View allAll Photos Tagged temples
Shore Temple is one of the oldest temples of South India built between 700-728 CE. It overlooks the bay of Bengal and has withstood innumerable attacks from the sea over the centuries . Sculpted on a rock, it is a world heritage site. It is a miracle that this temple survived the 2005 tsunami despite being so close to sea. Also known as the only surviving temple that once comprised the Seven Pagodas
Temple Newsam (historically Temple Newsham), (grid reference SE357322) is a Tudor-Jacobean house in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, with grounds landscaped by Capability Brown.
The estate lends its name to the Temple Newsam ward of Leeds City Council, in which it is situated, and lies to the east of the city, just south of Halton Moor, Halton, Whitkirk and Colton. It is one of nine sites in the Leeds Museums & Galleries group.
The house is a Grade I listed building, defined as a "building of outstanding or national architectural or historic interest". The stables are Grade II* listed ("particularly significant buildings of more than local interest"), and ten separate features of the estate are Grade II listed ("buildings of special architectural or historic interest"), including the Sphinx Gates and the Barn.[1] Temple Newsam House is one of Leeds Museums and Galleries sites.[2] It is also part of the research group, Yorkshire Country House Partnership.[3]
History
1066 to 1520
In the Domesday Book of 1086 the manor is listed as Neuhusam (meaning new houses) and was held by Ilbert de Lacy and his sons.[4] Before the Norman Conquest of 1066 it had been held by Dunstan and Glunier, Anglo-Saxon thanes.[4] In about 1155, Henry de Lacy gave it to the Knights Templar, who built Temple Newsam Preceptory on a site near the present house.[5] The Templars farmed the estate very efficiently, with 1100 animals.[6] In 1307 the Templars were suppressed, and Edward II granted the manor to Sir Robert Holland who held it until 1323 when he was deprived of his estates.[6] The Templars tried to retake the estate but they were forced to surrender and in 1327 it was granted to Mary de St Pol, the Countess of Pembroke, who held the manor for 50 years.[6] In 1377 by royal decree the estate reverted to Philip Darcy, 4th Baron Darcy de Knayth (1341–1398).[6] It then passed through several members of the Darcy family, until it was inherited by the 21-year old Thomas, Lord Darcy in 1488.[7] Between 1500 and 1520 a Tudor manor house, known as Temple Newsam House, was built on the site.[8] It has also been spelled "Newsham" in the past.[9]
An oil on panel painting by Hans Eworth of Henry Stuart and his brother Charles Stuart in a grand interior based on a print by Hans Vreedman de Vries
An oil on panel painting from 1563 by Hans Eworth of Henry Stuart and his brother Charles Stuart in a grand interior based on a print by Hans Vreedman de Vries which may reflect Temple Newsam's Great Chamber
1500 to 1650
In 1537 Thomas, Lord Darcy was executed for the part he played in the Pilgrimage of Grace and the property was seized by the Crown.[7] In 1544 Henry VIII gave it to his niece Lady Margaret Douglas (Countess of Lennox), and she lived there with her husband Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox.[7] Their son Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, who was born in the house in 1545 and educated there, married Mary, Queen of Scots, by whom he was the father of King James VI of Scotland and I of England.[10] A portrait of Henry and his brother was probably intended to represent the interior of Temple Newsam despite being based on a print of an ideal interior.[11] Following the marriage in 1565, Temple Newsam was seized by Queen Elizabeth I and was managed by an agent.[12]
In 1609 King James I, successor to Elizabeth, granted the estate to his Franco-Scottish second cousin Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox (1574–1624), who was a favourite of the King and given many titles and estates, including farmland and coalmines in the local area.[13] Despite his opportunities, Ludovic was in constant debt and he mortgaged the estate in 1614 for the sum of £9,000 (around £860,000 in today's money).[14] In 1622 Lennox began the sale of the estate to Sir Arthur Ingram (c. 1565 – 1642), a Yorkshire-born London merchant, civil servant, investor in colonial ventures and arms dealer, for £12,000, which he paid in two instalments, the last in July 1624, after Lennox's death.[14] During the next 20 years the mansion was rebuilt, incorporating some of the previous house in the west wing.[8] The north and south wings were rebuilt and the east wing was demolished after a bad fire in 1635.[15] Arthur's son, also called Arthur, inherited the estate with its debts and continued the building and renovation work.[16] Six months after Charles I was beheaded in 1649, Arthur Ingram the younger was declared delinquent and he compounded his estates and retired to Temple Newsam.[17]
