Center portion of the inscription on the breech of the south mortar at the USS Maine Mast Memorial. Two Spanish mortars, a flagstone plaza, and an American anchor with a memorial plaque make up the western part of the memorial. There is a great deal of confusion that's been printed about just what is here.

 

Some sources say the bronze mortars (they are mortars, not cannon per se) were captured in Cuba, while others say they were taken from Spanish warshipr or are American guns. Well, here's the documentary proof: They are both Spanish, and they were both at Cavite Arsenal in the Philippines.

 

There's widespread confusion about the anchor, too. The USS Maine carried two anchors -- and neither is at Arlington National Cemetery. One anchor was given to the United Spanish War Veterans, who melted it down and made insignia for its members. The other anchor is in City Park in Reading, Pennsylvania. Representative John H. Rothermel used political connections to obtain the anchor from the Washington Navy Yard, which had possession of it. The anchor was dedicated on August 1, 1914, by then-Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt in front of a crowd of about 13,000 people. If one looks carefully at photos of the USS Maine, it's blatantly obvious that the ship's anchors look nothing like the one at the memorial.

 

Just where the USS Maine Mast Memorial anchor comes from is unclear. That is was manufactured is clear. The plaque makes no claim that this anchor came from the USS Maine. Arlington National Cemetery (which cannot be relied on for accuracy) claims it came from the Boston Navy Yard. Whether it was manufactured for the memorial, or for some other purpose, is unclear.

 

---------------------

 

The USS Maine Mast Memorial is located on Sigsbee Drive in Arlington National Cemetery. The monument is due west of Arlington Memorial Amphitheater.

 

An insurrection began in Cuba in 1892 against Spanish coloniel rule. The Spanish response was brutal, involving prison camps in which hundreds of thousands of Cubans died. Anti-independence riots in Havana were fomented by Spanish Army officers in January, and the USS Maine sent there on a "goodwill tour" to help protect American lives and property. The USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898, killing about 266 of its 354 crew. The keel of the front third of the ship was obliterated. Its upper deck flew into the air, twisted upside down, and landed on the deck of the middle third. Amazingly, the rear third of the ship was almost completely intact, and most of the survivors (nearly all of them officers) were back there. The Maine settled into the bottom of the harbor, its upper decks just barely below the water at low tide.

 

In the month before war broke out, 166 bodies (or pieces of bodies) were found floating had been buried at Colon. Another 25 bodies were buried in Key West.

 

What caused the explosion is unclear, but the American press believed it was a naval mine laid by the Spanish. The U.S. went to war with Spain, liberting Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Guam, and Wake Island. The war lasted just 10 weeks.

 

After the war, pressure built to "bring home the dead of the Maine". In December 1899, amid much pomp and press coverage, the 166 bodies in Havana were disinterred and brought by battleship to the United States. These bodies were buried in a field just north of other other Spanish-American War dead, just west of a gravel pit. (That gravel pit is the Memorial Amphitheater today.) President William McKinley, his Cabinet, and most Army and Navy leaders attended the funeral along with 25,000 citizens.

 

The first memorial to the Maine dead was constructed in the first six months of 1900. Near the field of the Maine dead a concrete base was poured. Two Spanish mortars — taken by Admiral George Dewey from Cavite Arsenal in Manila, The Philippines, at the end of the Spanish-American War — were placed on brick piers on either side of this base. In the center of the concrete pad was an anchor. The anchor was manufactured specifically for the site. The 2-short-ton (1.8-long-ton) anchor was hand-welded using rough iron to give it a unique look. A slightly worm-eaten wooden crossbar was inserted into the top of the anchor. The crossbar was painted black to protect it, and on the crossbar a brass tablet was riveted to the crossbar on which was written:

 

U. S. S. MAINE

Blown Up February Fifteenth, 1898.

Here Lie the Remains of One-Hundred Sixty-three Men of

'The Maine's' Crew Brought From Havana, Cuba.

Reinterred at Arlington, December Twenty-eight, 1899.

 

The Maine memorial mimicked a similar memorial of four captured guns erected previously that year in the Santiago campaign burial field. (These guns formed the basis for the Spanish-American War Memorial, erected in 1902.)

 

In 1910, Congress enacted legislation to raise the wreck of the Maine and recover the remaining 76 bodies. A cofferdam began to be built around the wreck on December 6, 1910, and the ship began to be revealed by May 1911. Partial remains of a number of bodies, many of them burned, were recovered. Most of the foreward third of the Maine was mangled metal and quietly dumped at sea (although some was too heavy to lift from the mud, and was destroyed by dynamite and left there). The middle third was cut away, and also dumped at sea. The rear third was refloated, and on March 16, 1912, it was towed two miles out to sea and sunk with full military honors and battleship gun salutes. On March 22, 1912, President William Howard Taft oversaw the burial of what were believed to be the remains of 67 sailors.

 

The legislation authorizing the raising of the USS Maine also authorized a memorial to be built at Arlington National Cemetery.

 

The memorial consists of the main mast of the USS Maine set upright into the center of a circular, stylized mausoleum shaped to look like a battleship gun turret. The structure is 90 feet (27 m) in diameter and 15 feet (4.6 m) high. The mast pierces the roof the memorial, and is sunk into the floor inside. The mausoleum is constructed of reinforced concrete, sheathed in tan granite on the outside and white marble on the interior. The names and ranks of those who died aboard the Maine are carved into the exterior of the mausoleum, organized into 23 panels. There are 11 slit windows with bronze grills in the wall of structure. The interior roof is a shallow dome, and the interior floor is lined with mosaic tile. The single entry to the mausoleum has two doors. The inner door is made of wood, and half the ship's bell (retrieved from the ocean floor in 1911) is attached to the outer side of this door. The outer door is a bronze gate decorated with metal rope and anchors. Ceremonial stone funeral urns stand on either side of the entryway. Above the door is carved the following: "Erected in memory of the officers and men who lost their lives in the destruction of the U.S.S. Maine, Habana, Cuba, February 15, 1898".

 

Sigsbee Drive encircles the memorial. On the east side of the memorial is a concrete pad on which the anchor manufactured in 1900 sits. Two bronze Spanish mortars, cast in the 1700s and captured during the Spanish-American War by Admiral George Dewey at Cavite Arsenal in the Philippines, flank the anchor. Originally, these mortars were placed atop brick piers with concrete caps. But when the anchor and mortars were incorporated into the new memorial, two granite balustrades were added along the roadway near the mortars.

 

Processed with VSCO with c1 preset

The picnic table is in the right and bottom third of the photo, but the photo could have been better if I had balanced it out with something else interesting on the left.

Our Daily Challenge

 

I found this beautiful fountain outside the library in Peachtree City. The photo meets the rule of thirds because the subject hits the horizontal and vertical bottom third marks and spreads your attention across the picture. It is not all in the middle of the print.

 

I would ask my students to compare the original photograph to the enhanced version and state which one they prefer and why. I think the word “mood” would enter into the discussion.

 

The value of this assignment lies in the fact that hopefully, most of my photos will no longer have the subject matter squarely in the middle of the frame. It also gave me the motivation to try some of the features available on PhotoElements 6 and determine which effects I found useful.

 

 

 

Remembrance Sunday

 

In the United Kingdom, Remembrance Sunday is held on the second Sunday in November, which is the Sunday nearest to 11 November Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War at 11 a.m. on 11 November 1918. Remembrance Sunday is held to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts.

 

Remembrance Sunday is marked by ceremonies at local war memorials in most cities, towns and villages, attended by civic dignitaries, ex-servicemen and -women, members of local armed forces regular and reserve units, military cadet forces and uniformed youth organisations. Wreaths of remembrance poppies are laid on the memorials and two minutes’ silence is observed at 11 a.m.

 

The United Kingdom national ceremony is held in London at the Cenotaph in Whitehall. Wreaths are laid by Queen Elizabeth II, principal members of the Royal Family normally including the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of York, the Princess Royal, the Earl of Wessex and the Duke of Kent, the Prime Minister, leaders of the other major political parties, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Commonwealth High Commissioners and representatives from the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force, the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets and the civilian services, and veterans’ groups. Two minutes' silence is held at 11 a.m., before the laying of the wreaths. This silence is marked by the firing of a field gun on Horse Guards Parade to begin and end the silence, followed by Royal Marines buglers sounding Last Post.

 

The parade consists mainly of an extensive march past, with military bands playing music following the list of the Traditional Music of Remembrance.

 

Other members of the British Royal Family watch from the balcony of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

 

After the ceremony, a parade of veterans and other related groups, organised by the Royal British Legion, marches past the Cenotaph, each section of which lays a wreath as it passes. Only ticketed participants can take part in the march past.

 

From 1919 until the Second World War remembrance observance was always marked on 11 November itself. It was then moved to Remembrance Sunday, but since the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in 1995, it has become usual to hold ceremonies on both Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.

 

Each year, the programme of music at the National Ceremony remains the same, following a programme finalised in 1930:

 

Rule, Britannia! by Thomas Arne

Heart of Oak by William Boyce

The Minstrel Boy by Thomas Moore

Men of Harlech

The Skye Boat Song

Isle of Beauty by Thomas Haynes Bayly

David of the White Rock

Oft in the Stilly Night by John Stevenson

Flowers of the Forest

Nimrod from the Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar

Dido's lament by Henry Purcell

O Valiant Hearts by Charles Harris

Solemn Melody by Walford Davies

Last Post – a bugle call

Beethoven's Funeral March No. 1, by Johann Heinrich Walch

O God, Our Help in Ages Past – words by Isaac Watts, music by William Croft

Reveille – a bugle call

God Save The Queen

Other pieces of music are then played during the march past and wreath laying by veterans, starting with Trumpet Voluntary and followed by It's A Long Way To Tipperary, the marching song of the Connaught Rangers, a famous British Army Irish Regiment of long ago.

  

Cenotaph Ceremony and March Past - 10 November 2013 Order of March and Ticket Allocation

 

Column D [Lead Column]

 

Marker NumberDetachmentNo of marchers

 

1War Widows Association 126

2British Gurkha Welfare Society 78

3West Indian Association of Service Personnel 18

4Trucial Oman Scouts Association 18

5Bond Van Wapenbroeders 26

6Polish Ex-Combatants Association in Great Britain Trust Fund 40

7Canadian Veterans Association 10

9Hong Kong Ex-Servicemen's Association (UK Branch) 24

10Hong Kong Military Service Corps 18

11Foreign Legion Association 24

12Not Forgotten Association 54

13The Royal British Legion 348

14The Royal British Legion Poppy Factory 6 New

15The Royal British Legion Scotland 26

16Ulster Defence Regiment72

18Northern Ireland Veterans' Association 42

19Irish United Nations Veterans Association 12

20ONET UK 10

21St Helena Government UK 24

22Commando Veterans Association 30

23South Atlantic Medal Association 196

24SSAFA Forces Help 66

25First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteers Corps) 12

26Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen & Women 48

27British Nuclear Test Veterans Association 48

28British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association 48

29British Ex-Services Wheelchair Sports Association24

30Royal Hospital Chelsea 30

31Queen Alexandra's Hospital Home for Disabled Ex-Servicemen30

32The Royal Star & Garter Homes20

33Combat Stress48

34Walking With The Wounded14

Total 1,590

 

