Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2011/01/28
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Nathan, Thanks for looking. When you have a historical timeline as long as ours, there is nothing that does not have an interesting story attached. Cheers Jayanand On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 11:39 AM, Nathan Wajsman <photo at frozenlight.eu>wrote: > Interesting story about the temple destructions and the (non)destruction of > the last one. A Portuguese friend once said to me that the Spanish were > smarter than the Portuguese after the Reconquista. In Portugal, most > Moorish > buildings were destroyed, in Spain they were kept and are today major > tourists attractions, with Alhambra in Granada as the most prominent > example. > > Cheers, > Nathan > > Nathan Wajsman > Alicante, Spain > http://www.frozenlight.eu > http://www.greatpix.eu > http://www.nathanfoto.com > PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws > Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog > > YNWA > > > > > > > > On Jan 22, 2011, at 2:59 PM, Jayanand Govindaraj wrote: > > > Three from the state of Gujarat in Western India. > > > > The first is photo of the great temple of Somnath, the moon god, besides > the > > Arabian Sea in western India. The temple is historically and religiously > > very significant - it was sacked and destroyed six times between 725AD > and > > 1701AD by Muslim invaders and rulers, and rebuilt six times. The present > > temple was built after independence in 1947 and is called the Seventh > > Temple. The security is considerable - because of its history, it is a > prime > > target for Islamic terrorists, who would love to blow it up again: > > > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/India/_1060359-Edit.jpg.html > > > > To emphasise the mix that is India, 70 km away from Somnath is Junagadh, > > which was, prior to independence an Islamic state. It has a very > > interesting but rather poorly maintained fort - here is a tourist couple > > relaxing there: > > > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/India/_1060489-Edit.jpg.html > > > > The last photo is of a Sun Temple in Modhera, Gujarat built in 1026. It > was > > sacked by Allaudin Khilji in 1296 - he was also responsible for the third > > destruction of Somnath. Luckily for us, he did not destroy the temple > > completely. Since Hindus will not worship a defaced idol, he just broke a > > limb from every depiction of a God in the friezes and sculptures adorning > > the temple, thus making it unfit for worship. The temple has the most > > beautiful sculptures possible, though like all Sun Temples, a few of them > > depict graphic sex which had a deep religious significance, lesbians and > > group sex included! It is not a large complex, but it is like a small > jewel. > > It is built so that the first rays of sunlight on the May and September > > equinoxes illuminate the (missing) deity in the inner sanctum: > > > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/India/_1060726-Edit.jpg.html > > > > C&C, as always, welcome > > > > Cheers > > Jayanand > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Leica Users Group. > > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >