View allAll Photos Tagged unity
Inseparable...
Because they are one tree.....
Truthfully, the two branches seen here share one base.
Best wishes everyone....
Concentric circles often reflect (spiritual) wholeness or unity. If correct here, this suggests spirits to match.
Legend Rock State Historical Site, between Thermopolis and Meeteetse, Wyoming.
Small folded leaflet on the Unity Electric heating system with the Unity thermostat. Young Osmond & Young, London [c.1930]
Stratton's Store. Unity, Oregon (Almost a ghost town). 2007
Neg# TCOR 045. Mamiya RB67, 50mm, Yg filter, 2007
The Silent Inauguration - Centennial Park - Nashville, Tennessee - January 20th, 2017
Objective journalism is hard to find these days. Mainstream media networks too often practice partisan politics. They let their political views cloud their reporting. I started a documentary project back in January. I wanted to attempt some photo journalism on some local political events. These events include the Silent Inauguration, the Women’s March and the Spirit of America Rally (aka March 4 Trump). I will be publishing a series of posts on my blog as my pictures are developed and scanned. I would love to hear our opinion on the photos and my reporting. Check out my Silent Inauguration post here: www.shutteringthrulife.com/american-as-apple-pie-part-1-1...
Olympus OM1
Olympus OM Zuiko 50mm f1.8
Kodak TRI-X 400
The FINDLab
A view of the main auditorium.
Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple, located on Lake Street in Oak Park, was built between 1905 and 1908. It is considered to be one of Wright's most "important" designs, and is currently home to Oak Park's Unitarian Universalist Congregation. Unity Temple was declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1971.
Unity Temple, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Oak Park, Illinois.
All rights reserved. No use & distribution without express written permission. Strictly enforced.
“Like a sculptor, if necessary,
carve a friend out of stone.
Realize that your inner sight is blind
and try to see a treasure in everyone.”
Rumi
Heart...head...heart
Pelicans flying in V-formation over Antelope Island. One side of the formation is over 40 birds long, compared to the other side at 8 birds. From here, their rookery is some 30 miles to the north and they've already flown at least 10 miles from the Farmington WMA or further, in search of food for their young.
Durgotsava is a four-day celebration of the greatest Religious Festival of Bengal. During this time Kolkata turns into a vibrant city of art and culture reflecting the true spirit of Bengal. I hereby share a few glimpses of the fact with you. Hope you will appreciate.
[ Looking back - 2014: Last year I couldn’t share any of my photographs on this festival. I think you wouldn’t mind if I share them this year prior to my current photographs on this subject.]
The Meaning of ‘Durga’.
Durga, meaning "the inaccessible" or "the invincible", is a popular fierce form of the Hindu Goddess or Devi. She is depicted with multiple arms, carrying various weapons and riding a ferocious lion( in Bengal). She is pictured as battling or slaying demons, particularly Mahishasura, the buffalo demon.
Her triumph as Mahishasura Mardini, Slayer of the buffalo Demon is a central episode of the scripture Devi Mahatmya. Her victory is celebrated annually in the festivals of Durga Puja.
History
The word ‘Shakti’ means divine energy/force/power, and Durga is the warrior aspect of the Divine Mother/Brahman(Supreme Absolute Godhead).
As a goddess, Durga's feminine power contains the combined energies of all the gods. Each of her weapons was given to her by various gods: Rudra's trident, Vishnu's discus, Indra's thunderbolt, Brahma's kamandalu, Kuber's Ratnahar, etc.