Column E

1Merchant Navy Association 150

2Royal Naval Association 160

3Royal Marines Association 198

4Aircraft Handlers Association36

5Telegraphist Air Gunners Association12

6Aircrewmans Association30

7Cloud Observers Association10

8Fleet Air Arm Armourers Association36

9Fleet Air Arm Association30

10Fleet Air Arm Bucaneer Association24

11Fleet Air Arm Field Gun Association24

12Fleet Air Arm Junglie Association18

13Fleet Air Arm Officers Association40

14Fleet Air Arm Safety Equipment & Survival Association18

15Sea Harrier Association24

16Flower Class Corvette Association18

17LST & Landing Craft Association10

18HMS Andromeda Association18

19HMS Bulwark, Albion & Centaur Association22

20HMS Cumberland Association18

21HMS Ganges Association36

22HMS Glasgow Association30

23HMS St Vincent Association36

24HMS Tiger Association20

25Algerines Association25

26Ton Class Association30

27Type 42 Association35 New

28Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service35

29VAD RN Association18

30Association of WRENS90

31Royal Fleet Auxiliary Association10

32Royal Naval Communications Association30

33Royal Naval Medical Branch Ratings & Sick Berth Staff Association 6

34Royal Naval Benevolent Trust18

35Royal Navy School of Physical Training24

36Russian Convoy Club30

37Yangtze Incident Association24

38Special Boat Service Association 6

39Submariners Association30

40Association of Royal Yachtsmen24

41Broadsword Association36

Total 1,489

 

Column F

1British Korean Veterans Association 500

2National Malaya & Borneo Veterans Association98

3Normandy Veterans Association 6

4National Service Veterans Alliance 150

5Italy Star Association48

6Monte Cassino Society20

7Gallantry Medallists League36

8National Pigeon War Service30

9National Gulf Veterans & Families Association30

10Fellowship of the Services 150

11Burma Star Association50

12Far East Prisoners of War 8

14Memorable Order of Tin Hats36

15Suez Veterans Association50

16Aden Veterans Association84

171st Army Association36

18Showmens' Guild of Great Britain30

19Queen's Bodyguard of The Yeoman of The Guard18

20Popski's Private Army 4

21Pen and Sword Club18

22Black and White Club18 New

Total 1,420

 

Column A

2Royal Northumberland Fusiliers48

3The Duke of Lancaster's Regimental Association30

4Green Howards Association44

6Cheshire Regiment Association24

7Sherwood Foresters & Worcestershire Regiment36

8Mercian Regiment Association30

9Rifles Regimental Association48

10The Rifles & Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire & Wiltshire Regimental Association

30

11Royal Irish Regiment Association12

12Durham Light Infantry Association60

13King's Royal Rifle Corps Association60

14Light Infantry Association48 New

151LI Association36 New

16Royal Green Jackets Association 198

17Parachute Regimental Association 174

18The Royal Regiment of Scotland Association18 New

19Royal Scots Regimental Association40

20King's Own Scottish Borderers50

21Black Watch Association45

22Gordon Highlanders Association60

23Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders Regimental Association 6

24The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)24 New

25Grenadier Guards Association48

26Coldstream Guards Association48

27Scots Guards Association40

28Guards Parachute Association36

294 Company Association (Parachute Regiment)24

30Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment72

32Royal East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) Past & Present Association30

33Royal Sussex Regimental Association12

34Royal Hampshire Regiment Comrades Association12

Total 1,443

 

Column B

 

1Blind Veterans UK 198

2Royal Scots Dragoon Guards30

3Royal Dragoon Guards78

4Queen's Royal Hussars (The Queen's Own & Royal Irish)12

5Kings Royal Hussars Regimental Association96

6The 16/5th Queen's Royal Lancers36 New

7Gurkha Brigade Association36

8JLR RAC Old Boys' Association30

943rd Reconnaissance Regiment Old Comrades Association 6

10Army Dog Unit Northern Ireland Association48

11North Irish Horse & Irish Regiments Old Comrades Association78

12Association of Ammunition Technicians36

13Beachley Old Boys Association36

14Arborfield Old Boys Association18

15Women's Royal Army Corps Association 120

16656 Squadron Association72

17Home Guard Association12

183rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery Association60

19Royal Artillery Association18

20Royal Engineers Association30

21Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal Association65

22Airborne Engineers Association24

23Mill Hill (Postal & Courier Services) Veterans' Association30 New

24Royal Signals Association48

25Army Air Corps Association42

26Royal Army Service Corps & Royal Corps of Transport Association40

27RAOC Association18

28Army Catering Corps Association48

29Royal Pioneer Corps Association54

30Reconnaissance Corps18

31Royal Army Medical Corps Association36

32Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers Association48

33Royal Military Police Association 100

34The RAEC and ETS Branch Association 6

35Royal Army Pay Corps Regimental Association36

36Royal Army Veterinary Corps & Royal Army Dental Corps18

37Intelligence Corps Association30

38Royal Army Physical Training Corps24

39Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps Association48

Total 1,783

 

Column C

 

1Royal Air Forces Association 125

2Royal Air Force Regiment Association 300

3Royal Air Forces Ex-Prisoner's of War Association20

4 Federation of Royal Air Force Apprentice & Boy Entrant Associations 150

5Royal Air Force Air Loadmasters Association24

6Royal Air Force Police Association90

7Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service Association40

8Bomber Command Association20

9Royal Observer Corps Association80

10National Service (Royal Air Force) Association42

11RAFLING Association24

126 Squadron (Royal Air Force) Association18

137 Squadron Association30

14RAF Habbaniya Association30

15Royal Air Force & Defence Fire Services Association30

16Air Sea Rescue & Marine Craft Sections Club12

17Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Association30

18Royal Air Force Butterworth & Penang Association 6

19Royal Air Force Yatesbury Association15

20Royal Air Force Airfield Construction Branch Association12

21Women's Auxiliary Air Force12

22Blenheim Society18

23Coastal Command & Maritime Air Association24

Total 1,152

 

Column M

 

1Transport For London48

2First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteers Corps)24

3Munitions Workers Association18

4Children of the Far East Prisoners of War60

5Evacuees Reunion Association48

6TOC H12

7Salvation Army36

8NAAFI12

10Civil Defence Association10

11British Resistance Movement (Coleshill Auxiliary Research Team)12 New

12National Association of Retired Police Officers36

13Metropolitan Special Constabulary36

14London Ambulance Service NHS Trust36

15London Ambulance Service Retirement Association18

16St John Ambulance36

17St Andrew's Ambulance Association 6

18Firefighters Memorial Trust24

19Royal Ulster Constabulary (GC) Association36

20Ulster Special Constabulary Association30

21Commonwealth War Graves Commission12

22Daniel's Trust36

23Civilians Representing Families85

24Royal Mail Group Ltd24

25Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals24

26The Blue Cross18

27PDSA24

28HM Ships Glorious Ardent & ACASTA Association24

29Old Cryptians' Club12

30Fighting G Club18

31Malayan Volunteers Group12

32Gallipoli Association18

33Ministry of Defence30

34RBL Non Ex-Service Members 123

35Union Jack Club12

36Western Front Association11

37Shot at Dawn Pardons Campaign18

38Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes24

39National Association of Round Tables24

40Lions Club International24

41Rotary International24

4241 Club 6 New

43Equity12

44Romany & Traveller Society18

45Sea Cadet Corps30

46Combined Cadet Force30

47Army Cadet Force30

48Air Training Corps30

49Scout Association30

50Girlguiding London & South East England30

51Boys Brigade30

52Girls Brigade England & Wales30

53Church Lads & Church Girls Brigade30

54Metropolitan Police Volunteer Police Cadets18

55St John Ambulance Cadets18

56British Red Cross12 New

Total 1,489

 

Newindicates first time participation in 2013.

 

Cenotaph Ceremony & March Past - 10 November 2013 Summary of Contingent Composition

Column A1,443

Column B1,783

Column C1,152

Column D1,590

Column E1,489

Column F1,420

Sub-total8,877

Column M1,489

Total 10,366

  

News report on 10 November 2013

 

Remembrance Sunday 2013: The Queen leads nation in honouring fallen heroes

 

Her Majesty laid the first wreath at the Cenotaph on Whitehall as the UK fell silent at 11am in tribute to those who lost their lives in conflict

 

The Queen was joined by Prince Philip and other members of the Royal Family as she led the nation in honouring members of the Armed Forces killed in conflict.

 

The monarch laid the first wreath at the Cenotaph on Whitehall to commemorate all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the decades since the First World War, bowing her head after paying her respects.

 

As Remembrance Sunday services took place around the UK to remember our war dead, the royals, politicians, military leaders, veterans and serving personnel laid wreaths of poppies at the monument.

 

Prince Harry was laying the wreath on behalf of his father Prince Charles, who is currently abroad on an official tour of India with the Duchess of Cornwall, and was marking the occasion there.

 

Kate Middleton, who dressed in a navy, military-style coat, watched from a balcony with Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Princess Anne's husband, Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence.

 

Troops in Afghanistan were joined by the Duke of York, who laid a wreath during a service held at Camp Bastion in Helmand Province to mark Remembrance Sunday.

 

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond also flew to Afghanistan last night to join servicemen and women.

 

Millions across the UK fell silent in tribute to those lost in war, joining the crowds gathered in central London who stood in a moment of quiet contemplation as Big Ben struck 11am.

 

During the two-minute silence, only the distant sounds of traffic and the rustling of leaves could be heard, despite the fact that police said Whitehall was at capacity.

 

The beginning and end of the silence was marked with the firing of a round by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, using a 13-pounder First World War gun.

 

In cold but bright weather, the royals and dignitaries then laid their wreaths at the Cenotaph.

 

Prime Minister David Cameron was first after the royals to do so, followed by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Labour leader Ed Miliband.

 

Former prime ministers Sir John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and London Mayor Boris Johnson also attended the ceremony.

 

The Duchess of Cambridge was accompanied on the Foreign Office balcony by the Countess of Wessex and Vice Admiral Tim Laurence.

 

The Duke of Edinburgh, who joined the Royal Navy in 1939, wore the uniform of an Admiral of the Fleet for the ceremony. Prince Harry, who has undertaken two tours of duty in Afghanistan, wore the uniform of a Captain in the Household Cavalry. His brother William left operational service recently after more than seven years in the forces. He wore the uniform of Royal Air Force Flight Lieutenant.

 

Following the wreath-laying, the Bishop of London the Right Reverend Richard Chartres conducted a short service in his role as Dean of HM Chapels Royal.

 

More than 10,000 veterans and civilians then marched past the Cenotaph to pay their respects to their departed comrades, led this year by members of the War Widows Association, wearing black coats and red scarves.

 

They were all warmly applauded as they paraded past, some veterans in wheelchairs and motorised scooters as they marked the loss of their comrades.

 

There was a large contingent of veterans from the Korean War, the armistice of which was 60 years ago.

 

The 70th anniversaries of the Battle of the Atlantic and the Dambusters' Raid were also marked this year.

 

Yesterday was a big day in the history of NZ traffic regulations. No: We still do not drive / ride on the correct side of the road. ;-) But at least some of the rules known to drivers in other larger countries are now also obeyed in New Zealand. Two rules of the "Give Way" rule changed yesterday for the better and in my eyes more logical rules.

 

In anticipation of this fundamental change, traffic lights were adjusted where there is a crucial intersection and every channel imaginable was used to transmit the information.

 

Fortunately, my daily commute is rather short and governed by traffic lights in both directions so that I can hardly go wrong. And I am more used to this new rule anyway from driving in before coming to New Zealand.

Just having fun with a Great Blue Heron and a rule of thumb with an eye

:)

bend the rules

A Former Rule Breaker Pierre DeVries

Repainted by Caren Castro.

------------------

Name: Liam Rourke

 

Liam has since moved to Georgia

Vegetarian Society members' booklet, 1956

 

Photography Rules Group: flickr.com/groups/photographyrules

Do not sit on the sculpture.

Rules Schmules!!!

