unobtanium photos on Flickr

The Hallelujah Mountains (Na’vi name: Ayram alusìng meaning “Floating Mountains”) are floating islands that circulate slowly in the magnetic currents like icebergs at sea, scraping against each other and the towering mesa-like mountains of the region. On Pandora, huge outcroppings of unobtanium rip loose from the surface and float in the magnetic vortices due to the Meissner Effect.

Physical Description

They are overgrown with foliage at the top and straggly beards of vines hang down beneath the mountains like the roots of air-ferns. Their sides are sheer cliffs. Waterfalls, originating on the mesa-like tops, stream down the sides and disperse into spray at the bottoms, like upside-down geysers. The mist then condenses on other floating mountains and flows over the side and disperses, renewing the process. The local peaks and mesas actually project above the level of the craggy undersides of the few floating mountains Jake Sully can see, so it seems obvious that collisions are inevitable.

It is also the place that Norm Spellman wants to visit the most on Pandora—his wish is fulfilled when Grace Augustine decides to move her avatar program operation to the region when she realizes Jake is being manipulated by Quaritch. Most human detection instruments are useless amidst the large magnetic fields. The mountains float like clouds among the fixed mountains and swirling cloud structures. When they are in clear sunlight they cast distinct shadows on the land below.

In Na’vi Culture

The mountains are home to several clans, including Ni’awve and the Tipani. The latter reside in the settlement of Vayaha Village. In 2154 the Omaticaya fled to the mountains, seeking sanctuary at the Tree of Souls. The tree is one of the most sacred sites on Pandora.

The Hallelujah Mountains are also where mountain banshees choose to roost. This location atop the 2,600m high Mons Veritatis makes the final challenge on the path to becoming a Na’vi hunter (known as Iknimaya) even more difficult and dangerous, as the route taken to the top of the mountains is treacherous. One wrong move will send a candidate plummeting to his or her death. The danger of wild mountain banshees is also present. The local Tipani also refer to the entire region around their village as Iknimaya.

Behind the Scenes

The mountains also bear a similar appearance to the Chinese Huang Shan Mountains. James Cameron said that it was the Huang Shan mountains that inspired him to create the Hallelujah Mountains, which would explain the similar appearance. On January 25, 2010 in China, hundreds of locals in ethnic Tujia costumes “officially” renamed the Qiankunzhu mountains after the Hallelujah Mountains as a tribute to Avatar.

Sacred Sites

The Hallelujah Mountains: Fragile Giants

For humans, the Hallelujah Mountains are a stunning vista, a true wonder of the natural world. For the Na’vi, they are so much more.

It’s hard to imagine. And trust us: pictures don’t do it justice.

Whole mountains lifted from the earth like children’s balloons. Billions of tons of rock floating in the air as though hung there deliberately—some the size of boulders, and some miles across. The Hallelujah Mountains are one of the definitive natural wonders of Pandora, objects of surreal delight for every human lucky enough to see them.

As enduring as they are in both fact and imagination, the truth is that the mountains perform a delicate balancing act within the region’s geology and ecology. Most significantly, they represent a cherished, essential part of Na’vi spiritual life. From their role in the iknimaya to the mysteries of Eywa herself, the mountains are a prime sacred site, offering a fascinating glimpse into indigenous belief.

But first, an answer to the question you’re all thinking.

Yes, They Really Float. But How?

Admittedly, it took some digging for RDA geologists to figure it out—literally. The intense magnetic fields covering Pandora—and clustering in this region in particular—were common knowledge during early exploration of the moon, and it was assumed they had something to do with how the mountains stayed in place. But it wasn’t until unobtanium was excavated that a full picture started to come together.

What we know is that, thanks to the superconductive properties of the unobtanium deposits within, each mountain is surrounded by its own magnetic field that effectively keeps the mass in place, as though fenced in. And conforming to the rules of a fence, the mountains can actually shift position within their boundaries—their occasional collisions inspired the Na’vi to nickname them “Thundering Mountains.”

