then throw the sticks in the big black box. Okay, I can do that. So I burned the entire packet of sticks at the first temple. Behind that were many more temples but I was out of sticks. Mmmmnnnnn. Good one Gilbert. Nice. Idiot. At 16:30 hour they were closing the doors of a couple temples and at 16:45 hours we were forced towards the exit. Beautiful looking place though.
People getting in line with bunch of burning incense sticks for their turn of praying in a pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Vom 13. April bis zum 15. Oktober 2017 findet die IGA 2017 auf dem erweiterten Gelände der Gärten der Welt in Berlin-Marzahn stattt.
Der Balinesische Garten in der Tropenhalle ist ein Beispiel für die Anordnung eines Wohnkomplexes im südlichen Bali. Eine Lehmziegelmauer grenzt die Wohnanlage von der Umgebung ab.
Der Haus- oder Familientempel („Sanggah“) innerhalb der Wohnanlage ist erneut durch eine Mauer abgegrenzt. Die Schreine auf den hohen Sockeln erhalten in Bali täglich neue Opfergaben aus Blumen, Früchten und Räucherstäbchen.
Das größte Gebäude der Wohnanlage ist ein Allzweckbau. Der „Bale Dangin“ genannte, überdachte Pavillon dient den unterschiedlichsten Beschäftigungen. Neben der Wohnanlage befinden sich in der Tropenhalle der IGA Reisterrassen.
The International Garden Show (IGA) 2017 is being held from 13 April to October 15, 2017, in the enlarged area of the "Gardens of the World" Park in the Berlin borough of Marzahn-Hellersdorf.
The Balinese Garden in the Tropical Glasshouse is an example of the design of a residential compound in South Bali. A clay brick wall separates the compound from the surrounding. The house or family temple "Sanggah") inside the compound is separated by another wall The shrines on high pedestals are redecorated daily in Bali with new offerings of flowers, fruit and incense sticks. The largest building on the compound, a pavilion called "Bale Dangin" serves multiple purposes. In the IGA Tropical Hall the residential compound is near the neighbouring rice terraces.
It is heavily overcast today, not the greatest weather for outdoor photography. So what to take for my Project 365?
For some reason or other, Pam had got a packet of incense sticks and the holder out of the cupboard. A decent subject and a bit of a challenge but how to make it interesting.
I placed the burning stick in front of my monitor (the only thing close to hand that was an even dark colour) and placed an angled light below, to the left and behind . Set the camera on my tripod and used Live View to focus manually on the hot tip of the stick.
Then I gently blew the smoke in the hope that it would form an interesting pattern. It took several shots to get something reasonable that I hope you will like.
Now I must go don my kaftan, find the patchouli oil and put on my love beads :-) Love and peace. .
Canon 5D Mk II with a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens.
smoke picture, taken with incense sticks, on my balcony. use flash and superdark background, open air and vast space works the best for it!
In the Hindu culture, it is a common practice to offer flowers and other paraphernalia to a God/Deity for blessings or appeasement. A variety of flowers, coconuts and incense sticks are commonly offered by devotees.
Pictured here is a row of women selling flowers and offerings to visitors outside the Mangeshi temple in Goa. On Sundays, the road leading to the temple is abuzz with devotees, visitors, mobile shops, food stalls, flower vendors and the occasional cow.
Best viewed: Large On Black
Jan 01, 2012.
Goa, India.
i know this isn't really like any of my photography, but i played with incense sticks yesterday and i ended up liking this picture a lot more than any others.
"Loy Krathong (or Loi Kratong, Thai ลอยกระทง) is a festival celebrated annually throughout Thailand. It is held on the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar, in the western calendar this usually falls into November.
“Loi” means “to float”. “Krathong” is a raft about a handspan in diameter traditionally made from a section of banana tree trunk (although modern-day versions often use styrofoam), decorated with elaborately-folded banana leaves, flowers, candles, incense sticks etc. During the night of the full moon, many people will release a small raft like this on a river. Governmental offices, corporations and other organizations also build much bigger and more elaborate rafts, and these are often judged in contests. In addition, fireworks and beauty contests take place during the festival."
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Please visit margaridaperola and help margaridaperola in her action for the kids...
That woman was holding and lighting a giant incense stick. Apparently, the bigger the incense stick (and the more $ you spend at the monastery), the more likely you wishes would be granted. At least so says the monastery (or any places of worship really).
I tried to shoot a few interesting pictures of smoke trails with a stick of incense. I'm not entirely happy with the results, I'll reshoot later.
Lessons learned:
- Using a snoot or flagging the flash is important to reduce a noisy background to pure black.
- Use a reflector to balance the light.
- Experiment more with colour gels.
- Use a flexible flash/lightstand instead of manual holding and pointing.
- Open a few windows.
- Incense burns up relatively fast, time is critical.