Cambodia (/kæmˈboʊdiə/ (About this soundlisten); also Kampuchea /ˌkæmpʊˈtʃiːə/; Khmer: កម្ពុជា Khmer: [kam.pu.ciə]; French: Cambodge), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia (Khmer: ព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា, prĕəh riəciənaacak kampuciə, IPA: [prĕəh riə.ciə.naː.caʔ kam.pu.ciə]; French: Royaume du Cambodge), is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is 181,035 square kilometres in area, bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the northeast, Vietnam to the east and the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest.

 

The sovereign state of Cambodia has a population of over 16 million. The official religion is Theravada Buddhism, practised by approximately 95 percent of the population. The country's minority groups include Vietnamese, Chinese, Chams and 30 hill tribes. The capital and largest city is Phnom Penh, the political, economic and cultural centre of Cambodia. The kingdom is an elective constitutional monarchy with a monarch, currently Norodom Sihamoni, chosen by the Royal Throne Council as head of state. The head of government is the Prime Minister, currently Hun Sen, the longest serving non-royal leader in Southeast Asia, ruling Cambodia since 1985.

 

In 802 AD, Jayavarman II declared himself king, uniting the warring Khmer princes of Chenla under the name "Kambuja". This marked the beginning of the Khmer Empire, which flourished for over 600 years, allowing successive kings to control and exert influence over much of Southeast Asia and accumulate immense power and wealth. The Indianised kingdom facilitated the spread of first Hinduism and then Buddhism to much of Southeast Asia and undertook many religious infrastructural projects throughout the region, including the construction of more than 1,000 temples and monuments in Angkor alone. Angkor Wat is the most famous of these structures and is designated as a World Heritage Site.

 

After the fall of Angkor to Ayutthaya in the 15th century, a reduced and weakened Cambodia was then ruled as a vassal state by its neighbours. In 1863, Cambodia became a protectorate of France, which doubled the size of the country by reclaiming the north and west from Thailand.

 

Cambodia gained independence in 1953. The Vietnam War extended into the country with the US bombing of Cambodia from 1969 until 1973. Following the Cambodian coup of 1970 which installed the right-wing pro-US Khmer Republic, the deposed king gave his support to his former enemies, the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge emerged as a major power, taking Phnom Penh in 1975 and later carrying out the Cambodian genocide from 1975 until 1979, when they were ousted by Vietnam and the Vietnamese-backed People's Republic of Kampuchea, supported by the Soviet Union in the Cambodian–Vietnamese War (1979–91).

 

Following the 1991 Paris Peace Accords, Cambodia was governed briefly by a United Nations mission (1992–93). The UN withdrew after holding elections in which around 90 percent of the registered voters cast ballots. The 1997 factional fighting resulted in the ousting of the government by Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Cambodian People's Party, who remain in power as of 2018.

 

Cambodia is a member of the United Nations since 1955, ASEAN, the East Asia Summit, the WTO, the Non-Aligned Movement and La Francophonie. According to several foreign organisations, the country has widespread poverty, pervasive corruption, lack of political freedoms, low human development and a high rate of hunger. Cambodia has been described by Human Rights Watch's Southeast Asian Director, David Roberts, as a "vaguely communist free-market state with a relatively authoritarian coalition ruling over a superficial democracy".

 

While per capita income remains low compared to most neighboring countries, Cambodia has one of the fastest growing economies in Asia, with growth averaging 7.6 percent over the last decade. Agriculture remains the dominant economic sector, with strong growth in textiles, construction, garments and tourism leading to increased foreign investment and international trade. The US World Justice Project's 2015 Rule of Law Index ranked Cambodia 76 out of 102 countries, similar to other countries in the region.

 

NAME

The "Kingdom of Cambodia" is the official English name of the country. The English "Cambodia" is an anglicisation of the French "Cambodge", which in turn is the French transliteration of the Khmer កម្ពុជា kampuciə. Kampuchea is the shortened alternative to the country's official name in Khmer ព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា prĕəh riəciənaacak kampuciə. The Khmer endonym Kampuchea derives from the Sanskrit name कम्बोजदेश kambojadeśa, composed of देश deśa ("land of" or "country of") and कम्बोज kamboja, which alludes to the foundation myths of the first ancient Khmer kingdom. The term Cambodia was already in use in Europe as early as 1524, since Antonio Pigafetta (an Italian explorer who followed Ferdinand Magellan in his circumnavigation of the globe) cites it in his work Relazione del primo viaggio intorno al mondo (1524-1525) as Camogia.

 

Colloquially, Cambodians refer to their country as either ស្រុកខ្មែរ srok khmae (Khmer pronunciation: [srok ˈkʰmae]), meaning "Khmer's Land", or the slightly more formal ប្រទេសកម្ពុជា prɑteih kampuciə (Khmer pronunciation: [prɑ.ˈteih kam.pu.ciə]), literally "Country of Kampuchea". The name "Cambodia" is used most often in the Western world while "Kampuchea" is more widely used in the East.

 

HISTORY

PRE-HISTORY

There exists sparse evidence for a Pleistocene human occupation of present-day Cambodia, which includes quartz and quartzite pebble tools found in terraces along the Mekong River, in Stung Treng and Kratié provinces, and in Kampot Province, although their dating is unreliable. Some slight archaeological evidence shows communities of hunter-gatherers inhabited the region during Holocene: the most ancient archaeological discovery site in Cambodia is considered to be the cave of L'aang Spean, in Battambang Province, which belongs to the Hoabinhian period. Excavations in its lower layers produced a series of radiocarbon dates around 6000 BC. Upper layers in the same site gave evidence of transition to Neolithic, containing the earliest dated earthenware ceramics in Cambodia

 

Archaeological records for the period between Holocene and Iron Age remain equally limited. A pivotal event in Cambodian prehistory was the slow penetration of the first rice farmers from the north, which began in the late 3rd millennium BC. The most curious prehistoric evidence in Cambodia are the various "circular earthworks" discovered in the red soils near Memot and in the adjacent region of Vietnam in the latter 1950s. Their function and age are still debated, but some of them possibly date from 2nd millennium BC.

Other prehistoric sites of somewhat uncertain date are Samrong Sen (not far from the ancient capital of Oudong), where the first investigations began in 1875, and Phum Snay, in the northern province of Banteay Meanchey. An excavation at Phum Snay revealed 21 graves with iron weapons and cranial trauma which could point to conflicts in the past, possible with larger cities in Angkor. Prehistoric artefacts are often found during mining activities in Ratanakiri. Iron was worked by about 500 BC, with supporting evidence coming from the Khorat Plateau, in modern-day Thailand. In Cambodia, some Iron Age settlements were found beneath Baksei Chamkrong and other Angkorian temples while circular earthworks were found beneath Lovea a few kilometres north-west of Angkor. Burials, much richer than other types of finds, testify to improvement of food availability and trade (even on long distances: in the 4th century BC trade relations with India were already opened) and the existence of a social structure and labour organisation. Also, among the artefacts from the Iron Age, glass beads are important evidence. Different kinds of glass beads recovered from several sites across Cambodia, such as the Phum Snay site in northwest and the Prohear site in southeast, show that there were two main trading networks at the time. The two networks were separated by time and space, which indicate that there was a shift from one network to the other at about 2nd–4th century AD, probably with changes in socio-political powers.

 

PRE-ANGKORIAN AND ANGKORIAN ERA

During the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries, the Indianised states of Funan and its successor, Chenla, coalesced in present-day Cambodia and southwestern Vietnam. For more than 2,000 years, what was to become Cambodia absorbed influences from India, passing them on to other Southeast Asian civilisations that are now Thailand and Laos. Little else is known for certain of these polities, however Chinese chronicles and tribute records do make mention of them. It is believed that the territory of Funan may have held the port known to Alexandrian geographer Claudius Ptolemy as "Kattigara". The Chinese chronicles suggest that after Jayavarman I of Chenla died around 690, turmoil ensued which resulted in division of the kingdom into Land Chenla and Water Chenla which was loosely ruled by weak princes under the dominion of Java.

 

The Khmer Empire grew out of these remnants of Chenla, becoming firmly established in 802 when Jayavarman II (reigned c790-850) declared independence from Java and proclaimed himself a Devaraja. He and his followers instituted the cult of the God-king and began a series of conquests that formed an empire which flourished in the area from the 9th to the 15th centuries. During the rule of Jayavarman VIII the Angkor empire was attacked by the Mongol army of Kublai Khan, however the king was able to buy peace. Around the 13th century, monks from Sri Lanka introduced Theravada Buddhism to Southeast Asia. The religion spread and eventually displaced Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism as the popular religion of Angkor; however it was not the official state religion until 1295; when Indravarman III took power.

 

The Khmer Empire was Southeast Asia's largest empire during the 12th century. The empire's centre of power was Angkor, where a series of capitals were constructed during the empire's zenith. In 2007 an international team of researchers using satellite photographs and other modern techniques concluded that Angkor had been the largest pre-industrial city in the world with an urban sprawl of 2,980 square kilometres. The city, which could have supported a population of up to one million people and Angkor Wat, the best known and best-preserved religious temple at the site, still serves as a reminder of Cambodia's past as a major regional power. The empire, though in decline, remained a significant force in the region until its fall in the 15th century.

 

DARK AGES OF CAMBODIA

After a long series of wars with neighbouring kingdoms, Angkor was sacked by the Ayutthaya Kingdom and abandoned in 1432 because of ecological failure and infrastructure breakdown. This led to a period of economic, social, and cultural stagnation when the kingdom's internal affairs came increasingly under the control of its neighbours. By this time, the Khmer penchant for monument building had ceased. Older faiths such as Mahayana Buddhism and the Hindu cult of the god-king had been supplanted by Theravada Buddhism.

 

The court moved the capital to Longvek where the kingdom sought to regain its glory through maritime trade. The first mention of Cambodia in European documents was in 1511 by the Portuguese. Portuguese travellers described the city as a place of flourishing wealth and foreign trade. The attempt was short-lived however, as continued wars with Ayutthaya and the Vietnamese resulted in the loss of more territory and Longvek being conquered and destroyed by King Naresuan the Great of Ayutthaya in 1594. A new Khmer capital was established at Oudong south of Longvek in 1618, but its monarchs could survive only by entering into what amounted to alternating vassal relationships with the Siamese and Vietnamese for the next three centuries with only a few short-lived periods of relative independence.

 

The hill tribe people in Cambodia were "hunted incessantly and carried off as slaves by the Siamese (Thai), the Annamites (Vietnamese), and the Cambodians".

 

In the nineteenth century a renewed struggle between Siam and Vietnam for control of Cambodia resulted in a period when Vietnamese officials attempted to force the Khmers to adopt Vietnamese customs. This led to several rebellions against the Vietnamese and appeals to Thailand for assistance. The Siamese–Vietnamese War (1841–1845) ended with an agreement to place the country under joint suzerainty. This later led to the signing of a treaty for French Protection of Cambodia by King Norodom Prohmborirak.

 

FRENCH COLONISATION

In 1863, King Norodom, who had been installed by Thailand, sought the protection of Thailand from French rule. In 1867, the Thai king signed a treaty with France, renouncing suzerainty over Cambodia in exchange for the control of Battambang and Siem Reap provinces which officially became part of Thailand. The provinces were ceded back to Cambodia by a border treaty between France and Thailand in 1907.

 

Cambodia continued as a protectorate of France from 1867 to 1953, administered as part of the colony of French Indochina, though occupied by the Japanese empire from 1941 to 1945.[48] Between 1874 and 1962, the total population increased from about 946,000 to 5.7 million. After King Norodom's death in 1904, France manipulated the choice of king, and Sisowath, Norodom's brother, was placed on the throne. The throne became vacant in 1941 with the death of Monivong, Sisowath's son, and France passed over Monivong's son, Monireth, feeling he was too independently minded. Instead, Norodom Sihanouk, a maternal grandson of King Sisowath was enthroned. The French thought young Sihanouk would be easy to control. They were wrong, however, and under the reign of King Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodia gained independence from France on 9 November 1953.

