Saturday, September 26, 2009


NOSTRADAMUS
Could he see the future?Born in the early 16th century, Nostradamus has become one of the world's most widely known and read prophets.
His poetic yet cryptic quatrains are claimed by some to conceal information about future events. He completed a total of 942 quatrains which he organized into Centuries - groups of 100 quatrains (one Century only had 42 quatrains).
Do these writings actually predict the death of popes, rise of tyrants, and natural catastrophes to come?
Read his prophecies, hear the arguments, and decide for yourself.

NADI IN INDIA
Nadi astrology (nāḍi jyotiṣa) is a form of Hindu astrology practised in Tamil Nadu, India. It is based on the belief that the past, present and the future lives of all humans were foreseen by Hindu sages in ancient times and written down as Palm Leaf Manuscripts (nāḍi grantha).The texts are written in Vatteluttu, which is an ancient Tamil script. There are different schools of thought as to the author of these leaves. They were written by a great Tamil sage called Agathiyar who had divine revelations. This doctrine of astrology was made famous by astrologers around the Vaitheeswaran Temple in the state of Tamil Nadu and is still practiced around the temple by their descendants.

These Nadi leaves were initially stored in the premises of Tanjore Saraswati Mahal Library of Tamilnadu. The British rulers later showed interest in the Nadi leaves concerned with herbs and medicine, future prediction etc; but ironically left most of the Nadi prediction leaves to their loyal people. Some leaves got destroyed and the remaining were auctioned during the British rule. These Nadi leaves were obtained and possessed by the families of astrologers in Vaitheeswaran Temple. This is an art passed down the years from one generation to the other.

Kailash Temple(Kailashnath Temple), also Kailasanatha Temple is one of the 34 monasteries and temples, extending over more than 2 km, that were dug side by side in the wall of a high basalt cliff in the complex located at Ellora, Maharashtra, India, and represents the epitome of Indian rock-cut architecture.
It is designed to recall Mount Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiva. While it exhibits typical Dravidian features, it was carved out of one single rock. It was built in the 8th century by the Rashtrakuta king Krishna I.

Of the Hindu caves, No. 16 is the most celebrated as the Kailasha, Lord Shiva's mountain abode. It is one of India's most famous monuments, a marvel of rock-cut architecture at the apex of technical skills. Excavated in the eighth and ninth centuries AD .



The Buddhist University of Stone Carvings.............

It is regarded as the greatest monolithic structure in the world, combining immensity with grace, power with jewel-like execution, and the awesome talents of hundreds of sculptors and architects who created this grandeur out of the living rock! It is estimated that the task of quarrying and chiseling out its three million cubic feet of rock took over a century! A square trench, over a hundred feet deep and a hundred and fifty feet wide surrounds the huge Shiva temple in the center.




Ajanta and nearby Ellora are two of the most amazing archaeological sites in India. Although handcrafted caves are scattered throughout India's western state of Maharashtra, the complexes at Ajanta and Ellora - roughly 300 kilometres northeast of Mumbai (Bombay) - are the most elaborate and varied examples known. The caves aren't natural caves, but man-made temples cut into a massive granite hillside. They were built by generations of Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain monks, who lived, worked, and worshipped in the caves, slowly carving out elaborate statues, pillars, and meditation rooms.



The Ajanta caves were discovered in the 19th century by a group of British officers on a tiger hunt.

Ajanta began as a religious enclave for Buddhist monks and scholars more than 2,000 years ago. It is believed that, originally, itinerant monks sought shelter in natural grottos during monsoons and began decorating them with religious motifs to help pass the rainy season.

They used earlier wooden structures as models for their work. As the grottos were developed and expanded, they became permanent monasteries, housing perhaps 200 residents.

The artisans responsible for Ajanta did not just hack holes in the cliff, though. They carefully excavated, carving stairs, benches, screens, columns, sculptures, and other furnishings and decorations as they went, so that these elements remained attached to the resulting floors, ceilings and walls.

They also painted patterns and pictures, employing pigments derived from natural, water soluble substances. Their achievements would seem incredible if executed under ideal circumstances, yet they worked only by the light of oil lamps and what little sunshine penetrated cave entrances.