According to a narrative in the Devi Mahatmya story of the Markandeya Purana text, Durga was created as a warrior goddess to fight an asura (demon) named Mahishasura. Brahma had given Mahishasura the power not to be defeated by a male. Mahishasura had unleashed a reign of terror on earth, heaven and the nether worlds, and he could not be defeated by any man or god, anywhere. The gods were helpless. Shiva, realizing that no man or god (male) can defeat Mahishasura, made a request to his wife Parvati(Durga) to take the role of a female goddess warrior in order to slay the demon. Parvati took his request and went to the Ashram of priest disciple named Katyayan to assume the role of a warrior. Meanwhile, the gods went to Brahma for help and, with Brahma, then made their way to Vaikuntha—the place where Vishnu lay on Ananta Naag. They found both Vishnu and Shiva, and Brahma eloquently related the reign of terror Mahishasur had unleashed on the three worlds. To save the worlds, Vishnu, Shiva and all of the gods emitted beams of fierce light from their bodies. The blinding sea of light reached Parvati at the Ashram of the priest Katyayan and Durga emerged from this pool of light. The goddess Durga took the name Katyaayani from the priest. She introduced herself in the language of the Rig-Veda, saying she was the form of the supreme female aspect of Brahman (Prakriti) who had created all the gods. Now she had come to fight the demon to save the three Worlds. They did not create her; it was her lila that she emerged from their combined energy. The gods were blessed with her compassion.
To combat the evil Mahishasura, she had appeared in a great blinding light, to combat this demon and end it for all to be in peace. The terrible Mahishasura rampaged against her, changing forms many times. First he was a buffalo demon, and she defeated him with her sword. Then he changed forms and became an elephant that tied up the goddess's lion and began to pull it towards him. The goddess cut off his trunk with her sword. The demon Mahishasur continued his terrorizing, taking the form of a lion, and then the form of a man, but both of them were gracefully slain by Durga.
Then Mahishasur began attacking once more, starting to take the form of a buffalo again. When Mahishasur had half emerged into his buffalo form, he was paralyzed by the extreme light emitting from the goddess's body. The goddess then resounded with laughter before cutting Mahishasur's head down with her sword.
Thus Durga slew Mahishasur, thus is the power of the fierce compassion of Durga. Hence, Mata Durga is also known as Mahishasurmardhini—the slayer of Mahishasur.
The goddess, as Mahishasuramardini, appears quite early in Indian art. The Archaeological Museum in Matura has several statues on display including a 6-armed Kushana period Mahisasuramardhini that depicts her pressing down the buffalo with her lower hands. A Nagar plaque from the first century BC - first century AD depicts a 4-armed Mahisamardhini accompanied by a lion. But it is in the Gupta period that we see the finest representations of Mahisasuramardhini. The spear and trident are her most common weapons. A Mamallapuram relief shows the goddess with 8 arms riding her lion subduing a buffalo-faced demon; a variation also seen at Ellora. In later sculptures show the goddess having decapitated the buffalo demon.
Durga Puja (Worshiping Durga)
The four day long (Saptami to Dashami) Durga Puja is the biggest annual festival in Bengal, Assam, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and Nepal, where it is known as Dashain. It is celebrated likewise with much fervour in various parts of India, especially the Himalayan region, but is celebrated in various forms throughout the Hindu universe.
The day of Durga's victory is celebrated as Vijayadashami (Bengali), Dashain (Nepali) or Dussehra (Hindi) - these words literally mean "the Victory Tenth" (day).
The actual period of the worship however may be on the preceding nine days (Navaratri) followed by the last day called Vijayadashami in North India or five days in Bengal (from the sixth to tenth day of the waxing-moon fortnight)..
In North India, the tenth day, signifying Rama's victory in his battle against the demon Ravana, is celebrated as Dussehra - gigantic straw effigies of Ravana are burnt in designated open spaces (e.g. Delhi's Ram Lila grounds), watched by thousands of families and little children. In Bangladesh also the four-days long Sharadiya Durga Puja (Bengali: শারদীয়া দুর্গা পুজো, ‘autumnal Durga worship’) is the biggest religious festivals for the Hindus and celebrated across the country with Vijayadashami being a national holiday. Source: Wikipedia.
‘Durgotsava’ - My Personal feelings :
To me worshiping goddess Durga encompasses so many deeply seated aspects of human lives and nature. The imagination of such a Goddess-form has its age old story depicted in the Hindu Puranas and that had been fabricated by the wisdom of ages as a symbolic one for Bio-Geo-Socio-Economic-Cultural and Aesthetical upliftment of humankind and its relationship with nature, through the practice of worshiping.