 

INDEPENDENCE AND VIETNAM WAR

Cambodia became a constitutional monarchy under King Norodom Sihanouk. When French Indochina was given independence, Cambodia lost hope of regaining control over the Mekong Delta as it was awarded to Vietnam. Formerly part of the Khmer Empire, the area had been controlled by the Vietnamese since 1698, with King Chey Chettha II granting the Vietnamese permission to settle in the area decades before. This remains a diplomatic sticking point with over one million ethnic Khmers (the Khmer Krom) still living in this region. The Khmer Rouge attempted invasions to recover the territory which, in part, led to Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia and deposition of the Khmer Rouge.

 

In 1955, Sihanouk abdicated in favour of his father to participate in politics and was elected prime minister. Upon his father's death in 1960, Sihanouk again became head of state, taking the title of prince. As the Vietnam War progressed, Sihanouk adopted an official policy of neutrality in the Cold War. Sihanouk allowed the Vietnamese communists to use Cambodia as a sanctuary and a supply route for their arms and other aid to their armed forces fighting in South Vietnam. This policy was perceived as humiliating by many Cambodians. In December 1967 Washington Post journalist Stanley Karnow was told by Sihanouk that if the US wanted to bomb the Vietnamese communist sanctuaries, he would not object, unless Cambodians were killed.

 

The same message was conveyed to US President Johnson's emissary Chester Bowles in January 1968. However, in public Sihanouk refuted the right of the U.S. to use air strikes in Cambodia, and on 26 March he said "these criminal attacks must immediately and definitively stop". On 28 March a press conference was held and Sihanouk appealed to the international media: "I appeal to you to publicise abroad this very clear stand of Cambodia—that is, I will in any case oppose all bombings on Cambodian territory under whatever pretext." Nevertheless, the public pleas of Sihanouk were ignored and the bombing continued. Members of the government and army became resentful of Sihanouk's ruling style as well as his tilt away from the United States.

 

KHMER REPUBLIC (1970–75)

While visiting Beijing in 1970 Sihanouk was ousted by a military coup led by Prime Minister General Lon Nol and Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak. US support for the coup remains unproven. However, once the coup was completed, the new regime, which immediately demanded that the Vietnamese communists leave Cambodia, gained the political support of the United States. The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces, desperate to retain their sanctuaries and supply lines from North Vietnam, immediately launched armed attacks on the new government. The king urged his followers to help in overthrowing this government, hastening the onset of civil war.

 

Soon Khmer Rouge rebels began using him to gain support. However, from 1970 until early 1972, the Cambodian conflict was largely one between the government and army of Cambodia, and the armed forces of North Vietnam. As they gained control of Cambodian territory, the Vietnamese communists imposed a new political infrastructure, which was eventually dominated by the Cambodian communists now referred to as the Khmer Rouge.[56] Between 1969 and 1973, Republic of Vietnam and US forces bombed Cambodia in an effort to disrupt the Viet Cong and Khmer Rouge.

 

Documents uncovered from the Soviet archives after 1991 reveal that the North Vietnamese attempt to overrun Cambodia in 1970 was launched at the explicit request of the Khmer Rouge and negotiated by Pol Pot's then second in command, Nuon Chea. NVA units overran many Cambodian army positions while the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) expanded their small-scale attacks on lines of communication. In response to the North Vietnamese invasion, US President Richard Nixon announced that US and South Vietnamese ground forces had entered Cambodia in a campaign aimed at destroying NVA base areas in Cambodia (see Cambodian Incursion). Although a considerable quantity of equipment was seized or destroyed by US and South Vietnamese forces, containment of North Vietnamese forces proved elusive.

 

The Khmer Republic's leadership was plagued by disunity among its three principal figures: Lon Nol, Sihanouk's cousin Sirik Matak, and National Assembly leader In Tam. Lon Nol remained in power in part because neither of the others was prepared to take his place. In 1972, a constitution was adopted, a parliament elected, and Lon Nol became president. But disunity, the problems of transforming a 30,000-man army into a national combat force of more than 200,000 men, and spreading corruption weakened the civilian administration and army.

 

The Communist insurgency inside Cambodia continued to grow, aided by supplies and military support from North Vietnam. Pol Pot and Ieng Sary asserted their dominance over the Vietnamese-trained communists, many of whom were purged. At the same time, the CPK forces became stronger and more independent of their Vietnamese patrons. By 1973, the CPK were fighting battles against government forces with little or no North Vietnamese troop support, and they controlled nearly 60% of Cambodia's territory and 25% of its population. The government made three unsuccessful attempts to enter into negotiations with the insurgents, but by 1974, the CPK were operating openly as divisions, and some of the NVA combat forces had moved into South Vietnam. Lon Nol's control was reduced to small enclaves around the cities and main transportation routes. More than 2 million refugees from the war lived in Phnom Penh and other cities.

 

On New Year's Day 1975, Communist troops launched an offensive which, in 117 days of the hardest fighting of the war, collapsed the Khmer Republic. Simultaneous attacks around the perimeter of Phnom Penh pinned down Republican forces, while other CPK units overran fire bases controlling the vital lower Mekong resupply route. A US-funded airlift of ammunition and rice ended when Congress refused additional aid for Cambodia. The Lon Nol government in Phnom Penh surrendered on 17 April 1975, just five days after the US mission evacuated Cambodia.

 

KHMER ROUGE REGIME 1975–1978

The Khmer Rouge reached Phnom Penh and took power in 1975. Led by Pol Pot, they changed the official name of the country to Democratic Kampuchea. The new regime modelled itself on Maoist China during the Great Leap Forward, immediately evacuated the cities, and sent the entire population on forced marches to rural work projects. They attempted to rebuild the country's agriculture on the model of the 11th century, discarded Western medicine and destroyed temples, libraries, and anything considered Western.

 

Estimates as to how many people were killed by the Khmer Rouge regime range from approximately one to three million; the most commonly cited figure is two million (about a quarter of the population). This era gave rise to the term Killing Fields, and the prison Tuol Sleng became notorious for its history of mass killing. Hundreds of thousands fled across the border into neighbouring Thailand. The regime disproportionately targeted ethnic minority groups. The Cham Muslims suffered serious purges with as much as half of their population exterminated. Pol Pot was determined to keep his power and disenfranchise any enemies or potential threats, and thus increased his violent and aggressive actions against his people.

 

Forced repatriation in 1970 and deaths during the Khmer Rouge era reduced the Vietnamese population in Cambodia from between 250,000 and 300,000 in 1969 to a reported 56,000 in 1984. However, most of the victims of the Khmer Rouge regime were not ethnic minorities but ethnic Khmer. Professionals, such as doctors, lawyers and teachers, were also targeted. According to Robert D. Kaplan, "eyeglasses were as deadly as the yellow star" as they were seen as a sign of intellectualism.

 

Religious institutions were not spared by the Khmer Rouge either. Religion was so viciously persecuted to such a terrifying extent that the vast majority of Cambodia's historic architecture, 95% of Cambodia's Buddhist temples, was completely destroyed.

  

VIETNAMESE OCCUPATION AND TRANSITION 1978–1992

In November 1978, Vietnamese troops invaded Cambodia in response to border raids by the Khmer Rouge. The People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK), a pro-Soviet state led by the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party, a party created by the Vietnamese in 1951, and led by a group of Khmer Rouge who had fled Cambodia to avoid being purged by Pol Pot and Ta Mok, was established. It was fully beholden to the occupying Vietnamese army and under direction of the Vietnamese ambassador to Phnom Penh. Its arms came from Vietnam and the Soviet Union.

 

In opposition to the newly created state, a government-in-exile referred to as the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK) was formed in 1981 from three factions. This consisted of the Khmer Rouge, a royalist faction led by Sihanouk, and the Khmer People's National Liberation Front. Its credentials were recognised by the United Nations. The Khmer Rouge representative to the UN, Thiounn Prasith, was retained, but he had to work in consultation with representatives of the noncommunist Cambodian parties. The refusal of Vietnam to withdraw from Cambodia led to economic sanctions by the US and its allies.

 

Peace efforts began in Paris in 1989 under the State of Cambodia, culminating two years later in October 1991 in a Paris Comprehensive Peace Settlement. The UN was given a mandate to enforce a ceasefire and deal with refugees and disarmament known as the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC).

 

RESTAURATION OF THE MONARCHY

In 1993, Norodom Sihanouk was restored as King of Cambodia, but all power was in the hands of the government established after the UNTAC sponsored elections. The stability established following the conflict was shaken in 1997 by a coup d'état led by the co-Prime Minister Hun Sen against the non-communist parties in the government. In recent years, reconstruction efforts have progressed and led to some political stability through a multiparty democracy under a constitutional monarchy.

 

In July 2010, Kang Kek Iew was the first Khmer Rouge member found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity in his role as the former commandant of the S21 extermination camp and he was sentenced to life in prison. However, Hun Sen has opposed extensive trials of former Khmer Rouge mass murderers.

 

In August 2014, a UN-backed war crimes tribunal, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (also known as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal), sentenced Khieu Samphan, the regime's 83-year-old former head of state, and Nuon Chea, its 88-year-old chief ideologue, to life in prison on war crimes charges for their role in the country's terror period in the 1970s. The trial began in November 2011. Former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary died in 2013, while his wife, Social Affairs Minister Ieng Thirith, was deemed unfit to stand trial due to dementia in 2012. The group's top leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998.

 

GEOGRAPHY

Cambodia has an area of 181,035 square kilometres (69,898 square miles) and lies entirely within the tropics, between latitudes 10° and 15°N, and longitudes 102° and 108°E. It borders Thailand to the north and west, Laos to the northeast, and Vietnam to the east and southeast. It has a 443-kilometre coastline along the Gulf of Thailand.

 

Cambodia's landscape is characterised by a low-lying central plain that is surrounded by uplands and low mountains and includes the Tonle Sap (Great Lake) and the upper reaches of the Mekong River delta. Extending outward from this central region are transitional plains, thinly forested and rising to elevations of about 200 metres above sea level.

 

To the north the Cambodian plain abuts a sandstone escarpment, which forms a southward-facing cliff stretching more than 320 kilometres from west to east and rising abruptly above the plain to heights of 600 to 180–550 metres. This cliff marks the southern limit of the Dângrêk Mountains.

 

Flowing south through the country's eastern regions is the Mekong River. East of the Mekong the transitional plains gradually merge with the eastern highlands, a region of forested mountains and high plateaus that extend into Laos and Vietnam. In southwestern Cambodia two distinct upland blocks, the Krâvanh Mountains and the Dâmrei Mountains, form another highland region that covers much of the land area between the Tonle Sap and the Gulf of Thailand.

 

In this remote and largely uninhabited area, Phnom Aural, Cambodia's highest peak rises to an elevation of 1,813 metres. The southern coastal region adjoining the Gulf of Thailand is a narrow lowland strip, heavily wooded and sparsely populated, which is isolated from the central plain by the southwestern highlands.

 

The most distinctive geographical feature is the inundations of the Tonle Sap, measuring about 2,590 square kilometres during the dry season and expanding to about 24,605 square kilometres during the rainy season. This densely populated plain, which is devoted to wet rice cultivation, is the heartland of Cambodia. Much of this area has been designated as a biosphere reserve.