The seventh century abandonment of these masterpieces is a mystery. Perhaps the Buddhists suffered religious persecution. Or perhaps the isolation of the caves made it difficult for the monks to collect sufficient alms for survival.



http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/educational/watch/v7029823meQRWm3B#watch%3Dv7029821w7XSJ2c3


THE GREAT PYRAMIDS(OR SUN TEMPLES)
A pyramid is a building where the outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least four faces (base plus at least three triangular faces). The five-face square pyramid is a common version.

A pyramid's design, with the majority of the weight closer to the ground,[1] means that less material higher up on the pyramid will be pushing down from above: this distribution of weight allowed early civilizations to create stable monumental structures.
INDIA





Gangaikondacholapuram and the Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram



Many giant granite temple pyramids were made in South India during the Chola Empire, many of which are still in religious use today. Examples of such pyramid temples include Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur, the Temple of Gangaikondacholapuram and the Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram. However the largest temple pyramid in the area is Sri Rangam in Srirangam, Tamil Nadu. The Brihadisvara Temple was declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1987; The Temple of Gangaikondacholapuram and the Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram were added as extensions to the site in 2004.

Chichen Itza(El Castillo)

(pronounced /tʃiːˈtʃɛn iːˈtsɑː/;[1] from Yucatec Maya: Chi'ch'èen Ìitsha',[2] "At the mouth of the well of the Itza") is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilization located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the Yucatán state, present-day Mexico.


The site contains many fine stone buildings in various states of preservation, and many have been restored. The buildings are connected by a dense network of formerly paved roads, called sacbeob. Archaeologists have found almost 100 sacbeob criss-crossing the site, and extending in all directions from the city.


The buildings of Chichén Itza are grouped in a series of architectonic sets, and each set was at one time separated from the other by a series of low walls. The three best known of these complexes are the Great North Platform, which includes the monuments of El Castillo, Temple of Warriors and the Great Ball Court; The Ossario Group, which includes the pyramid of the same name as well as the Temple of Xtoloc; and the Central Group, which includes the Caracol, Las Monjas, and Akab Dzib.


The Sphinx of Giza





WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE OF THIS GREAT TEMPLE OR MONUMENT?

WHAT DID REPRESENT ?

WHO BUILT IT-WHEN WAS BUILT IT?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PotS7hPQZTU

The majestic Sphinx, with the body of a lion and the head of a king, presides over the Giza necropolis as if it were it’s guardian. It wears a pharaohs nemes and faces the east. A beard used to hang from it’s chin, but it has long since fallen away.

The Greek word "sphinx" may have derived from the Egyptian shesep-ankh, which translates to "living image". It stands taller than a six-story building and as long as a city block. It is made from megaliths, which are estimated to weigh 200 tons apiece, the smallest weighing 50 tons. The megaliths are fashioned from a single knoll of rock.

Many scholars believe that the face of the Sphinx was carved to represent Khafre, who the Greeks knew as Chephren. Khafre reigned from 2520 to 2494 BC. Some also believe that it dates back to the Old Kingdom during the fourth Dynasty. However, the Sphinx is carved of rock, so it cannot be dated by the radio carbon technique. The only other method of dating is by using contemporary texts that refer to its construction. There are none of these, therefore, no definite facts are known.

Another notion is that it was built when the Sahara was still green. We know that the Sahara was once fertile, but over the millennia, it slowly eroded. This could be an explanation for the water damage done to the outer walls of the Sphinx.

The awe-inspiring monument lies on an east-west axis. The east and west walls each have six secluded places, perhaps used in rites of the rising and setting of the sun. They also have twenty-four pillars, which may represent the twenty-four hours in a day. There are many legends about the Sphinx. One such legend claims that it is a sole remnant of an advanced civilization lost to archaeology.

A small number of people believe that the evidence for this lost civilization is under the right paw. There is no archaeological data to support this claim. Another legend states there are secret underground passages. The Egyptian Antiquities Organization excavated and found three tunnels under the monument.

The first tunnel is found under the head of the Sphinx. It travels inside the body for five meters. The second is found in the tail and is thirty feet long. The third is located on the north side. All of these tunnels date to pharaoh times, but the purpose for them is unknown.

A red granite Stella sits between the front paws. It tells a story of King Thutmose IV when he was still a prince. He went hunting near Giza and fell asleep in the shade of the Sphinx. The awesome lion appeared before him in a dream and complained that his body was falling into ruin.
The creature promised that Thutmose IV would be king one day if he restored the monument. The rest of the inscription has eroded away, but Thutmose IV did become king. He removed sand from around the Sphinx and reset some of the facing stones that had fallen off. He erected the Stella that tells his story.1 The present damage done to the face of the Sphinx was done in 1380 by Arab sheikh and later by the Mamelukes who used it for target practice.