1650 to 1900
After the death of Arthur the younger's eldest son, Thomas, in 1660, Temple Newsam was inherited by Arthur's second son, Henry Ingram, 1st Viscount of Irvine (created a peer of Scotland as Baron Ingram and Viscount of Irvine in 1661 - although the family used the English form "Irwin").[18] In 1661, Henry married Lady Essex Montagu, daughter of Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester, a favourite of Charles II.[18] The estate then passed through Henry's two sons and five grandsons, the last being Henry Ingram, 7th Viscount of Irvine.[18] The 4th Viscount brought back paintings from his Grand Tour of 1704-7.[19] Extant receipts from 1692 show women as well as men were employed to work the estate in haymaking.[20] In 1712, William Etty designed a new approach to the house, with a bridge and ponds.[21][22] In 1714, Temple Newsam was inherited by Rich Ingram, the 5th Viscount, and his wife Ann who spent a vast fortune furnishing the house and creating the East Avenue.[19] Between 1738 and 1746, Henry Ingram, 7th Viscount of Irvine remodelled the west and north wings of the house, creating new bedrooms and dressing rooms and the picture gallery.[23] A painting in Leeds City Art Gallery by Philippe Mercier of c. 1745 shows Henry and his wife standing in front of Temple Newsam House.[24]
A coloured engraving made in 1699 by J Kip after a drawing by Leonard Knyff showing an aerial view of the house and estate at Temple Newsam
1699 Engraving by J Kip after a drawing by Leonard Knyff
In the 1760s, Charles Ingram, 9th Viscount of Irvine, employed Capability Brown to re-landscape the park on the insistence of his wife, Frances Shepheard, daughter of Samuel Shepheard.[25] Reflecting her interest in pastoral landscape design, Frances is depicted as a shepherdess in a portrait by Benjamin Wilson at Temple Newsam.[25] Both Frances and Charles were actively involved in the design and implementation.[26] Some aspects of Brown's plan depicted in paintings by James Chapman and Michael Angelo Rooker were never completed such as a large lake near the house.[26] Extant financial records show that in 1759 women as well as men were employed as garden labourers.[20] After Charles died in 1778, Frances rebuilt the south wing in 1796; she lived at Temple Newsam until her death in 1807.[27] Charles and Frances's eldest daughter Isabella Ingram, (Marchioness of Hertford) (d.1834) who inherited Temple Newsam, was the mistress of the Prince of Wales (later King George IV) from 1806 to 1819. In 1806, George visited Temple Newsam and presented Isabella with Chinese wallpaper, which she hung in the small Drawing Room next to the Great Hall in around 1820, embellished with cut out birds from Audubon's The Birds of America (now worth £7.5 million).[28] Lady Hertford inherited the house in 1807; after her husband died in 1822 she spent the season in London, and the rest of the time at Temple Newsam where she involved herself in charitable works including distributing food and clothing to the local people.[29] She allowed the servants to hold an annual supper and ball at Temple Newsam.[29] Reports of poachers were made during 1826 and 1827.[30] During the last years of Isabella's life, the canal, railway and roads encroached on the estate as well as coal mining; and she dealt with the companies setting these up.[29] In 1820 the novelist Sir Walter Scott published Ivanhoe featuring a Templar preceptory named Temple Stowe, believed to have been modelled on Temple Newsam; the name is preserved in local road names such as Templestowe Crescent.[31] At her death in 1834, Isabella left Temple Newsam to her widowed sister, Frances Ingram Shepheard, wife of Lord William Gordon, who died in 1841.[32]
Temple Newsam House from Morris's Country Seats (1880)
In 1841 the estate was inherited by Hugo Charles Meynell Ingram (d. 1869), son of Elizabeth Ingram, sister of Frances Ingram (Lady Gordon), who made no alterations to the estate.[33] In 1868, the Prince of Wales stayed at Temple Newsam during his visit to Leeds to open the Fine Art Exhibition in the New Infirmary; temporary triumphal arches were erected on the estate.[34] Following Hugo Charles's death, his son Hugo Meynell-Ingram (d.1871) inherited Temple Newsam; two years later, at his death, his wife Emily Meynell Ingram (d.1904) inherited the estate.[33] Emily spent a large part of her widowhood at Temple Newsam; she developed it considerably by replacing the sash windows and remodelling the dining room, great staircase and Lord Darnley's room.[33] Emily bequeathed Temple Newsam to her nephew Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax.[8]
20th century
In 1909, 610 acres (2.5 km2) of the estate at Knostrop were compulsorily purchased by Leeds Corporation to build a sewage plant.[35] During the First World War (1914–17) the south wing of the house was turned into a hospital by Edward Wood and his wife Dorothy. Edward Wood fought in France as part of the Yorkshire Hussars, whilst Dorothy oversaw the running of the hospital as part of the Mayors War Committee.[36] In 1922 Edward Wood sold the park and house to Leeds Corporation for a nominal sum, placing covenants over them to ensure their preservation for the future.[35]
On 19 October 1923, Temple Newsam was opened to the public along with a golf course.[37] In the Derby Daily Telegraph newspaper, Temple Newsam was compared to Hampton Court.[37] Despite many people visiting the house and using the golf course, the Corporation lost money during the first decade mostly due to poor farming practices.[37] In July 1932, the Great Yorkshire Show was held at Temple Newsam and was a great success.[37] Preparations for war were made as early as April 1939, and in August, small items were being packed up for storage.[37] In September 1939, Temple Newsam was closed to the public and items were moved there for storage from Leeds City Art Gallery.[37] It was decided that objects would be displayed, and the house was officially reopened in November 1939, when it was again likened to Hampton Court in the press.[37]
Architecture
Photograph of entrance porch of Temple Newsam House, Leeds, showing at top the word 'FATHER', below a mullioned window, below a raised portico with coat of arms above a doorway flanked by two Ionic columns on each side.
Entrance Porch 17th century
Photograph of the west front of Temple Newsam
Centre of Temple Newsam west front
Remains of the early 16th century house were retained in the new building, including the brickwork and bay windows in the centre of the west front.[38] The plan of the new house was a conservative E-shape.[38] The Long Gallery and entrance hall in the south wing followed Elizabethan and early Jacobean styles.[38] The entrance porch has Classical columns but they are of Flemish design, rather than following correct Italian design.[38] There are Tudor doorways and timberwork in the cellars, which are largely Tudor in date.[39] Tudor features have also been discovered beneath later layers of decoration, including Lord Darcy's crest scratched into the plaster in the Blue Damask room.[40] An inventory of 1565 indicates that the hall, great chamber (later the dining room), gallery and chapel (later the kitchen) were probably where they are now.[40] There is a Tudor doorway in the north wing which was probably the entrance to the original chapel.[41]
In the 17th century, the south and north wings were rebuilt and the east wing demolished, replaced by a low wall with an arched gateway, giving the house a fashionable 'half-H' appearance.[39] It is possible that the man who made plans for the alteration was Bernard Dinninghof of York.[41] There is also some resemblance to designs by Inigo Jones.[42] Round the top of the house, letters appear in a balustrade, declaring the piety and loyalty of Sir Arthur Ingram: 'ALL GLORY AND PRAISE BE GIVEN TO GOD THE FATHER THE SON AND HOLY GHOST ON HIGH PEACE ON EARTH GOOD WILL TOWARDS MEN HONOUR AND TRUE ALLEGIANCE TO OUR GRACIOUS KING LOVING AFFECTION AMONGST HIS SUBJECTS HEALTH AND PLENTY BE WITHIN THIS HOUSE.'[38] The chapel in the north wing retains some 17th century features, such as armorial stained glass, probably by Henry Gyles and a carved wooden pulpit by Thomas Ventris, made around 1636, with geometric patterns, pilasters and friezes.[38] The walls had panels of Old Testament figures, painted by John Carleton.[38] An inventory dated 1667 records that the House had 66 rooms and 11 outhouses.[39] An engraving by Kip and Knyff dated 1699 is an accurate representation of the house, showing the varying height of the house and some buildings that were later demolished, including the arched gateway flanked by two small lodges and a detached garden building dating from the mid 1670s.[23]