 

WIKIPEDIA

In the midst of lockdown numero uno in Lahore over the weekend, I decided to head to my village in Radhan, a half an hour or so from Sargodha. Traffic in Lahore was beyond light, almost absent, so we hit the motorway quickly and reached Sargodha earlier than expected. I thought the drive through the city would have been a much desired breeze as well but the residents of the city seemed to be out and about per their normal routine. Clearly the rules set upon the larger cities hadn’t taken effect here yet. But it was the village that was the bubble existing above and beyond everything that seemed to be happening in the world.

 

Unlike the rest of it, or at least the West, Pakistan has taken the approach of slow roll-out in what was likely going to be a long-term lockdown. We had started with 2 days on March 21st, now we are at 15 and everyone assumes that will be extended in the same slots indefinitely. A few stories about the treatment of those who have revealed their state of being positive to the State have been frightening to the point that unless faced by death, I think people will stick it out in their rooms. And some might also prefer to die there.

 

There are articles abound about people in the north testing positive, then running away from the health facilities to God knows where. No one has a real clue what is happening of course and beyond the “We love China” anthem the PM is singing, what we are really hoping for is one of those hospitals our “all-weather friend” built in 8 days, (or was it 18), to pop up in at least one province each. Personally, I would rather the People's Republic ended the internment of a million Muslims but we seem to have already signed off on that being ok.

 

The poor are scared out of their wits because we have extremely high numbers of workers in the larger cities who earn their income on a daily basis and with the shutdown, they don’t have a clue as to how to feed their families. Those of the Sahib e Taufeeq are therefore anxiously and quickly trying to distribute ration for a month to as many families as possible. Meanwhile the Sahib e Maal contingent is interneting themselves to wherever that will lead, which we will soon discover.

 

In Lahore, if one meets someone, all one talks about is the virus. For a while at least. That has been my experience of the under 50 crowd. It’s like the greeting of “salam” changed to “yaar yeh kya cheez aa gayee hai?” which then moves forward into exchanges of updates and readings per each person’s interest and/or fear of death. Since I have been most influenced by my friends and elders who, while taking sensible precautions, believe in the “jiss ko hona hai, uss to hona hai” (whoever’s going to get it is going to get it) school of thought, I have little to offer.

 

While being holed up, I scan Drudge and get the scariest breaking updates of the world on a daily basis. It makes me smile that the US has already ingrained into the public that 18 months are on the horizon for this nightmare and we are going forward in 15 day increments. I guess if the Pakistani Government made a similar announcement of 180 days (plus), people would just be like “screw it” and brazen defiance would follow. The rest of my days are spent humming tunes to come up with melodies for the kalam in my book which I then share with my friend, Ustad Imran and we play with it till its ready for upload on a gorgeous insta page, courtesy of Hiba.

 

Meanwhile, the rumour mills are spewing out new suggestions daily. High on the list is bio-weaponary going out of hand. China-US-Israel are the three villains most frequently named. On the spiritual side a trusted spiritual master says it is the fasid jinns, who, in collusion with fasid humans, are creating this havoc. Like millions, I have all my hopes tied to the return of Imam Mahdi (as) who might appear to save the day.

 

The Saudis closing Umra, cancelling Haj and making the tawaaf practically void is what saddens the believers the most. As one who had intended to perform the Haj this year, it is no doubt tremendously disappointing. But then I had heard from my Mamu many years before he passed that the Haj would stop in the future. I just imagined that it would happen because of war, not a plague. The Naqshbandis were told by their Spiritual Master, Sheikh Nazim (ra), that blight would arise from China and spread into the world and would disappear one day just like it came. In the days through it, he had advised his disciples to give sadqa to express their gratitude for life.

 

But coming back to the story of the village. After having lunch and meeting Pathani, who worked for me for 20 some years and is now retired, I sat with the women who work in the house near their out-door kitchen. I began the conversation in the way I had been taught these past few days in Lahore. Except it was in Punjabi.

 

“Yaar eh ke shay saddey pichay peh gayee hai” (what is this strange thing that has come after us?)

 

The women looked at me but no one said anything. I waited but they seemed to be waiting also, I gathered, for me to continue. When I didn’t, they just went back to what they were doing. I gave it another shot.

 

“So everyone in Lahore is holed up in their houses and living in fear,” I attempted raising the bar from casual conversation to sensationalism. “No one goes anywhere and all the markets are closed.”

 

Again I received nothing.

 

I think one woman said, “Jiya” in a tone which best translates into a flat “I guess” or “Mmm hmmm.”

 

I started smiling. “You guys are really lucky,” changing gears yet again, this time offering praise of good fortune. “You can roam around and it’s so beautiful here. And clean. And the food is good and fresh. And there’s hardly any people.” I racked my brain for more positives. “And it hasn’t turned hot yet so the weather is perfect.”

 

This time instead of one, I got three “Jiyas” and one “Jiya Ji.” It made me give up. I’ll try again tomorrow I thought. I got a charpaaye and spend the rest of the day in the massive garden reading books I had brought with me from Lahore and again, humming the melody of the next tune. It was by Baba Farid Kot Mithan (ra) and I have to say it had an effect on my heart that was superbly softening. Sometimes the words made me smile and sometimes I cried. I love the range of the arc that poetry can make, going from the earth to the sky, from the sun to the moon, from the day to the night and from the heart to the heart.

 

The next day I went for a walk in the kinoo gardens. The fruit has been picked but the orange blossoms were in full bloom and deeply intoxicating. I sat under a tree brimming with the flowers and listened to music on my Ipod. At lunch the women sat nearby, possibly feeling bad for me that I always came all alone. I decided, incorrigibly, to mention the virus again.

 

“So to stay safe you have to wash your hands A LOT. My teacher, Qari Sahib, says to just stay in a state of wudu. Even if you are not going to pray soon.”

 

I looked at each woman one by one, this time awaiting their favoured response.

 

“Jiya,” said one. “This is a good suggestion.”

 

I was dying to ask if they did that or prayed but gained control of myself.

 

Usually the gate to the house is left open for people from the village, essentially women, to come in and say hello to the arrivals from the city. But this time Pathani had given strict instructions to the chawkidaar to not let anyone in.

 

“Not even Ghulam Biwi?” I asked. As I write this I wonder if her name is Ghulam Bibi re-pronounced Biwi in the village or if she was literally named “the wife of Ghulam.” Probably the former. How would anyone know the husband’s name at birth?

 

“No,” she decided. “Best to be safe. She roams around the whole village and God only knows where else all day.”

 

Amma Ghulam Biwi was an old woman in her 70s who was almost deaf. On every visit I had made in the last few years, she had come to see me. She had a lovely voice and knew tons of Punjabi songs, film and spiritual kalam, and would sing to me. She loved Nur Jahan tracks from the 60s and I enjoyed my time with her. The conversations were by sign of course. She loved me and I loved her.

 

She was the reason I had come to understand that the prayers of a poor person, who one is kind to, far exceed in their expression the prayers of even one’s own parents. “Takhtaan te bakhtaan,” is what she always asked for me. Thrones and best of fortunes! I’m pretty sure neither of my parents ever prayed for thrones for me! Plus I often heard her address God as “Takhtaan te bakhtaan aaliya,” which meant she was asking Him to give me of Himself and that which is His. Not to mention the ask of never-ending wealth and telling Allah to give me more and more and more. Again, I don’t think my parents asked for that either! If they did it would have indeed been strange. Then there was “Allah raazi howey iss tun,” the most elevated prayer of all, “God, be pleased with her.”

 

I was a little bummed that I was not going to see her but it seemed like the thing to do. But fortune had other plans. Later in the afternoon I went to the family graveyard, just outside the women’s house and adjacent to the haveli the men occupy. For the second time in my lifetime, I went to the graves inside the mosque where my grandfather, his brother and their father are buried. Usually I just sit in the area outside where the rest of our family, including my mother and sister are, but I had visited the village a month before with my Nani (kind of) who is in her 90s and had gone inside with her.

 

When we had arrived at the graveyard then, just the walk from the car to the graves, only a few feet away, had taken so long and seemed so tiring for her that I had told her to just pray from there and not walk the extra few feet to where her father and brothers were buried. She had waived me away as if I had suggested something beyond ludicrous and said, “Then why am I here?”

 

With her nurse holding her on one side and me on the other, we had gone into the small room where the three graves lay in a line. In the back was a large marble slab and on it was a Surah from the Quran. She had kept insisting she wanted to read it herself but when I asked if she wanted a chair brought in while she did so, she had waived me away again. Apparently it was another absurd idea. I told her I would read it for her and while she sat at the feet of her father, I recited the Surah.

 

It was Al-Mulk and I remember crying the whole way through it. I didn’t understand it all of course but I wept because of the lines addressing the ungrateful who will be asked if a warner came to them and they will say, yes, a warner did come but we rejected him. I cried because I didn’t understand why they rejected him and I hoped I wasn’t one of them because rejection has its own layers. And I sobbed because of those I love deeply who live restless lives in perpetuity but refuse to unhinge themselves from a position that they took for one reason, one incidence or another, that had now taken hold of them, replacing all their happiness with anxiety and paranoia to live a life lifeless.

 

But it was the second line that never left me from that first time I read it for it had triggered a significant part of my understanding of the Quran.

 

"He who created death and life, that He may test which of you is best in deed.

 

And He is the Bestower of Honor and Oft-Forgiving."

 

The revelation had formed a chunk of my address at the book launch: that the verses of deep consequence referencing “deed,” giving it a singular, exalted status repeatedly by God, tie in precisely and inextricably with the multitude of verses on Nabi Kareem (saw) as the one to follow and obey. Making his deed one’s own rendered one “best” indeed.

 

This was going to be the second time I would enter the room inside the mosque. I had heard earlier in the morning, quite randomly, that my mother used to take the Quran to her father’s grave every day after he passed while she was in the village. To read it for him, to send the blessings of her readings to him. I had never done that before even though my family members had died almost 23 years ago. But on this day that I did it I knew it meant the beginning, albeit a late one, of doing it for them in the future.

 

It was on my way back from the graveyard that I saw Amma Ghulam Biwi standing near the gate of the house with her cane and some cloth she was carrying. From a distance she didn’t recognize me even though I waived at her but when I got close, she threw the cane and cloth on the ground, raising her hand up in the air, letting out a cry of joy.

 

Normally she would greet me with her favourite song by Nur Jahan; "Chan mahiya teri rah pai takni aan. Tariyan tu puch le ve chan kolun puch leh, sareian tu puch le, mein sayn nahin sakni aan." The words translated into "Dearest sweetheart, I have been looking for you to come my way for so long. Ask the stars, go ask the moon. Ask them all, I haven't slept a night waiting for you." I always laughed at the intensity of the tone. It made me wonder if she was a Scorpio like me.

 

When I got close to her I tried to yell that it’s best we don’t meet like we normally do but of course she didn’t understand a word. Next thing I knew she had thrown her arms around me, pulled me towards her and planted a wet kiss on my cheek. I burst out laughing while I heard the gate-keeper doing his best to scream out that that was not the way to meet in these times. She walked at a snail’s pace so it took us a while to reach the house from the gate and someone brought a chair for her to sit on and some kinoo juice to drink.

 

She had once told me she would say prayers and breathe them on water, something we call “pani dumm karna,” meaning making a water have the capacity to heal through the effect of verse from the Quran. I had a half finished bottle of water with me so I handed it to her and gestured for her to make me one. But before that I played the part of a mime and explained that the whole world was under attack by a disease and people were sick and dying. That required a decent amount of touching my forehead and sticking my tongue out as if fatigued beyond belief. And it worked! “Bimari aa gayee ae?” she said. And I nodded in the affirmative vigourously, holding my palms up in the air, signaling for her to pray for all of us.

