Tag: Religion
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Before the fall and after
Before the fall and after I saw this little picture hanging on the wall of a house in Italy. It depicts the life of man before and after the fall. In the centre, the idyllic existence in the Garden of Eden is about to come to an end with Eve presenting to Adam the forbidden…
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Stigmata
Stigmata When the shopkeeper in the little town of Deruta, known since mediaeval times for its quality production of majolica earthenware, was dressing his shop-window he must have thought: let’s have something for everyone. Photos of the week: Ceramics shop, Deruta, Italy 2018
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Gilded Buddha’s
Gilded Buddha’s These are a few of a whole series of Buddha statues inside Wat Mai Suwannaphumaham. The variety in their facial features is remarkable. Probably different individuals (local monks?) have served as models for the sculptors, with this lively diversity as a result. Photo of the week: Wat Mai Suwannaphumaham, Luang Prabang, Laos 2020
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Beware pickpocket
Beware pickpocket Wat Pho is known for its reclining Buddha, an impressive statue measuring 46 meter in length from top to toe. The soles of his feet – 3 meter high and 4.5 meter long – are inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Photos of the week: Reclining Buddha, Wat Pho, Bangkok, Thailand 2019
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Food stalls, cars, Buddha’s
Food stalls, cars, Buddha’s I always like the unlikely mingling of different cultural elements. It hints at a lively, easy going interaction between people, with a light-hearted attitude to life. Bangkok has it, especially by night. But what about that Buddha Brigade, in a country yearning for freedom from military rule?! Photo of the week:…
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Peacekeeping Buddha
Peacekeeping Buddha At Diskit, a village near the confluence of the Shyok and Nubra rivers, a large Buddha peeps over the mountains. His gaze follows the course of the Shyok River westwards towards Pakistan. It is a Maitreya or Future Buddha; the people hope he can prevent another war with Pakistan and protect the village.…
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Mani stones
Mani stones You find them near temples and monasteries, along paths and mountain passes, in the middle of nowhere. Piled up by pilgrims they form mounts or long walls that mark the landscape of the Tibetan cultural region. Texts are skillfully cut in relief on the stones. Often it’s the mantra « om mani padme…
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Little Tibet
Little Tibet The robust architecture is in harmony with the severe landscape. We imagine ourselves to be in Tibet but we are in Ladakh, the western corner of the Tibetan cultural region that became part of India in the 19th century. Neighbouring Tibet is now, much to its chagrin, part of China. A ‘Line of…
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Moonscape
Moonscape Hiking in the rarified atmosphere of the deserted mountain scenery of Ladakh, a sporadic cairn may remind you that you are not walking on the moon but on earth. Or else the mirage of a distant buddhist monastery can enlighten you. Photo of the week: Temisgam, seen from Meptak La, 3845m, Trek from Himis…
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He who laughs last, laughs best
He who laughs last, laughs best “There was a time when the staging of skeletons of the saints, installed in astonishing postures, was intended to defy death and to show victorious martyrs, therefore to vivify the faith of believers. Each parish had to have a recumbent figure, or at least relics of saints, often taken…
καιρός remembered 