Photograph of stone and brick Sphinx gate piers at Temple Newsam, c. 1760 by Lancelot Brown based on designs published by Lord Burlington in 1738 and used at Chiswick
Sphinx gate piers, c. 1760
Photograph of the mid-18th century stable block at Temple Newsam showing the pediment
Stable Block at Temple Newsam, added by Henry, 7th Lord Irwin
In 1718, the steward of Temple Newsam suggested an underground service passage to link the north and south wings to the 5th Viscount, who agreed.[43] This tunnel linked the original kitchens in the south wing to the rest of the house.[44] In 1738, Henry, 7th Viscount Irwin wrote to his mother describing the neglected state of the house with windows coming away and cracked brickwork.[23] The house was almost entirely remodelled by Henry.[38] He wanted to follow Palladian design and used craftsmen from York to do so.[45] He widened the gallery, improved the ceiling and windows and created additional rooms.[23] The gallery, completed around 1746, has fine Rococo carvings with overmantle paintings of classical scenes by Antonio Joli.[19] There are also elaborate gilded Rococo ornamental candle holders.[19] The gallery ceiling has detailed stucco work including a medallion of King George I.[19] The ceilings in the new Saloon and Library, made from the old Long Gallery, were decorated by Thomas Perritt and Joseph Rose.[45] The doorcases are elaborately carved, probably by Richard Fisher.[45] Two chimney pieces in the Saloon were based on designs by William Kent.[45] The distinctive sphinx gate piers by Lancelot Brown constructed in 1768 were based on designs published by Lord Burlington in 1738 and used at Chiswick.[45][1] The main rooms in the west wing were redecorated and the windows were replaced with sliding sash windows.[45] A large pedimented stable block was built to the north of the house, in 1742 and probably designed by Daniel Garratt, also in the Palladian style.[45][46] A painting by Mercier of around 1749, also shows a planned block to the south and a low wall connecting the north and south wings which were never completed.[23][21]
In 1796, Frances Shepheard employed a Mr Johnson to alter and reface the south wing in a style which tried to copy that of Sir Arthur Ingram's original house.[45] Her approach was a departure from the designs for the wing commissioned by her dead husband from John Carr and Robert Adam, as well as the landscaping by Capability Brown who was also consulted about rebuilding the south wing.[45] The wing was made two storeys high throughout with a suite of reception rooms on the ground floor with state bedchambers above.[27] In the 1790s, the kitchens were moved to the north wing and the original kitchen became a brushing room where servants brushed down nobles returning from hunting parties.[44]
At the end of the 19th century, Emily Meynell Ingram replaced the sash windows with stone mullions and leaded lights and rebuilt the north porch adding the Meynell Ingram coat of arms over the doorway.[27] She redecorated several rooms and had the great oak staircase installed.[27] The dining room, great staircase and Lord Darnley's room were remodelled in Elizabethan style.[33] In 1877, Emily converted the library at the east end of the gallery into a chapel.[47]
Coalmining on the estate
Estate records show the existence of coal pits in and around the park in the seventeenth century and Bell Wood to the south of the house would have had bell pits for coal extraction. A colliery at Halton village was leased to a number of different individuals from 1660 through to at least the 1790s. The leases generally required the leaseholder to supply coals to Temple Newsam house.[48]
In 1815, William Fenton, one of the 'Coal Kings' of Yorkshire,[49] began the sinking of a mine shaft on the estate at Thorpe Stapleton. The colliery was named Waterloo to commemorate the famous battle of that year.[50] Waterloo Colliery was operated as a royalty concession with contracted 'rents' for coal extracted going to the Temple Newsam landowner. Fenton also had a village built for his workers on land between the River Aire and the Aire and Calder navigation. The village was initially called Newmarket but then became Irwin Square on ordnance survey maps[51] and Ingram Place on census lists, but it was commonly simply known as Waterloo. The Yorkshire, Lancashire and England cricketer Albert Ward was born here in 1865. The village had two rows of cottages and a school building. It was connected to the colliery by a wooden footbridge over the river.[52] Deep coal mining on the estate ended with the closure of the Temple Pit of Waterloo Main Colliery in 1968.