 

I listened as she spoke the prayers out one by one for the water. The prayers have to be recited in a specific number, usually 11 but she went over a few times so she must have different system. I recognized the prayers and each time I thought she was done and got up to take the bottle from her, she waived me away as if annoyed by my impatience. The wave of dismissal must be a thing of older women from Radhan. The prayer that struck me was “Qulna ya naaro, kuni bardan wa salaman ala Ibrahim (as).” “We (God) said, ‘Fire, be cool and safe for Ibrahim (as).’”

 

The verse was in my book in the chapter on Trust. Also I was studying deeply each mention of the Prophet Ibrahim (as) in the Quran these days with Qari Sahib. Each incidence was extraordinary for he was Khalil Allah, the Friend of God. His asks, his bestowings, every action, was spell-binding through the tafseer of Ghaus Pak (ra). I know he is the only one who gives the exegesis of the word Ibrahim in specific verses to be the soul. That itself changed everything entirely as suddenly it was about me. And everyone else!

 

Before Amma Ghulam Biwi left, she looked at me with deep anguish and said her heart ached that I kept bending over. I had been doing my stretches while she sat in the chair and was touching my toes over and over, holding the position and counting to eight. I wanted to tell her that I was fine so I tried giving her a thumbs up but she just looked extremely bewildered so I decided to leave it alone. We said our goodbyes. My info on the disease devouring the world had left no impact on her so she hugged and kissed me again, then shuffled out of the house.

 

On my last day at breakfast, one of the women who brought me my meal asked, “So what is the news from Lahore?”

 

I was thrilled that I had managed to pique enough interest that she had gotten some information on her own about it which she wanted to relay to me.

 

“You heard about the extension of the lockdown?” I asked expectantly.

 

She looked blasé.

 

“No. I’m just asking what is going on there?” As in “What’s up in Lahore?”

 

“Oh,” I said. “Nothing much,” I responded, taking on her indifference and expressing my capitulation. “It’s more of the same. Who knows what will happen?”

 

She smiled at me and left to go back to the kitchen.

 

The village! The simplicity of life is apparent always. In the scenery and the quietness, the apparel and the taste of the food cooked without any overwhelming flavours or colour of individual ingredients, yet incomparably delicious. But the glaring cut-off from the world is from lack of technology interceding in life, as relates specifically to the internet. And this applies of course to those of my age, 50 and above. Maybe even just the women since I don’t interact with any men at all while there.

 

My three days spent there left me happy and smiling as I gathered my stuff to return to a city that I also deeply love. I felt grateful that in these times of extreme gravity and not having a clue as to who will live another day, life can still have a lightness to it. Recently I saw a beautiful painting the famed British artist, David Hockney, made to life the spirits of the world in this time of gloom. “Do remember, they can’t cancel spring,” is what he said. In that vein, my motivation to make music set to words written by poets extraordinaire and spiritual masters had accelerated. I also wanted to alleviate the sadness of the world. Because I already knew the effect of sound on the soul. It was a major part of my new writing:

 

"In Risala Qusheria I had read page after page of what was said about the effect of sound on the heart. Imam Ali (ratu) and others like him attest to the fact that every single thing in the Universe is in a state of zikr, remembrance, of Allah As-Sami’, The Hearer of All. And most surprising of all, it wasn’t just elements of nature, the birds, the bees, water and wind. It was instruments when played without a voice, it was the wheel of the potter, it was the rope that pulled water from a well. Hazrat Abu Suleman Durani (ra) said, ''A beautiful voice does not insert anything into a heart. It only resonates with and makes alive that which lies in it already.'"

 

Who knows what lies inside hearts except those who occupy them but one line rings true for all of us and it comes most beautifully worded in Punjabi by my Pir Mehr Ali Shah Sahib (ra.) For the ask from God of those who know Him, as opposed to those who merely worship Him, focuses on what can be bestowed, as opposed to what can be withdrawn.

 

Sha Allah wat aawin uwa ghariaan

May those moments come back again.

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0x2U1fWwS8&feature=youtu.be

 

kalam by Ustad Imran Jafri on insta @the.softest.heart

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx-51G3fQig&feature=youtu.be

Blogged at the Classroom Displays Blog

and used in an excellent Slideshare by Teachkidz on Teaching Learners with Multiple Special Needs Blog

I took this picture using the rule of the thirds technique. There is the sky, building, and the car.

 

The Lakshmana Temple is a Hindu temple built by Yashovarman located in Khajuraho, India. Dedicated to Vaikuntha Vishnu - an aspect of Vishnu.

 

LOCATION

This temple is located in the Western Temple complex in Khajuraho. Khajuraho is a small village in Chattarpur District of Madhya Pradesh, India

 

ARCHITECTURE

It is a Sandhara Temple of the Panchayatana Variety. The entire temple complex stands on a high platform (Jagati), as seen in image. The structure consists of all the elements of Hindu temple architecture. It has entrance porch (ardh-mandapa), Mandapa, Maha-Mandapa, Antarala and Garbhagriha.

 

Unlike other temples in Khajuraho, its sanctum is Pancharatha on plan (top-view). Its shikhara is clustered with minor urushringas (refer images of temple top i.e. shikhara).

 

The wall portion is studded with balconied windows with ornate balustrades.

 

It has two rows of sculptures (refer images of temple's outer wall) including divine figures, couples and erotic scenes.

 

The sanctum doorway is of seven sakhas (vertical panels). The central one being decorated with various incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The Lintel depicts goddess Lakshmi in the centre flanked by Brahma and Vishnu. The sanctum contains four-armed sculpture of Vishnu.

 

SCULPTURES

MAIN IDOL

Main image is of tri-headed & four-armed sculpture of Vaikuntha Vishnu.

 

The central head is of human, and two sides of boar (depicting Varaha) and lion (depicting Narshima).

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The Khajuraho Group of Monuments is a group of Hindu and Jain temples in Madhya Pradesh, India, about 175 kilometres southeast of Jhansi. They are one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India. The temples are famous for their nagara-style architectural symbolism and their erotic sculptures.

 

Most Khajuraho temples were built between 950 and 1050 by the Chandela dynasty. Historical records note that the Khajuraho temple site had 85 temples by 12th century, spread over 20 square kilometers. Of these, only about 20 temples have survived, spread over 6 square kilometers. Of the various surviving temples, the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple is decorated with a profusion of sculptures with intricate details, symbolism and expressiveness of ancient Indian art.

 

The Khajuraho group of temples were built together but were dedicated to two religions - namely Hinduism and Jainism - suggesting a tradition of acceptance and respect for diverse religious views among Hindus and Jains.

 

LOCATION

Khajuraho group of monuments are located in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, in Chhatarpur district, about 620 kilometres southeast of New Delhi. The temples are in a small town also known as Khajuraho, with a population of about 20,000 people (2001 Census).

 

Khajuraho is served by Civil Aerodrome Khajuraho (IATA Code: HJR), with services to Delhi, Agra, Varanasi and Mumbai. The site is also linked by Indian Railways service, with the railway station located approximately six kilometres from the monuments entrance.

 

The monuments are about 10 kilometres off the east-west National Highway 75, and about 50 kilometres from the city of Chhatarpur, that is connected to Bhopal - the state capital - by the SW-NE running National Highway 86.

 

HISTORY

The Khajuraho group of monuments was built during the rule of the Rajput Chandela dynasty. The building activity started almost immediately after the rise of their power, throughout their kingdom to be later known as Bundelkhand. Most temples were built during the reigns of the Hindu kings Yashovarman and Dhanga. Yashovarman's legacy is best exhibited by Lakshmana temple. Vishvanatha temple best highlights King Dhanga's reign. The largest and currently most famous surviving temple is Kandariya Mahadeva built in the reign of King Ganda from 1017-1029 CE. The temple inscriptions suggest many of the currently surviving temples were complete between 970 to 1030 CE, with further temples completed during the following decades.

 

The Khajuraho temples were built about 35 miles from the medieval city of Mahoba, the capital of the Chandela dynasty, in the Kalinjar region. In ancient and medieval literature, their kingdom has been referred to as Jijhoti, Jejahoti, Chih-chi-to and Jejakabhukti.

 

Khajuraho was mentioned by Abu Rihan-al-Biruni, the Persian historian who accompanied Mahmud of Ghazni in his raid of Kalinjar in 1022 CE; he mentions Khajuraho as the capital of Jajahuti. The raid was unsuccessful, and a peace accord was reached when the Hindu king agreed to pay a ransom to Mahmud of Ghazni to end the attack and leave.

 

Khajuraho temples were in active use through the end of 12th century. This changed in the 13th century, after the army of Delhi Sultanate, under the command of the Muslim Sultan Qutb-ud-din Aibak, attacked and seized the Chandela kingdom. About a century later, Ibn Battuta, the Moroccan traveller in his memoirs about his stay in India from 1335 to 1342 CE, mentioned visiting Khajuraho temples, calling them “Kajarra” as follows:

 

...near (Khajuraho) temples, which contain idols that have been mutilated by the Moslems, live a number of yogis whose matted locks have grown as long as their bodies. And on account of extreme asceticism they are all yellow in colour. Many Moslems attend these men in order to take lessons (yoga) from them.

— Ibn Battuta, about 1335 CE, Riḥlat Ibn Baṭūṭah, Translated by Arthur Cotterell

 

Central Indian region, where Khajuraho temples are, remained in the control of many different Muslim dynasties from 13th century through the 18th century. In this period, some temples were desecrated, followed by a long period when they were left in neglect. In 1495 CE, for example, Sikandar Lodi’s campaign of temple destruction included Khajuraho. The remoteness and isolation of Khajuraho protected the Hindu and Jain temples from continued destruction by Muslims. Over the centuries, vegetation and forests overgrew, took over the temples.

 

In the 1830s, local Hindus guided a British surveyor, T.S. Burt, to the temples and they were thus rediscovered by the global audience. Alexander Cunningham later reported, few years after the rediscovery, that the temples were secretly in use by yogis and thousands of Hindus would arrive for pilgrimage during Shivaratri celebrated annually in February or March based on a lunar calendar. In 1852, Maisey prepared earliest drawings of the Khajuraho temples.

 

NOMENCLATURE

The name Khajuraho, or Kharjuravāhaka, is derived from ancient Sanskrit (kharjura, खर्जूर means date palm, and vāhaka, वाहक means "one who carries" or bearer). Local legends state that the temples had two golden date-palm trees as their gate (missing when they were rediscovered). Desai states that Kharjuravāhaka also means scorpion bearer, which is another symbolic name for deity Shiva (who wears snakes and scorpion garlands in his fierce form).

 

Cunningham’s nomenclature and systematic documentation work in 1850s and 1860s have been widely adopted and continue to be in use. He grouped the temples into the Western group around Lakshmana, Eastern group around Javeri, and Southern group around Duladeva.

 

Khajuraho is one of the four holy sites linked to deity Shiva (the other three are Kedarnath, Kashi and Gaya). Its origin and design is a subject of scholarly studies. Shobita Punja has proposed that the temple’s origin reflect the Hindu mythology in which Khajuraho is the place where Shiva got married; with Raghuvamsha verse 5.53, Matangeshvara honoring ‘’Matanga’’, or god of love.

 

DESCRIPTION

The temple site is within Vindhya mountain range in central India. An ancient local legend held that Hindu deity Shiva and other gods enjoyed visiting the dramatic hill formation in Kalinjar area. The center of this region is Khajuraho, set midst local hills and rivers. The temple complex reflects the ancient Hindu tradition of building temples where gods love to play.

 

The temples are clustered near water, another typical feature of Hindu temples. The current water bodies include Sib Sagar, Khajur Sagar (also called Ninora Tal) and Khudar Nadi (river). The local legends state that the temple complex had 64 water bodies, of which 56 have been physically identified by archeologists so far.