Once in a year She, The Mother Durga, is thought to come from her abode at mount Kailash in Himalaya to the land of Bengal at the time of Autumn, the finest of all six seasons when Bengal turns into a nature’s paradise. The snow white clouds against the deep azure of the sky, the gentle cool breeze carrying the sweet fragrance of flowers, the turning colors of the leaves, the golden sunlit lush green paddy fields and the waving clusters of dazzling white inflorescence of Kash dramatically prepare the minds of Bengal apt for celebration of life. Artists of versatile talents from Bengal and other states culminate their finest ever skill and efforts for making the idols of Durga using conventional natural resources like clay, wood, organic colors, that are all biodegradable. The pandals( the temporary abodes of Devi Durga) all over Bengal, especially in urban cities turn into the finest galleries of art and culture covering an unimaginably wide range of form and traditions, represented by Bengal and neighboring states of India. Durga puja becomes a wide open opportunity to discover and re-discover the art and artistry of Bengal, and not only that this is the biggest festival of Bengal that provides a great competitive platform for innumerable artists and workers to learn and earn.
The time of Puja is the time for togetherness, is the time for sharing and caring. The traditional concept of making the idols of Durga, her four children and her husband Lord Shiva against a single background structure( which is in Bengali: Ek chalchitra) seems to me a very symbolic one! It implicates to me a strong bondage between the family members, or in a greater sense the relationships between individuals. An example of unity in diversity.
To save the worlds, Brahmma(the god of creation), Vishnu( the god of sustenance), Moheshwara/ Shiva(the god of destruction) and all of the gods emitted beams of fierce light from their bodies. The blinding sea of light reached Parvati, and Durga emerged from this pool of light. This is very symbolic. I see durga as a domain where there have been convergence of all form of energies; she is the symbolic epitome of unified force, as it is the most cherished theory of modern-day physics- “the unified field theory”. And therefore, She is the Symbolic epitome of concentrated knowledge and wisdom. She can create(sristi), She can sustain( sthiti), and She can destroy(loy). She comes over here to create all good things and to sustain them on this earth, and to destroys all evil power, as depicted by triumph over Mahisasura.
Her four children are very symbolic to me for four aspects of socio-economic- cultural upliftment. These are the four aspects to create a balanced nation or a person as an individual.
“Lakhsmi”, her elder daughter, is a symbol of wealth. She carries with her a bunch of ripe paddy and a container of vermilion. Ripened paddy is the symbol of agricultural success. And vermilion is the symbol of peaceful marriage in Hindu custom.
“Swaraswati”, her younger daughter, is a symbol of art and culture. She carries with her a sitar, a classical Indian instrument depicting music, which is the highest form of the faculty of art.
“Kartika”, her elder son, is the commander-in-chief of the gods for war. He is the warrior and protector from enemies. He carries a bow and arrows. He knows how to target an enemy. And he is the symbol of leadership qualities.
“Ganesha”, her youngest son. He is the symbol of knowledge and wisdom.
And the Mother is the creator of all her four children, the four faculties associated with biological, social, cultural and intellectual evolution of man.
Therefore, She is the idealistic epitome of Gunas (qualities), that we all her children should acquire for. And there lies the true meaningfulness of worshiping our mother, Durga.
On the tenth day after the triumph, the day of Vijaya Dashami, mother along with her family sets her journey back to her final adobe in himalaya, leaving the earthly world behind. The clay idol is thus immersed in the holy water of Ganges to symbolize her journey. And thus the whole celebration comes to an end.
Unity Temple, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Oak Park, Illinois.
All rights reserved. No use & distribution without express written permission. Strictly enforced.
Unity Hall was constructed in 1887 at 3140 S. Indiana Ave. for the Lakeside Club, a Jewish social organization. It became the home of Cong. Oscar DePriest's Peoples Movement Club in 1917, Churches have occupied the building since the 1950s. It continued to deteriorate during the early 2010s, but has since been renovated into apartments.
A view of the main auditorium from the balcony.
Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple, located on Lake Street in Oak Park, was built between 1905 and 1908. It is considered to be one of Wright's most "important" designs, and is currently home to Oak Park's Unitarian Universalist Congregation. Unity Temple was declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1971.