Temple Newsam House
Opencast mining on the estate began in May 1942. Seven sites were exploited to the south of the house almost entirely destroying Capability Brown's landscape. One site reached within 330 feet (100 m) of the South Terrace. It continued at the Gamblethorpe site as far as Dawson's Wood, in full view of the house, until 1987.[53] No trace of the opencast remains now as the parkland was re-landscaped.
In 2019 there was a temporary exhibition about coal mining at Temple Newsam which was called 'Blot on the Landscape'.[54]
House and estate today
The house and estate are owned by Leeds City Council and open to the public. The house has undergone substantial restoration to its exterior. There is an established programme of restoring rooms back to known previous configurations, reversing the numerous intrusive installations and modifications that took place during the building's "art museum" phase.
The wider estate is made up of woods (the second largest part of the Forest of Leeds).[55] There are sporting facilities for football, golf, running, cycling, horse-riding and orienteering. There is an innovative children's playground opened in 2011 which caters for both disabled and able-bodied children.[56] Pegasus Wood, to the south of the house, commemorates veterans of the Normandy Landing at Pegasus Bridge in 1944.[57]
Photograph of brick barn at the Home Farm, Temple Newsam
Great Barn, Home Farm, Temple Newsam
The Home Farm, open to the public, has a barn built in 1694 and is the largest working rare breeds farm in Europe, and only one of 16 nationally approved by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Breeds include Gloucester, Kerry, Irish Moiled, Red Poll, White Park, British White, Beef Shorthorn, Vaynol and Belted Galloway cattle; Kerry Hill; Whitefaced Woodland and Portland sheep, and Golden Guernsey goats.[58] The farm was targeted by arsonists twice in 2011 with damage caused to buildings, and some animals killed.[59]
There are extensive gardens, with a celebrated rhododendron walk and six national plant collections: Aster novi-belgii (Michaelmas daisies), Phlox paniculata, Delphinium elatum (Cultivars), Solenostemon scutellarioides (sys. Coleus blumei), Primula auricula and Chrysanthemum (Charm and Cascade cultivars).[60] Within the Walled Garden there are 800 yards of herbaceous borders.[61]
Collections
There are substantial holdings of fine and decorative art which are designated by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) as being of national significance.[62]
Of most significant historical and cultural interest is the Chippendale Society collection of Chippendale works that are on permanent loan.[63] In his book "Britain's Best Museums and Galleries", Mark Fisher (a former DCMS minister) gave the museum an excellent review. When interviewed on Front Row, Radio 4, November 2004 Fisher placed Temple Newsam House in the top three non-national museums in the country, along with Birmingham's Barber Institute and the Dulwich Picture Gallery.[64]
These photos of Sri Meenakshi were taken in Pearland, TX - a small suburb just south of Houston. The temple is built in the South Indian style and is not the only one located in Houston.