 

All temples, except one (Chaturbhuja) face sunrise - another symbolic feature that is predominant in Hindu temples. The relative layout of temples integrate masculine and feminine deities and symbols highlight the interdependence. The art work symbolically highlight the four goals of life considered necessary and proper in Hinduism - dharma, kama, artha and moksha.

 

Of the surviving temples, 6 are dedicated to Shiva and his consorts, 8 to Vishnu and his affinities, 1 to Ganesha, 1 to Sun god, 3 to Jain Tirthanks. For some ruins, there is insufficient evidence to assign the temple to specific deities with confidence.

 

An overall examination of site suggests that the Hindu symbolic mandala design principle of square and circles is present each temple plan and design. Further, the territory is laid out in three triangles that converge to form a pentagon. Scholars suggest that this reflects the Hindu symbolism for three realms or trilokinatha, and five cosmic substances or panchbhuteshvara. The temple site highlights Shiva, the one who destroys and recycles life, thereby controlling the cosmic dance of time, evolution and dissolution. The temples have a rich display of intricately carved statues. While they are famous for their erotic sculpture, sexual themes cover less than 10% of the temple sculpture. Further, most erotic scene panels are neither prominent nor emphasized at the expense of the rest, rather they are in proportional balance with the non-sexual images. The viewer has to look closely to find them, or be directed by a guide. The arts cover numerous aspects of human life and values considered important in Hindu pantheon. Further, the images are arranged in a configuration to express central ideas of Hinduism. All three ideas from Āgamas are richly expressed in Khajuraho temples - Avyakta, Vyaktavyakta and Vyakta.

 

The Beejamandal temple is under excavation. It has been identified with the Vaidyanath temple mentioned in the Grahpati Kokalla inscription.

 

Of all temples, the Matangeshvara temple remains an active site of worship. It is another square grid temple, with a large 2.5 metres high and 1.1 metres diameter lingam, placed on a 7.6 metres diameter platform.

 

The most visited temple, Kandariya Mahadev, has an area of about 6,500 square feet and a shikhara (spire) that rises 116 feet. Jain templesThe Jain temples are located on east-southeast region of Khajuraho monuments. Chausath jogini temple features 64 jogini, while Ghantai temple features bells sculptured on its pillars.

 

ARCHITECTURE OF THE TEMPLES

Khajuraho temples, like almost all Hindu temple designs, follow a grid geometrical design called vastu-purusha-mandala. This design plan has three important components - Mandala means circle, Purusha is universal essence at the core of Hindu tradition, while Vastu means the dwelling structure.

 

The design lays out a Hindu temple in a symmetrical, concentrically layered, self-repeating structure around the core of the temple called garbhagriya, where the abstract principle Purusha and the primary deity of the temple dwell. The shikhara, or spire, of the temple rises above the garbhagriya. This symmetry and structure in design is derived from central beliefs, myths, cardinality and mathematical principles.

 

The circle of mandala circumscribe the square. The square is considered divine for its perfection and as a symbolic product of knowledge and human thought, while circle is considered earthly, human and observed in everyday life (moon, sun, horizon, water drop, rainbow). Each supports the other. The square is divided into perfect 64 sub-squares called padas.

 

Most Khajuraho temples deploy the 8x8 padas grid Manduka Vastupurushamandala, with pitha mandala the square grid incorporated in the design of the spires. The primary deity or lingas are located in the grid’s Brahma padas.

The architecture is symbolic and reflects the central Hindu beliefs through its form, structure and arrangement of its parts. The mandapas as well as the arts are arranged in the Khajuraho temples in a symmetric repeating patterns, even though each image or sculpture is distinctive in its own way. The relative placement of the images are not random but together they express ideas, just like connected words form sentences and paragraphs to compose ideas. This fractal pattern that is common in Hindu temples. Various statues and panels have inscriptions. Many of the inscriptions on the temple walls are poems with double meanings, something that the complex structure of Sanskrit allows in creative compositions. All Khajuraho temples, except one, face sunrise, and the entrance for the devotee is this east side.Above the vastu-purusha-mandala of each temple is a superstructure with a dome called Shikhara (or Vimana, Spire). Variations in spire design come from variation in degrees turned for the squares. The temple Shikhara, in some literature, is linked to mount Kailash or Meru, the mythical abode of the gods.In each temple, the central space typically is surrounded by an ambulatory for the pilgrim to walk around and ritually circumambulate the Purusa and the main deity. The pillars, walls and ceilings around the space, as well as outside have highly ornate carvings or images of the four just and necessary pursuits of life - kama, artha, dharma and moksa. This clockwise walk around is called pradakshina. Larger Khajuraho temples also have pillared halls called mandapa. One near the entrance, on the east side, serves as the waiting room for pilgrims and devotees. The mandapas are also arranged by principles of symmetry, grids and mathematical precision. This use of same underlying architectural principle is common in Hindu temples found all over India. Each Khajuraho temple is distinctly carved yet also repeating the central common principles in almost all Hindu temples, one which Susan Lewandowski refers to as “an organism of repeating cells”.

 

CONSTRUCTION

The temples are grouped into three geographical divisions: western, eastern and southern.

 

The Khajuraho temples are made of sandstone, with a granite foundation that is almost concealed from view. The builders didn't use mortar: the stones were put together with mortise and tenon joints and they were held in place by gravity. This form of construction requires very precise joints. The columns and architraves were built with megaliths that weighed up to 20 tons. Some repair work in the 19th Century was done with brick and mortar; however these have aged faster than original materials and darkened with time, thereby seeming out of place.

 

The Khajuraho and Kalinjar region is home to superior quality of sandstone, which can be precision carved. The surviving sculpture reflect fine details such as strands of hair, manicured nails and intricate jewelry.

 

While recording the television show Lost Worlds (History Channel) at Khajuraho, Alex Evans recreated a stone sculpture under 4 feet that took about 60 days to carve in an attempt to develop a rough idea how much work must have been involved. Roger Hopkins and Mark Lehner also conducted experiments to quarry limestone which took 12 quarrymen 22 days to quarry about 400 tons of stone. They concluded that these temples would have required hundreds of highly trained sculptors.

 

CHRONOLOGY

The Khajuraho group of temples belong to Vaishnavism school of Hinduism, Saivism school of Hinduism and Jainism - nearly a third each. Archaeological studies suggest all three types of temples were under construction at about the same time in late 10th century, and in use simultaneously. Will Durant states that this aspect of Khajuraho temples illustrates the tolerance and respect for different religious viewpoints in the Hindu and Jain traditions. In each group of Khajuraho temples, there were major temples surrounded by smaller temples - a grid style that is observed to varying degrees in Hindu temples in Angkor Wat, Parambaran and South India.

 

The largest surviving Saiva temple is Khandarya Mahadeva, while the largest surviving Vaishnava group includes Chaturbhuja and Ramachandra.

 

Kandariya Mahadeva Temple plan is 109 ft in length by 60 ft, and rises 116 ft above ground and 88 ft above its own floor. The central padas are surrounded by three rows of sculptured figures, with over 870 statues, most being half life size (2.5 to 3 feet). The spire is a self repeating fractal structure.

 

ARTS AND SCULPTURE

The Khajuraho temples feature a variety of art work, of which 10% is sexual or erotic art outside and inside the temples. Some of the temples that have two layers of walls have small erotic carvings on the outside of the inner wall. Some scholars suggest these to be tantric sexual practices. Other scholars state that the erotic arts are part of Hindu tradition of treating kama as an essential and proper part of human life, and its symbolic or explicit display is common in Hindu temples. James McConnachie, in his history of the Kamasutra, describes the sexual-themed Khajuraho sculptures as "the apogee of erotic art": "Twisting, broad-hipped and high breasted nymphs display their generously contoured and bejewelled bodies on exquisitely worked exterior wall panels. These fleshy apsaras run riot across the surface of the stone, putting on make-up, washing their hair, playing games, dancing, and endlessly knotting and unknotting their girdles....Beside the heavenly nymphs are serried ranks of griffins, guardian deities and, most notoriously, extravagantly interlocked maithunas, or lovemaking couples."

 

The temples have several thousand statues and art works, with Kandarya Mahadeva Temple alone decorated with over 870. Some 10% of these iconographic carvings contain sexual themes and various sexual poses. A common misconception is that, since the old structures with carvings in Khajuraho are temples, the carvings depict sex between deities; however the kama arts represent diverse sexual expressions of different human beings. The vast majority of arts depict various aspects the everyday life, mythical stories as well as symbolic display of various secular and spiritual values important in Hindu tradition. For example, depictions show women putting on makeup, musicians making music, potters, farmers, and other folks in their daily life during the medieval era. These scenes are in the outer padas as is typical in Hindu temples.

 

There is iconographic symbolism embedded in the arts displayed in Khajuraho temples. Core Hindu values are expressed in multitude of ways. Even the Kama scenes, when seen in combination of sculptures that precede and follow, depict the spiritual themes such as moksha. In the words of Stella Kramrisch,

 

This state which is “like a man and woman in close embrace” is a symbol of moksa, final release or reunion of two principles, the essence (Purusha) and the nature (Prakriti).

— Stella Kramrisch, 1976

 

The Khajuraho temples represent one expression of many forms of arts that flourished in Rajput kingdoms of India from 8th through 10th century CE. For example, contemporary with Khajuraho were the publications of poems and drama such as Prabodhacandrodaya, Karpuramanjari, Viddhasalabhanjika and Kavyamimansa. Some of the themes expressed in these literary works are carved as sculpture in Khajuraho temples. Some sculptures at the Khajuraho monuments dedicated to Vishnu include the Vyalas, which are hybrid imaginary animals with lions body, and are found in other Indian temples. Some of these hybrid mythical art work include Vrik Vyala (hybrid of wolf and lion) and Gaja Vyala (hybrid of elephant and lion). These Vyalas may represent syncretic, creative combination of powers innate in the two.

 

TOURISM AND CULTURAL EVENTS

The temples in Khajuraho are broadly divided into three parts: the Eastern group, the Southern Group and the Western group of temples of which the Western group alone has the facility of an Audio guided tour wherein the tourists are guided through the seven eight temples. There is also an audio guided tour developed by the Archaeological Survey of India which includes a narration of the temple history and architecture.

 

The Khajuraho Dance Festival is held every year in February. It features various classical Indian dances set against the backdrop of the Chitragupta or Vishwanath Temples.

 

The Khajuraho temple complex offers a light and sound show every evening. The first show is in English language and the second one in Hindi. It is held in the open lawns in the temple complex, and has received mixed reviews.

 

The Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development has set up kiosks at the Khajuraho railway station, with tourist officers to provide information for Khajuraho visitors.

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Der Tempelbezirk von Khajuraho umfasst eine Gruppe von etwa 20 Tempeln im Zentrum und in der näheren Umgebung der Stadt Khajuraho im indischen Bundesstaat Madhya Pradesh. Sie zählen zum UNESCO-Welterbe.

 

GESCHICHTE

Nahezu alle Tempel Khajurahos wurde von den Herrschern der Chandella-Dynastie zwischen 950 und 1120 erbaut. Die Chandellas waren ein zwischen dem 10. und 16. Jahrhundert regierender Rajputen-Klan, welcher sich um 950 in Gwalior festsetzte. Im 10. und 11. Jahrhundert waren die Chandellas die führende Macht in Nordindien, wenngleich sie formell noch bis 1018 Vasallen der Pratihara waren.