The Eywa Theory

The alternate point of view belongs to the Na’vi. There is nothing unsolved in the Na’vi ontology: everything that exists does so within the system of interconnectedness controlled by Eywa. And by Na’vi accounts, the mountains were lifted as a part of Eywa’s plan. This puts things lightly; really, the Na’vi regard the mountains as one of the greatest symbols of Eywa’s organizing abilities. As we know, it’s extremely unlikely for a mountain to float. Isn’t the fact that these do prove that a higher power made it so?

One natural condition that gives the “sacred plan” idea credence is the interplay between life on the ground and life on the mountains, and how, depending how you look at it, the mountains almost need to be floating in order to sustain this interplay. Which brings us to one interplay in particular, which has risen to mythic levels on Pandora: that of the mainland Na’vi with the mountain banshee.

A Deadly Rite of Passage

A defining characteristic of the Na’vi is the ability to form neural links with some of the animal life of Pandora. And there is no bond more central to clan life—or that more captures the Na’vi imagination—than the one forged with the mountain banshee.

But this bond has to be earned. And that means a dangerous rite of passage called the iknimaya. When a young Omatikaya Na’vi comes of age, he or she may choose to make a long and treacherous solo climb up the vines connecting the floating mountains to the banshee rookeries found in the high peaks. There, the heart of the challenge begins. A banshee never relents to Na’vi bonding advances without resistance, and so the Na’vi only gets one chance; it will end either in free-fall or the banshee leaving its mountain habitat to nest near its rider, who now wears the title Ikran Makto—“Banshee Rider.”

Seeing the Mountains All Over Again

Obviously, the best way to feel the monumental power of the Hallelujah Mountains (and the other ranges of floating mountains on Pandora, such as the one hovering over the Mo’ara Valley) is to see them in person, in the way that the power of the Grand Canyon or the gorges of the Yangtze River can only be experienced when you’re really there. Like the Grand Canyon, the mountains are picturesque, often the first thing people think of when they think of Pandoran landscape. We love to look at the mountains—but to really see them, and all that they signify, you have to put them in perspective. Imagine if the Grand Canyon, in addition to being beautiful, defined how you entered into adulthood, in effect giving you your identity among friends and family. Imagine if the Grand Canyon represented an emblem of a spiritual force guiding every gesture of every day of your life—that its very existence was a spectacular visual proof of that force and its will. Do this, and you will have the briefest glimpse of what the mountains mean to the Na’vi, deeply and personally, and why we must do what we can to understand, respect, and celebrate them. When you consider the wonders of our two explored galaxies, they are literally irreplaceable.

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I have a set of blueprints for a 1941 Hauser and I have a template as well as a table of top thicknesses for Andres Segovia's legendary 1937 Hauser. I decided to build a guitar as close to a Hauser as I could. For the project, I selected an excellent European spruce top and since Brazilian rosewood is unobtanium anymore, I selected an oustanding set of Indian rosewood back and sides. I paid extra close attention to the shaping of the top braces, following the shapes shown in the blueprint exactly. I also thicknessed the top such that it was as close to the measurements for Segovia's 1937 Hauser as I could get. And of course, I followed all the other dimensions exactly -- except for the neck. The neck is my own design. It's quite thin, plus I decided to go with a slightly wider nut width that I usually do: 54mm instead of 52mm. As it turns out, this extra 2mm in nut width is one of the many things I like about this guitar.

Actually, there is another difference that is not so apparent. I used the 1937 Hauser template as a starting point for this guitar's shape. The 1937 Hauser is slightly pinched in appearance at the waist and I chose to relax that dimension into a more sinuous S-curve. The result is a guitar shape that is uniquely my own, and one that a trained eye can differentiate from all the handmade classicals built by the hundreds of other classical builders out there. I'm quite fond of this shape and I now have a side bender setup that produces exactly this shape whenever I need it.

This guitar sounded great from day one, but like any quallity spruce-topped guitar, it continues to open up in sound quality for years to come. It has been over 10 years since I built this guitar, and I must say that it is the nicest sounding guitar that I own. And despite its rather narrow side dimensions, its volume and projection are excellent.

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