Candi Kalasan is located on the northwest side of modern Yogyakarta on the south side of the road that leads to Prambanan village. Initially constructed during the late 8th century, the design of Candi Kalasan underwent a considerable number of changes during the remainder of Central Java's Classic Age. One notable feature of the temple is its octagon-shaped roof, which featured carved images of the Tathagatas facing the four cardinal points, each of which was flanked by a pair of bodhisattvas in bas-relief. It has been suggested that the bodhisattva serial on the upper part of Kalasan represent the famous Eight Great Bodhisattvas of Mahayana Buddhism.
This temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva.The presiding deity of lingam is some 4m tall.Its believed that the shadow of the Gopuram never falls on the ground.
Visit my facebook page
www.facebook.com/SujithPhotostream
and like it
My friend, Albert, and I went up to the 427 and Finch to take some shots of the new Hindu temple there. It was an, um, interesting experience.
See the guy standing right up against the temple on the right?? Okay, no one said anything to him however when I was standing there taking some shots (and not touching the architecture) one of the security guards came along and started giving me royal heck. I explained that there were no signs and apologized but then he got aggressive.
He asked me how many shots I had taken ... I said four (it was actually seven but I was abit taken aback at that point because he was being quite rude). He then asked me to show him ... I had to tell him three times it wasn't a digital camera and that I was NOT going to open the back of my Pentax. If he had touched me, I think I would have gone ballistic. He then told us we had to leave ... then shortly afterwards motioned other people over. Wow. It had been awhile since I had experienced that kind of prejudice. sigh.
Temples and Pagodas in Bagan, Myanmar. There are still 3,000+ temples remaining, even after the damage of World War II.
Osaka, Japan. Spring 2007.
I decided to re-edit my photos taken in Japan four years ago. Originally they were uploaded either without any post-processing work done, or with minimal work done in picasa. Japan is a truly beautiful country and if you haven't already, I hope you'll find the time to donate.
Donate List
www1.networkforgood.org/help-survivors-pacific-quake-tsunami
See where this picture was taken. [?]
Shitennoji is the oldest state temple in Japan. It was founded in 593 by Prince Shotoku, who supported the introduction of Buddhism to Japan. Although the temple's buildings burned down several times throughout the centuries, they were always carefully reconstructed to reflect the original 6th century design.
Shitennoji's many impressive buildings include a five-storied pagoda and the Golden Hall in which Prince Shotoku is enshrined. There is also a turtle pond and the garden of Gokuraku-jodo, which represents the Buddhist paradise. A treasure house exhibits paintings, sculptures, scriptures and other valuable belongings of the temple. Taken from www.japan-guide.com/e/e4011.html
At 3 in the morning my alarm-clock went off. We planned a photoshoot from a hillside of Borobudur at sunrise and in Indonesia it means you have to get up really really early. The shoot itself was disappointing due to heavy fog.
Next stop that day was the Mendut temple. And old old Buddhist temple not that for from Borobudur but with far less tourists.
Still a bit disappointed with the Borobudur shots I entered the temple and was immediately struck by the serenity and tranquillity of the temple complex. I just had to pay my respect and burned an stick of incense in Buddha's honour.
Buddha must have appreciated my offer. When I left the temple complex a hug drop of water splashed on my head. It was over 30 degrees Celsius outside and it hadn't rained in over a week.
I felt blessed.
Here is another view of the boiler at Temple's Sugar Bush on our private viewing on Pancake Tuesday.
Canada produces 85% of the world's maple syrup, and our Lanark County, which designates itself as the "Maple Syrup Capital of Ontario," is said to produce the highest quality maple syrup.
There are various sugar bushes near us: three of them having dining rooms that people trek to come spring. Marking the passing of winter to spring in this way is becoming a tradition with us.
© Anvilcloud Photography
At a Buddhist temple, you usually write your prayer on a wooden plaque that you tie onto racks near the temple. At this small temple in the Yasaka area of Kyoto, instead of wooden plaques, you write your prayer on a colorful fabric ball called a kukurizaru. The ball represents a mischievous monkey with its hands and feet tied to prevent it from acting on its will or desire. The idea is that if you control your desires, your prayer will come true. Makes for a much more colorful temple.
Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat is the principal temple in Phitsanolouk and is dominated by a tall 'corn-cob' shaped tower or 'prang' in Khmer style. Inside the main temple is an important and very beautiful Buddha image, whilst to the rear of the complex a standing Buddha can be seen amidst the ruins of a pillared hall.
Jongrung Temple District - Pogwang Hall
located in the suburbs of Pyongyang. North Korea
Site of King Tongmyong's Mausoleum - Ryongsan-ri, Rhyokpho District, Pyongyang city
Museum monks
Right next to King Tongmyong’s tomb (and part of the World heritage site near P’yŏngyan) is the small Jongrung Temple, where prayers were said for the deceased king. In this country, where any religion has been almost totally ruled out, it still feels strange, sterile even — not like a real, “living” monastery, even though six monks still live here: no lamps burn in front of the Buddha statues, and the distinctive aroma of burning incense is completely missing. I wonder, how are they practicing their religion and duties as monks then? The place feels more like a museum with the monks as caretakers.
When I ask the guide (through Miss Uni - the guide doesn’t speak English) how the monastery gets new novices, she tells us these monks can marry, and that their sons can succeed them. They’re also not required to shave their heads, whether to do that is their own choice. Now while I know that in some types of Buddhism monks can indeed marry, the idea of monks’ sons succeeding them sounds very strange to me: is this some strange sect or has this monastery been “reformed” by the government into something not really Buddhist any more?
from:
Bali has been doubly blessed: firstly, with abundantly productive fields, and secondly, with people who were cooperative, rather than overly competitive, and who therefore shared the products of those fields - allowing them to spend time on creating art and beautiful buildings.
The ornate curlicues on temples and houses start somewhere, as we discover when we are bicycling through the Balinese countryside. Even though the cement pieces are cast in forms, there is a lot of labour in tidying them up and sanding them smooth.
For the story, please visit: www.ursulasweeklywanders.com/travel/postcards-from-bali-a...
Philae in Greek or Pilak in ancient Egyptian, meaning 'the end,' defined the southern most limit of Egypt. It was begun by Ptolemy II and completed by the Roman Emperors. The Temple was dedicated to the goddess Isis, the wife of Osiris and mother of Horus. These three characters dominate ancient Egyptian culture and their story possesses all the drama of a Shakespearian tragedy. The god Osiris is murdered and dismembered by his brother Seth. Isis searches for the fragments, collects them together and with her magic powers brings Osiris back to life. They then conceive the god Horus. Osiris becomes god of the under world and judge of the dead - who must answer to him for their deeds on Earth. Meanwhile Isis gives birth to Horus and protects the young god. Later when Horus is grown he avenges his father by defeating Seth in combat.
For centuries the temple complex was the holiest site for Isis worshippers. The temple was officially closed down in the 6th century A.D. by the Byzantine emperor Justinian. It was the last pagan temple to exist in the Mediterranean world. Philae was a seat of the Christian religion as well as of the ancient Egyptian faith. Ruins of a Christian church were still discovered, and more than one adytum bore traces of having been made to serve at different eras the purposes of a chapel of Osiris and of Christ. The Philae temple was converted into a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary, until that was closed by Muslim invaders in the 7th century.
Isis is a very important figure in the ancient world. She is associated with funeral rites but as the enchantress who resurrected Osiris and gave birth to Horus she is also the giver of life, a healer and protector of kings. She was known as 'Mother of God' and was represented with a throne on her head. During the Roman period her cult spread throughout Greece and the Roman Empire. There was even a temple dedicated to her in London.
The temple at Philae was nearly lost under water when the high Aswan dam was built in the 1960s. Fortunately the temple was rescued by a joint operation between the Egyptian government and UNESCO. In an engineering feat to rival the ancients the whole island was surrounded with a dam and the inside pumped dry. Then every stone block of the temple complex was labelled and removed later to be assembled, like a giant jigsaw puzzle, on the higher ground of Agilka island. The whole project took ten years and has saved one of Egypt's most beautiful temples from certain destruction.