 

Nach dem Niedergang der Dynastie im 12. Jahrhundert wurden die Tempel kaum noch oder gar nicht mehr benutzt und blieben dem Wuchs des Dschungels überlassen. Der politisch, militärisch und wirtschaftlich bedeutungslos gewordene Ort lag abseits aller Wege und blieb somit auch in der Zeit des islamischen Vordringens in Nordindien von Zerstörungen verschont. Im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert zählte die einstmals bedeutsame Stadt nur noch etwa 300 Einwohner. Im 19. Jahrhundert wurden die Tempel von den Briten 'wiederentdeckt'. Zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts begannen systematische Sicherungs- und Restaurierungsarbeiten, die schließlich zur Wiederherstellung dieses einzigartigen Architektur-Ensembles führten.

 

TEMPEL

Ursprünglich gab es in Khajuraho etwa 80 Tempelbauten verstreut auf einer Gesamtfläche von ca. 21 Quadratkilometer, heutzutage sind davon nur noch etwa 20 erhalten, von denen die meisten in zwei Gruppen stehen. Die Mehrzahl der Tempel ist den hinduistischen Hauptgöttern geweiht, einige den Jaina-Tirthankaras. Buddhistische Bauten gab es wohl nicht, jedenfalls wurden keine buddhistischen Skulpturen entdeckt.

 

Alle Tempel stehen auf 1,50 bis 3 Meter hohen Plattformen (jagatis), die das Bauwerk vor Witterungseinflüssen (Monsunregen) und freilaufenden Tieren schützten. Hinzu kommt eine Sockelzone, die bei den späteren Tempeln (ab ca. 950) mehrfach gestuft ist und durchaus nochmals 3 Meter hoch sein kann. Plattform und Sockel tragen natürlich auch zu einer 'Erhöhung' des aufstehenden Bauwerks im übertragenen Sinn bei.

 

Die Mehrzahl der Tempeleingänge sind nach Osten, also in Richtung der aufgehenden Sonne ausgerichtet, d. h. die Cella (garbhagriha) liegt im Westen. Bei zwei Tempeln ist es umgekehrt: sie orientieren sich nach Westen, d. h. in Richtung der untergehenden Sonne (Lalguan-Mahadeva-Tempel und Chaturbuja-Tempel). Beide Ausrichtungen sind bei indischen Tempeln seit Jahrhunderten möglich und üblich. Die vorderen zwei Begleitschreine des Lakshmana-Tempels liegen einander gegenüber und sind nach Süden bzw. Norden ausgerichtet.

 

WESTGRUPPE (Hindu-Tempel)

- Matangeshvara-Tempel (ca. 950)

- Varaha-Tempel (ca. 950)

- Lakshmana-Tempel (ca. 950)

- Devi-Tempel

- Vishvanatha-Tempel (ca. 1000)

- Nandi-Schrein

- Parvati-Schrein

- Jagadambi-Tempel

- Chitragupta-Tempel

- Kandariya-Mahadeva-Tempel (1. Hälfte 11. Jh.)

 

OSTGRUPPE (Jain-Tempel)

- Parsvanatha-Tempel (ca. 960)

- Adinatha-Tempel (ca. 1050)

- Shantinatha-Tempel

- Ghantai-Tempel (ca. 990)

 

EINZELTEMPEL (Hindu-Tempel)

- Chausath-Yogini-Tempel (ca. 875)

- Lalguan-Mahadeva-Tempel (ca. 920)

- Brahma-Tempel (ca. 930)

- Khakra-Math-Tempel (ca. 980)

- Vamana-Tempel (ca. 1050)

- Javari-Tempel (ca. 1100)

- Chaturbuja-Tempel (ca. 1120)

- Duladeo-Tempel (ca. 1120)

 

ARCHITEKTUR

Die Tempel von Khajuraho bieten die Möglichkeit, auf engstem Raum die Entwicklung der indischen Baukunst in einer Zeitspanne von etwa 200 Jahren zu verfolgen − von kleinen (wenig gegliederten, einräumigen und geschlossenen) Tempeln hin zu großen (stark gegliederten, mehrräumigen und offenen) Bauten. Auch die Höhe der Bauten erfährt während dieser Zeit eine enorme Steigerung. Gemeinsam ist nahezu allen Bauten (Ausnahme: Chausath-Yogini-Tempel), dass sie über Dachaufbauten (Shikhara-Türme oder Pyramidendächer) verfügen, die von gerippten amalaka-Steinen und kalasha-Krügen bekrönt werden.

 

FRÜHZEIT

Abgesehen vom Chausath-Yogini-Tempel, dem ältesten und vollkommen anderen baulichen Traditionen verpflichteten Tempelbau in Khajuraho, bestehen die frühen Tempel nur aus einer − von einem gestuften Pyramidendach bedeckten − Cella (garbhagriha), der im Fall des Brahma-Tempels noch ein Portalvorbau (antarala), im Fall des Varaha-Tempels und des Matangesvara-Tempels jeweils ein kleiner offener Vorraum (mandapa) vorgesetzt ist. Die Außenwände sind nur geringfügig gegliedert und überwiegend steinsichtig.

 

BLÜHTZEIT

Die Blütezeit der Tempelarchitektur in Khajuraho beginnt mit dem Lakshmana-Tempel (ca. 930−950), der wahrscheinlich vom Maladevi-Tempel in Gyaraspur und von früheren Tempelbauten in Rajasthan beeinflusst ist, die ihrerseits wiederum allesamt auf die beim Bau des Kalika-Mata-Tempels in Chittorgarh (ca. 700) erstmals entwickelten baulichen Innovationen zurückgeführt werden können. Diese sind im Wesentlichen: mehrere hintereinander liegende, aber harmonisch miteinander verbundenen Bauteile (mandapas, antarala und garbhagriha); gleiche Grundfläche von großer Vorhalle (mahamandapa) und Sanktumsbereich; Cella als eigenständiger Baukörper im Innern; Pfeiler − und nicht mehr Wände − als tragende Stützelemente für die Dachaufbauten − dadurch wurde es möglich, die Räume nach außen hin durch balkonähnliche Vorbauten zu öffnen; mehrfache Abstufung und Gliederung der verbliebenen Wandteile außen wie innen − dadurch treten sie gar nicht mehr als 'Wand' in Erscheinung; Fortsetzung der Außenwandgliederung im Dachaufbau.

 

Beim Lakshmana-Tempel ist die Cella als eigener, innenliegender Baukörper gestaltet und von einem Umgang (pradakshinapatha) umgeben. Der gesamte Sanktumsbereich sowie seine vier Nebenschreine werden − erstmals in Khajuraho − von steil und hoch aufragenden Shikhara-Türmen überhöht; die weniger wichtigen Vorhallen werden auch weiterhin von den insgesamt flacheren, pyramidenförmigen Dächern bedeckt, so dass eine architektonische Steigerung der Tempel − einem Gebirge durchaus vergleichbar − hin zur Cella erreicht wird.

 

Die wichtigsten Nachfolgebauten des Lakshmana-Tempels sind der Vishvanatha-Tempel (ca. 1000) und der Kandariya-Mahadeva-Tempel (ca. 1050), bei denen wegen der vielfältigen architektonischen Gliederungen und des dichten Skulpturenprogramms eine Stein- bzw. Wandsichtigkeit nicht mehr wahrzunehmen ist.

 

SKULPTUREN

Auch im Hinblick auf die Entwicklung der indischen Skulptur bieten die Tempel von Khajuraho einen Überblick über ca. 200 Jahre indischer Kunstgeschichte − von den in Architekturelemente eingebundenen und eher unbewegt und statisch erscheinenden Reliefdarstellungen der Frühzeit bis hin zu den beinahe freiplastisch gearbeiteten und durch ihre Posenvielfalt nahezu lebendig wirkenden Figuren.

 

FRÜHZEITLICHE SKULPTUREN

Die nur wenig gegliederten Außenwände der frühen Tempel von Khajuraho zeigen kaum figürlichen oder ornamentalen Schmuck. Dieser ist, noch stark reliefgebunden, auf die Portale (Lalguan-Mahadeva-Tempel, Brahma-Tempel) sowie auf einige Fensternischen (Matangeshvara-Tempel) beschränkt. Erotische Skulpturen sind in den frühen Tempeln noch nicht zu finden.

 

SKULPTUREN DER BLÜHTEZEIT

Auch hier ist es der Lakshmana-Tempel, der für Khajuraho neue Zeichen setzt: Während die Außenwände der Vorhallen nur wenig figürliche Reliefs zeigen, sind die Wände des Sanktums überreich mit Skulpturen geschmückt. Darunter finden sich Götterfiguren (devas oder devis), „schöne Mädchen“ (surasundaris) und Liebespaare (mithunas); auch die ersten erotischen Skulpturen sind in den unteren (erdnahen) Feldern der Mittelregister sowie im Figurenfries der Plattform zu sehen. Die mittleren Felder zeigen dagegen zärtliche Liebespaare mit kleineren Begleitfiguren, die oberen Götterfiguren. Eine Hierarchie der Figurenanordnung ist also deutlich wahrnehmbar. Bei den unmittelbaren Nachfolgebauten (Vishvanatha-Tempel, Jagadambi-Tempel und Kandariya-Mahadeva-Tempel) nimmt die Anzahl der Figuren und somit auch der erotischen Darstellungen zu.

 

Bei den Jain-Tempeln und den späteren Hindu-Tempeln sind kaum noch erotisch-sexuelle Darstellungen zu finden; hier überwiegt die Anzahl der Götterfiguren manchmal sogar die der „schönen Mädchen“.

 

ARCHÄOLOGISCHES MUSEUM

Zu den Sehenswürdigkeiten im Bereich des Tempelbezirks von Khajuraho gehört auch das im Ortskern gelegene Archäologische Museum (auch Rani Durgavati-Museum genannt). Es beherbergt einige sehr schöne Skulpturen, die im Rahmen der Ausgrabungs- und Restaurierungsarbeiten gefunden und hierher verbracht wurden, weil sie keinem der erhaltenen Tempelbauten direkt zuzuordnen waren.

 

WIKIPEDIA

 

20151031-DSCF0474

My beautiful picture

Just practicing the rule of thirds. Divide the picture into three vertically and horizontally and put the subjects where the lines intersect.

we should all break the rules every once in a while...

Egads, the subject is centered, call out the photography police! Perhaps worse, it's underexposed.

 

Repetitive motion and contrasting lights and darks fairly nicely.

Funny how I adjust the rules of the house depending on what's going on with my critters. Right now, the rule is that the felines aren't allowed to disturb Miss Raven when she is with me. Normally I let cat piles form on me. If someone doesn't want to be part of a pile, that feline has the option to leave. However, now I protect Raven's space and time with me. Others do get attention and love, mind you, they just don't get to disturb Miss Raven trying to get her to vacate the area.

 

Last night I took Raven to bed with me. . . twice. I picked her up from where she had settled down for the night on the couch. When I carried her into the bedroom, I had to go back out to get Magnus' treat bag. I set Miss Raven on the bed, and, by the time I went out to the living room, Miss Raven had already settled back in her spot on the couch. Sigh. That's when I did something selfish. I picked her up again and carried her back into the bedroom. I set her on my side of the bed and put da boyz to bed. Then I crawled in and curled up around Miss Raven. I figured she would make a b-line for the couch again, but she settled down and melted, a Miss Raven special. She melds her body to fit my body perfectly, presses in then relaxes completely. Ahhhhhh. . . heavenly. And, when I woke up in the morning, she had not budged all night. Definitely made me happy that I insisted that she sleep with me. . .

 

[SOOC, f/1.4, ISO 100, shutter speed 1/100]

Same spot as this shot but turned the camera around 180°.

 

Melano, Switzerland

 

Holga 120WPC | Kodak Portra 400UC (exp. 08/2005)

 

07/2010

A map of one's way around the supermarket, based off of Michael Pollan's guidelines in "Food Rules". Acrylic on kraft paper.