Back to Giza to the year 10,500 BC. If we looked at the skies, what would we see? If we sat at the paws of the Sphinx just before sunrise, we would see the zodiacal constellation of Leo- a constellation that resembles a lion. At the exact moment of which the solar disc breaks over the horizon ahead of us, we make a ninety-degree right turn to face due south. Consummating at the altitude of nine degrees twenty minutes, we see before us the three stars of Orion’s belt forming a pattern in the sky that is identical to the ground plan of the Giza Pyramids.




Graham Hancock, the author of "The Message of the Sphinx", believes that it is a lion because it was built in the Age of Leo. The Age of Leo lasted from 10,970 to 8810 BC. He supports his argument by stating that in the Age of Pisces the symbol of Christianity if the fish. In the proceeding Age of Aries we find rams sacrificed in the Old Testament. Egyptians worshiped Apis, the bull, in the Age of Taurus and the bull-cult flourished in Minoan Crete. 4 Coincidence?

The Riddle of Machu Picchu

There in the cloud forest of the Andes mountains, 2,000 feet above the roaring river below, Bingham believed he had stumbled upon the fabled “Lost City of the Incas.” But was it really that?


In 1911, the lost Inca city of Machu Picchu was discovered by chance by mountaineer and archaeologist Hiram Bingham. He was in Peru with three companions to climb the highest mountains of the region, and he had been impressed by Inca ruins two years earlier when he visited South America on a Yale University tour of ceremonial sites. A wealthy explorer, he was fascinated by the idea of Peru’s legendary “lost city,” which had disappeared with the Inca civilization in the 1500s.


By chance in 1911, the Peruvian government had blasted a rough trail through the river gorges to make a new road that would aid in transporting products such as cocoa, sugar, and rubber from the Amazon. Bingham was one of the first to use the road in his search for lost Inca sites. As a climber, he decided at one point to scramble up through the dense rainforest around him with a companion and an Indian guide, and he unexpectedly arrived at mid-day at a high Indian farm 1,000 feet above the plunging river.


With a 10-year old Indian boy as a guide, Bingham kept on climbing. He suddenly came upon “a magnificent flight of stone agricultural terraces, rising 1,000 feet up the mountainside.” He climbed upwards for an hour more and found himself finally in a deep forest above these terraces, surrounded by stone buildings, including a temple made of granite blocks that had been cut with the amazing precision of Inca stonemasons. Bingham wrote:“ Surprise followed surprise in bewildering succession. I climbed a marvelous stairway of granite blocks, walked along a pampa where the Indians had a small vegetable garden, and came to a clearing in which were two of the finest structures I had ever seen. Not only were there blocks of beautifully grained white granite, the ashlars [squared blocks] were of Cyclopean size, some 10 feet in length and higher than a man. I was spellbound.”


The Riddle of Macu PicchuMachu Picchu was an astonishing 20th century archaeological discovery, but it was also a puzzle. Modern researchers such as Yale’s Richard L. Burger and Lucy Salazar (co-curators of Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the Incas) believe that Machu Picchu was a royal retreat or country palace, used by the great Inca Emperor Pachacuti and his guests as a place to relax, feast, hunt, and engage in ritual activities related to his divine kingship. In modern American terms, Burger calls it a “Camp David” for the Inca Sun God and his followers.


For decades, beginning with Bingham’s theories, the mystery of the site has provoked various interpretations: that it was an ancient military stronghold, or that it was the last holdout of the Incas against the invading Conquistadors in the 16th century. Some believed it was an isolated religious sanctuary where nuns and priests worshipped the sun.


Burger and Salazar argue that it was active for less than 100 years, and that it was a summer palace for the Inca elite from Cuzco, the empire's capital. Situated magnificently in the Peruvian Andes, it was populated seasonally by the ruling Inca and several hundred craftsmen and other servants necessary to carry on the affairs of estate and government.


Many of the buildings in Mach Picchu show signs of having religious or spiritual significance.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2YBVlgqqco&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbBu8Sikhtc&feature=player_embedded
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/regions-places/south-america/peru_machupicchu.html